I always had dreams and ambitions of being a great photographer, like a short bearded heavy metal loving and badass motorcycle hooligan Aussie version of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Yep, I’ve always had tickets on myself. I figured that slinging an old camera around my neck and loading it with some classy film would automatically turn me into Magnum material. Well not really. I realised very early on in my photographic journey that I like owning shoes, eating food, sleeping in a bed and living in a house. Photography is too hard a graft for a delicate petal like myself who likes having enough cash to own cool stuff like clothes and soap. So, I’ve kept my photography in the realm of the hobbyist and over the years I’ve come to love the fact that nobody but me is in control of my photography. If I want to park the Nikon DSLR and spend a week wasting expired film on shots of my feet in different pairs of thongs (or flip flops as you foreign heathens call them) or blasting whole rolls of Portra 800 on photos of toilets…then hey, I don’t have any clients telling me how I should do it or that they aren’t happy with the shots.
In my old age I’ve come to embrace the freedom of hobby photography and the pure joy of using film photography to record mundane day to day life and family milestones and special little moments that mean nothing to anyone else except me and my kin like birthdays, holidays and school sports days. So after this ridiculously long introduction and without further adieu, here are some pretty mundane shots of a recent family holiday to the beach town of Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. These shots are straight out of the scanner in all of their unedited crooked horizon glory. Enjoy.
A beach holiday roll of shots wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory palm tree shot.Now this is a shop that really knows how to inform customers of what they sell.Why are there so many signs on this street?I mostly use the 55mm F2 Takumar lens, I have other lenses but the 55mm is the one I use 99% of the time. I try to limit my gear to force me to compose thoughtfully and creatively. This one would probably have been better with the Takumar 135mm that sits on the shelf collecting dust. Sometimes gear restrictions creates unnecessary limitations. I don’t know. Food for thought. But check out Hammerheads if you’re in Caloundra and need a hair cut.Another mundane photo of nothing special but I like it. I walked past this building every day on my holiday and thought it’d make a nice composition.I am a sucker for Sailor Jerry style signs.Keep your gun handy. This place is crazy dangerous.I. FREAKING. LOVE. WRESTLING. (and monster trucks).I wonder if it was Banksy?That is one keen tagger to climb up there with a bag of spray paintsIt’s hard getting shots in harsh midday light on a camera with no light meter on cheap film with limited latitude. But I don’t think I’d be exaggerating to say I nailed this shot so well that it is possibly the greatest photograph anyone has ever taken. Ever. No exaggeration.Thanks Netflix. Can’t stop progress I suppose. …I love the Takumar 55mm F2 lens that I have on my old Spotmatic SP1000. The sharpness and details are awesome. And it’s a dirt cheap lens too.The dangerous back alleys of CaloundraWell, not really dangerous. Quite colourful and friendly actually.The same shot as two shots down but taken at a different time of day and from a different angle.Hey, how ya doin’? Sorry you can’t get through. Why don’t you leave your name and your number and I’ll get back to you. De La Soul.Sometimes when I get my photos back I have no idea what I was thinking when I took a shot. Well, this is one of those shots. This is a shot of a post with lights taken looking straight into the sun to get that awesome artistic lens flare. Yeah, I’m a real artist.Most buildings on the beachfront in Caloundra were built from the 1970’s to the 1990’s and the houses behind these large apartment buildings are mostly 1950’s beach shacks. It’s a pretty interesting juxtaposition.I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that the holiday apartment had a spa on the roof. I felt like royalty, sitting in a spa on the roof of a swanky beach apartment. Life is pretty good. Anyway here’s a shot from the roof of the holiday apartment.Looking east from the balcony of the holiday apartment in downtown Caloundra.Looking north from the balcony of the holiday apartment in downtown Caloundra.Downtown Caloundra in the late afternoon when the light is perfect and the Spotmatic is just begging to be used.My attempt at being all artistic and framing my shot.Mundane life. But I like it.If you are still scrolling through these shots then I commend you and award you bonus points for stamina.I love this shot. It sums up holidays to me. Not the greatest photo anyone has ever taken but photos are about memories as much as art and this one is a great memory.Getting bored yet?You’re going to get a few photos of this. Anyone who has seen my insta feed (check it out, it’s seriously the greatest photography you’ll ever see) knows that I’m all about trees and ferris wheels.No roll of film is complete without a reflections shot.Glasshouse Mountains. Can you see them..? All the way in the back of the shot….I don’t think a good photo needs to be a perfect photo. Straight horizons are for posers!This shot is taken at the start of spring and it was a beautiful hot night. I hate living in Queensland.Ah, this is what holidays are all about!First shot off the roll and it’s a keeper. Colorplus is really underrated in my opinion.
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Andrew L on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
I really enjoyed your shots and commentary. Nicely done! There's nothing like shooting a casual roll of color film in nice light sometimes. I haven't used ColorPlus but it looks similar to Pro Image 100, which I just tried out: a little more limited of a color palette than Gold, but very complementary colors. Kodak is really dependable for consistent colors and good sharpness. I'll have to give it a try.
Thanks Andrew. Yeah I reckon Colorplus is pretty under rated. It can be a bit hit and miss in low light and shadows but on a sunny beach holiday it works a treat. I usually shoot sunny 16 on the Spotmatic because I couldn't be bothered to buy an o ring to adapt a modern battery for it, so there's no meter. But with Colorplus I find the best results are 1 stop overexposed when metering on the shadows, so the light meter app on my phone gets a fair bit of use. Thanks for the comment mate, really appreciate it.
Tony Warren on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 02/12/2022
Very much in line with my kind of photography, Royce. Nothing better than being able to do it your way, as Frank S said. Been trying this film myself and am qute imoressed, especially with the price over here on the other side of the Tasman. You are being too modest about your images, especially as you have presented them warts and all, as Oliver C said about his portrait. I have always felt that if I managed one or two frames per film that I would be prepared to expose to the camera club's scrutiny I counted myself lucky.
Thongs, of course, decorate a completely different part of the body outside of the Antipodes!
R Chan on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 12/12/2022
Hi, I would have enjoyed more if you explained why you liked or took each image. "compose thoughtfully and creatively", I don't think I get that feeling in most of your images - at least if they had a special meaning for you, please explain. Or perhaps its that I find buildings boring.
Royce on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 13/12/2022
Hi R Chan, thanks for the comment. I think you raise an important question for photographers. Why do we take the images that we take? The short answer, is that I just take the pictures that I think look nice. The longer answer is that I also want to keep a record of times, places, events to record the history of my family and the history of my community. But generally I just like pretty colours.
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Comments
Martin on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
Eric on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
Andrew L on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
Comment posted: 06/10/2022
Hans Gustafsson on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 07/10/2022
Comment posted: 07/10/2022
Brian Nicholls on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 07/10/2022
A wonderfully inspirational portfolio of abstract photography. Well done!
Comment posted: 07/10/2022
Tony Warren on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 02/12/2022
Thongs, of course, decorate a completely different part of the body outside of the Antipodes!
Comment posted: 02/12/2022
R Chan on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 12/12/2022
Royce on The Whole Roll – Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 and Kodak Colorplus 200- By Royce
Comment posted: 13/12/2022