Photographing Defenders

On Friday, Andy at Land Rovers UK, gave me the chance to drive a custom build 25 year old Defender.

Our task, with wing man Zach (whose DJ-ing skills were exemplary - the introduction to Goyte was most welcome), was to take the Defender out for the day and photograph it just before it is despatched to another happy customer in the USA.

I have worked closely with Land Rovers UK for over six years, but I had never had the opportunity to drive one of their very special Defenders before. I was given a quick lesson and drove it around the car park so that I could get used to its quirks (it has a manual choke!) before we were let out on the open road. It was surprisingly easy to drive and to manoeuvre. Stu, their head of the workshop, told me it is in fact shorter than a Mondeo Estate and no wider than your average car.

I had great fun driving this classic, well loved vehicle. It reminds me of Leica cameras - full manual control and lovingly crafted.

Here are a selection of photos from the day.

My photo challenge for 2014 - a film each week

A couple of years ago, I challenged myself to take a photo a day. I kept up with it most of the time.... However, some days just weren't conducive for taking photos and so I'd maybe steal one from another day.

The challenge did help improve my photography as it forced me to take my camera places where I had previously not bothered. 

So I have decided to try another challenge this year which is to take a different roll of film each week. 

As you can see from the photo, I have a pile of unused film some of which is going out of date. 

The majority is Kodak Elite Chrome Slide Film. I bought up rolls of the stuff when it was announced that they were discontinuing it. In the right conditions it produces beautifully saturated photos. 

So I intend to choose a film at the beginning of each week and a complimentary camera. They will be selected by a mixture of the weather forecast, what I'm doing that week and, most importantly, what I feel like. 

Given that it takes time to develop the film, I won't be able to show you the results straight away. However, I will try a keep this blog up to date with what I'm up to. 

I will be developing the black and white film myself, the Impossible Project film will do itself, while the colour film will take two to three weeks by Boots. 

Why do this? Using film is fun. It goes back to the basics of photography. There is the anticipation of waiting for the film to be developed. The tonal range of film is far superior to anything digital can offer. I also want to do my little bit at keeping analogue film alive.

So the challenge is set. I look forward to seeing how things develop and I hope you will be inspired to do something similar or at least follow my progress. 

Thank you for reading and Happy New Year!

This challenge will unfold on my photography blog which you can find here.