I was lucky to avoid quarantine restrictions for a few days in the summer and escape to a beautiful gite in the Côtes-d’Armor with my OH and our two boys.

The weather was amazing. (They say that the sun shines in the righteous don’t they?) And I finally got the chance to shoot some rolls of ILFORD ORTHO Plus that had been sat in my fridge since it’s launch back in October 2019.

From the Ramparts:

After seeing some interesting shots on IG & Twitter and reading a previous post on here where @givemeabiscuit shot this film with an orange filter, I was keen to see how it would respond to a yellow one. I was hoping for sunny days with cotton wool clouds that I could bring out with the yellow filter.

Moulin de Moidrey:

5 Frames With... ILFORD ORTHO PLUS and a Yellow filter in the beautiful French sunshine - by Michelle Parr

Having the kids at home whilst working full time meant that developing the holiday stash of film myself was pretty unlikely to happen.

I pretended that I was going to get around to doing it for a couple of weeks then gave in and dropped them into HARMANLab when I next went into the office. (I’d forgotten how exciting it can be waiting for your pictures to drop through the letterbox, or in this case on to my desk).

Mont St Michel:

The negatives arrived, and in true professional photographer style, I immediately held them up to the window to get an idea of what was in store when the scans came through. (Downloading hi-res images through a VPN is not a task for those lacking in patience).

They looked good. Clean and sharp with plenty of detail and a broad tonal range, I couldn’t wait to see the scans, keeping my fingers crossed for lots of keepers.

I wasn’t disappointed, the shots came out as I’d envisaged them (if you know me, then you know that that isn’t always the case), and there are several that I’m really excited to get into the darkroom and print.

Walking to Le Mont Saint Michel

5 Frames With... ILFORD ORTHO PLUS and a Yellow filter in the beautiful French sunshine - by Michelle Parr

The only downside? We rarely get the weather to shoot this beautiful film, although I’ll always have a couple of rolls on hand now just in case. Next step it to put some through one of my MF cameras.

Le Mont Saint Michel

5 Frames With... ILFORD ORTHO PLUS and a Yellow filter in the beautiful French sunshine - by Michelle Parr

These are all straight scans as provided by HARMANLab and have not been adjusted.

These were taken on my Olympus OM-10 and 50mm f/1.8 Zuiko lens. This is my go-camera and lens combination that I carry with me most of the time along with a Yellow (sometimes orange), filter. My current one is a cheap and cheerful Smardy brand.

My Olympus OM-1n, Michelle Parr

It’s small and lightweight and a real workhorse. I have put hundreds of rolls through the OM-10 and it has rarely let me down. (I had little blip this trip where I lost a different roll of Ortho, but I put that down to user error as my son had offered to rewind it 😊

~ Mich

Submit your 5 Frames… today

Get your own 5 Frames featured by submitting your article using this form or by sending an email via the contact link at the top of the page.

Share your knowledge, story or project

The transfer of knowledge across the film photography community is the heart of EMULSIVE. You can add your support by contributing your thoughts, work, experiences and ideas to inspire the hundreds of thousands of people who read these pages each month. Check out the submission guide here.

If you like what you’re reading you can also help this passion project by heading over to the EMULSIVE Patreon page and contributing as little as a dollar a month. There’s also print and apparel over at Society 6, currently showcasing over two dozen t-shirt designs and over a dozen unique photographs available for purchase.

Similar stuff on EMULSIVE

5 responses to “5 Frames With… ILFORD ORTHO PLUS and a yellow filter in the beautiful French sunshine”

  1. These pictures are simply fantastic, thank you so muc and also fantastic place. I have never tried this film, I will try it with a Nikon Body and a Ais 50mm Pancake, it will be no better than your Olympus excellent kit but near. The 50 mm is a great choice.
    Thanks again

  2. Paul,the restrictions you’re whinging about have reduced the number of Covid cases in Victoria from 723 on July 30th to a handful today (as you acknowledge).They’re now being wound back. Compare that with the mess Boris has created.

    Your little hobby isn’t important in the scheme of things.

    All the best,Craig.

    1. Thank you for wishing me all the best Craig. Not whinging tis not in my personality or character to do so. I feel for the people in the UK muchly…as with the people in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Sth America, the USA and India to name a few. I and the other 90% of people in Victoria, Australia are annoyed at the usual 10-15% that simply have not helped by doing what has been asked of them. We have read about people in the UK/USA in particular, who object to restrictions.

      Cheers Craig…we are on the way to being ‘free’ soon. The intense ‘lock-down’ is worth the effort…look /read about the results forthcoming. I want to get back to photography… that has been limited in both practice and context.. Soon !
      Enjoy. Paul

  3. Dear EM…every day l look forward to taking receipt of your emails ‘ 5 Frames’ theme… Brilliant.. I have only recently returned to real film photography…especially monochromatic images. My gear ? Canon AE1 – full set of lenses. Canon Program – full set of lenses…and a Mamiya 645 with a full set of lenses and a host of other accessories…eg bellows. My location ? Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Alas, we have the strictest set of COVID-19 restrictions in the world…can’t move more than 5 k’s from our front door, no-one in our homes, everything is closed apart from the Dr, Chemist, petrol stations and supermarkets, masks (approved type) only and on at all times..$5000.00 fines each if in a group more than 5….and so on. We have been in this state for more than 7 months..average daily new cases of COVID ? around 12…We are still wondering why we are so restricted…UK has 7000 + / day…Australia has around 20 a day. There is no possibility of developing and scanning film. December / January ??? Perhaps ! I am set up to develop and print/enlarge negatives too…BUT..not able to access chemicals and print papers….for how long ???
    One day l will be able to submit but till then…please do keep sending your emails and updates to me.

    Regards: Paul

  4. Looks like it works nicely like that
    One question: What filter factor do you use for a yellow filter with ortho?

 

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from EMULSIVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Discover more from EMULSIVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading