Shooting in London with the Bronica 135W Film Back

My favourite shot from the roll which I think perfectly encapulates the look and feel of the Leadenhall Market building. The leading lines are accentuated by the 2.25:1 aspect ratio. 1/30s 80mm F2.8 with polariser.

Having become acquainted to shooting with the 135W film back with two previous rolls of film, it was time to finally head into London and have a bit of fun. This was helped further by the fact I finally had a viewfinder mask to help with composition. It feels like I’ve photographed central London to death but as I was shooting in a new format I thought it would be fun to try and re-interpret scenes that I was already familiar with. On this occasion I shot a roll of Ilford Pan F + - a highly detailed, ISO 50 film that I hadn’t shot in quite a while. Upon reflecting on the results from this roll, some shots came out a bit too flat for my liking, but this could easily be solved in the future with a yellow filter. That wasn’t true of all the shots I took and perhaps I just need to drop my exposure by a stop or half a stop to give a bit more crunch.

Bridges made for good subjects for panoramas. I waited for this small boat to go under Blackfriars Bridge before taking the shot. 1/60s 80mm F5.6 with polariser.

The Millenium Bridge is often photographed due to it’s interesting structure leading to St Paul’s Cathedral, one of central London’s most impressive buildings. Another usage of leading lines. 1/60s 80mm F5.6 with polariser.

So, what was I going to shoot? With a lack of height, it made my usual architecture shots impossible, although in the future I could try shooting a vertical panoramic now that I have a prism viewfinder (something I didn’t have at the time of shooting this). The most obvious choice was bridges, given their size and shape. Perfect for shooting panoramics and with the 80mm lens was plenty wide enough to fit the majority of the subject into the frame. For any shots that needed something a bit tighter I also brought along my 150mm lens, but I didn’t want to overload myself by bringing anymore. If you bring too many lenses you can sometimes second guess yourself.  

Here I captured a different, flatter perspective of the Millenium Bridge with he City of London in the background. This shows off a good cross section of the heart of the city. 1/60s 80mm F5.6 with polariser.

Further down the river I photographed the floating museum HMS Belfast. Unfortunately with such flat lighting the ship seems to merge into the background. 1/30s 150mm F5.6 with polariser.

As I think I’ve said before, getting your lines straight when shooting panoramics is critical as the longer aspect ratio is much less forgiving than traditional 3:2 when straightening in post. For this reason, it is better to have compositions with a bit more space around them than normal in case it does need a bit of fiddling with, although it pays to take the time to get it right in camera.

Breaking out my 150mm lens I tried to be a bit more creative with this shot of a Pret logo. I managed to nicely frame my reflection in the doorway inside. 1/15s 150mm F5.6 with polariser.

This shot was all about the leading line of the railing. If I had gone any longer than 80mm then this shot wouldn’t have worked very well, as it would have flattened the perspective too much. 1/125s 80mm F2.8 with polariser.

For me the standout image from the roll was the one from Leadenhall market. It works well in showing off the what the building looks like and its detail, while giving a sense of depth and avoiding the distractions from any passersby. The contrast levels are bang on for my tastes and this comes from metering for the highlights, which in this case aided the three-dimensional look at the image. When composed properly leading lines can really be given extra punch, though the reverse will be true if you get it wrong.

Shooting this scene as a panorama put more emphasis on the largest white boat, helped by being able to frame the scene with just enough negative space. The reflections in the water also came out nicely. 1/15s 80mm F5.6 with polariser.

This scene is less successful as it’s a bit too busy and there’s not enough contrast to separate out some of the elements. 1/30s 150mm F4.0 with polariser.

I think the appeal of panoramics come from their similarity to the human vision. We tend to look at the scene in front of us from side to side, more than from top to bottom, and our peripheral vision stretches further than most people consciously realise. I think it is that that needs to be kept in mind when composing for panoramics to create the best images. Next time I go out it would be good to try shooting with my 50mm lens, as this gives me even more leeway in composing and fitting in large subjects like tall buildings, without worrying about having too much dead space which I may have with the standard 1:1 aspect ratio of my Bronica SQ-A. I can’t expect to be a master of panoramics straight away and I look forward to honing my skills over time.

Shooting from afar and compressing this scenes with a larger lens gives the scenes a greater sense of scale. Had I shot this on a normal 6x6 frame there would have been a lot more negative space. That may have worked with a nighttime scene in colour but it wouldn’t have been as effective during the day in monochrome. 1/30s 150mm F5.6 with polariser.

My second favourite shot from the roll with a single leading line drawing your eye through the frame from left to right. The contrast came out just as I wanted. 1/30s 80mm F5.6 with polariser.

If you enjoyed this blog then please consider leaving a tip below.