Film Photo Essays

The Fear of Success and Judgement of Your Photography [Ilford HP5 Plus 400]

I wrote a post before about whether success was – or could be – scarier than failure. I genuinely believed it was. And then I heard a statement that instantly turned that opinion on its head. It killed my belief in it.

Having a perceived fear of success could be holding you back, and it’s going to be harder to get over it if that’s not even what the real problem is.

Come read to learn what I now believe a ‘fear of success’ actually is and see whether this can help you if it’s holding you back creatively. What have you got to lose?

A Shot in the Park [Kentmere 400]

Kentmere 400 isn’t my favourite film in the world, but I could only learn that for myself and know it for sure by shooting some. Part of the roll was shot in a park – hence the title.

Come see how it turned out and why I’m very happy I tried Kentmere 400, even though I generally prefer the results I’ve gotten from other films so far.

Parks and Recreation [Kodak Gold 200]

For a city so built up, you’re never short of a park to spend some time at in Shanghai, and these parks are never short of people using them for recreation.

That makes them decent places to shoot some film photography, as I did and then wrote about here in this little blog post. Their recreation became a subject for mine.

Kodak Gold 200’s bright colours make it a good film for sunny days like this, as these shots from the Yashica Electro 35 give a glimpse of. Come see.

Jing’an Sculpture Park, Shanghai [Oriental Seagull 100]

jing'an sculpture park shanghai

Jing’an Sculpture Park offers nice respite from the city outside its boundaries and good artwork to check out once inside them. It’s artwork that’s constantly changing too as new pieces regularly replace existing ones.

I loaded the Yashica Electro 35 with some Oriental Seagull 100 and went to make some photographs of the sculptures there when I was, along with some shots of the people who were too.

This is the write-up of those shots, and it features a sculpture that’s actually kinda famous in certain circles. European sculpture circles, I think. Come see what that is and everything more in this piece on the Jing’an Sculpture Park.

Small City Street Photography [Kentmere Pan 400]

Sometimes you have to get away from the sprawling metropolis and head for the small city. Especially when it’s Chinese New Year and you have people to visit.

While you’re there you may as well get in some street photography. That’s what I did, and on Kentmere 400 film no less. A stock I hadn’t shot before now.

Want to see how it turned out? Because you can. Come see the small city street photography, the thoughts surrounding it, and one simple way some of the shots could have been better IMO.

Rushin’ Around the Cotswolds [Silberra Pan 200]

The Cotwolds aren’t the kind of place you’d typically rush around, and I wouldn’t recommend you do so. Not when you have all that scenery to stop and take in.

It’s scenery that deserves your best photography, which is something I didn’t give it. For me it was more of a testing ground for a roll of Silberra Pan 200 – a Russian film I got as a crowdfunding campaign reward.

That explains the daft pun in the title, but it doesn’t tell you how the shots came out. To know that, you’re going to have to click inside and come see for yourself.