Dreams of Summer in the Malvern Hills with Fuji Provia 100

The trig point on Worecestershire Beacon in the Malvern Hills. With the sun shining there were plenty of walkers enjoying the great outdoors. 1/400s 70mm F4.0 with polariser.

The weather over the past few months has been atrocious. Even though we’ve had a very mild winter the rain has been relentless, the wind unforgiving and it’s only in the past couple of weeks the temperature has begun to creep up to levels where I feel like it’s finally Spring. The longer days are also definitely helping. However, on the day I write this blog we are experiencing even more bizarre weather with heavy winds and even heavier moments of hail punctuated by blue skies and sunshine. In fact, earlier there was heavy hail and blue skies at the same time. Only in the UK.

The Malvern Hills are by no means enormous but the ridgeline still offers a great bit of hiking alongside stunning views. 1/2500s 35mm F1.4 with polariser.

Epic white fluffy clouds set against an endless blue sky. The perfect backdrop for an afternoon outdoors. 1/3200s 35mm F1.4 with polariser.

In light of this I was looking through all my film photos that I am yet to write a blog about, and I came across the images I took with my Nikon F100 on Fuji Provia 100 last summer out in the Malvern Hills. I’d been out that way to photograph a couple of cars and before I headed home I thought I’d make the most of the gorgeous weather and walk along the ridgeline which offers great views out over the flat plains that it towers over.

Looking over at the next hill I could see a group of paragliders flying high above. 1/400s 80mm F4.0 with polariser.

Getting a bit closer I was able to shoot some of them soaring on the thermals. 1/500s 200mm F4.0 with polariser.

In the end one flew very close by, what a joy it must have been with the warmth, the views and the wind in their hair. 1/2000s 200mm F4.0 with polariser.

In 2023 there was a bit of a panic with Fujifilm (yet again), as they stopped accepting orders on all colour films due to supply shortages and increased speculation that we could be seeing the imminent demise of what little left they produced which included most of the slide films on the market. With that news in mind, I did the only sensible thing and panic bought as many rolls of Fuji Provia & Velvia as I could afford and then realised afterwards that I needed to actually go out and shoot some of them (the perpetual issue for all film hoarders). Thankfully slide film is my favourite type of film to shoot with and the opportunity to shoot a great deal over summer was something I really enjoyed.

Beyond hikers and paragliders were also a few mountain bikers who were tackling the uphill trails. 1/1600s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.

At this point I was still in the mode of shooting my fast Nikon F1.4 lenses wide open at all times to see how they rendered what I was capturing on different films. I could get away with this shooting up to 1/8000s on my F100 but I definitely wouldn’t do this anymore with slide film. Shooting this way on black and white film, the imperfections give it a retro look and feel whereas with slide film I’d rather stop down to get better, sharper results to maximise the potential of the medium, especially on such a bright and sunny day as this.

Walking up to the top of each hill revealed views that stretched out for miles ahead of you. 1/2000s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.

Looking Back along ridgeway from my final stop at the trig point on Worcestershire Beacon. 1/1600s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.

The Malvern Hills themselves are by no means extensive in comparison to many other mountainous or hilly parts of the country and I could comfortably walk most of the ridgeline in a couple of hours which made for a great bit of respite. There was a real mixture of activity, from hikers to mountain bikers and paragliders soaring on the thermals, and after a stressful couple of days I could feel myself getting gradually calmer with every step. Sometimes you’ve just got to drop what you’re doing and soak up the sun.

Heading back to my car before a long drive home I felt much more refreshed. I look forward to days again like this. 1/320s 85mm F4.0 with polariser.

As ever it’s great to do road trips where I get to explore a different, more scenic part of the country, certainly helped by having good weather. With all the gloom we’ve had I’m looking forward to summer more than usual and while I am not hoping for another 40°C heatwave, I am hoping it’s better than the mild disappointment of last year. I still have a great deal of slide film in the fridge as well, ready and waiting for sunnier days, and I may or may not have a ‘new’ 35mm film camera just itching to be used…

One of the cars I photographed on the road trip was this rubber bumper MGB which had been under the same ownership for decades and had been on a fair few trips to Europe and back. 1/1600s 58mm F1.4 with polariser.

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