My 10 Favourite Shots of 2024
As 2024 draws to a close, I have looked back on the trips I went on and the photographic opportunities the year provided.
These are my ten favourite photographs of the year and a bit of story behind them:
As 2024 draws to a close, I have looked back on the trips I went on and the photographic opportunities the year provided.
As milestones go, this year I shot my first engagement photographs, spent the summer shooting on film with my first medium format camera, was a guest on a street photography podcast, got featured on YouTube and Instagram a few times by my favourite street photography community “Framelines”, finally attended and loved the classic car festival “Goodwood Revival”, captured the northern lights and hit my goal of keeping this blog updated with bi-monthly posts (on average).
These are my ten favourite photographs of the year and a bit of story behind them.
In no particular order:
1 - Revival Swing Party
One of my highlights of the year was visiting Goodwood Revival. Being a big fan of classic cars and classic fashion, the whole day provided so much to see and many photo opportunities. This scene occurred at revival village during a DJ set of swing music. I was happy that I was able to capture the moment while maintaining a sharp and well composed frame.
2 - USEUM
After only being in Vienna for an hour, I noticed this nice patch of light against a fancy building. I nearly didn’t stop as we were rushing to the Leica store before closing. Took a couple of frames and moved on. Number 22 on the memory card and possibly my favourite of the whole trip. It rained torrentially for hours shortly after this.
The moral of the story - never walk away from the photo.
3 - Newmarket Chairs
I spent a couple of hours at Newmarket racecourse one afternoon in the summer. No races were on that day which meant I could peruse around the grounds and capture some still life shots. This was one I took of the afternoon light hitting the green chairs in the stands.
4 - Roy
My favourite purchase this year was a 1966 Yashica-Mat TLR that I picked up for very little money in an antique store. I was unsure whether everything would work properly so loaded some Kodak XP2 black and white film and took it down the river one weekend. While stopping for a chat with a local painter friend Roy, I took this quick portrait of him and it is still one of my favourite shots I have created with this wonderful camera. I later had this photo printed and framed and gifted it to Roy. He seemed to like it.
5 - Engagement
Two of my closest friends, Craig and Regan, got engaged last Christmas so I took them out for one afternoon in January for a laid back engagement shoot. It was a lot of fun, something I would like to do more of in the new year. I’m glad I could be part of their special moment and it feels great to see some of these photographs hanging up in their home.
6 - Maleficent
I took a trip into the city on Halloween night with hopes to capture the scenes of Londoners dressed up on October 31st. Though I was initially disappointed by the lack of celebration, I eventually found a group of people in costume in Trafalgar Square. This young lady caught my eye and graciously posed for a few street portraits lit only by the Trafalgar street lamps.
7 - Missing the Ferry
I have shot a few music gigs over the years but none with such dynamic lighting as this Luton’s Hat Factory. I was pleased to be able to capture these photos for Irish folk band Missing the Ferry. A great bunch of guys and even better musicians.
8 - Aurora borealis
I was lucky enough to see and capture the Northern Lights this year and only had to travel as far as the field behind my flat, to do it. I spent couple of hours out there with my girlfriend trying different angles and techniques while the colours changed. It was very cold and extremely dark but we came away with some great shots and memories that will last.
9 - UFO
We took a day trip to Bratislava during our Vienna trip in the spring. It was a lovely city to walk around for a few hours. Just before our return bus was due to arrive, I spotted this shot so crouched and waited for a while for the crowd to clear. I was lucky to capture this moment of a passer by pointing at the alien overlords about to exterminate us.
10 - Flaneur
I captured this last image at “Chap” magazine’s Grand Flaneur Walk in the spring. A wonderful event where people dress in their Sunday best and drink till they’re tired. It is probably my favourite photo of the year as I feel everything in the frame fits perfectly together.
Next year I would like to concentrate more on street portraits and how to take a good one, give mastering zone focusing for street another go, finally get a few of my projects printed off in a low-cost zine form and complete and publish one of the two current street photography projects I am currently working on.
Happy New Year and I hope 2025 is kind to you.
Luke
My summer on film with the Yashica-Mat TLR
Shortly after I published my blog post about choosing between a Rolleiflex, M3 or Summilux lens, I came across a lovely little Yashica Mat TLR in great condition, in a local antique shop. After annoying the shopkeeper by spending half an hour checking everything functioned properly, I purchased this beauty and decided this would be a good way to see if I liked the TLR experience before jumping in head first with a Rollei.
Shortly after I published my blog post about choosing between a Rolleiflex, M3 or Summilux lens, I came across a lovely little Yashica Mat TLR in great condition, in a local antique shop. After annoying the shopkeeper by spending half an hour checking everything functioned properly, I purchased this beauty for £110. A great deal considering it included the full case, strap and user manual, seemed to work perfectly and didn’t seem to have any lens fungus. A lot less than I would have spent on any Rolleiflex, I decided this would be a good way to see if I liked the TLR experience before jumping in headfirst with a Rollei.
The Yashica Mat was first introduced in 1957. I believe they continued producing them until the mid-seventies, with my serial number suggesting it was made in 1966. The Rolleiflex inspiration is clear - they operate in exactly the same way, from cocking the shutter with the winding crank to changing the aperture and shutter speed with the thumb wheels. I am very glad about this as I tried a Rolleicord and found it a lot more fiddly to operate. The Yashica Mat places everything in a sensible place and is a joy to use. Later models added a light meter and the popular 124G model comes in a blacked-out colour scheme. I prefer my version though, I really like the silver and black look and have heard these inbuilt meter’s are now inaccurate so I am happy using a handheld one. The earlier models are apparently built better too but the important thing is they all use the same lens - the brilliant Yashinon 80mm f3.5.
Before I talk about image quality, I want to mention my innitial thoughts about using the camera.
The reversed viewfinder takes a little getting used to. Actually, a lot of getting used to. I still find myself doing a lot of panning and swiveling when trying to get a composition just right - particularly when trying to get lines or horizons straight. I wanted a TLR partly for the different shooting experience and this viewfinder method certainly provides that. I find it is quite easy to see when something is in focus though I still use the magnifier almost every time to make sure and not waste a single shot.
Speaking of the film, I am finding myself enjoying the process of loading the 120 rolls, shooting without an LCD screen and eagerly anticipating the scans coming back. The tactile feel of the focusing dial, winding crank and the way the light catches the shiny surfaces and twin coated lenses all make me want to go out and take photographs, which is what a good camera should do. I shot a couple of rolls and sent off for developing and scanning, half expecting the results to come back out of focus, under exposed, not sharp or - worst of all - completely blank due to a fault with the camera. After a week or so’s wait though, I got my photographs and was not disappointed.
I hope you will agree, the results are astonishing for a 58-year-old cheap camera. I knew medium format film produces a much bigger negative than 35mm, but I was not prepared for the jump in quality since I last shot film with an Olympus OM10 SLR. To be honest, I was never really satisfied with the results from that camera compared to any digital photograph I have taken so I am very pleased with what I have managed to get out of this Yashica Mat.
To get results like this, I took every precaution to get the most out of every photo. All the shots above were taken on Ilford HP5+ or Kodak Portra 400 professional grade film, processed and scanned by the folks at filmprocessing.co.uk and edited from the TIFF files in Capture One. I shot overexposed a stop where I could as I’d read extensively that this is the best way to recover the most detail from these films. The Portra shots I found often had a green tint so I tried my best to remedy this while still keeping colours natural. After the first few rolls I also found that the lens tended to flare quite severely so first 3D printed a lens hood before upgrading to a Bay 1 Rolleiflex one. All these steps I think contributed to better results than the last time I shot on film many years ago. The extra 7 years of photography experience didn’t hurt either I suppose.
One thing I didn’t expect was how much attention this old camera would get from the public. When I first started shooting my Leica on the streets, I’d get the odd “nice camera” comment but that is nothing compared to the amount of people that have approached me to ask about the strange box with two lenses I have hung around my neck. I have found this interest and curiosity helps when asking a stranger for a street portrait as people love to see what their picture would look like from such an old and outdated camera.
All in all, I am very pleased with my purchase. I am very lucky to have found such a great example of a lovely camera and the unique experience of shooting it is only matched by the results it provides. The only downside is I am now thinking even more about upgrading to a luxurious Rolleiflex.
