Grace and I headed to Italy for three weeks on honeymoon in August – postponed from starting immediately after our wedding in January so that we could catch some proper sun.
We went all over, from Rome to Florence, to Pisa, to the Cinque Terre, to Valdagno (in the mountains), to Venice. It was great. The style and texture of the walls of the buildings were particularly amazing.
I shot a bunch of film whilst we were away, mostly in colour. The best thing about film is how it reproduces the deep blues in the sky after all, and it would be a crime not to make the most of that on a trip like this. Those rolls are off getting processed in the lab (because I’m now far too lazy to develop it myself), and I can’t wait to see what they’re like. They better be good.
Anyway, more commentary on the latter part of the trip will come when they get returned. In the meantime, I shot a few rolls of black and white Rollei RPX400 whilst we were there too. It seemed particularly fitting for overcast days in Venice – which turned out to be our favourite place.
It was only after processing these films that I discovered the whole batch have some deep and annoying scratches from when I bulk rolled the stuff a few months back, which mean I’m going to have to chuck or donate the rest of them. It’s just one of the pitfalls of shooting film – making you question why you even bother in the first place. Then again, at least I don’t have to put up with sensor dust. Now that’s annoying.
Problems aside, Italy is beautifully photogenic, and I really enjoyed battering through a pile of film again – both 120 and 35mm. The digital cameras did make a bit of an appearance, but not too much.
I’m debating the purchase of an old Leica M2 or M3 camera now, which don’t seem to go for outrageous prices on the used market. It’s still a bit of a stretch to justify at the moment though, so we’ll see how it goes. I just have an urge to make use of one of the earlier M bodies, specifically the chrome ones – and make a bigger effort to shoot more black and white film. After scrapping the duffers of course.
There’s just something wonderful about the whole process.
As much of a pain in the ass that it can be.
More to come from Italy soon.
All shot on a Leica M6, mostly with a Jupiter 12 35mm f2.8. Occasionally with a Canon 50mm f0.95, and a Color Skopar 21mm f4.
Honestly mate, these are real great. Looking forward to seeing the next batches.
Lovely shots! I was going to say I didn’t see any scratches but then I noticed a bunch of horizontal lines. Are those the scratches? Adds character!
Aye, those horrible black lines. They’re not too bad in these pics, but took ages to photoshop them out. There’s quite a lot of them. Ah well, you live and learn!