As much as it pains me to use the pound symbol to denote a keyword, that's what it was called on the twitter. Who am I to go against that?

The idea is pretty simple and effective: create a rallying cry and timeline to get photographers to be using the same kind of film at the same time, and then sharing the results. I've barely used Ilford's FP4 Plus before, but I like HP5, so this was a good chance to get out with the slower emulsion. I loaded up the big SLR and the even bigger tripod and took them to Tommy Thompson Park, née Leslie Street Spit, to play in the concrete, bricks, and rebar that makes up this lakefill project.

It's just luck that I found this scrap of pipe with "FP" marked on it, although I did carry it around for twenty minutes before I decided to just photograph it instead of bringing it home.

I don't go to the Spit as often as I used to; I've become a bit too familiar with it, and active filling has stopped so it's less changeable than it used to be. It does remain a very long walk and an excellent place to break an ankle. It's also startlingly difficult to find a place to wedge a tripod in the jumble of blocks and bricks – the ones that will suddenly shift are rarely the ones I'd expect.

But for this trip the majestic Jobu Algonquin tripod was mandatory. In addition to the Nisi filter set that's used on my Sigma 24-35 for these two photos – 15 seconds at f/11 and 30mm for the first, 10 seconds at f/8 and 26mm for the second – I was also carrying my Nikon 85mm PC-E for tricky focus and macro work.

These are both recorded with the 85 macro, although I'm not doing anything funny with the plane of focus and one of them was actually taken hand-held. Sometimes there's just nowhere to put the sticks.

It was just a few degrees above freezing, so the afternoon sun was weakening the ice enough that the gusting wind would shatter it. Waves over the brick and tile beaches sound like jingling metal, and the falling ice sounded like breaking glass. I could also go for hours without hearing another person, although I did see a few of them in the distance.

I'm a sucker for long exposures over water (40 seconds in this case) whether they're colour digital perfection or gritty black and white. With the rebar sea monsters I do prefer the rougher look; I'm surprised that FP4 can have this much opinion, but then again I'm able to make Portra 160 look grainy. It's a special talent.

The Spit is a mix of rubble and debris from construction and demolition across a half-century. Sometimes people come through and add some order to the chaos. One time I found a full sculptural garden of curving walls and towers; a few weeks later it was erased and rejumbled. This wall of blocks is probably just a wind break assembled against a bulldozed embankment, so perhaps it will last longer.

The Spit is a study in impermanence. I've gotten used to it, but occasionally catch little bits that embody it.

This lamp post is part of one of the headlands, where they're stacked like logs and tangled together. The concrete is breaking away over time, leaving the rebar twisted and deformed. But the stainless metal band that was once strapped around the pole remains, and probably will until the metal rusts away around it. 

I like FP4. To my eye it looks a lot like HP5, and I like HP5, too. I can see it becoming my summer film for when I want to have a bit more flexibility in my shutter speed choices. And of course when the camera is on a tripod that gives more film flexibility as well. 

There are some other excellent lower-speed films worth considering. Delta 100 is very nice, I've taken a few decent photos – okay, one or two – with Pan F, and this week I bought a brick of the new Acros II as well. But not only are those significantly more expensive than FP4, they don't match as well with the HP5 that I usually prefer. 

I may not buy it by the brick, but this is film that I'll always have on hand, and I'm glad that the FP4 Party gave me an excuse to take it for a walk.