Northumberland, England
Pushing HP5 on a February beach
Notes on light, film and cold hands from the Low Tide commission, for anyone shooting the coast in winter.
Low Tide was commissioned by a coastal trust that wanted pictures of the people who work the shore. In February the light on that coast lasts about seven hours, and on most days it never gets above grey.
Two stops more than the box says
I rated Ilford HP5 at 1600 and asked the lab to push it two stops. The grain gets bigger and the blacks get deeper, which suits wet stone and oilskins. For colour I kept a second body loaded with Portra 160 for the rare bright hour.
The practical lessons were simpler. Load film in the car, not on the beach. Keep spare batteries in an inside pocket. Ask before you photograph anyone, and then ask again when the picture is printed.
What the trust used
The trust printed twelve pictures for a walking exhibition along the harbour wall and used four more in a report to their funders. The fishermen each got a print of their own portrait, which is the part of the job I remember best.