I recently attended a photography course with the exceptionally talented Mr Kevin Meredith aka lomokev of flickr fame. The aim of the course was to better learn what it takes to take a good photograph.
While I know (or like to think i know!) much of the standard photography theory seen in many books (the rule of thirds, choose backgrounds wisely, yadda yadda, yadda) what I hoped to learn was an insight into how a photographer like Kevin approaches his shooting and to hopefully be able to apply some of the same principles to my work.
Day 1 of the two day course kicked off with a talk about what make a good photograph from Kevin. The afternoon was spent shooting a set list of 60 items using just two rolls of film, forcing you to think seriously before firing the shutter. An added bonus for me was that during day one we got to shoot using Lomo LCAs, a camera I have long admired from a distance and read much about (but so far resisted buying).
Lomo LCA
Day 2 was spent shooting a series of photographs (using digital cameras) with a self set theme. The idea being to help us build our own style by shooting a set of images with a common theme.
Using a Lomo LCA
I’ve read many times about LCA owners getting very frustrated at getting their films back from being developed only to find most of the shots are blurred. Well I didn’t really find this an issue. Following Kev’s advice i found that paying close attention to the “camera to subject distance” resulted in mainly sharp images. As recommended all of the shots taken on the 0.8m zone focus setting were kept sharp by measuring the distance from camera to subject with a fold out tape measure!
It still amazes me how much thought is required when shooting with such a ’simple’ camera such as the Lomo LCA or Olympus XA2. With only the focus zone and ISO to set it amazes me how easy it is to get wrong (common mistakes i make are forgetting to change the ASA when loading a new roll of film or forgetting to load a film all together or choosing the wrong focus zone for a shot). I could understand why I make these mistakes if i was a lazy digital photographer used to fully automatic cameras, however when shooting digitally (currently about 90% of the time) i tend to shoot in AV or manual modes, making many manual decisions along the way.
I think maybe the cause of my film mishaps is muscle memory from the days when any compact size camera I used to use was a fully automatic digital that I assume small cameras must be fully auto. Film cameras require a different kind of pre shot thought to digital ones.
A Low Light Lomo Shot
The thing i liked most about the lomo is that it has a relatively small focussing distance compared to similar cameras such as the Olympus XA2. The minimum focussing distance of the lca is 0.8m, allowing you to really fill the frame when taking head shots or get decent photographs of smaller subjects.
I liked my experience with lomos so much i’ve just bought one off ebay. I managed to pick one up for a good price (£41). It seems in good condition apart from the light seals have completely gone. I intend to fit new seals before putting the first roll of film through it. I’ll post back soon to let you know how i get on with it.
