Cornwall Kodak gold 120

you'll always find colour in St Ives

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15 minutes down the road from where live is the town of St Ives. Probably the single most visited town in Cornwall by our lovely tourist, whilst also drawing, excuse the pun, would be Artists here as we have some of the best natural light in the UK. Thats something we photographers love too……

Ive lost count the number of times Ive shot content here for both work and play, but I have a rule in place that I always stick to providing in the weather is on my side. Shoot before 10am and after 3pm. Nothing in between. Why you ask?, well those are the times when I find the best light to shoot with none of the whiting over haze you often see in between those hours. Im not saying that this happens all of the time but I do know how the weather works down here and if there’s any haze, Im off.

The selection of the images I shot below are all with coastal colours in mind. You’re never short of finding colour here but if I may, a tip for you all, arrive early as you can as the place gets packed and those colours might get obscured by our lovely visitors

Choice of film stock that morning. Well, bearing in mind my first statement, “you'll alway find colour in St Ives” it had to be a roll of medium format Kodak Gold. Id run out of Ektar that morning and thats always my go to colour stock but Gold certainly came up with the goods that day - Shot on my Hassy 500. The perfect match…..




"Hit the north" Belfast street art festival

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Whilst recently walking in and around Belfasts Cathedral Quarter area, I stumbled across the “hit the north” Festival. The biggest street art festival in Belfast. Over 60 artists from across the UK, Ireland and internationally were invited to display their skills on a series an hoardings and walls throughout this area

The location and central to the festival was the famous Sunflower pub. The only pub left in Belfast with the steel cages from the “Troubles” still in place. A cracking pub by the way.

The quality of art was amazing as was the colour and it was great to enguage with the artists and ask about their work, before opening and closing my shutter I might add. Alongside the Irish blue skies that day, this was indeed a cracking find for me and my camera. Consequently I thought it was only right for me to consume some alcohol based beverages that day, responsible of course, whilst viewing this collection of incredible street art

There was one piece of art that I must say did stand out for me that day and it was the one that had a very current and sombering connection to it. That was the art titled “Know their names”. The artist which designed this name escapes me but he wrote down 1,000 children’s names who have been killed by the Israeli attacks in Gaza. Everyone who view had the same opinion as me. Shocking….

Because I didn’t expect to find the festival and I was in Belfast for another reason, I came ill equipped with film. One roll would you believe! So, I searched for 35mm film locally, grabbed some more and returned to shoot some more content. I’d love to post all of the shots I took that day but I think the gallery below sums up the content and experience for me. Hope you think so too! RD

PS: I reckon I know where the “hit the north” title came from. Manchesters finest, The Fall


New Kodak Gold 120 200 review

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Since the recent launch of the new Kodak Gold 120 stock, Ive been looking for an appropriate subject matter to shoot it with, both on 6x6 and 6x7. Colour wise for me , Cadgwith fits the bill 100%. It’s one of those quintessential colourful Cornish fishing villages that has it all. Granite old school Cornish cottages, thatched roofs, pastel coloured boats, glorious views and the Atlantic ocean pushing into its sheltered cove

The colours look great for me and Cadgwith certainly delivered on the colour front. Early doors is always the best time to shoot these locations. On reflection, Im pretty happy with Kodak Gold

The new Kodak Gold 120 seems to sit somewhere between Portra 160 and Ektar I reckon. Maybe not so vivid perhaps as Ektar and not so neutral as Portra but the colours do pop for me, and Cornwall always delivers on the colour front which makes my job so much easier. By the way, Im no expert or a technical photographer in any way but these are my findings, results and my review.

Camera’s used in this shoot: Hasselblad 500 CM/ Asahi Pentax

no PS, LR. Presets, just straight out of the camera at box speed

Please note: other views and opinions are available but these are mine