Hipstadventures: London

Last week I was in London on a short internship, and the weather was great (apart from Saturday when I got drenched in a freak downpour in Oxford Circus) so there were plenty of photo opportunities.

I saw that Hipstography was promoting a user-submitted combo, which turned out to be the G2 lens with the Robusta film. The photos provided to show off the combination were all taken in London with Oggl and looked great so I thought I’d try it out while I was there.

I was based in Bermondsey Street, near London Bridge and the Shard but was a bit nomadic so saw plenty of the city. On Friday I was offered a 12 week internship so I’ll have plenty of time to explore starting from Monday!

The G2 lens is great for warm contrasts, and the Robusta film has become one of my favourites – it has a gritty and dirty feel, with a slightly rough off-white border.

This combination is definitely one to remember for urban shooting.

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/no flash

G2/Robusta/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!