It was last Autumn when, together with two models, I visited Normandy in search of exciting stories.
I already had my mind set on a beautiful castle and its surroundings as, the previous spring, during a trip to the Ardennes, I took an one day detour to scout for places that would inspire me.
I was diligent about it, took notes, thought about the time line, about what place will be visited in the morning , where the afternoon will be spent and how the evening fading light could be used. I thought about how different weather would influence me, what film I could use and what camera.
At the end of the day I had a plan sketched out, a couple of pages that were filled with little stories stylized around the models, around one small beach or another, around a small village or a room in the castle that sparked my imagination.
The long-waited day came and, together with my muses, I was heading to Normandy. All started well but as we were closing in on our set location I was taught again a basic rule in planning for photography: unexpected things will happen. You see, this area, I later found out, is flooded for 2-3 months each year and the castle and hundreds of kilometres around it become unreachable by car and, we were facing the aftermaths of that said flood.
Undeterred, we did the only thing we could, kept on going and sure enough, though a couple of hours later than planned, the castle was in sight.
I stared by taking a few photos with my cell phone, recent smart-phones, which now have a few lenses even, are more handy tools you can expect. It is a great to replace Polaroid test shoots, to get an idea about perspective and composition and, for me at least, to get into the right mind-set.
The most interesting part started in the morning. Scene after scene my ideas were taking shape, becoming reality.
Sometimes it was just few shots per location. Other times the place was pleasant and inviting so, we were spending more time exploring and building on the initial plan.
I was working with different cameras and films. Hasselblad 203 and Pentax 67. Below you will see results from black and white films only: Ilford HP5+ and FP4. In next post I will publish my colour stories
