I got up early this morning for a pre-work walk. The weather has turned nice again, although at the time I went out it was quite chilly and at points on my route there was frost on the ground in shaded areas. I decided to take the Bronica ETRSi with me in case there was something worth photographing as the camera has a part-used roll of Fomapan 100 loaded and I though I might grab a few more frames as I walked.
I took a few shots – one of the local signal box, one of some wildflowers beside a tree, and then some dew-coated cobwebs in the vegetation next to the river. After taking this last shot I checked the frame counter to see how many shots remained and was surprised to see that it still said 5, the same number that had been displayed when I set out on my walk.
Puzzlement, and concern that there was some problem or fault causing this quickly turned to realisation as to the true cause of the issue.
A couple of days ago I’d used the camera to make a still-life of some ornamental fruit that we have in a display bowl in the kitchen. As the light was dim in the kitchen, and as the film is quite slow at 100asa, I’d mounted the camera on a tripod, inserted a shutter-release cable, and then locked up the mirror before taking the shot. Or so I thought. What I’d actually done is switched off the camera’s multiple-exposure protection. The switches for this and mirror lock-up look practically identical and sit next to each other on the side of the camera body, and I’d obviously forgotten which was which.
So, as a result of my mistake, I now have a frame that has (I think) four shots exposed upon it. Maybe it will reveal some sort of wonderful happy accident, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.
After rectifying the situation I managed to grab a couple of extra shots on the remainder of my walk, although I suspect the better ones are on the ruined frame.
Today’s photo is from my trip to Magpie Mine in March. It has little to do with the content of today’s post, but was shot on a roll of the same film.
Yashica Mat 124G & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 16 March 2020
Steel City Snapper photography 
There’s a very good chance that your ‘unintentional’ multiple exposure will turn out well – it’s the carefully planned intentional ones that usually turn out as rubbish !
Fingers crossed….
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I’m not sure I share your optimism, but if it turns out to be a masterpiece of serendipity I’ll be sure to post it here. 🙂
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Haha, that’s frustrating…Sorry. But it happens to all of us on occasion, right? And who knows, maybe the multi-exposure will turn out to be something extra special…
As per usual, the attached image in this post is very nice. I’ve said it before, but you really do great work with Fomapan stocks. In my view, the subject of that photo is actually the structure that’s out-of-focus in the distance, not what’s in the foreground. Was that your intention?
I really like the Fomapan stocks myself and I’m hoping they don’t get greedy like the rest of the manufacturers seem to have, and that they actually keep their prices reasonable. For budget reasons they’re my go-to stocks. TRI-X at $7 per roll or T-MAX 400 for $8 in the U.S. (at a minimum; most places these stocks are even more expensive than that) is just not a viable option. B&W 35mm film just shouldn’t cost that much. Ilford — at least HP5 — isn’t quite as bad, yet, but they seem to be heading that direction rapidly. Sometimes I honestly wonder if the big manufacturers are trying to make film unaffordable for the majority of us. Budget stocks are basically gone.
By the way, as a follow-up to our recent discussion about Sure Shots, I went looking and managed to find a Sure Shot Max for a decent price. It’s on its way to me now. Here’s to hoping it’s functioning properly and there aren’t any unforseen issues. I’m pretty excited about it. I believe the Max is identical to the Telemax, minus the longer focal length option. Since I really only care about the wide focal length, that’s fine by me. It’s one less thing to have to worry about breaking.
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Hi P. Yep, the OOF derelict mine buildings are deliberate. I wanted the fence and wall to be the focus, but with the distant buildings looming mysteriously in the background. There’ll be some in-focus shots of those structures coming soon though. 🙂
Here’s hoping that your Sure Shot Max is in great condition when it arrives, and that it serves you well. I’ll look forward to seeing your photos.
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Yep, it’s the mystery of the out-of-focus derelict mining structures that makes the photo so interesting. I look forward to seeing some of the in-focus shots. I bet those buildings are quite fascinating.
To date, I haven’t shared any of my photography online. But that may change. If I do start uploading some shots to Flickr or something, I’ll be sure to let you know. I’d love your input.
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