Month: September 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Faceless man

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But not from Bravos…

I’m very impressed with the way the Fuji Provia has captured this scene. While there might be a slight loss of shadow detail between the leaves, the colours and tones in this are pretty impressive to my eye. So far I’ve been very pleased with the results I’ve had from Provia, especially given they’ve all been based on readings from my little Sekonic L-208 analog meter. It’s an accurate, but somewhat basic meter, so coupled with the meterless Zeiss Mess-Ikonta and it’s completely manual (and click-free) shutter-speed and aperture dials, there’s almost certainly some drift from the true settings taking place, but the film handles it with aplomb.

FILM - Faceless

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Fujifilm Provia 100.

Taken on 26 August 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Renishaw Hall

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Yesterday I showed a small section of Renishaw Hall, little more than a tease, really. Today you’re getting the whole shebang. I know, I know! Calm yourselves! 🙂

Anyway, this is the southern aspect of the house from the Italianate gardens. The portion I showed yesterday can be seen at the middle-right of today’s image. It’s a bit of a traditional shot of the place, but the light was nice – again, not a cloud in the sky, but it doesn’t suffer for it (and clouds might have obscured the water from the fountain). That said, I’ve cropped it to a 6×7 format to remove some of the blue sky from the upper part of the photograph and I think it works better like this.

FILM - Renishaw Hall Italianate garden

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Fujifilm Provia 100.

Taken on 26 August 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

The corner of Renishaw Hall

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Renishaw Hall sits within its grounds a few miles from where I live. It was built in 1625 and has been the seat of the Sitwell family since. The gardens are open to visitors and, although pretty close by, this was the very first time I’ve visited the place. It made for a pleasant few hours and the grounds of the house are lovely and quite extensive, including formal gardens, woodland, parkland and a couple of lakes.

Although it was a bright (and hot!) sunny day when I visited, I got a number of images I liked, and I think it will be well worth another visit when the autumn colour arrives. I don’t tend to favour clear blue skies for photography, but sometimes it works and I think this is a case where it does.

This photo is of the south easterly corner of the house rearing up from behind a large hedge.

FILM - A splash of red

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Fujifilm Provia 100.

Taken on 26 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Harvest time

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That time of year when the fields become temporarily stacked with bales of hay has come around again.

Most farms seem to produce the big cylindrical bales nowadays which, after a period of drying, are wrapped in plastic to be stored for winter feed. It’s rarer to see the traditional rectangular blocks piled up into stacks.

I did find a few of the older types though and might post a picture or two of those in the coming days, but for now, here’s a combine harvester going about its business.

FILM - Harvest

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 25 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Red and expired

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I’ve shot a number of rolls of expired film, some turn out wonderfully (some 20-year-old Tmax was beautiful) while others are less so and can result in grainy images that look muddy and, even worse for the home scanners among us, hideously curled negatives that are nigh on impossible to hold flat (or even get into the negative holders!).

All of which goes to reinforce just how nice this batch of expired Fuji Superia 100 that I bought a couple of years back is. Although it expired over ten years ago, it had been well stored and as a result behaves pretty much as good as when it was fresh. Obviously I don’t have a fresh roll to compare it with, but the colours it produces are both vivid and natural in a very satisfying fashion. The vividness is illustrated in todays picture, with the red of the fire engine leaping off the image. It’s not quite as in-your-face as Kodak Ektar, but it still pops and has a more natural look to the colours.

I’m very happy to have three full boxes of it in the freezer yet to shoot.

FILM - Hose attachments

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Summer hat

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I guess autumn is here. My kids are back at school tomorrow, the radiators switched on briefly yesterday morning as I was getting out of bed, and the local photo club is meeting this evening for the first time since the summer recess.

I don’t mind though – autumn is my favourite season and I’m looking forward to later sunrises and earlier sunsets, the crispness in the air, and the onset of colour as the leaves begin to turn. Still got a few weeks yet though and at least one summery day-out still planned for this month.

As a mark of summer’s passing, here’s a summery hat that was in the passenger seat of the ’46 Chevy truck that I photographed the other week.

If you’re lamenting the summer gone, there’s a nice post about it on Jim Grey’s blog that’s worth a read.

FILM - Passenger seat

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Isometric

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This tiny van (which looks suspiciously like the one that Postman Pat drives, albeit blue and rusty) is one of the boxiest-looking vehicles I’ve ever seen, which led to the shot below. The right-angled corners mean it looks like something built in Minecraft or an old forced-3D vidogame from the 80s.

FILM - Isometric
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

 

35mm · Film photography · Photography

On the Buses

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One of my short posts today – I’ve spent the last hour-and-a-half packing up some stuff that I sold on eBay and I’m losing the will to go on. While it’s always nice to get a bit of cash for things you no longer want or need, the packing part is a real chore. Oh well, it’s done now, so I’ll be thankful for that.

Anyway, a couple of days ago I mentioned that I might have a photo of the interior of the bus that featured as that day’s photo. Well <drum roll>, here it is! See, some things are really worth waiting for, aren’t they? I’m not saying that this is one of them, but some things are. 🙂

FILM - On the Buses

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019