Beautiful Failure

Modern cameras made us lazy. Advanced metering systems take care of proper exposition and even if they fail to deliver perfect measurements, wide dynamic range of contemporary sensors will make it possible to save the photo in post-production. It is very hard to change the habits while using vintage, analog cameras.

Cameras from the 80s were equipped with aperture priority automation and can also be operated without much thinking about the exposition. Unfortunately, such approach can result in many wasted frames. Simple center-weighted metering can be easily fooled by high contrast, off-center composition and even color of the main subject.

It would be reasonable to forget about this simple automation and stick to traditional manual exposition setting. I know only two cameras that, thanks to their exceptional ergonomics, encourage photographer to use the manual mode: Nikon FG and Minolta X500.

Recently, I took the later one for a walk around the newest district of Stockholm: Hagastaden. I was so proud of myself while using the manual mode, cautiously and patiently metering the light in tricky, sunny conditions. The result? Huge fail!

Despite 25 years of experience in film photography, I kept thinking digital. As a result, I got two rolls of hugely underexposed film. Was I crying? No! Thanks to this mistake, photos have a unique character. I hope you like them.