(again and the demise of @photog.righ)

I’ll start with the other updates. Don’t worry. I wont be offended if you skip to the photography. I’d hope that’s what you’d be here for anyway!

Instagram Frustrations - the demise of @photog.righ

You may have noticed that I have been quiet for a couple of weeks, not just on the blog, but also on my main social channels. I’m actually sat on a bit of content, both in terms of instax and from my actual main camera from hikes etc. But at the moment I have lost any motivation to do anything with those images that would involve a potentially social media related outcome/marketing requirement. This is for good reason. I have seen squarespace adverts on YouTube channels that have said things like “get a website because social media is not yours and can be taken away from you”.

I always thought that this would mainly impact those whose accounts were pushing the boundaries of the Instagram guidelines. This swearing, selling illegal substances and showing too much skin. I always thought that this wouldn’t really apply to me and it didn’t form any of my consideration in setting up a portfolio for myself (Instagram did, don’t get me wrong, but it was the removal of reach for photography, rather than the risks mentioned here).

So, a couple of weeks ago I got a new phone. I transfer everything over to the phone, and part ex’d my old one. Now, as you may be aware I have a couple of profiles. I can now access the one I did for portraits, and my instax one. My main page however, my landscape page I can no longer access. The only one of the pages measured in 4 figures instead of three is now dead, and in the blink of an eye.

When I tried to access the page, instead of going through the authentication app, Instagram tried to force me to accept on the “trusted device”. By the time it switched to allowing me to use the authenticator app it seemed to break the link with that app, and it stopped showing the Instagram account as an option. When setting up the account it directed you to screenshot some backup codes, eight in total, in case of something like this happening. Instagram didn’t accept any of them. Not one.

I have tried to go through the ‘video’ process, but my account was landscapes, not full of selfies. I do not want to see myself on the ‘influencer’ end of photography, so this has been unsuccessful now probably 11 or 12 times. In short the account is now gone. I don’t know whether to restart it (probably not an option given some of the quirks my instax account has compared to it, such as being unable to switch of suggested posts), maybe I’ll turn my portrait account into a landscape one, or maybe I’ll just double down on instant film photography… I don’t know yet. I just know now that @photog.righ is dead. RIP.

The Wall of Instax

You will probably already be aware that I have created a new Instagram for my Instax photography (those paying attention when reading the above my have noticed I mentioned it there for instance). You can find this new page at the link below:

@thewallofinstax

To go along with this new profile, I have also created a new page on the portfolio website. This will house my favourite images taken, especially where they fall into that tenebrism style of sharp and distinct contrast of play between light and shadow. Expect lots of window light images to be dropped into there over the sunnier days of the summer months. It won’t be as regular a feed as the instagram profile, but just a place for what I consider my best instant photography images. Check it out at the link below (also now in the header/footer of the page)

The Wall of Instax

Beamish

As I really liked my choice of what3words from last time I went to Beamish, I’m going to recycle it. Admittedly this is partly through laziness as well, but it’s good to be green :- ///only.rebounded.cheese

The last time we were here, it was under the guise that it would probably look cool on instax (not wrong there). This time was a little different. I have a few more shoots under my belt, I’m starting to learn the camera and more than anything, I had purpose and direction.

You may have noticed a running theme in a lot of my favourite images. That is the play on light and shadow in dark and contrasty images. That it what I went out to capture, and forms the basis of most of the intent behind the images below. Apart from the pig. That was just because it was cute… Oinks!

Worst things first

This week I have two images for this category.

Both are related to the settings used. The images of the bus was rushed to try and compose and input my settings. I didn’t think I was going to get a clear shot, and then I got a gap at the last minute which caused the rush. Whilst I wasn’t as far away as I thought I may be when guessing settings like this, it was still considerably overexposed, which drops it into this category. The other image, the red hat, it was simply too dark which has resulted in a blurry mess. I think with the colours it would have been cool, but I was never realistically going to pull it off without a tripod/monopod and as mentioned in my last Beamish blog, they are banned here.

OK Images

Piggy

As mentioned above, this was not intended as a piece of photographic art, the pig was just cute.

Vintage Cameras

I spoke to the lady who was working in the photography shop in the Town just after taking this image. Apparently none of the vintage cameras around the site actually work. How awesome a project would it be to have one of these in working condition, and to wander around the museum photographing it on a vintage camera? On a side note you can pick up a Kodak No.1 or Kodak Six Junior folding medium format camera on vintagecamerahut for under £100… not that I’ve been looking… Both of which are folding 120 cameras, and both have a look of my Mint RF70 about them. I wonder if cameras like that formed the basis for the development of my modern Instax version?

My Favourites

Pockerley Manor

Three of the five images I’ve put into my favourites this week are from the 1820’s Pockerley Manor. All three have a similar feel about them. Similar colour. This makes sense to be fair given they were only taken about 10 minutes apart.

The first is an image of a chair silhouetted against the door that leads you in from the garden side of the house. The dark frame to the right is the boards that the red hat was hanging on earlier in the blog.

The middle image is of dinner hanging in the larder. I’ve photographed this many times on my fuji, but never shot it dark like this. I think that really suits this style (but I would say that as I’m becoming bias towards it).

When I was taking the third picture of the pots and pans by the window my partner and little ones had abandoned me. As I was framing up the shot, a family walked past the doorway to head upstairs, and one of the children rather loudly said “Mummy, why’s that man taking a photo of no-one, that’s strange!” which in a weird way I found sweet. I forget that taking photos without people in is normalised to my own children as they probably can’t really remember weekends without me having a camera on me. That’s one of the things I love about having a camera that shoots instax. I say one of, it’s the thing I love the most. Having actual real world photos of my kids that don’t just get lost to the ether of the photos saved to my phone. Tangible real to the touch memories.

Stable Windows

The below image was taken through the office of the building that houses the little pit ponies in the the Pit Village section of the museum. I originally thought I’d shot it a little dark, but still liked the slight blooming to the windows. The more I looked at it though, the more I could see. The plant. The texture in the brick work surrounding the window. The wood of the desk and chair. the chains behind the chair that would look rather ominous if you didn’t know it was a stable. In my opinion, it has ended up dark, but in that sort of dark way that you get in some films, like batman. Where it’s dark but with intention and that makes it make sense cinematically. I think this would have been amazing to have had someone in period clothing sat in the chair. That would have made it chef’s kiss worthy for me.

The kitchen of Norman Cornish

As there wasn’t someone sat in the chair above, the honour of my favourite ever instant film photo goes to a different image taken on that day. This was taken in the kitchen of Number 2 Front Street. The house of Artist Norman Cornish, nd artist from the North East of England. This house was his former residence in Spennymoor, the town I grew up in through my teenage years.

The image is all about that window light. It was hitting just right. I think in the summer the angle may be a bit steep during the museums opening hours, so we were probably lucky to get a cloudless winter day that allowed the shadows to fall over the scales and onto the wall in the way they did.

The shot looks warm, but this is because the wall is painted yellow, rather than it being warm sunset light. The warmth gives a bit of a nostalgic feel, and it makes me wish in many ways that Instax was a little bit warmer in it’s colour balance. Maybe I’ll try to bastardise a contraption to allow tones like this myself in future. I’m sure there’ll be a way to coat a UV filter with a weak CTO sheet to hold up to my lens… Ideas, ideas…

Normally at the end of a blog entry I would direct you to my main page for more content and notification of future posts. As that is no longer and option for me, instead please consider checking out my profile @thewallofinstax and consider dropping a few likes on some of my posts there. Thank you.