We’ve not had any frost (at least not that I’ve been up early enough to witness!) for a few weeks now. This was shot six weeks ago.
It’s not the best ever picture of a frosty leaf (I’ve taken better ones myself), but it was a decent test of the 70-200mm lens on close-up subjects. Parts of the leaf have fallen out of focus due to the the closeness of the subject from the lens.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Last month I wrote about how I was unsatisfied with the quality of the Tamron 28-200mm lens I had and how I’d traded it in for a Nikon 70-200mm.
So far I’ve shot the Nikkor on a few occasions and the results have been noticeably sharper than those from the Tamrom, which is good. The downsides that I also discussed (size, weight, and lack of flexibility mostly) have also been borne out, but I knew this would be the case, and the improved image quality win out.
I’ve already posted a digital picture I took with the lens, but these are the first film shots I’ve shared on the blog. They were taken during a walk around the local country park, which has a healthy population of waterfowl.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
The last of Lomography Color Negative 800 images that I converted to black and white (the one’s I’m going to post, at least).
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
Gainsborough Old Hall began as a 15th‑century manor built by Sir Thomas Burgh II before later passing to the Hickman family, who modernised. Over the following centuries it fragmented into workshops, tenements, civic spaces and even a theatre, before falling into decline. Restoration efforts in the mid‑20th century ultimately saved it, and it now survives as one of England’s best‑preserved medieval manor houses, owned by English Heritage.
I’ve been inside on a previous visit, back when I had a one year English Heritage membership, but this time I just took a few pictures of the exterior.
Again, these are Lomography Color Negative 800 images that I’ve converted to black and white.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
Standing beside the river Trent on its east bank, this statue is named The Pilgrim Woman.
On 10 May 1608, a group of Separatists, mostly women and children, escaped Gainsborough to find religious freedom. They left town along the River Trent on a small barge called The Francis, heading for Stallingborough near Immingham. Their plan was to meet a bigger ship there that would take them to Amsterdam in Holland where they would be able to worship freely. A few years later in 1620, they traveled on to America aboard the Mayflower.
Although not visible in my picture, the plinth upon which the statue stands is engraved: “Steering our Future Informed by Our Past“.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
Another food production factory in Gainsborough, this time the AB Mauri (former Rank Hovis McDougall) works.
Beyond lie rows of terraced houses, and the spire of the Trinity Arts Centre (which resides in a Grade II listed former church , hence the spire).
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
This is the view south where the River Trent flows through the town of Gainsborough, looking onto the Kerry food manufacturing plant and then, a few miles further upstream, West Burton power station.
While I wasn’t satisfied with the colours I achieved with the Lomography Color Negative 800, the film has quite a fine grain structure – at least in this 120 format – and it’s produced some quite nice B7W conversions.
This frame is not only converted to black and white, but also cropped.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
Back to a run of photos I took in Gainsborough towards the end of last year. These were shot on a roll of Lomography Color Negative 800 – the first time I’ve shot this stock.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that pleased with the results. Part of this is down to me, or rather to my light meter, which I had inadvertently switched to it’s cine mode somehow, resulting in poorly exposed photographs. But I’m also not that happy with the colours I got.
Again, this might be down to the exposures in some cases,but I don’t think all frames were affected. It’s also hands down the worst film I’ve ever had to scan. The base is quite thin and it had a very pronounced curve to it that made it extremely frustrating to scan with my flatbed. This fact, more than any of the others, has put me off shooting it again (and I still have a couple of rolls in the freezer!).
The picture below is the only that I’ve left as a colour scan – I like the warm morning light on this closed up shop window. All the rest of usable frames I’ve converted to black and white, and I’ll post some of those in the next few days.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Steel City Snapper photography 