Recap: Ireland Analog Lomowalk in Belfast

In August we teamed up with film photography community Ireland Analog for a special Lomowalk in Belfast using the LomoChrome Metropolis film in medium format and 35 mm. This was their first photowalk outside of Dublin, guided by Ruairi, AKA analogue_papers. They visited the House of Palms and the greenhouses of the Boticanical Gardens and saw tropical plants, flowers, cacti & palm trees. They also visited the Queen's University Campus with its yellow-brick-castle-like buildings and then headed to the Belfast City Hall, which is quite recognizable with its green copper dome.

We talked to some of the participants from the walk about the day and how they found shooting with the LomoChrome Metropolis, as well as some LomoChrome Purple film.

I've been to quite a few of the Ireland Analog photo walks before, however this was the first one I went to outside of Dublin. I found it particularly exciting to explore a city I was less familiar with. The most enjoyable aspect of the photo walks for me is meeting other photographers, seeing their work and also just having a good chat with them.

I've used the LomoChrome Metropolis before in the 35 mm format, both the old and new formulas and both times I rated it at 100 ISO. For the photowalk I decided to shoot it at 200 ISO just to see how it'd look and I'm very happy with the look. Comparing the shots I took on Metropolis to shots earlier in the day on Portra 400, the desaturated colours and harsher contrast gives it a very stylised look. - thomas_on_film

This was my first time using Lomography Metropolis and also the first time using a filmstock with such a unique and out of the ordinary color palette. What I noticed first when observing the packaging is that the film is listed as variable ISO between 100 and 400. Based on a few sample photos online, it seemed like shooting it at 400 would give a slight greener tint to the photos as opposed to a colder and more neutral tint at lower ISOs. Not being a hundred percent sure what value to go with, I figured I would pick the middle and go with 200 ISO. Looking back at the scans I got back, I am quite happy with the results. I knew the film would be contrasty, but I was surprised that I did have quite a good amount of details in the shadows as well.

Metering wise, I usually have the habit of leaning on the overexposure side when in doubt. Looking at the results I think the grungy and desaturated color palette suits the deeper and darker images more than the lighter ones. For instance, I am quite a fan of the desaturated reds and blues from the security box in my photo (@marcargentique taken with a Mamiya R67). Same would go with the greens of the grass and yellow-oranges of the Belfast Queens University building (Photo @marcargentique - Mamiya R67). If I was to shoot it again, I would probably keep that in mind and possibly try to shoot it at 400 ISO to get a bit more of the effect. - marcargentique

To find out more about Ireland Analog visit their Instagram page.

2022-09-24 #gear #news #people #event #interview #lomowalk #uk #irish #ireland-analog #reacp