Hipstadventures: Lake District, Pt. 2 – Johnny boy

As mentioned in yesterday’s Hipstadventure post, I made use of reliable old John S in the Lake District during a rare window of sunshine and blue skies.

I teamed the John S lens with Blanko Freedom13 to give a sharp, clean border – I’m a fan of minimal borders a lot of the time. I used to hate using the shake to randomise feature and ending up with the Kodot XGrizzled film, with it’s messy edge. I am starting to come round to it, after four years, but it still wouldn’t be one of my default films. I remember loving the Blanko Freedom13 film when it first came out because it was just very clean around the edge.

John S was the perfect lens to choose for shooting photos of a big lake with clear sky above and rolling green hills around – it boosts greens and blues to create stunning nature shots. Think I’ll be saving that combo to my favourites from now on… Boy done good.

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

John S/Blanko Freedom13/no flash

Hipstadventures: Lake District, Pt. 1 – São Paulo style

I’ve just got back from a short family camping trip in the Lake District. We stayed for two nights at Waterside Farm Campsite on the edge of Ullswater, just by the small village of Pooley Bridge.

My parents bought a 1973 VW Camper last summer, and have spent the last year doing it up, so we booked a little family time away – the five of us plus three dogs.

Gus the Bus – Hornbecker/Robusta/no flash

Internet signal was terrible, weather was mixed and three dogs in a tent was interesting, but I got a few good snaps on my Hipstamatic. I tried to experiment with a few lenses and films that I’ve not given much time to before, and some of the results surprised me.

The São Paulo HipstaPak, released in June, came with the Madelena lens and Robusta film – bringing some Brazilian warmth to our British summer. Previous attempts with the Madelena left me unimpressed – in low light scenarios the lens can dominate and ruin photos, making detail in dark areas indistinguishable. The film is actually quite nice – a semi-messy white border that doesn’t interfere with the effects of whatever lens you’re using.

Having tried using the Madelena in a variety of situations, I think the key is to make sure that whatever you’re shooting has plenty of light. If there are large areas of dark objects or shadows, you’ll lose any definition to them.

The Lake District and Brazilian-inspired gear sometimes make an unusually good match – see below!

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

Madelena/Robusta/no flash

I’ll be sharing a few more of my photos from the weekend in a future blog post – John S did it again!