Bristol Half Marathon: Through an Analogue Lens

Welcome back to our Analogue Adventurer Masha! Today she's describing her experience shooting the Bristol half marathon with film cameras. Normally she'd be running in the event, but an unfortunate injury has generated a new opportunity to capture the runners on film instead. Take it away Masha!

All the gear and some idea

I have been having a whale of a time 🐳 using the Pentax 17, so it was a no brainer to bring it with me alongside my beloved Olympus Trip. I was very open to the possibility (let’s be honest a more truthful word here would be ‘reality’) that having never shot moving objects before, a lot of the photos would most definitely not come out fantastic so having a camera that doubled the number of frames I had was a very welcome bonus.

When thinking about film and deciding which will be my next victims drawn from the sacred film tin, I wanted something that not only was pretty contrasty and saturated with nice, punchy, vibrant colours (since running events are known for being extremely colourful thanks to all the running gear) but also didn’t change the skin tones too much, since people were going to be my main subjects this time around, so of course Kodak Ultramax and Lomography 400 were a no brainer in this situation (can you tell that I am a very big fan of said film stock?)

Whilst you can change focus zones on both the Olympus Trip and the Pentax 17, as well as change shooting modes on the Pentax, you technically don’t have much control over shutter speeds and aperture as you would with an SLR for example. If you are reading this and thinking ‘but you technically can change aperture on the Olympus, and the Pentax shooting modes also give you different apertures and shutter speeds’ – the statement I made is fairly broad, to avoid the intricate details as regardless of the possibilities and ways around automation, neither of the cameras is as manual as an SLR.

In theory, this meant that my job was actually a little easier, since I only had to think about focusing, but in practice, dear god, was it tough (more on this later). In all honesty, at such an event where all your subjects are moving somewhat fast, it actually felt very liberating to only have to focus on the focus 😅

A change to my usual type of photography

This change to moving, as well as human, subjects was a super fun experience and it really did test my patience. If to compare to my usual approach of ‘look, shoot, move on’, which I find works well for me in more day-to-day photography, this time it was much more about watching and waiting for the right moments - and the right people - to come through into the frame, since I wasn’t planning on chasing them down.

Even with double the frames in the Pentax, you only have a limited amount of opportunities for a shot, since the subjects are moving past you fairly fast, and I am not embarrassed to admit that sometimes I did in fact wait a little too long and miss said shot. Hey, you live and you learn! Especially with film...

I think in situations like this what really helps is not taking photography too seriously (I need to practice what I preach a little more consistently), and making peace with the fact that some photographs will be a little wonky, blurred or focused on a completely different subject than originally intended. Funnily enough, focus landing on a different subject really worked in my favour, and I ended up with one of my favourite photos ever from this event (you will just have to keep reading to find out what it is).

The intrepid author in action!

And as much as some photos surprised me, I do think that my lack of confidence in myself and in the camera’s focus definitely meant that I missed plenty of shots (by not taking some of them too). On several occasions I assumed that I had a little longer before a runner reached the spot I had planned for them, but ended up with the runner not only passing through the frame, but also passing me completely and disappearing from view. In my defence moving subjects are still a relatively foreign concept to me (similarly to how anything macro was earlier), as I am mostly used to photographing things that have the tendency to not move at more than 10km per hour. Therefore I am not embarrassed to admit that I will be writing off all the failed photos as part of a learning curve that was very steep and very non-linear.

One event, yet so many stories

One thing I love the most about running is how communal it is, and how it has the ability to bring so many different people together. First are of course the runners, all doing the same route but for such different reasons.

We have the incredibly fast, gazelle-like elite runners aiming for a podium finish or chasing their fastest time yet,

the charity runners raising mind-blowing amounts for great causes,

the runners chasing PBs, the runners trying out a race for the first time, the runners who are just there to have fun, the runners showcasing their best take at a dress up,

or any combination of the above – who says you can’t dress up and still aim for a PB and raise some money along the way?!

I am the biggest fan of running and of its ability to create a space for such a vast number of different people undertaking the same challenge but with such different approaches. I think this is also what made photographing the event so much more fun, just think of all the details! The huge colourful costumes, the bright vests of the charity runners, the grit and determination of every runner no matter the pace are the details what makes you as a spectator so engaged.

A lot of people would think ‘well races are about speed (duh), so you need to take photos of the fastest and strongest runners’ and in a way, you are right, those people do deserve to be celebrated and photographed since they have trained and worked extra hard to cross that finish line, but for me it wasn’t just about the speediest runners clocking incredible times.

When I thought about what is worth photographing, I wanted to focus on translating the day as a whole, which meant also noticing the volunteers working tirelessly, the supporters and spectators patiently waiting to see their loved ones for approximately 2-3(?) seconds, and of course the absolutely phenomenal signs dotted all around the course.

And since I did really want to encapsulate the environment, the buzz, and the sense of community that emerges in such events, that meant that I was dipping my toes into portraits of interactions, expressions and people in general (these were moving a little less compared to the runners, so this was just a tad easier). Have you ever noticed the excitement of a person holding a sign made to be touched, when a runner goes out of their way to interact with it?

Or have you wondered about the amount of practice, preparation and rehearsals the bands must get through to make sure they have the skill to consistently motivate the passing runners for hours and hours?

What about the number of songs volunteers would play to put the pep back in the runners’ step as they pass them? They most definitely put pep into my step as we walked past them on the day!

Or the number of minutes spent by the drag queens singing karaoke to entertain the supporters and also put a smile on the runners passing by? The photo below is the one I was referring to above, which is such an accidental favourite that I did not expect to come out as well as it did.

The juxtaposition between the blurred movement of the runners chasing their personal bests and the stillness of the drag queen in the centre of the frame makes her an unexpected focal point, emphasising that the event is not just about the runners, but also about the people gathered around them.

Having ran a myriad of races myself, which does include many iterations of the Bristol 10k, I personally find races as much about the non-running attendees as it is about the runners. If you look around the course whilst spectating or even whilst running, you can find thousands of smaller, but as important stories everywhere around you. I have always found myself noticing the fleeting hugs, the squeals and the cheering happening around me, and witnessing the support (metaphorically) thrown at the runners has always made myself feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Top tip:

When photographing such an event, don’t just focus on the runners! Shortage of photo opportunities is not an issue in an environment like this, so look for interesting frames, interactions (like my “tap for a boost” scene), costumes and colourful outfits. This is also where you can let the colours and contrasts of your film do some of the heavy lifting for you too!

Decorated cardboard, aka the unsung heroes of any running event

If you tell me that you’ve spectated running races and have never been distracted attempting to read at least a small part of the sea of hand-drawn cardboard signs lining both sides of the race route, I’m simply going to call you a liar. If I am honest, reading signs and appreciating the creativity is a guilty pleasure of mine, and sometimes an audible giggle is indeed appropriate.

But these signs were more than just a fluorescent, glittered and brightly coloured opportunity for a giggle, to me they were also acts of support and encouragement for the runners as in the past I myself often found the hand-drawn jokes pulling me out of the depths of a pain cave.

And if I was to put my amateur photographer hat back on, the way these signs came out in the photos was another happy surprise. The kudos for this should most definitely be given to the chosen film stock, as the colours and the vibrancy captured and translated through film into the photos really help to preserve the bright and unforgettable atmosphere of the day.

The finish line (of this blog)

For me this turned out to be more about learning how to photograph people rather than learning how to photograph a running race overall. The cameras and the film allowed me to capture the cheering spectators, the grit and focus of the runners, the commitment of the volunteers and of course the creativity of the signs, in turn showcasing how much more there is to the race if you slow down, watch and look further than just the fastest runners.

My biggest takeaway from this experience is that I need to have a little more faith in both myself and the cameras’ focus, as often the missed shots weren’t the result of any lack of ability, but instead just of me overthinking and striving for a perfect shot, until the subject from that shot has already run past, leaving me and my plans in the dust.

If I was to offer a top tip for going out to shoot a running race, don’t be like me and let your inner perfectionist stop you from taking photos in the first place, accept that some shots will be missed, with runners arriving or disappearing from the frame quicker than you anticipated.

Thank you Masha! I'm really enjoying your Analogue Adventures from the sideline, and this sounds like another fantastic experience 😅

All photos (c) Masha Orlova and developed by Analogue Wonderland