Moody Beach Days on 35 mm Film by @taraville

No matter where you are in the world, you probably agree with the sentiment that summer and the idea of the beach are inextricably linked. The season is associated with all things sunshine, sand, and sweat. In summer people gravitate towards the ocean, the nearest seaside town, or any body of water that helps us bask in that summer feeling – brightening up the overall mood and living in the present.

Beaches attract different people for all kinds of reasons. Maybe it’s the clear ocean breeze and warm golden sand, the expansiveness of the sea and the fact that the horizon feels closer to you than anywhere else in the world, or that it's reminiscent of a beautiful childhood memory. The latter is what rings most true for Lomography community member, Tara (@taraville), who has grown up with weekends spent by the beach and continues to capture each beach trip on film.

Growing up in Los Angeles meant having the beach in your backyard, as Tara shares:

“I loved going down to Venice, sitting on the sand, walking along the boardwalk. I loved going to Santa Monica and walking all the way to Pacific Palisades. I loved going to Malibu, as well. I love being on the coast, in general.”

This deep affection she has carries even beyond the summer. Currently residing in Oxford, England, she makes it a point to visit the beaches around her regardless of the season.

“An ideal beach day for me involves a lot of walking. It doesn’t matter if it’s warm or chilly, sunny or overcast. I even love the beach when it’s raining. But, I mainly love blue skies with white fluffy clouds, especially to photograph.”

She documents her visits to the beaches in Dorset, East Sussex, and Liverpool throughout the different seasons she finds herself in – with each coastline being a character of its own. Equipped with her trusted film cameras for these particular excursions, the Lomo-LC Wide and Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim, it was possible for her to visually translate the images she had intended to capture through having them as film companions and tools that complement the experience.

“The Lomo LC-Wide has a really nice wide lens (17 mm) and has a lot of functionality and features. I love to use it indoors and out. I love that it can do a double exposure. It’s great in low lighting but also great in the sun. It’s perfect indoors with 800 or 1600 speed film and no flash. It’s the perfect camera to take photos in the subway or metro. I love to use it with Lomo 800 speed film for indoors and Cinestill 800 for night time.”

On the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim:

“The Ultra Wide and Slim loves the sun, does amazing lens flares, and is very lightweight! It doesn’t even have a battery. It’s great to throw in your bag when you’re headed to a sunny destination. The little plastic lens is quite wide (22 mm) for a little simple point and shoot, which is nice if you like a wide lens. It shoots at a fixed f/11 and 1/125 shutter speed. I’ve used film speeds ranging from 100 to 1600 in it. I love that within these limitations, you can pick a film speed and use the camera throughout the day.”

When asked what her most memorable moment photographed from the film set was, she recounts a visit to Camber Sands:

“We walked through miles of farmland and finally saw the sea peeking out as we came up over the final stretch on our walk toward it. There was an incredibly low tide, sand dunes, and there were people out walking their dogs. The tide was so low that there was a separate body of shallow water between us and the sea. I’ve never seen such a low tide before. Some of the people looked like they were walking on water. In other instances, the body of water looked almost like a mirror.”

Time spent by an open body of water has the capacity to remind us of just how much the sea can connect us all – to our past selves, present lives, and future beings.

What are your favorite beaches or coastlines to capture on film? Feel free to comment down below and share them with the Lomography community! We’d like to thank Tara for sharing her photos and experiences with us! To view more of her adventures caught on film, check out her Lomohome.

written by macasaett on 2023-08-20 #people #california #england #los-angeles #beaches #oxford #united-kingdom #coastlines #lomo-lc-wide