Film Photography - Nikon F601

Hi there folks, it feels like its been ages since I’ve made a new blogpost. And whilst I am saying this I figured out that my last blog dates from May. So its about time I did something about that!

I have been trying out some film photography recently. Something I have never really done before. And it is safe to say that I am a complete noob with zero experience when it comes to all thins analog photography. But just that is what I like about trying out something new. Go in blank, find out how things work. And make plenty of mistakes.

Below you can see a gallery of images that came out of my 2nd ever roll of film. The first one I messed up completely whilst trying to shoot black and white film on an old Olympus Trip 35. This little camera did not want to advance my film correctly, as I found out once “filled up” the roll of film. A complete bust. After this failed attempt it took me a few weeks to try again, and give it a second chance.

I did so this time with a Nikon F601 and 35-70mm lens that I had laying around the house without actually ever knowing having it. Ah well, I guess I got lucky… this camera already felt much more comfortable, and did the trick for me. It was great fun shooting this thing, and thinking about settings and all that a little bit differently compared to what I am used to whilst shooting digitally.

Click the photographs to see them in their full size/ratio!

As you can see from this gallery the images came out quite nice, to look at. None of them are masterpieces. But they don’t need to be. Shooting film for me is just having fun and trying something else.

I also had a go at scanning the negatives at home. Doing it by DSLR scanning. But as you can see I need more practice at that, and perhaps better gear. Specifically a dedicated macro lens to get clearer images and resolution. I now shot these with my 50mm F1.8 and macro extension tubes. Which comes with losing control of aperture and quite the challenge to nail focus. I guess all good things comes with practice, time and patience. I will keep shooting film every now and then and perhaps try different things for scanning my images. Thanks for reading!

This is the camera I have shot above images on. The Nikon F601 and a 35-70mm F3.3-4.5 lens. A camera from the early 90’s.

Saksun (The Faroe Islands) in February

I haven’t been posting a lot of blogs lately, the reason for that? Well I’ve been busy traveling a bit again. As we speak I have now finished 3 trips in the past 2 months. Twice to the Faroe Islands, and a full month in Norway (more on that later)

In this blogpost I’ll be showing you a few shots of the town of Saksun, in the Faroe Islands. These shots were taken mid February during a private workshop I was running.

More about Saksun.

Chances are you've seen a picture of the village of Saksun in the Faroe Islands pass by. In fact, it is one of the most photographed places in the archipelago. The village consists of a handful of cottages with traditional grass roofs and the surrounding landscape is just as iconic. Saksun is nestled between jagged mountain peaks and there is only one winding road connecting it to the outside world. On one side a wide waterfall flows down, on the other you can descend to a black sand beach. Right in the middle is a snow-white church that contrasts beautifully with the dark landscape.

In the village itself there is a drone ban and if you do not comply, you have the chance of being shot out of the sky by an angry farmer. Everywhere there are signs with rules of conduct for tourists and the beautiful waterfall is marred by a path that should prevent all the grass from being trampled.

It doesn't feel very inviting, but on the other hand I can imagine that the inhabitants are going crazy because of all those tourists. Saksun is the only place on the Faroe Islands where they have special parking spaces for touring cars and that while there is essentially almost nothing to see. The village consists of less than 10 houses, so you can imagine that the village is bursting at the seams on the busy days.

If you also want to visit Saksun, you need to know a few things. First, the village is only accessible by private transportation. No buses stop there, so you'll need a rental car or elevator. Parking is available at the church in the center, but the number of spaces is limited. Especially on a nice day in high season you have the chance that there are no parking spaces left.

In addition, I would like to urge you to abide by the rules of conduct. So no drones, no walking outside the hiking trails and no trespassing on private property.

Noir Flohay & Baraque Michel

A beautiful winters day in Belgium. Hiking with my dad and brother. We were just enjoying ourselves and taking it easy as we were walking towards Noir Flohay in the Baraque Michel area of the "The High Fens"

The High Fens is a nature reserve located at an altitude of 700 meters on the border of eastern Belgium and Germany. The area is characterized by, due to the high altitude, extreme rainfall. But also a lot of fog and in the winter lots of snow. An ideal area for photography. On the vast plateau you will find scattered solitary trees and groups of trees.

One of the most beautiful places on the plateau is the burnt forest Noir Flohay. Over 10 years ago, a fire destroyed this piece of forest and now there are only bare, partly blackened trees. A wonderful place to stroll around and enjoy the bizarre shapes that some trees have.

And here’s a few more drone photographs of a nearby forest. Managed to capture some of that beautiful winter afternoon light!

And why not watch this drone video footage I also managed to capture whilst spending some time here. Feel free to subscribe to my Youtube channel if you liked this video for updates on more content in the future. Thank you!

One last blogpost for 2021

The last photo session of the year, and it turned out to be a failure. Or did it? Find about what I had in mind for this final 2021 video, and what actually happened. As I wander off into the forest and just take things as they come. Thanks for watching, and being here. Happy new year and see you in 2022!

And here are some of the handheld shots I got today. There’s 2 drone shots in there also. Just before it got completely dark! Thanks for watching.