Tag: Fomapan 100

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Focusing fun

fishyfisharcade4 Comments

I went for a walk before work again this morning and shot a few more frames with the Bronica.

One of the things I always find a little tricky with medium format cameras is focusing – specifically those with focusing screens as opposed to rangefinders. I find it easy to get the focus looking good on the screen at initial glance, and for medium / long / infinity distances, especially at smaller apertures, that’s usually fine. But when it comes to close subjects, particularly if I’m shooting wide open, then it’s a different matter.

I find that I’m second guessing myself, twisting the focus ring back-and-forth by marginal amounts, never quite sute if a fraction of a degree one way or the other is the setting that will nail perfect focus on my subject. Flicking up the magnifier, squinting at split prisms and sparkling polygons of ground glass until my eyes ache. I think it stems from a number of images where I was feeling confident of my focusing only to discover later that the negs were soft in the places it mattered.

It’s not too bad with a tripod, where I usually have the gift of time to get things spot on, but on situations like today where I was shooting handheld and at wide apertures, it’s trickier (my fault for loading 100asa film I guess). Even a slight momentary sway of my body is easily enough to spoil a shot.

Will today’s shots suffer from bad focusing? I guess I’ll have to wait until I finish the roll and develop them, but I’m certainly looking forward to the days where I’ll be able to leave the house purely for photography, carry a tripod if required, and not have to bolt the attempt to make photographs onto an exercise outing.

Today’s photographs come from Magpie Mine again. If you’ve followed my blog over the fast few months, you may find the first of the three familiar – some of the compositions are very close to those I shot on the same day with my Zeiss Mess-Ikonta and a roll of 30-year expired Kodacolor Gold.

Two trees a chimney and a gate

History on a hill

Magpie Mine

Yashica Mat 124G & Fomapan 100.

Taken on 16 March 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Getting it wrong

fishyfisharcade6 Comments

I got up early this morning for a pre-work walk. The weather has turned nice again, although at the time I went out it was quite chilly and at points on my route there was frost on the ground in shaded areas. I decided to take the Bronica ETRSi with me in case there was something worth photographing as the camera has a part-used roll of Fomapan 100 loaded and I though I might grab a few more frames as I walked.

I took a few shots – one of the local signal box, one of some wildflowers beside a tree, and then some dew-coated cobwebs in the vegetation next to the river. After taking this last shot I checked the frame counter to see how many shots remained and was surprised to see that it still said 5, the same number that had been displayed when I set out on my walk.

Puzzlement, and concern that there was some problem or fault causing this quickly turned to realisation as to the true cause of the issue.

A couple of days ago I’d used the camera to make a still-life of some ornamental fruit that we have in a display bowl in the kitchen. As the light was dim in the kitchen, and as the film is quite slow at 100asa, I’d mounted the camera on a tripod, inserted a shutter-release cable, and then locked up the mirror before taking the shot. Or so I thought. What I’d actually done is switched off the camera’s multiple-exposure protection. The switches for this and mirror lock-up look practically identical and sit next to each other on the side of the camera body, and I’d obviously forgotten which was which.

So, as a result of my mistake, I now have a frame that has (I think) four shots exposed upon it. Maybe it will reveal some sort of wonderful happy accident, but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

After rectifying the situation I managed to grab a couple of extra shots on the remainder of my walk, although I suspect the better ones are on the ruined frame.

Today’s photo is from my trip to Magpie Mine in March. It has little to do with the content of today’s post, but was shot on a roll of the same film.

Near Magpie Mine

Yashica Mat 124G & Fomapan 100.

Taken on 16 March 2020

35mm · Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Day 365 – Twelve favourite photos from 2019

fishyfisharcade8 Comments

My initial plan for today’s post was to publish 12 photos that were taken this year but which haven’t featured in the blog, but on second thoughts I’ve decided to take the more traditional route. There might still be some that never appeared here before though – I tend to upload more stuff to Flickr than gets featured here – so aren’t you the lucky ones. 🙂

Today also marks the 365th consecutive blog post of the year – a target I attempted once before but which fell through when other events in my life took precedence. Not every blog was written on the day it was posted – in situations where I’ve been away from home I’ve pre-written blogs and then scheduled them to automatically publish (or made them live from my phone). Because of the way I link my photos from Flickr, I’ve found it’s a complete PITA to try and write and publish from mobile devices.

Anyway… Before I get on to the pictures, I just want to take the time to thank all who’ve viewed, interacted or commented on my blog over the year and to wish everyone a happy new year.

So, the photos…

January – This tree sits on the moors just south of Sheffield and is just a few metres from the roadside. It’s distictive shape made for an easy composition. Sadly the tree has now suffered damage – the last time I passed all that remained was the trunk as the upper branches have been broken off. 😦

FILM - In a lonely place (35mm)

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 AF & Fomapan 400. Taken on 20 January 2019

February – Eyes in the back of his head? One of the tenets of street photography is to be prepared and ready to catch that decisive moment when it occurs. Sadly, this is rarely the case for me and I’ve missed loads of potentially nice shots due to fumbling with the camera. This was one of the times I didn’t.

FILM - He's got eyes in the back of his head

Olympus 35 RC & JCH Streetpan 400. Taken on 15 February 2019

March – Portraiture is not something I have much of an interest in, particularly studio portraits (although I do enjoy looking at environmental portraits), so when an opportunity arose to photograph some models at the local camera club I wasn’t sure whether I’d enjoy it or not. While I can’t say it ignited any desire to take more portraits, I was very pleased with my results, one of which is below. It isn’t prefect (the creased backdrop lets it down a little), but the way the Sigma 105mm lens and the Kodak P3200 rendered the images is lovely.

FILM - WPS Model Session-2

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Kodak Tmax P3200. Taken on 19 March 2019

April – A gate on a public footpath through Edale in the northern Peak District National Park. I think this photo has a certain charm to it, there’s a sense of mystery as to where the path leads and what might be beyond the gate. This is from the penultimate roll of film through my Yashica Mat 124G last year. I shall have to rectify this situation and shoot with the camera again post haste!

FILM - A path near Edale

Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100. Taken on 20 April 2019

May – During May I visited New York with my family. It’s the second time I’ve visited (and I’d love to return – although I think my wife would prefer somewhere else in the US if we get across the Atlantic again) – I could have spent all day, every day just walking the streets taking photos. It was a family trip though, so I grabbed whatever I could. This is just a view down 7th Avenue after a rain shower, but it screams New York to me.

FILM - 7th Avenue

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+. Taken on 28 May 2019

June – A box of pre-owned pool balls on a stall at the Sheffield Steam Rally. I think I might have said at the time that colour would have been a more obvious choice here, but I love the contrast given by the HP5+.

FILM - Balls

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Ilford HP5+. Taken on 30 June 2019

July – The beach at Scarborough. My wife and I took a trip to the seaside and I shot a roll-and-a-half of film during the day. This is just a snap of the beach, the people enjoying themselves there, and some yachts in the sea beyond, but it has a nice “Martin Parr” feel to it that I like. It was also an opportunity to test the little Pentax Espio compact that I’d bought for £1 a fortnight before.

FILM - On the beach

Pentax Espio 140M & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Taken on 13 July 2019

August – Taken at the Lincoln Steam Rally – the first time I’d attended this event, but it was huge and I hope to go again in 2020. I shot four rolls of film on the day, but this Ektar shot of a vintage truck is a favourite. The almost 70-year-old Zeiss Mess-Ikonta continues to impress with it’s superbly sharp lens.

FILM - ERF

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Kodak Ektar. Taken on 17 August 2019

September – A day trip to my childhood seaside haunt: Mablethorpe. It’s a place I’m always drawn back to, even though I’m always slightly disappointed that it hasn’t remained frozen in time as I remember it from when I was a child. Another day where several rolls of film were shot (including three botched rolls through my Holga because I had it set to bulb mode!). I’ve many photos from the day that I like, but this is the one that always springs to mind when I think back.

FILM - Water dragon

Olympus 35 RC & Kodak Portra 400. Taken on 13 September 2019

October – I took a trip to Doncaster racecourse with my dad, and this is one of the photos from the day. The weather was awful, with heavy rain all day, but oftentimes bad weather makes for good photos.

FILM - A day at the races

Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 75-150mm f/4 & Ilford HP5+. Taken on 25 October 2019

November – This shot is potentially my favourite of the whole year. The simple but beautiful charms of the Holga coupled with a wonderfully foggy day made for some amazing photographic opportunities.

FILM - The path untaken

Holga 120N & Kodak Tmax 400. Taken on 30 November 2019

December – December is a little difficult as, as I type this, I have three rolls of film waiting to be processed still and there might be a showstopper on there (or possibly not), but this image that I took just before Christmas on a lunchtime walk is definitely worthy of the spot. It’s another Holga 120N image, but cropped to a 4×3 ratio (the bottom of the frame has a river in it, but it didn’t add a lot to the overall image and the landscape crop works much better. The way the Holga renders out-of-focus details is wonderful, and almost impressionistic in style.

FILM - Breaking through

Holga 120N & Kodak Tmax 400. Taken on 18 December 2019

So there you have it. Twelve favourite shots from 2019. As with any list like this it’s subjective, and if I were to do it again tomorrow several of the selections might change, but for now it will do.

One final word – I’ll proof read it later, so apologies in advance for any typos or grammatical goofs. 🙂

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A couple of pubs

fishyfisharcade1 Comment

A bit of a dip into the archive for today’s post. I present here a couple of photographs of pubs in Sheffield. They are from a series of images I made that were going to form the basis of a project I was working on. The project kinda fizzled out, but I have a roll or two of images that I shot for it that I’ve not really done much with (although at least a couple of others have appeared in the blog at various points).

The two photos were taken almost two years ago on a wander around Sheffield city centre on a Sunday, and I’ve chosen these two as they feature the same subject matter – public houses. Despite the seemingly never-ending set of pub closures that is befalling the UK, city centres seem to be less affected, and there are still a wide ranges of places still open and thriving. Although these photos were taken two years ago, both of these pubs are still in business as far as I know, and the areas in which they stand are undergoing a lot of renewal (from old, small industrial units, to new businesses, university facilities and residential conversions). If such a time comes when they are no longer trading, then I’m glad I have these documentary pictures.

FILM - Rutland Arms

FILM - Lord Nelson

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Fomapan 100.

Taken on 12 November 2017

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

The start of The Pennine Way

fishyfisharcade3 Comments

The Old Nag’s Head pub in Edale marks the starting point of The Pennine Way, a 268 mile long trail running all the way to the Scottish Borders where it ends at Kirk Yetholm. It was officially opened in April 1965 and traverses many areas of upland landscapes including the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Northern Pennines and the Cheviot Hills (crossing Hadrian’s Wall along the way).

FILM - The Old Nag's Head

Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.

Taken on 26 April 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

6 x 4.5 Gate

fishyfisharcade1 Comment

This picture was originally a much nicer (in my opinion, at least) square composition with the wall arcing up through the shot. Or it would have been had I not gottem my finger in the way of the lens, resulting in my having to reduce it to a 6 x 4.5 ratio crop.

It’s kinda frustrating as I almost never get my fingers in the frame – occasionally I’ve had shots where an errant gust of wind has blown the camera strap into the shot just as I pressed the shutter, but my fingers are generally immune to the breeze. Oh well, I still like the result, even if it could have been better.

FILM - Gate

Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.

Taken on 26 April 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Hollins

fishyfisharcade2 Comments

This somewhat dillapidated farm building is marked on the map as “Hollins”. Although the sun was already rising quite high in the sky by the time I took this, there was still plenty of side-light and contrast and it’s probably my favourite shot from this roll. It’s been cropped to remove a section of largely featureless sky.

FILM - Hollins

Yashica Mat 124 G & Fomapan 100.

Taken on 26 April 2019