Lapland on Film. Part 1
It was late November 2023; and it would be the first of two trips to Lapland over the following couple of months. This first trip was going to be cold enough, with the start of the winter snow already falling, and the average temperature around about -18°c.
It was late November 2023; and it would be the first of two trips to Lapland over the following couple of months. This first trip was going to be cold enough, with the start of the winter snow already falling, and the average temperature around about -18°c. I decided I would take my Pentax on this trip, with both the 50mm and the 135mm lenses, but what would be my choice of film to bring? As much as I love the look of black & white, I decided I was only going to bring colour film, specifically Kodak’s Portra in both 400 and 800 form.
We began with an early hours flight into Helsinki. The weather was quite grey and overcast, and although it was cold, we didn’t feel it right away. After being used to the sort of cold we have here in England, namely damp, this felt much more fresh and didn’t bite straight away. I stepped off the train from the airport to the city in just jeans and a jumper, while everyone around us where wearing coats and high quality snow shoes. We brought the right clothing with us; base layers, jumpers, snow trousers/coats, but didn’t feel we needed them at that point. How wrong we were! We just had the day in Helsinki before getting onto the overnight sleeper train to Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, and thought that it would be easier to keep everything packed away until we got on the train. Unfortunately, we hadn’t expected the cold weather to hit us so hard! We enjoyed walking around the city, and the sun setting so early made the cold, dark city seem so different to what I was used to, but not having the right clothing on turned it into a tough day! Quite often we would need to seek shelter in any shops we could, just to give our frozen bodies the chance to warm up again before we headed back out into the cold.
The big wheel in Helsinki -
Taken on Kodak Portra 800 with the Pentax K2
Our train would be in the station at 11pm, and after a full, cold day wandering the streets of Helsinki, we were ready to get on and get settled. We had booked two rooms, with each room housing a bunk bed and a sink, with a communal toilet and shower room further down the carriage. We got into our rooms, got everyone ready for bed, and settled in for the night, with the gentle rocking of the moving train mixed with the long day of travelling, sending everyone to sleep pretty quickly.
The train was due into Rovaniemi station at around 10am, but we woke up around 7am to start getting ourselves ready, and this time, suitably dressed for the cold weather. Looking out of the window was unbelievable, we had woken up in a winter wonderland. The sights were amazing, and I spent too much time looking out of the window and taking pictures. I couldn’t believe just how stunning the landscape was; incredibly thick, untouched snow and so many trees, with the occasional wooden lodge. As cliché as it sounds, it really was like something out of a movie. Before I knew it, we were close to our final stop so needed to finish getting ready and make sure all the bags were packed and nothing was left in the room.
Snow covered home in Lapland -
Taken on Kodak Portra 400 with the Pentax K2
Looking out of the train window -
Taken on Kodak Portra 800 with the Pentax K2
Stepping out onto the platform at Rovaniemi was an experience. Everything was completely covered in snow, and the cold was like nothing I had felt before; it was fresh and easy to cope with now that we had the right layers on. I had booked a hire car, so leaving the family and the luggage out on the platform I went to go and get it. The car itself was buried in snow, so after loading it up and getting everyone inside, I left it running to warm up while I cleared the snow and checked for any damage. Before long we were ready to go, but I realised I had carried out absolutely no research into the driving laws of Finland. I usually have no issues driving abroad, but with the snow completely covering the roads I found myself driving around the train station car park unsure of how to even get on the main road! I also quickly learned that they don’t use grit outside of the main cities! They do plow the main roads, but when it snows so frequently it just builds up again, and you find yourself just driving on fields of white.
Rovaniemi train station -
Taken on Kodak Portra 800 with the Pentax K2
We couldn’t check into our apartment that early, so our first trip was to go to Santa Claus village. I must confess, I have never been a massively Christmassy person, even after having children, but this place really brings the magic to life. The forest setting and the snow certainly helped, although we were quite lucky as the winter snow can’t be guaranteed at that time of year; usually the first permanent snow falls in December. There were plenty of open fires and reindeer hides dotted around the village to help you to warm yourself up, and the smell of people cooking sausages on the open flames filled the air.
Our apartment was in the city and had heated, underground parking. This was great as it meant we didn’t need to waste any time warming the car, or removing any snow. The apartment itself was lovely, with double-double glazed windows and underfloor heating making it extremely warm. In fact, coming in from outside while still wearing all our layers was a mission and it became a bit of a necessity to get some clothes off as quickly as possible! Once in the apartment it was easy to forget how cold it was outside, but I had a stark reminder when I opened the window quite late at night to try and get a picture of the sky. Needless to say, it didn’t stay open for long!
Choosing Portra 400 and 800 to shoot with was a good decision, as at that time of year there was not a lot of sunlight in the day. While we were there the sun rose at about 10am and had set again by 3pm. It created this really magical feeling, as although the sun had set, the white snow meant that it never really got that dark. It did stay cold though, and although we were comfortable in our layers we definitely felt it on any exposed skin. My beard and my eyebrows all froze, and if you needed to take your hands out of your gloves for any reason you would soon regret it!
On one of the days we visited Father Christmas himself, in SantaPark. This is an underground cavern with lots of activities and shows, including making your own gingerbread, and going to Elf School, as well as the opportunity to meet the big man himself. No need for layers in here, so we left them in the car, although temporarily regretted it when we realised we had arrived about ten minutes before opening time! We must have looked a bit odd, stood outside in minus 18°c wearing just jeans and sweatshirt, while everyone else was wearing snow trousers, snow shoes, and heavy winter coats.
Inside Santa Park -
Taken on Kodak Portra 800 with the Pentax K2
Our days frequently included heading back to Santa Claus Village, as it is very much a local hub and a really nice place just to have a coffee or to play in the snow. On our last day we decided to drive out to Ranua, to visit the local zoo. This was about an hour’s drive to the South West of the city, and it wasn’t the drive I expected. I had heard that there isn’t as much traffic in Finland as we are used to in the UK, but I was surprised by just how quiet it was. The issue I first had with this, is that the roads were completely covered in snow. They had been plowed at some point, but as the snow was coming down heavy they were completely covered again while we were driving on them, with poles placed into the snow the only indicator of where the edge of the road was. This was an 80km/h road, and although I was anxiously doing my best to keep up with that, I was still being passed by the occasional driver that came up behind me. The scariest part was when the lorries came the other way, dragging up a snow cloud as they go by.
The weather got worse the further away from Rovaniemi we drove, and as we had a train to catch that afternoon, I was getting concerned that we would get snowed in at Ranua and not be able to get back in time. Eventually though, we got there and the zoo was incredibly quiet. It looked amazing with so much snow, as if we were just out in the wilderness, but I couldn’t relax as much as I would have liked as all I could think about was getting back in time for the train. There was a nice mix of animals, some that we don’t usually see in the UK like the Arctic Fox, and Moose, but the main attraction would have been the Polar Bear. I say ‘would have been’ as unfortunately he didn’t want to make an appearance for us, which was a shame but it’s given us another reason to go back again in the future.
Before long, it was time to get going, and I found some unexpected confidence on the drive back. I’m not sure where it came from as the weather was still poor, with snow hammering down and the road surface completely invisible, but I was no longer being passed by other drivers. The car was squirrelling around a little, but I was a lot more relaxed and we made good time getting back to the city. We were back at the train station with plenty of time to spare, and I couldn’t believe how immaculate the car was, considering the miles (kilometres?) we had put on it, but I guess that shows just how clean and powdery the snow is.
Being back on the train and settled into our rooms gave us mixed feelings; it was such a shame to be leaving this wonderful place, and we definitely wanted to stay forever, but it was still a relief to have made it to the station in time and get our luggage packed away, allowing us to properly relax. Again, it didn’t take long for everyone to fall asleep, the low drone of the wheels clicking over the tracks and the rocking of the train as it made its way south through the country is an experience that I really want to have again. By the time we awoke, we were back in Helsinki.
Santa Claus Express -
Taken on Kodak Portra 800 with the Pentax K2
This time we made sure we were dressed a bit more appropriately, and dropped our luggage to a storage facility in Helsinki airport, allowing us the freedom to roam the city for the rest of the day. The city centre isn’t huge, so other than a train ride from the airport we managed the rest of the day on foot, and although walking around with two young children in the cold and the snow wasn’t always easy, we did manage to see everything we wanted to, and it looked so good with a covering of snow.
So how did the camera and film cope during the cold..? Really well actually! A lot better than it would on our next trip, it turns out. I had no issues, and the film developed absolutely fine when I got back to the UK, even after going through the X-ray machine at Stanstead! (Finnish airport staff seem to know a lot more about film than the staff at Stanstead, that’s for sure!)
After a long day of wandering the streets, burning through another roll of Kodak’s Portra 400, we were ready to head back to Helsinki airport, and after an extremely long delay (about four hours, some of it in the terminal, but most of it in the plane) we were finally heading home, unaware that in a few months we would be on our way back…
Helsinki in the snow -
Taken on Kodak Portra 800 with the Pentax K2
How did I get started?
What led me to this point? Why am I writing a blog on my very own website, trying to get people to engage with what I am doing? Why am I trying to get people to book me to take pictures of them?
Because I love it, and I want to do more of it.
What led me to this point? Why am I writing a blog on my very own website, trying to get people to engage with what I am doing? Why am I trying to get people to book me to take pictures of them?
Because I love it, and I want to do more of it.
Euridge Manor
Taken on Ilford HP5+ with a Pentax K2
It all started late in 2022… In the shower… Where I tend to do my best thinking.
I have been shooting film for over 6 years at this point and I have always loved it, from the minute I first started. However, as with lots of things, Covid and the Lockdown (which sounds like a dodgy 90’s band!) put a pause on my film photography fun. Shooting film has always been expensive compared to digital, so I have always been limited to how often I could shoot it, but being unemployed during the lockdown made it completely impossible to do.
Luckily for me I managed to find employment later in 2020, which allowed me to ease back into my favourite pastime, but I had to be careful with how often I shot, and I was usually left with a dilemma; develop the roll I had just finished, or buy another roll to keep shooting? I generally built up a collection of exposed rolls before I would get them developed, meaning there was a long time between taking the picture and seeing the image.
But… back to 2022, and the shower.
I was thinking to myself; what could I do to allow me to photograph more often? It was something I would often think about, but with two young children and a mortgage, I just couldn’t think of how it would be possible. Then it hit me. Instead of paying to take pictures, get people to pay me to take pictures!
My brother was getting married in 2023; so I started to wonder how I would operate a photography business. What could I offer? And would anyone be interested in film photography for their wedding?
Overlooking Plymouth Sound
Taken on Kodak Portra 400 with a Leica M6
I started to do some research online; beginning with some google searches to see if there are many (if any!) other film wedding photographers out there, before I moved onto the Facebook groups. I found very little to begin with, but I did come across a few ‘hybrid’ shooters; people who generally shoot digital but take a film camera along as well to get that ‘classic, vintage look’.
I joined some wedding photography groups on Facebook and asked some questions to see what views other people had on the subject. With the sheer volume of wedding photography groups and the large amount of members in each group, I expected my posts and my questions to generally move through without getting much response, I was surprised to find that I got plenty of engagement, most of it rather unpleasant.
It turns out wedding photography is an extremely saturated market.
I guess it makes sense; modern digital cameras have come a long way, mixed with the post processing abilities of Photoshop, and even more so with the introduction of AI. It is so much easier for someone with little to no photography ability or background to throw their hat into the ring as a wedding photographer, or for family members to take the photos on the day instead of a professional photographer. I’m not saying that all new wedding photographers are without ability, but during my market research prior to starting my business, I found myself to be fairly underwhelmed by what I saw! This, mixed with the number of existing, and very successful, photographers, leads to a huge amount of supply to a relatively static demand.
New photographers tend to get ignored in the groups (unless they ask for some ‘constructive criticism’, then they get it!), but as I was offering something different, it felt very much like I was stepping on toes. I very quickly got into some ‘back and forth’ with experienced people, which made me feel like starting a photography business was a huge mistake. Luckily for me, for every ten people that tried to put me off, there was one person that was really helpful and offered some great advice.
The Wisteria at Euridge Manor
Taken on Kodak Portra 400 with a Leica M6
That advice to me… was to keep going.
It gave me the push that I needed to make the jump. I continued to ask questions in the groups, but I now had a desire to get my business up and running and to prove everyone wrong. I always like a challenge, and this was going to be a massive one; I had to learn quickly how to be a wedding photographer, find out what couples wanted from a wedding photographer, and to try and convince people that I was the wedding photographer for them.
I began to gather the equipment I needed, and reached out to established photographers to see if I could shadow and learn from them, or to see if I could come along and build my own portfolio in exchange for any help I could offer, and to give the couples some additional images for nothing. Contacting people directly was a bit different to the feedback I received in the groups; most people just didn’t reply. Those that did were rather polite and offered some really helpful advice, but generally weren’t able to offer me anything more than that.
After a while I started feeling like I was getting nowhere, and every email response I received essentially became a ‘no thank you, but good luck’. Until I opened one email, from a very established, and exceptionally talented photographer. This email immediately looked different because it actually had some depth to it; more than just a paragraph or two. This email was offering me the chance to come to a wedding in a few weeks time as a third photographer. It would give me the opportunity to experience a wedding as a photographer, to shadow an experienced photographer, and to build a portfolio. I was unbelievably excited, and that was before I even knew where this wedding would be taking place.
That’s when I was told that it would be at Euridge Manor!
If you don’t know where that is, just google it, you’ll understand. To get married there is an unbelievable experience, it has everything you could want and more; it is custom built as an ‘everything you would ever need’ type of venue. It’s the sort of venue where photographers pay to do a shoot there, so they have it in their portfolio. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was; I still can’t. I will have to do a separate blog on that.
I feel very honoured that I was given that opportunity. That photographer, by the way, was Laura Martha, her website is www.lauramarthaphotography.com please go and have a look, she is fantastic.
My next step shortly after this was to shoot at my brother’s wedding, which was a completely different experience. I had offered to photograph the wedding as a wedding gift, which just so happened to give me an opportunity for more experience and more portfolio pictures. However, I was also a guest at this wedding, along with my wife and two children. Mixed with the fact that there were family members there that I hadn’t seen for years and obviously wanted to spend some time with, this became a really difficult wedding day to photograph. I think I handled it pretty well, and I am happy with the images that I produced, but it’s fair to say that I slept well that night!
Euridge Manor
Taken on Kodak Portra 400 with a Leica M6
Let’s talk about grain
What is the first thing you see when you look at an image taken on film? Hopefully, it’s the amazing subject, or the vibrant colour, or the beautiful contrast. Or maybe it is the characteristics of the film stock.
Quite likely though, it will be the grain.
What is the first thing you see when you look at an image taken on film? Hopefully, it’s the amazing subject, or the vibrant colour, or the beautiful contrast. Or maybe it is the characteristics of the film stock.
Quite likely though, it will be the grain.
Taken on Kodak Portra 400 with a Pentax K2
As more and more developments are made with digital photography, modern day digital cameras are getting better at keeping a ‘clean’ image at higher ISO. That is, they look ‘less grainy’ at higher sensitivity levels. There is a big difference though, between the grain of analogue film, and the ‘grain’ of a digital image.
Digital ‘grain’ is actually what we call noise, and it is completely undesirable. Digital noise is made up of random imperfections in the image, usually shown as small black and white (Luminance noise), or colour dots (Colour noise). There are different reasons why you get this, and though they usually happen in low light situations, can still appear anytime. This can be extremely distracting and can ruin what would have been a great image.
Taken on Fomapan 400 with a Pentax K2
There are many options to try and reduce this effect, either with the settings used to take the image in the first place, or with de-noise software afterwards, and although these have become better and better, it still usually changes the image in some other way.
Now, analogue grain is completely different; in very basic terms, the emulsion on a film negative contains silver crystals. These crystals are light sensitive and turn into pure metallic silver when exposed to light. The grain on a film negative, is exactly what creates the image; without the grain, there would be no image.
Depending on the ISO (speed), and type of film, the crystals will either be bigger or smaller. A higher ISO film will have generally bigger crystals than a lower ISO film. And it’s much the same with black and white compared to colour. Also, the structure and shape of the grain can be different across various film stocks.
Analogue is very linear, and there is a lot more scope around a ‘correct’ exposure compared to digital. The level of grain will vary depending on the previously mentioned items, as well as the exposure (among other things), but it is a lot more organic, and therefore a lot more pleasing to the eye. Digital, however, is generally non-linear. It tends to be ‘off or on’ and ‘right or wrong’. If the exposure isn’t right it will not look at all pleasing to the eye (I am generalising, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and rules are made to be broken). Modern cameras have the ability to automatically correct poor exposure, and the power of post image processing is continually improving, making it a lot easier to avoid or correct noise in a digital image. This is not usually necessary in an analogue image. You can spend more time focussed on the image itself rather than thinking about what you are going to ‘fix’ later.
Taken on Kodak Portra 400 with a Leica M6
The biggest thing when it comes to grain, is that we are continually pushing high definition. New TV’s, new computers, new cameras, we are constantly improving the fidelity of everything. If we can’t see the nose hairs of the person on screen, we feel that we are looking at a low quality image. Someone recently showed me a picture that was taken at a wedding, and he was genuinely impressed that you could see makeup smeared on the shoulder of one of the guests’ suit!
I believe there is a time and a place for both analogue and digital, and both are beautiful in their own ways. Ultimately, photography is art, and you should find whatever it is you love in each image.