A Foggy morning on the River Lea with my Holga 120 wpc Pinhole

I have no idea why these panoramic photos are so small - I suppose I have to change my lay out but I am not sure how to do that. Anyway, click on the image to see it in full size.

This is one of a series of black & white landscape photos I took back in November on a cold, foggy morning. Towards the end of the year I start taking the odd day off to burn through what holidays I have left and I decided to take my Holga 120 wpc out to capture the lovely winter atmosphere of the morning.

I ended up shooting several rolls trying out some different b&w films I had just bought and I will publish some of the better ones shortly.

I have posted before that I started my own personal project to document the Lea Valley Regional Park and countryside around Broxbourne in Herts and these photos very much are a part of that project. I want to try to capture intimate portraits of a landscape that has really been heavily influenced by man but has a sense of tranquility that is unique to England.

The River Lea was heavily engineered to act as a trade route bringing goods into London before the advent of the railways, and this legacy is still very apparent in the locks and the straightened course of the river. Many of the woods nearby are coppiced and the lakes are reclaimed gravel pits which are now home to numerous water fowl so man's hand is everywhere and it is our influence that make this area so special.

I was given the Holga wpc as a Christmas present in 2008 but was disappointed with my first efforts. It then sat gathering dust until I took it out for the outing in November - having seen the results I am totally smitten with the camera. It seemed to really capture the atmosphere of the morning perfectly.

The film used was for this shot was Ilford Delta 3200 pushed to ASA 25000 and developed in DDX (1+4 dilution, 25 mins at 20C).

I'll post more images from that morning shortly but feel free to comment, follow, swap links or send me money!

PS just got back from Marrakech and have a load of films to process.