Die Snappy Snaps, die.

Hope a good Christmas was had by all.

I passed this house in Tooting the other day. It is, without a doubt, the most decorated house I’ve seen.

The family happened to be leaving the house and I spoke to the dad about his intricately detailed decorations. He said it took 2 weeks to put the whole thing up. I mean, seriously – there was a snowman with fake snow, and a mechanical Father Christmas, as well as reindeers and a train. It was better than any Santa’s grotto I’ve seen! Gotta love the dedication.

I went to watch Merchants of Bollywood, at the Hammersmith Apollo on Boxing Day. Bipin, who’s a good friend in India, designed the costumes, so we got given tickets to the show.

I went backstage to see the crew and cast. I also spoke to the producer, Mark Brady, who was very friendly.

Carol Furtado – the main actress.

She’s such a lovely person, and a great performer too.

It was a good show – the dancers were great, and of course the costumes!

Now onto the evilness that is Snappy Snaps. I took a roll of Tri-X to the Bishopsgate branch of Snappy Snaps where they do a three-hour black and white service for £12.99. I thought that was pretty good considering the place I normally go to charges the same for a 24-hour service – the difference is, while the latter is a pro-lab that develops high-quality stuff, Snappy Snaps uses some cheap-arse method to develop pictures that even the worst film/camera/settings couldn’t have produced.

Yes, they fucked up my pictures

They were developed with hardly any contrast whatsoever – completely washed out. I know this isn’t a result of my camera, or exposure, or film.
I went back to ask them wtf they’ve done (in more polite terms, of course ). They took a look and claimed they hadn’t noticed the first time around, but offered to reprint them with more contrast.

“Some people like a lot of contrast, others don’t”, Miss Snappy Snaps told me. Er, but who likes dull, washed-out, ugly grey prints?

So, they told me to return a couple of hours later. I did, and the pictures were now too dark.

“Our machine is being weird”, Miss Snappy said. Well, that’s not really my problem now is it? You’re clearly a bunch of amateurs who have no idea what you’re doing!

They agreed to edit the negs and print a third time – I’m not holding my breath; I’m pretty certain they’ll come out just as bad. I get them back on Friday.
In the meantime, here we have an example of these wonderful shots, from the hell-hole that is Snappy Snaps. What kind of name is Snappy Snaps anyway? I shouldn’t have gone there based on the name alone.

Notice the tones..this is a straight scan with only levels adjusted.

Now I’ve edited using the channel mixer and converted to monochrome..

Notice the difference? What they gave me had some kind of horrid blue/green tint. This is not what b&w film is meant to look like!

Paul playing Line Rider at work – we’re a busy bunch.

Again I’ve had to edit the levels and convert to mono..

There’s probably not much point showing any other pictures. I’ll wait until the negs have been edited and see what kind of job they do.

This is the second time I’ve had issues with developers – the first time was with Jessops who took 6 weeks to get a b&w film back to me. I think I should give up on these high street stores. I don’t think it’s worth me spending £18 at Metro, so I guess it’s back to my usual little lab tucked away behind Old Street. If anyone knows of any good b&w developers in the vicinity of Central London (preferably in the City), that charges less than £15 and does a 24 hour service, please let me know! And no, “develop them yourself” is not a solution!

After 5 months..

..I have some film shots back. Yes, it really took me 5 months to finish off that roll. Shame on me. Here are a few.

All Superia 200 – Nikon EM

It’s the Haw again! This is him on Remembrance Sunday, having a quiet moment to himself. I approached him to say hello and he nodded and smiled, but I left him alone. He probably thinks I’m stalking him.

Taken on the same day in the Field Of Remembrance, where crosses were laid in memory of those who died in the war.

Squirrels are so cute.

They don’t love me like they love him though.

This shot confused me when I saw it – it was meant to be of the CCTV cams but it looks like it’s been double exposed. Then I realised that the train is in fact in the reflection of the window. It was pitch black outside hence the strong reflection, which I wasn’t expecting! Anyway it probably doesn’t look so great but I liked how it turned out kind of abstract.

On the Tube..nothing special. Street-type shots should really be in b&w.

Craig still doesn’t know how to tie a tie so Gill had to do it for him. He also hates having his picture taken. He’s not photogenic he says. I have to agree.

He took a shot of me which was completely out of focus. He said it did it purposely as the blur makes my complexion look better

It’s sad when you want to finish off a roll and have nothing to take pictures of but yourself.

There’s a narcissist in all of us.

More shots to come..

In other news, all the way over in San Francisco, Mr. pr3d4t0r saw this car and chased it
to get a shot for me

In case you don’t know, my IRC name is ‘censored’. I so want that number plate.

Oh, and if you haven’t seen Spike Lee’s documentary on Hurricane Katrina – When The Levees Broke – you really should try to. It’s probably the best documentary I’ve ever seen. It’s filmed in such a poignant way..well, you just have to see it. Brilliant stuff.