Field Notes

Walks, film photography and things noticed along the way.

Low tide, early light

The best hour on the coast is the one before breakfast. The sand keeps the pattern of the water for a few minutes, and the light comes in almost flat. Two rolls of slide film, one of them slightly overexposed, which turned out to be the better one.

Notes on a secondhand rangefinder

A small camera changes how you walk. You stop more often, you look longer, and you take fewer pictures. The meter is optimistic by about half a stop, so I simply trust the sunny sixteen rule and the box speed.

Rain in the old town

Wet cobblestones reflect everything: shop signs, umbrellas, the evening sky. Slow film and a steady hand against a lamppost were enough for most of the frames.