Amelia Le Brun visits Copenhagen with Lomography Color Negative 800 Film

Photographer and writer Amelia Le Brun has been traveling around Europe in a yellow camper van, capturing her adventures with an old camera and some Lomography 800 CN 35 mm film. Her work touches on themes of nostaliga and evokes feelings of simple pleasures and quiet adventures spent watching sunsets and building fires. We talked to Amelia about her experience shooting with film and she shared some valuable tips on being prepared when you're out photographing in the wilderness.

Hello Amelia, please tell us a bit about yourself?

Hi, I’m Amelia. I’m a Germany born, Jamaica raised, and UK based film and digital photographer. I live with my girlfriend and our two rescue dogs. We’re most often found traveling the world (where possible in our 1976 VW Bay window camper van.) I’m passionate about telling stories and creating work that pulls people in and makes them feel a part of the story.

Where did you shoot these photos?

I shot this roll of film all over Copenhagen on a recent city break. Due to the ‘unique’ state of the film camera I used, a few of these frames made for some pretty unusual double exposures.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the attachment I needed to make the camera fully manual, and left my trusty point-and-shoot at home so I had to push the film to trick my camera into thinking the ISO was higher than it was to stop my camera shooting at such low shutter speeds. The joys of film!

Why do you choose to shoot with film and what gear are you using for this trip?

I started my photography career on film, it was a medium I was drawn to as I grew up shooting endless rolls of film in Jamaica. I stopped for a while as my career picked up and I grew busier and busier. A couple of years ago I started shooting film in a much more serious way, investing in a Leica M6 and a beautiful Pentax 67 medium format camera. I shoot film now, because it helps me to slow down and truly appreciate what’s in front of me, and helps me to be more present at the time. I can spend hours staring at the back of a camera screen making sure every detail is perfect, film allows me to be more present and organic in my creating. For this trip I shot on my (now defunct) Olympus OM-10 and a 50 mm lens that I grabbed in an auction house.

How did you get on with the Lomography CN film?

When I first started shooting film Lomography was my go to, I had the Diana F, the Sprocket Rocket and endless rolls of film. So the Lomography stock is like an old friend. It’s the best 800 speed film I’ve shot in a long time. The greens and yellows are rich and warm, exactly what I want in film.

What advice would you give to someone traveling with a film camera?

I think the advice I’d give to someone traveling with a film camera is to embrace the unknown and unpredictable nature of film. It’s not a sure thing, and not as flexible as digital which is the joy for me. Embrace the feeling of not quite knowing how it’s gone, and the best feeling of all is developing an old roll and forgetting the gems you have hiding in there! If you’re new to film, I’d recommend you get a classic point-and-shoot, with fully automatic settings. It’s a really fun way to capture memories and get into shooting film without being overwhelmed by the complexity of manual settings; exposure, focus, ISO etc. Oh and also, don’t forget to pack spare batteries. No film cameras take the classic AA or AAA batteries, often more speciality ones. So make sure you’ve always got a couple of spares so you don’t get caught short.

Where are you travelling to next?

I am heading off to The Faroe Islands this week, with my next roll of Lomography 800 film, then Scotland and then onto Namibia! So I’ve got a few busy months to shoot as much film as I can!

To see more of Amelia's work visit her website and to follow her traveling adventures check out her Instagram page

2022-06-02 #people #places #travel #copenhagen #denmark #lomography-color-negative-800 #lomotraveler