Hi everyone,

Back in the 70s and 80s my favourite 35mm films were Ilford FP4 black and white and Kodachrome ISO 25 and 64 colour slide films loaded in my Olympus OM-1 and OM-2 cameras. I tried other colour films but I kept returning to Kodachrome, back then, as many of you will remember, Kodak was THE name that was pretty synonymous with photography throughout my formative years. I vividly remember getting the Kodachrome slides back in the post from the Kodak Lab in their yellow plastic container with an opaque lid. I went for a trip into Southwick around the port area a short distance further down the coast from one of my favourite locations Shoreham By Sea. I’ve not been there before and I just took my Olympus PEN E-PL8 and a Lumix 12-32mm lens. As this was a first visit, I didn’t know what I’d find there, and I only wanted to take one lens, I took the zoom and resisted the urge to go totally retro and fit just my M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 lens, if and when I return I might just take a prime lens next time. The only accessories that I took with me were a spare camera battery and, as it was a beautiful sunny day , a CPL filter.

For fun I thought I’d process my images using DXO FilmPack 8’s Kodachrome 25 preset with a little added saturation and/or vibrancy to taste as I remember the colours, particularly the reds popping with Kodachrome 25. As Paul Simon said in his song Kodachrome, “Gives me those nice bright colours”. I also added a little softness as the lenses that I was using back then weren’t as sharp as modern ones, lastly I decided to add a slight matte and fade effects in Luminar NEO. On the way there on the train I got into the mood listening to some of my favourite music from that era and a bit earlier, specifically the band Cream with Eric “Slowhand” Clapton and one of my drumming idols “Ginger” Baker 🙂 . What a nostalgic, fun, blast from the past day wandering around in the sunshine, unencumbered by heavier clothing, with a small lightweight camera and lens, feeling good. I’m not solely trying to recapture my youth, in a funny sort of way I’ve gone full circle. It’s the simplicity and joys of feeling free of the burden of bulky heavier gear which greatly enhances the fun factor and gives me a “buzz”. If photography can’t be enjoyable then, in my opinion, it’s simply not worth pursuing. For a few hours at least, all the world really was indeed a sunny day!. 🙂 .

Leigh