Wales in Film

     As many of you will already know my beat up Canon AE-1 accompanies me on every trip, Wales being no exception. I’m under no illusion that to many cyclists the idea of carrying a weighty old camera in addition to a modern DSLR is madness. After all, Bikepacking is all about saving weight, so why burden myself with a weighty old 35mm?!

     Check out my article on ‘ Film Photography ’ to understand why shooting in film is so rewarding…including a track from Hendrix live at the Royal Albert Hall…naturally. However, in short, I personally feel that you simply don’t get the same satisfaction shooting digital. It’s the imperfection in film that makes every image so unique, so special. I love my 6D, but in comparison to the grainy AE-1 photos it feels very clinical. It’s hard to explain, but it almost feels as though the digital camera was never really there, that I’m simply looking at a place through a glossy LCD screen. Alternatively, I can actually see the effects of the environment on my film camera, once you press the shutter there’s no return, it takes me back to the moment. I feel as though the photos taken with my DSLR collectively tell a story, whereas every single photo taken on my AE-1 has a narrative. There’s so much more information in every photo, a question to be asked, a story to be told.

     Wales was a truly stunning landscape to shoot. The bad weather provided an almost dystopian greyness to the photos, which juxtaposed with the beautiful colours of spring. The landscapes varied dramatically from vast forests, baron mountain passes, huge grassy plains and deep valleys. This rugged and somewhat unforgiving landscape provided limitless photographic opportunities, here’s just one 35mm perspective of a truly incredible country.

Here's my short film documenting the trip: