A new year, lots of new resolutions that last mere days. I didn’t bother with any as I don’t see an arbitrary point in time as the catalyst to start afresh.

Having trudged through January,

always the darkest and dankest month, and fought off bronchitis during February, now is the time to get back into my photography in a big way.

Whilst idle with bronchitis I did muster the energy to have a look through my camera kit and give some of the more used bodies a bit of a clean. Nothing major, just a few cotton buds to lift the dust buried in the cracks and grooves. My black FM2n bodies look clean and sleek whilst the FE is bright and shiny. The FE is still missing a screw, but then aren’t we all?

So what’s next? Well I’m going up to Nottingham in a couple of weeks so will no doubt take my FE and possibly an FM2n as well, so I can use two lenses without having to swap. The 50mm f/1.8 on the FE and the 24mm f/2 on the FM2n ought to do it. I shall probably stick with Ilford XP2 400 black and white film as it’s what I’ve got the most of.

I said I’d be getting back into it in a big way, didn’t I? Well maybe not that big, using just two SLRs and a few rolls of film, but it’s been so long since I did any proper shoots that this will feel big by comparison.

I also need to get back into street photography. The Olympus Trip 35 I have is perfect for that. It’s small, easy to use, discreet and super fast to shoot with. I’m thinking Trafalgar Square, the South Bank and the intermediary areas for some reasonably good shots to get me back in to the swing of things.

Normally this is a time where I would be pining for new kit, but who wants a Nikon D800 with hundreds of annoying menu items, buttons and far too many megapixels when an FE, a 50mm and a roll of film will more than suffice?