#window tinting service near me in plymouth

[raygoodwinbaphotographyjournal3]

PHOT303 - Mileage Mary Vary - 4/3/2020

I decided to swap out the Mamiya 7ii that didn’t work, for one that finally did! But this shoot didn’t go without an issue. Now that I had a working 7ii to use, I was excited to see what I was going to create. I decided to take it upon myself, to head back to using expired film to see that I could create. I have had very good success with expired Fujifilm stocks, and loaded up the 7ii with a roll of Fujifilm Superia 400, which expired in 2012. With this in mind, I over exposed the film by a stop by metering the film at 200 iso.

A Citroen C3 is parked at Morley Court. This is one of my favourite locations in Plymouth, as it feels so removed from Plymouth as a whole. It is a housing estate that is plonked in the centre of town, towards the end which is lower on the social/economic scale. I find it interesting that the location reflects on the conditions of the vehicles, as the lower the perceived class of the area, the condition of the vehicles worsen and the age of the vehicles also increase. This would mean that the individuals on lower incomes, can’t necessarily afford to have a newer vehicle and keep it in a better condition. I find it interesting to shoot in a variety of locations that seem to justify this by documenting what lies within the specific areas. 

A Volkswagen Golf Estate MK4 is parked in the car park behind Lucky Star, which is on Raleigh Street. The whole area is an expansive network of grubby post-war buildings, which here are the backs of business and extractor fans. The particular Golf isn’t in the best of conditions, with missing wheel trims and an array of dents and scratches. I fell that this car manages to reflect on the nature of the surroundings. The 7ii also manages to pick up the small details, like the exhaust tube on a building to the left, forcing out a plume of blue smoke.

The eight generation Honda Civic was a far cry from previous iterations in terms of it’s design. Just like the MK3 Golf, it was a more more rotund compared to it’s earlier flavours. This immediately caught my eye, as the Civic managed to match the facade of Costless. I also did like the ‘Cost Less’ managed match the theory of the Vehicle Scrappage Scheme being used to boost the economy after the 2008 Financial Crisis. Again, the Mamiya manages to pick up so much detail within the scene, when the items within the shop itself. I also enjoy how I compose my work with this camera, as it does put me back into the mindset of capturing the scene, rather than just the vehicle being the main focus. Speaking of which, I didn’t even stop down past F4, which is wide open for the 80mm. F4 is a fairly wide aperture for 6x7, and can create some shallow depth of field once you get closer to the subject. yet as these distances, there is some subtle fall off between the foreground and the cars that are now in focus. 

Something which used to be a familiar sight, a Toyota Carina. I remember seeing rather a lot of these when I was little, and they have disappeared from out road since, and most likely due to the Vehicle Scappage Scheme. It is hard to believe that this particular model was registered back in 1989, so it had been on our roads for over 30 years now. Yet, it manages to look rather well for it’s age, only really with some discolouration and some dodgy panel angles. This particular vehicle was parked outside a carpet shop in a side road that runs parallel to Ebrington Street. It was only later that it was pointed out the ‘Sustainability Award’ on the billboard above the Carina, which also coincides with the Scrappage Scheme. Just after I took this photograph and took the image of the Fiesta and the Mini, the potential owner came out of the building and was wandering his car and looking at me, almost inspecting. I assume he wasn’t all too pleased I was photographing his ancient Toyota.

A bloody Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow! I have seen this whilst walking near White Friars Lane, which runs adjacent to Beaumont Road. The old Roller juxtaposes the newly built housing, yet almost manages to mix well into the scene. The Silver Shadow exudes high class motoring, with leather, walnut and chrome spilling from all areas. Whilst they were pricey purchases when they were new, they have depreciated so much that they’re almost affordable now...until it goes wrong or needs a service and then the bills start to add up, and the purchase of the vehicle becomes the cheapest part. There is also a noticeable, yet small amount of light leak on the lower right portion of the frame. During the shoot, I noticed that winding on the film didn’t feel entirely right. It felt as if it wasn’t winding as it should, and as I wound the roll to finish it, and opened up the back, I noticed that the roll wasn’t as tight as it should be, and was noticeably fatter. I suspect that this was due to the age of the film, and a potential comparability issue between the film and the spool that was left in the 7ii when I collected it. This can happen with 120 film and sometimes there is an issue, despite this being the first time I had encountered the issue. 

Here you can see the extent of the damage from the loose roll, with some light leak and fogging onto the last frame. This is the most affected image, but it is recoverable just by cropping. This photograph of a Nissan 300ZX advertising a window tinting company immediately looks like something Tom Westbury would have taken, with similar tones and composition. I am not sure how the 7ii does it, but the vertical distortion is always well corrected and always seems to by straight. It makes me wonder that all those times I wrote about Westbury’s work and the post production, it could have very well just been done in camera. I suspect that as 6x7 is such a large negative, it is easier to get the vertical lines straight as they should. The 300ZX is also an interesting vehicle, as it is a part of Nissan’s Z line of sports cars which also seemed to take a design change compared to the previous models. They are also a rare vehicle in this day and age, with many being molested by tuners or for the very few, kept nicely. I have never personally seen this car move, and this would be because it is currently SORN. With a quick check with the Government database, this is a 1990 model and was first registered in 2004, making this a grey import from Japan. This particular ZX is in a state of disrepair, with faded paint and a variety of dents and scratches. It also features some exhausts that the Channel Tunnel would be jealous of and some hideously dated alloys. 

At last! A successful roll of film that resulted in some shots that I am proud of. It has been a long time since I had shot something and felt good about it. For a long time, I had become estranged from what I had shooting, and in all honesty, didn’t entirely enjoy what I was shooting for PHOT301. It wasn’t what I had envisaged and I am only just starting to get on my feet in regards to how I am making my work. And this is mainly down to using the Mamiya 7ii, as it puts me in the mindset of creating work and in it’s outcome, something that I really enjoy. The experience of using the Mamiya is great, and I cannon wait to see what else I can create this medium format beast. Yet I would like to be able to use different lenses, like the 65mm F4.