I met Nathan on Sunday at the Black History Month celebrations at Binks Yard (an event hosted by the Canal and Riverside Trust ). I was walking to the bar and saw Nathan walking into the yard holding a film camera. Being a camera geek I had to make a comment on the camera and told Nathan he had a lovely camera. It was a Canon FT camera from the 1970’s with and FD 50mm prime lens. I told him I collected old lenses and he had a great camera.
I returned with the drinks an sat down with Jane to watch the acts performing on the stage. Nathan was sat behind us with a young lady. I got my camera out to take some photos of the acts and after a while Nathan came over to our table and sat beside me and told me he was new to film photography and asked if I have any tips on how best to use the camera.
Nathan told me he had spent some time in London and one of his friends was a photographer and that’s what made him take up the hobby. I asked him what genres he was interested in. I told him the lens was a beautiful lens (50mm f1.8 prime lens) and would take great portraits. I told him about keeping the aperture wide open for portraits to help create some nice bokeh and soft backgrounds. I also told him where to get his film processed locally by a company that also ran workshops on photography and allowed you to develop your own films on the premises. I also told him where he could buy film and film cameras locally. I showed him the companies on Instagram and he followed them. He also followed me when I showed him my photos.
Nathan is a student at Nottingham Trent University and is studying Architecture and Design, I told him that sounded like a great course. Nathan comes from Birmingham.
Having chatted to Nathan for a few minutes I asked him if would be part of my strangers project. As you can see he said yes. We walked over to the stage area of the yard and used an urban wall for a backdrop.
Thanks for allowing me to photograph you Nathan. Good luck with your degree course and film photography.
