A shot taken while walking back to my car following the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride a few weeks back. This is the Metropolitan hotel in Sheffield.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D (with red filter) & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 24 September 2017
Month: October 2017
Tunnel vision
I wonder how many times that title has been used for similar posts?
An older shot, from a trip to York back in the summer. I think I might’ve already posted a similar shot, taken at the same location and time, but that one was in portrait format, so this is a new one.
Olympus OM-1, F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 10 June 2017
Aerial
I recently shot a roll of expired Kodak Ultra 400 (it expired in March 2006) through the Pentax MZ-50 I bought for a pound at a car-boot sale in the summer. Sadly, the results have been pretty disappointing – the 28-80 lens I have on the camera seems to produce pretty soft results, which I’m unsure is because of the optical quality, or because it has an infuriating need to hunt for focus, quite often switching just as you fire the shutter; I also took a bunch of mostly uninspired pictures too if I’m honest, most of them of pretty mundane subjects; but the main disappointment is the sheer amount of curve on the negatives. They’re pretty much arched! It was a real fiddle to scan them, and the results are not my best.
All things considered, the shot here is probably the best of the roll. The colours are nice and the composition is pleasing in a minimal sort of way (I would’ve put the aerial on the thirds line, but the damn auto-focus kept trying to focus on the sky if I moved the viewfinder – even with the shutter half-depressed).
I’ve decided to sell on the rest of the expired Ultra 400 I have though (and probably the camera and lens too).
Pentax MZ-50, SMC Pentax-F Zoom 28-80 f/3.5-4.5 & Kodak Ultra 400 (expired 2005).
Taken on 2 October 2017
Doing it on the cheap
Last year, I picked up a cheap plastic camera for 50p – a Sunpet Focus-Free point-and-shoot. The camera has a fixed focus f8 lens and a single shutter speed (probably 1/125, or maybe 1/60 sec). I shot a roll of film through it over the end of last year and the start of January 2017 and, while the results were pretty lo-fi, they did have a certain ‘Lomography’ charm to them, with odd markings on the edge of the frame and distinctly soft edge-focus. The camera did manage to screw up the roll of film though, and the last half-dozen or so shots ended up as a single (not particularly interesting) multiple exposure, and the camera kept on firing and winding even after the counter passed 40 frames(!), so in the end I just re-wound the film and got it processed.
Anyway, here are a few of the better ones…
Sunpet Focus-Free & Agfa Vista Plus 200.
Taken on various dates, late 2016-early 2017.
Gloom
It’s that time of year where the days seem to alternate between beautiful sunny conditions where the world is full of colour, those where they are overcast, damp, misty and gloomy. To be honest, I quite like the gloomy days, just as long as they don’t have those completely flat overcast cloudy skies that can result in very drab looking pictures if the sky takes up too much of the shot (although, they can work in some circumstances).
Today’s picture was taken last Sunday afternoon, and while it was overcast, there was enough structure in the clouds to add a bit of interest to the skies and make for quite a nice brooding landscape (albeit quite a minimal one).
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80 f/3.5-5.6 AF-D & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 1 October 2017
No fracking way!
There are plans for shale gas fracking to begin not too far from where I live, and many of the homes and lampposts in the vicinity are displaying anti-fracking protests. I’ve photographed this place earlier in the year, but the scarecrow is a fresh addition.
These were taken with my newly acquired Nikkor 28-80 f/3.5 – 5.6 AF-D lens. It’s a cheap, plastic bodied lens, but one that has good reviews for its optical quality. Based on the shots I’ve had so far, I’m more than happy with it, and it adds a good degree of versatility for the occasions where my 50mm is too restrictive.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80 f/3.5 – 5.6 AF-D & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 1 October 2017
Trees in a puddle
It’s a shame that I didn’t get the entire puddle in shot, but I was stuck with a 50mm lens, and moving back a step meant the reflected trees moved and the composition lost its impact.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 27 September 2017
I don’t think I’d risk it…
I took this photo last week. The position of the house and the curve of the lane made for quite a nice composition, but I can’t help but notice the national speed limit sign-post. The thought of someone potentially doing 60 mph down there is a little disconcerting to be honest – the road is quite narrow, is sometimes covered in slippery leaves, often has people walking along it, and there’s a 90-degree bend over a bridge about 100 metres further down!
Nikon F70, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 27 September 2017
In a mirrored mask
I spotted this rider with a cool-looking reflective visor at the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride a week or so back.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D (with red filter) & Fomapan 100.
Taken on 24 September 2017
Like a sparkler
The needles of this pine, in conjunction with the red filter I used, have produced an almost sparkler-like result.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D (with red filter) & Fomapan 100
Taken on 20 September 2017.
Steel City Snapper photography 