Frugal Film Project 2026: April, Roll 1 - Photography Blog by Andrew Long
- Andrew Long Photography
- Apr 15
- 10 min read
Last year (2025) I participated in something called the Frugal Film Project. This was a group of film photographers from around the world who came together on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1163101494091862/) with the objective of finding a cheap (frugal!) camera and shooting a roll of cheap film every month of the year, posting their results on the group. It didn’t matter what format you shot, black & white or colour, and whether you developed and scanned the films yourself, as I did, or sent them to a lab.
It was a rewarding experience, not only giving my photographic year a bit of structure, but also seeing some fantastic images from around the world. Appealing to the armchair traveller in me, I’ve been able to enjoy images from downtown El Paso, to Paris, to Singapore, to Morecambe Bay and all stops in between! I’m participating again in 2026 and will feature it in my Photography Blog. .
My 2025 camera was the excellent Minox 35 ML, and my film was the not-so-excellent Harman Phoenix 200 colour negative. Phoenix was problematic on two levels. Firstly, it wasn’t very ‘frugal’, and secondly, it turned out to be a pig to use. I was keen to support Harman’s initiative in some small way so committed to their new film and bought about 15 rolls of it. Unfortunately, it was very unforgiving in the camera, and even worse when scanning the negs. I was only getting about 50% success rate per film (around 18 frames useable out of 36) and with the high cost of film this was an untenable choice. I persevered with it for several months and had a few half-decent images, but mid year I had a wobble and switched (strictly against the rules, don’t you know?!) to the much more reliable Kodak Gold 200. However, when Harman launched their much improved, albeit still not perfect, Phoenix II I switched back to the British brand and saw out the rest of the year.
For 2026, I opted for a much safer combination, my 1989 Praktica BMS Electronic SLR, which came with several lenses (a 50mm f/1.8, a 28mm f/2.8 wide angle, and a 135mm f/2.8 telephoto). This camera came out of the last days of East Germany and they exported loads into the UK market to the likes of Jessops and Dixons in a last-ditch attempt to shore up their doomed economy with hard foreign currency.
I was given the camera, two cameras to be precise, so they were extremely ‘frugal’! Despite being rather ‘agricultural’ but also a bit ‘placcy’, the BMS is simple and enjoyable to use and the East German glass is excellent.
The Praktica is paired this year with the excellent and relatively cheap Kentmere Pan 200 from Harman (the makers of Ilford). This is a cracking emulsion, one of my favourites of 2025, with good contrast, a pleasing amount of grain, and good exposure latitude.
My intention is to make it even ‘frugaler’ (is that a word?) by bulk loading my own cassettes. I’ve a 30m roll lurking in my fridge, but haven’t built up the courage to try it yet, so my 2026 films so far have all been factory rolled … there’s always May, or June for all that excitement!
Life is fairly hectic in the Long household at the moment, so whilst I managed to shoot three rolls in January and February, March was a complete wash-out. I’ve shot two rolls so far in April, and plan to write a blog post to accompany each roll, which I’ll share with the group and elsewhere - I’ll eventually do articles on January’s and February’s rolls, albeit out of sync. I’ll talk about the photos themselves, their context or history (once a historian, always a historian), and any other pearls of wisdom. This article accompanies my first April roll.
I live on the beautiful Roseland Peninsula in the county of Cornwall, located in the far southwest of the UK. The Roseland is largely agricultural, and a popular destination for the more discerning (and well-heeled) holidaymaker (there’s not much going on - if you want huge sandy beaches and nightlife go to the north coast!) - and heading down the peninsula is a bit like going back in time, driving along small lanes with grass growing in the middle. As the word peninsula implies, the Roseland is surrounded by coastline and several lovely fishing villages.
Portscatho is one of them, located half way down the east side of the peninsula. There are two small beaches in the vicinity: one at Porthcurnick, which is joined at low tide to Portscatho’s own beach, and the village has a small harbour. While it is a tourist destination during school holidays, out-or-season it’s a delightful place, sustaining a small community and local businesses all year round.
Driving around the coast road (as opposed to going via Gerrans at the top of the village) there are some lovely views out over the bay. Being disabled, I shoot at lot of my pictures from gateways (my on-going ‘Gateway’ project) or field entrances close to my car, and this was typical of them.
On the headland above Porthcurnick Beach (Pednvadan Point) is a small hut perched on the cliff. A former coastguard lookout built in 1914, it is now home to the Portscatho lookout post of the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI). The NCI is a charity run by volunteers and was established in 1994 following the closure of many of the country’s Coastguard lookout posts. Often using former Coastguard premises, the NCI went on to open more than sixty posts all around the coast of England and Wales. The volunteer watchkeepers provide eyes and ears along the coast, keeping watch and monitoring radio channels. They work with HM Coastguard, the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) and the various ‘Blue Light’ emergency and rescue services to respond to any incident. The Portscatho post is the smallest in the network - ‘with three people inside, someone has to step outside if the chart needs turning over!’ - but they provide an essential service to the local population, the thousands of holidaymakers, and the maritime community. Find out more about the NCI at: https://www.ncilivinghistory.org.uk/stations/nci-portscatho and https://www.nci.org.uk .
Continue round the coast road and turn left into the village itself. Down from the village square is a road called The Lugger overlooking the harbour and bay. Perched on the edge is a small whitewashed stone building with an interesting history.
This is the village’s Fishermen’s Shelter. It was purpose-built probably at the same time as the harbour retaining walls were built using local quarried stone, c.1891, and used by the local fishermen as a base close to where their boats were moored - part office, part shelter from the elements, part social club. Inside was a single room with a small open fireplace and chimney. A window looking up towards the village square and a large bay window on the front with panoramic views over the whole bay area and most importantly the harbour and moorings. As the local fishing industry died off and moved to the bigger ports such as Penzance, it became the domain of the village’s ageing former fishermen.
This photo must be dated around 1950. It captures the old men, the ‘old guard’, outside their ‘sacred’ shelter on the Lugger. They had a daily delivery of the Western Morning News, and they took turns reading the paper which was spread out on an octagonal purpose-made table with a fixed bench seat all the way round which dominated the middle of the room. Other seating was fixed beaches in the windows. Not exactly comfortable. The door was a stable-style door which they kept the bottom closed and top open, this let out the build up of numerous smoking pipes. On warm days the men would come out and sit on the bench seat and smoke, occasionally going over to the wall to tap out the old tobacco and refill with fresh. The whole shelter had that long-lost smell of pipe tobacco smoke.
Outside was a low boundary wall with a wood slat seat and the steps down which was the perimeter of their ‘private’ domain. In bad weather, the men would huddle in the shelter watching the boats straining their moorings in the harbour and discussing when to pull them up to safety of the slipway below. Gradually the ‘Old Guard’ died off or moved on, and the shelter lost its original purpose. The door was locked, the daily paper was cancelled, and it became a quirky but unused feature of the village, but being Grade II ‘Listed’, the village was obliged to maintain it. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1328953?section=official-list-entry
Today, the shelter is opened for fetes or regattas, and recently has been used as a ‘pop-up’ gallery for local artists and craftspeople. I popped in the other day and it still has those austere original fittings (didn’t notice the smell of pipe tobacco, though), albeit supplemented by scatter cushions and crafty knick-knacks for the tourist trade!
Outside the Fishermen’s’ Shelter is one of the famous red K6 telephone boxes. There are quite a few of these largely obsolete boxes in this part of the world (living in the last century as we do!), some ‘retired’ but some still in-use. The box in our village is still a working phone box, although I’ve never seen anyone use it. Many, such as our one, are classed as ‘Listed’ buildings, which means they are protected by law as heritage assets and have to be maintained. I regularly photograph these old phone boxes, as they represent a heritage that is fast disappearing from our streets (I’m also rather keen on post boxes!). To learn more about this iconic piece of British street furniture, see: https://designmuseum.org/discover-design/all-design-objects/k6-telephone-box.
The K6 box next to the Fishermen’s’ Shelter is one of the retired ones albeit not listed, and, like many, has been re-purposed as a community book-swap library. Others are little heritage or tourist information points, with information about the local area.
This is the view from the wall outside the Shelter looking over the bay. The NCI lookout post can be seen on the headland.
Back to the village square, there’s the Plume of Feathers pub, which can be seen on the right of this photo, and River Street going right down to the beach. Gull Rock, off Nare Head, can be seen in the distance.
One of my favourite photos from FFP25 was taken by Tresillian Bridge in Tresillian, a village I drive through to get from my home to Truro, down here in Cornwall. I was driving past and saw these amazing reflections in the wall of mirrors the antiques dealer based in the old toll lodge had arranged on the tall wall by the pavement. I screeched to a halt, jumped out armed with my compact but dependable Minox 35 ML, and captured an amazing sky reflected in the mirrors. You can just make out a car driving past in one of the bottom ones. This was taken on the difficult Phoenix 200 colour negative film, but in this case the image worked out.
This time, the reflections of the sky were far less dramatic (plus it’s in black & white!), but the range of his wares on display was much more varied. I use the term ‘antiques’ loosely, as I’m sure he knocks up most of these signs in his garage, or imports them from China, but they make for a good photograph!
Here’s a wider shot (taken standing perilously in the middle of a fairly busy road!) showing the context - I love the way the mirrors are reflecting their shapes on the pavement.
I rarely include people in my photos, let alone myself, but it was hard to hide from the wall of mirrors …
A small historical note: Tresillian Bridge crosses the Tresillian River, which is a tributary of the Truro River, which, in turn, is a tributary of the River Fal, which meets the sea at Falmouth. Tresillian was once the lowest bridging point on the river, and therefore the highest navigable point from the sea, however mine workings silted up the river in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Toll House is a small building at one end of the bridge where the tollkeeper lived, and if you wanted to cross the bridge, you’d have to pay him for the privilege or find a boat! Tresillian Bridge is famous for the battle that occurred here in 1646 resulting in the surrender of Cornish Royalist forces during the English Civil War. For more information, see https://tresillianvillage.co.uk/history/.
Although the Tresillian River has quite a wide floodplain, the navigable channel is very narrow and quite shallow, rarely seeing a boat of any description, and it’s hard to imagine large sailing ships coming around the bend …
Looking back the other way, towards the bridge.
Heading into Truro, I stopped in Victoria Square in the town centre and looked up at the roofline and the imposing Cathedral. I have photographed the cathedral hundreds of times, but rarely from this angle, peeking above the other buildings.
Up from Victoria Square is Boscawen Street, which is home to Waterstones book shop, and my favourite cafe in the city. I’m a regular visitor and have part-written all of my books there while enjoying the excellent coffee, cakes, and book-filled ambience! https://www.waterstones.com/bookshops/truro
If you look at the far-left book on the second row from the top you may recognise the name of the author … It’s a bit of a stretch to include it on the ‘New History’ shelves given that it was published in August 2024, but who am I to argue?! Seeing your book ‘out in the wild’ is a rare treat for us authors, so it warrants a photo every time. If you want to find out more see https://www.andrewlong.info/brixmis-and-the-secret-cold-war
The article about April’s second roll will follow shortly.
Thanks for reading.
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