35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
As well as all the steam engines, the steam rally I attended last weekend also had a good selection of vintage cars, trucks and bikes, including the odd import. Here’s the hood of a Lincoln Continental. I’m afraid my car knowledge is lacking – I like to photograph them, but my knowledge extends little beyond that aspec – so I don’t know which year this model is from.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 30 June 2019
A quickie post today, but here are three more shots from the test roll of expired Tri-X that I put through the Bronica ETRSi this week.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Kodak Tri-X (expired).
Taken on 4 July 2019
As a treat for my birthday this year, I decided to get myself a Bronica ETRSi. I’d been thinking about a different aspect-ratio medium format camera for some time (and almost bought one a few months back), so my birthday seemed a good time to take the plunge. The camera I got is in nice condition and came with the 75mm Zenzanon f/2.8 lens, the speed-grip, and the AEII prism finder. The camera is very heavy in comparison with any others I own and, especially when the lens hood is fitted, looks like I’m carrying a movie camera around with me!
The camera came fitted with the standard, plain ground-glass focussing screen. While this is in pristine condition, I found that it was very difficult to finesse my focusing – especially when using wider apertures at closer distances. However, I managed to find a split-prism finder that someone had advertised as faulty and scratched, so I took the plunge and took a chance on it. The new focusing screen works fine and, while it’s certainly seen some action and gained a number of battle scars in its time, it’s still nice and bright and the focussing is much, much easier with the split prism.
I took a few family shots last week and decided to finsh off my test roll this lunchtime so headed out to the nearby village of Ridgeway for a short walk and to shoot the remaining six frames. While the camera is very weighty, the speed-grip makes it pretty comfortable to handle in both landscape and portrait orientations, and I had no problems controlling it.
I dropped the film off on my way back to work and was very fortunate when the lab were able to process it before they closed this afternoon, so a big thanks and shout-out to the great people at Peak Imaging.
Here are three of the shots that I’ve scanned and uploaded.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Kodak Tri-X (expired).
Taken on 4 July 2019
This was one of a number of vintage buses and trucks at the steam rally I attended at the weekend. I was framing up the shot when these two old fellas wandered into the picture and, I think, improved it.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Ektachrome.
Taken on 30 June 2019
This chap was performing some maintenance or repairs on the tyre of this engine. I’m not sure what the tyre is actually made of – I know that they can have solid rubber tyres, but this one looked to be laminated in some way and some of it peeled off in a layer as I observed. Perhaps that’s just the way rubber tyres of this sort are constructed, or perhaps it was made of some other material?
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Ektachrome.
Taken on 30 June 2019
After a hiatus (on my part) last year, I visited the Sheffield Steam Rally again this weekend. The weather was warm and sunny – in fact very warm on the Saturday, hence my choice of visiting on Sunday instead. I like nice weather, but not too much ot it all at once. 🙂
I decided to shoot the roll of Ektachrome that I bought myself just after Christmas and which I’ve been saving for a suitable occasion. The steam rally, I decided, would be suitable enough, otherwise I’d risk the film never being matched with a good enough subject and sitting in the fridge forever.
I was quite excited to shoot with it, and it was only the third roll of positive film that I’ve bought, so I loaded it into my Nikon F80 (figuring that that would have the most reliable metering of my film cameras) and set off – with a roll of HP5+ as trusty back-up.
As soon as I entered the showgrounds, I started taking pictures, but it was only when I got to about frame ten that a sudden horrible thought dawned on me… I wasn’t focusing the camera!
You see, most of my photography over the past couple of months or so has been with compact cameras (where a half-press of the shutter triggers the auto-focus), or manual focus SLRs, where it’s very obvious when something is out of focus. However, I’d made a rookie mistake of forgetting that I’d set my F80 for back-button focusing, and was instead just half-pressing the shutter to focus and then taking the shot. The reason I didn’t notice my error more quickly is that I was shooting at f/8 and the viewfinder looked to be pretty much in focus anyway – I just wasn’t checking for it snapping to sharpness when pressing the button.
As soon as I realised my mistake, I resorted to doing things properly, but I had sour thoughts about the almost-third-of-a-roll of expensive Ektachrome that I’d probably wasted. I did think about re-taking some of my initial shots, but then decided I’d take the risk that they might be ok and photograph other things instead.
I got my slides back today and, thankfully, all bar a couple of those first shots have come out focused sharply enough to be used, so I was relieved about that. I haven’t scanned the full roll (or even started on my HP5+ shots) yet, but here is one of the pictures that I have. The Ektachrome has produced beautifully saturated colours in the sunshine ( the colours on some of the more shady frames need tweaking though – especially the reds) and, in fact, I’ve actually reduced the saturation a little on this photo.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Ektachrome.
Taken on 30 June 2019
A multitude of small yachts moored in the marina at Barcelona, spindly masts poking skywards.
I took this while sitting on a bench ovelooking the marina – we’d walked from the hotel to the city plaza, and from there down Las Ramblas to the spot where this was taken. There’s a modern shopping mall over to the right of this composition and that was our destination (although there wasn’t all that much to see when we got there).
My knee was killing me throughout the trip as I had (and still have as I type this) some sort of injury, although it now thankfully seems to be on the wane. I’m not sure that walking in excess of 20,000 steps each day of the trip had helped it!
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 18 June 2019
Taken in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter while I waited for my wife who was browsing in shoe shops.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 17 June 2019
This photo captures a girl giving a somewhat scathing look at her colleague. Or at least that’s what you would assume looking at the photograph in isolation.
It’s something that we see regularly in the media – particularly the press and news sites that make use of still images – where an image will be chosen to suit the tone of the article in which it is used: a sneaky look on the face of a politician the paper is opposed to; the beaming faces of parents with their healthy new baby; the triumph or despair on the faces of athletes; the shadowedy, unkempt look of someone charged with criminal offences. Each representing just a fraction of a second in that person’s existence, and each picked as being the right image to match the tone of the story being told. How often would another photograph, taken just an instant before or after the one selected change the whole feel of the image?
In my photo below, it looks very much like a dissaproving glance is being given, but the reality of the situation is that these girls were smiling, laughing and apparently getting on like the best of friends. My single captured instant is just out of context. It’s a fairly innocuous example, but it goes to show that, while a picture may paint a thousand words, the slightest movement in time can result in a whole new story being told.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 17 June 2019
One of those quickie posts today as I have to rush out and might not get the time later.
Here’s Woody, Buzz, Bo and Forky (oh, and Giggles McDimples!) advertising their upcoming presence in Barcelona.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 16 June 2019
