Back to Nature

I recently took a trip to the countryside with my friends and fiance. We spent the weekend their taking in the weather and the clean country air. As a photographer I have spent many a film roll shooting in cities. This trip was due in that it has been ages since I’ve been to the country. Although it was late July and we live in Finland the weather was actually quite warm and sunny. I took my Canon with me and started on filming just us eating and sitting on the porch of my friends cabin. It didn’t occur to me at first that I could start shooting the shrubbery and forest that was all around us.

This place turned out to be the ideal spot for some nature Lomography. The light descended so beautifully from the tree tops to the ground so who could resist the lure of this place? The first night there we concentrated on having fun and I really didn’t take that many photos. The next day I started to pay more attention to my surroundings and actually saw the nature aspect. This is what happens, you spend all your time in the big city and shoot there the old cement blocks and narrow ally ways and when you get to nature you feel a bit lost at first. This is what happened to me anyways.

When you start to discover the area you are in that is when the magic happens. You think about the light, what film do I have, what about the apertures…. All this can be forgotten just as long as you have a roll of film and a camera and you’re open to the world. This is what I saw, this is what I experienced. This is me. Take it or leave it.

When I have shot portraits in controlled environments they always turn out great and have little or no defects. This manner of ‘easy’ photography has made me a bit lazy. The digital format has given me new options when shooting. I am able to take more shots and I can more easily manipulate my photos to look as I want them to look. The film format gives me something I can’t get from digital. When I shoot with film I’m instantly drawn in when I pick up an old camera. My cameras come used and therefore I always wonder about their story. What sites has this lens captured before coming to my hands and what sites it will still behold. Cameras from the 80’s and even the 30’s which have taken thousands of photos seem to appeal to me more than their new digital counterparts. And the film, oh how I love that format! 120 or 35 I love how when I’m shooting with a new roll I can expect different results. When I’m experimenting with a new batch it’s like christmas. How will this look, how much grain will there be, will there be light leaks, god I want to shoot now!

This trip to the countryside really opened my mind and gave me new ideas to implement in the city. Bringing photograpy or Lomography to nature was a new thing for me and I enjoyed every bit of it. The colours on film take on a new life and your pictures look more vibrant when compared to city photography. I would like to have had the opportunity to develop my films there as well but maybe next time around. One thing is for certain though, I will definitely continue nature Lomography!

written by viltsu on 2012-08-25