Wednesday 8th April 2015

For my One Camera One Lens One Year project so far I’ve used a single Capture One preset, intended to emulate Tri-X film pushed 2 stops. I’ve been happy with the look, and have become used to pre-visualising scenes with it in mind, with some success I think.

But spring is here now: in the past few days the weather has improved markedly, and along with it a kind of nostalgia mixed with a longing to try something new has arisen in me. I’ve been poking around with some other C1 presets and came across one I’d never really given much consideration, that supposedly emulates Fuji Provia 400X. I honestly couldn’t say how accurate it is, but neither do I particularly care; the main thing is I like it, and I want to experiment more with it.

nicholls in colour

So, for the next few weeks I’m going to use it for my OCOLOY pictures, and see how things go. Maybe this is just a short-term thing that’ll quickly fade, and I’ll go back to the Tri-X look. I’m also aware of the fact that one of the purposes of the OCOLOY project is to hone my skills within strict limitations, and that switching to an entirely different look is … giving up? cheating? I don’t know. Like I said, it’s just the way I’m feeling at the moment: the need for a change; I’m undecided whether I should embrace it, though, or fight it. If I go with it, will it stay with me even once winter comes back around? We’ll see.

It’ll certainly take some getting used to, shooting in colour again.