This little chap here is an Olympus Trip 500. For 99p it would have been rude not to buy it, don’t you think? A quick dusting off and a couple of new AA batteries and it was ready for it’s first photo session (for a long while, I suspect) on a sunny trip to Cornwall.

Loading the film, whilst not an entirely automatic process, is still very simple – none of that pushing in of buttons or pulling up on spindles; just plop it in, bring the leader bit of film to the opposite side and close the back – then it whirrs into action and is ready to go!

The Olympus Trip 500 is the most basic of this generation of  35mm point and shoot cameras (guessing late 80s/early 90s). It’s made entirely of plastic and very simple to use. It’s got a wide-ish 28mm fixed-focus lens which is a little soft (I don’t necessarily have a problem with the softness – I quite like it). PLEASE NOTE: It’s absolutely nothing like the iconic Olympus Trip 35 which takes amazingly sharp and beautifully exposed photographs.

Like I say, it’s very easy to use – the trickiest thing you have to remember is to open the little lens cover before you take a photo (or it won’t work). There’s a flash that goes off whenever it feels the need and it will even wind the film on to the next frame for you, so it really is trouble-free.

And the results? Well you can see for yourself that the vignetting in these photos is totally CRAZY – I’ve never seen anything like it! They must make the lenses from the same stuff they make front-door spy-holes from.

Normally I quite like a bit of black cornering, but this is much, much more than that – it seems to encroach all the way to the middle and gives the feeling of tunnel vision.

As these are cameras and not my children I guess I’m allowed to say that this isn’t one of my favourites (aren’t I)? Maybe if the photos were of something a bit more urban they would look more in keeping – I’m not sure there’s a scene in life gritty enough to handle this amount of vignette though!

What do you reckon – have I been a bit harsh? should I give it another try?

All photos taken with Olympus Trip 500 and Kodak ColorPlus 200 35mm film

Blogging has taught me something about myself; that I love to write. Little journeys; one tentative word in front of the another, before long I’m walking, running, skipping – I can travel in any direction, stop whenever I choose, or just keep going and going and going. It’s fun! Yes, I’m passionate about photography but the realisation that something as simple as a handful of words can be so powerful, well it leaves me a bit awestruck and dizzy – there’s so much potential in me, in you, in all of us – we just need it a way of recording and sharing. Leave me a comment if you have your own blog – I may not have seen it and I love discovering new people; new worlds.

With writing though there are time when all that white space can be a scary thing. When I feel like this I often find it’s easier to be given an assignment or restricted in some way – do you find that? Give me something to write about, something for the creeping ivy of my words to wrap themselves around, then just watch those words fly!

Hmm, I guess all this has been a round-about way of saying ‘hey, here’s something I’ve written for Lomography Magazine‘, it’s about shooting photos in square-format. Being given a subject to write about really sparks my imagination and this brought lots of memories flooding back!

 a lovely (square) Cornish beach – taken with Zenith 80 and 120 film

My favourite photography blog

My favourite flickr photo (a whole set, actually; a whole awesome set)

My favourite retro TV show – thanks Netflix

My favourite current TV show (OMG, the tension, the paranoia, the twisty-turny conspiracy-ness)!

My favourite place I want to visit.

My favourite dog – I love Dave!

My favourite swimming baths I want to visit (with my camera) (not in a pervy way)

My favourite gardening tips for small spaces

My favourite DIY Easter decorations to try

My favourite funnies

At the end of this post is a video of me showing my three favorite cameras I’ve used this month – I think I say I’ve added photos from them on here. I haven’t, I lied! They will be here soon though, I didn’t get to the lab in time today so they’ll be up in the next day or two. I did get round to scanning the blossom photo though…

Taken with Fuji Instax Mini 25

I’ve been away. Again. I know!

Not only that but it was once of the warmest weeks we’ve ever had in March here in the UK. It was 23°C (that’s like 70-something in Fahrenheit). So glorious and pure chance!

We went to Cornwall – I love Cornwall so much. I love the ocean; proper blue waves and foamy white surf rather than the tameness of the English Channel which is what I am used to at home.

And the sand – the sand is amazing. It was so nice feeling it squishing through my toes on one of our many beach walks – I’m not one for sitting still when I go away – not like this chap. I don’t know who he is but I liked the headline he was reading (not sure if you can make it out or not, it says ‘A load of codswallop’ – I love that word)!

I will stop for ice cream though – I’m not crazy!

St Ives is an amazing spot to explore – I find something different every time I go. I love the name of this street – I want to live in Love Lane!

It’s the sea that I really love though.

The sea.

The sea.

The sea when it swallows up the blazing orange sun.

I’m sighing as I type this – but in a contented and flolloppy way. I miss being there already, but it’s good to be home too – I can crack on with my ‘big plan‘ now!

As you may already know, I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with cross-processing film in the past – I love how the colours shift in such surprising ways and that the slightest difference in film can give you completely different results – for example Fujifilm Sensia 100 looks red, whereas Fujifilm Sensia 400 looks blue/green.

In tribute to these crazy colours (plus the blown-out highlights, contrasty shadows and intensified grain that you also get with cross-processing) I have created a Photoshop action to replicate the look!

Run the Action and it will create seven different Adjustment Layers in a variety of colourways – simply switch on the one you like the look of! (The ‘grain/noise’ layer acn be switched off too if you prefer).

Xpro – Photoshop action

How to install and run a photoshop Action

All about Cross Processing

Have fun!