Street Photography with a 35mm Film Camera

On 30th July I bought a rather cheap 35mm compact film camera off Carousel for SGD$30. It's a Yashica Minitec AF. A point and shoot camera. Well, I got it away with the price because the built-in flashlight isn't working. I'm not doing any camera review on this blog. Anyway it's an enjoyable camera to shoot with on the streets.

So today I would be sharing some street photos I took on the first roll of Kodak Portra 800. Yes I know you might wonder why ISO 800 film. One reason because the built-in flash is dead and I need a high ISO to be able to shoot in low light condition. Another reason is I got this film some time ago and I just want to try it out on this camera. On the other hand, with its unverified programmed electronic shutter speed of 1/60 – 1/200 second at aperture f/3.5, shooting under sunny day might result in over exposures.

Well, see for yourself. Here are the photos I took on that same day and completed the roll on 5 August. I would not be showing all 36 photos, only the good ones I believe, are more appropriate and presentable.

I was looking out for interesting subjects to shoot when I came across these road sign displays on Clive Street in Little India. With the assorted colors of maroon, green and orange in juxtaposition, I composed them against the sunny blue sky.

Next, I saw this yellow scooter parked right outside Sim Lim Square in a red lined box, beside a bicycle. I like the yellow that set against the green foliage. Yes I must admit that shooting on ISO 800 film resulted in super grainy photos, but it works just fine for me.

I kept on walking towards the next location, Mount Emily Road. I came to this location spot a few times before, during the twilight hours and I fell in love with the environment and surrounding ambience. However it was my first time visiting this place in board daylight, and I quickly took up positions to compose and this is one of the 4 shots I made.

Not far away, along Niven Road, I saw this red doors and thought it might be interesting to capture on film for its symmetrical shape. Yeah kind of a boring shot but I just took it anyway.

As our National Day is just around the corner, all Singapore citizens displayed the national flag outside their HDB flat corridors to show their patriotism. This photo was taken at one of the HDB flats in Short Street.

Most Singaporeans would recognize this old building located at the road junction between Teck Lim Road and Keong Saik Road. It's one of the iconic landmarks in Chinatown area.

As you can see and already know that I do a lot of walking for my street photography. Walking distance varied. It can be as long as a few tens of kilometers. Of course if I need to travel far locations, I would commute public transports. I really enjoy and at times I might bump into interesting characters or subjects to take photographs of. When I'm tired, I would just stay at one spot, watching people walk by, observing people's behavior and gestures, and take some snapshots.

Talking about commuting, I took a public bus to Circuit Road in MacPherson district area. It's been a long time since my visit to this neighborhood. Upon arrival, I looked up and saw this small white cloud floating by and quickly made this shot.

As I continued exploring the neighborhood, keeping a lookout for interesting subjects to shoot, I came across this old school rustic tricycle. Next I went to find that little Dragon playground at Pipit Road which I had made night photography of many years before. (Click HERE to view)

Few days later on 5 August, I was strolling along Singapore River when I saw this lady sat under a tree with her bicycle, taking shelter from the blazing hot sun.

For one of the last few frames, I went to Toa Payoh Garden and made this shot of the Y-shaped tree by the stone bridge. The last frame was exposed for this white hexagonal chain-like bridge which did not quite work out for me. Thus I'm not showing the photos here.

Upon completion, Yashica Minitec AF automatically rewound the film and I quickly sent it to Whampoa Color Center for development and scanning. I'm quite satisfied with their service and I looked through all the 36 photos and pre-selected the ones you see here. I post-processed them all in Adobe Photoshop to enhance the brightness and contrast and a little boost on the colors, with minor cropping.

Hope you enjoy reading my street photography journey with my Yashica Minitec AF. More street photos with this camera will be showing here in the near future. So if you haven't subscribe to my blog, please do so to keep updated of my new work.

Thank you for reading and viewing. Have a nice day.