Have I Solved My Photography Nightmare?

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As my photography detox continues, I have to keep reminding myself of a few things:

You can't force a shot that's not there.

I've found myself seeing a moment and wishing I had a different lens, or promised myself that I would come back at golden hour to improve the lighting. Instead of looking around to see what I can capture in the moment, I often think about what I am missing instead. I feel like I see through my eyes in 3:2 these days.

Sometimes there is no shot, and that's okay.

A few of my photo sessions have ended with no usable photos, and learning to be okay with that has been a challenge.

There's no such thing as a perfect edit.

Editing is a blank canvas and an artistic expression. There is no right way to edit a photo, and you (I) don't need to re-edit it every night in Lightroom, tweaking colours until 2am. Something I have found that really helps stop this obsession is printing my photos. It feels more like a finished piece of art, and it's much more effort to re-edit and re-print a photo than it is to overwrite the JPEG, so I don't feel the need to critique the edit as much.

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EDC Roundup - July 2025

Fishing for Bass Praktica MTL3 + Pentacon 50mm f1.8 Kentmere 400

Fishing for Bass - 19/07/25

Clacton-on-Sea, Essex

Everyone pray for my bank balance - I've started shooting on film again...

I'll go into it in more detail in my roll review, but my relationship with 35mm was soured by butchering a roll of Kodak Gold in Japan. Whilst packing for a move I found my Praktica MTL3 collecting dust in the bottom of a box, and decided to give it another go.

For it's first outing in two years, I took it bass fishing with by dad, uncle and brother. I got a few keepers, but my favourite is this photo of my dad looking very pleased with his catch. It's these little personal moments that make this style of photography so special. I also love my dad's choice of outfit here. All that's missing is some fishing flies stuck to his khaki bucket hat, and you'd have a picture straight out of a 50s camping catalogue.

Film embraces imperfection. If the shot's a little off, I'm not going to bother to retake it and waste the film. Who knows if it's a little off anyway? I won't get to see the shot for another week or so. By that time, the moment has been and gone, and reliving the memory when the scans come back from the lab is a magical feeling that's lost in the digital age.

Sunset on the Season Lumix GX80 + Panasonic 20mm f1.7 @ f1.7 , 1/4000, ISO 200

Sunset on the Season - 20/07/25

Colchester, Essex

The Lumix GX80 frustrates me in a lot of ways. It's menus are clunky, it shows it's age, it's app is awful, but my god does it take a good photo. I tried to use it as my go-to backup camera, but I needed something with a bit more video power. If I didn't do so much video work, it would be the perfect camera for me.

I threw it in my bag just before I went to play an American Football game, and captured this shot of my kit on the floor in the afternoon sun. The game was a real milestone for me, marking the end of my first season in the adult league and a step up to the division above. I'll be honest, I didn't play great, but there were moments I was proud of, and this photo will always remind me of the accomplishment I felt when stepping off the field to round off the year.

I know I moan that I am never happy with my edits, but I'm super proud of this one. I need to make it a LUT and get it on my S9 ASAP. There's something about the blues and the highlight bloom that makes it super cinematic. It also helps that we wear blue and orange. Ever since re-buying the S9 I've considered selling the GX80, but this photo gives me second thoughts every time I see it.

(I entered this into the 'Micro Four Nerds' photo competition, and it placed in the top ten! That was a nice surprise, thanks Emily ☺️)

St Paul's at Night - 24/07/25

Southwark, London

This was taken from the balcony of a venue on the south bank that I have worked a couple times, and it provides a stunning view of St Paul's. I was there to help make a video for an event, and the brief was 'LA summer vibes'. Unfortunately, that's really hard to pull off when it rains the entire day.

St Paul's at Night Lumix S9 + Panasonic 18-40mm f4.5-6.3 @ f4.5 , 1/20, ISO 3200

I took this landscape just as the clouds were about to break, and I love the apocalyptic looking sky. You can see the sunset just peeking out of the horizon if you look hard enough. I'm also really happy with this edit (I can't believe I said that twice in once month!). I'd say this is more of a 'navy and orange' than a 'teal and orange' look but it works just as well.

It's sights like this that sum up just how overwhelming and intense London can be. It's unlike anywhere I have ever lived before, and it's a lot to take in, but so far I'm loving every second.

Bargain Hunting Lumix S9 + Panasonic 18-40mm f14.5-6.3 @ f8, 1/60, ISO 400

Bargain Hunting - 31/07/25

Shoreditch, London

Street photography is not my thing. Taking photos of strangers in public drives my anxiety up the wall. I follow a lot of street photographers online and envy how easy they make it look. Maybe it's the stupidly expensive Leica they all have? At £6000, I would expect it to come with some confidence as well.

That being said, in London it's the easiest style to practice. I got this shot walking through Spitalfields Market just before closing, and walked past this guy holding pots up to the light like you would check a glass of wine. I doubled back around the market and quickly sneaked this shot.

I love the chaos of the items on display, and the drama in the man's pose, hoisting the vase like Yorick's skull. The foreground was a bit too distracting, so I've drawn the eye to the subject with a bit of vignetting. I wish I had gotten closer, but baby steps.

As I've promised myself not to keep re-editing photos, I've kept it as is but I think it would look better in monochrome. I was going for a Fuji film stock vibe, but the colours are a bit too busy. I'd love to do a bit more street photography on actual film, but my Praktica is made of solid metal, including it's shutter; a great guarantee it will still work after 50 years, but not so good for stealth. It sounds like you are slamming a loading bay door closed.

So what have I learnt this month?

Shooting film is very freeing (but expensive) - Call me a hipster if you want, but film is pure magic to me. It takes away a lot of the main photography stress points for me. It's teaching me patience and it's making me embrace the imperfections in my work. It's making me notice little details in the photos I take. One thing I don't understand is why developing black and white is so expensive. Don't tempt me in with cheaper film and make me pay double to develop it!

Photos feel complete when you print them - One of the reasons I re-edit my pictures so much is because it's so easy to do so. A JPEG in my google drive never feels complete or finished. That's one of the reasons I enjoy doing these posts so much. Seeing my photo framed by a paragraph of text makes it feel much more like a completed project or piece of art. Printing gives me the same satisfaction, especially with my travel photos.

I'm trying a few styles on for size - If someone asks me what my style is, I'm not sure I would know how to answer. Is this a good or a bad thing? I'm not too sure, but I'm hoping they all mash into something that is uniquely mine eventually.

Happy shooting all! Keep creating, and remember, trust and enjoy the process. I know I'm starting to.