A Day at the Park

I made one of my regular visits the other day to Hartsholme Park.

One of the locations at the park is the subject to one of my projects for the year.

This particular Project involves me shooting on my trusty Hasselblad using a film back, but while wandering round the park I took a number of quick snaps with my new Nikon V1.

These shots above have all been processed in the new Adobe Lightroom V4 Beta.

When shooting with a big heavy Large Format or a Medium Format Camera it is handy to have a good all-purpose small light camera.  A big SLR is too heavy to carry along side a Medium or Large Format Camera, but my Nikon V1 I am finding is the perfect small camera to accompanying me, when I have my big high quality cameras with me.

My large cameras (with the exception of my SLR’s) are slow to use but produce extremely high quality images.  A good companion camera camera must be small fast and responsive.  In this way the Nikon V1 is a better camera then most other small cameras currently available.

Other small cameras may produce better quality images but few are faster and as responsive as the V1.

If I could  only carry one camera and it had to be small then I would go for image quality above all, and the Nikon V1 would not be my first choice, something along the lines of the Leica M9, Fuji X1 Pro, or the Sony Nex7 would be a better choice.

How do they handle on the performance front, well with the exception of the Leica, I don’t know, I have not spent enough time with them, at the moment my Nikon V1 is my carry everywhere camera that I am more then happy with.

As a side note, it was the best visit I have made to the park for a long time.  Lots of wildlife, I saw the usual Pigeons, Black Headed Gulls, Canada Geese and Greylag Geese.  But much earlier then I expected there was also a Heron getting the nest ready, Coots, Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebes.

Also while framing a landscape shot a Grey Squirrel crept up behind me, I was very surprised to see him get so close.

Photographic Goals for 2012

Most of my Photographic goals for 2012 are the same as last year but there are a few oddities.

  1. Shoot 10 portfollio quality images over the year.
  2. Shoot my Red Beach Image thats in my head.
  3. Shoot my Dancer on Beach Image thats in my head.
  4. Shoot at least one picture a month on film.

November’s Photo of the Month – Film

Last month’s Photo of the Month, is unusual in one respect, it was taken with film.

It was not the shot I was after, the conditions were not right, but I still thought it was worth a record shot.

This is a low quality scan of the original slide, but it gives you a basic idea of what the real image is like.

There are lots of arguments over what is better, film or digital, and many get caught up in the technology race and the race for more megapixels.

What people seem to forget is that for the majority of people, who have no intention of producing prints larger then A4, then 6mb is all you need.

The other point is that film and digital are not the same and are difficult to compare, they act differently at the extremes of light and dark. To a lesser degree it’s like arguing between Oil Paintings and Watercolour Paintings.

If your producing an image for a job then you tend to use the quickest, easiest and most cost affective method.

An Estate Agent wanting a picture of a house to help sell it, is not going to use Paint or Pencil, but may have 100 years ago, technology moves forward. Today it’s likely to be a digital compact.

If the image is personal or ‘art’, then use what you most enjoy or is most suitable for the effect you want to achieve. Pencil, watercolour, oil, chalk, charcoal; film in all its different sizes, colour, black & white, negative or slide; Digital, whether a cheap camera phone or a hundred thousand pound digital scanning back on large format.

Digital is not better, it’s different.

Shoot/Draw/Paint More, Enjoy and lets not argue over what is ‘best.

Now where is my iPhone, that sunset is stunning.

Film Day

Today 35mm film is just about dead.  I shoot a roll of 35mm in my Nikon FM2n about once a year, but even most die-hard film users will admit digital has replaced film for 35mm users.

Most of my pictures are taken with my trusty Nikon Digital SLR’s, but when I shoot Medium Format or Large Format I still use film.

In the medium format and large format worlds, things are still a little more film centric.  With full frame digital SLR’s getting so good now, many medium format users moved down a format to full frame digital 35mm SLR.  Some stayed with film or bought the still very expensive digital backs.  For others they moved up a format, to large format, where today film is still king.

Its great to hear that over the last couple of years, film sales have stopped decreasing and have actually increased, especially for black and white users.  Even 35mm black and white sales are increasing.

Many new photographers are enjoying the experience of developing film for the first time.  I have to admit it is quite good fun, though I have not developed my own film now for nearly ten years.

While developing film is experiencing a resurgence, printing still seems to be in decline.  While developing a film is relatively easy, and no dark room is required thanks to tools like my own trusty Paterson Development Tanks, printing in the dark room is much harder, and can takes years to master to produce consistent high quality prints.

Today, once you have got your negative then once again digital takes over.  Negatives are scanned and then the modern computer printer produces the final print.

This month I shot two rolls of Medium Format 120 Fuji Velva, and on Saturday I got the results back.  I have to admit, its a bit like Christmas opening the packages.

I was extremely pleased with the results, and my metering skills are certainly improving.  I look forward to my next film day with some anticipation.

Being Fashionable

I recently read the new iPad Magazine Light It, there was some interesting techniques and generally it showed techniques that are currently in fashion.

Single Light

Today I looked at a very old lighting techniques book.  I bought it many years ago, and it was written in 1940s.  Some of the rim lighting techniques and back lighting techniques that it goes through are actually now back in fashion.

We may have moved from taking portraits and fashion shots on large format film cameras, to medium format, then 35mm SLR, to now our modern medium format and SLR digital format cameras but the actual techniques have not really changed.

I have to admit, if money was no option I would love something like the Leica S2 for Studio use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would also love a large format camera.  I have used one in the past and it really slows you down and makes you think.

If you want one try www.robertwhite.co.uk

What ever you use, Large Format, 35mm, film or digital, enjoy yourself.  Now off to shoot some fun snapshots with my camera phone!

 

 

 

Loading a Hassleblad 120 back

Film: Loading a camera.

A bit of a lost art now a days.  Most 35mm SLR users have now switched to digital, and most of the last 35mm SLR’s were auto loading.  For users of medium format, large format camera’s, film is still the medium of choice.

For Hasselblad users of the V system, loading a film for the first time can be tricky so heres a very useful youtube video to help you out.

Happy New Year – and the end of an era

Happy New Year Everyone

The end of an era.

As many Photographers already know the great film Kodachrome was discontinued in 2009.  While manufacture ended, there were still a few places left where you could get it developed.

The last has been Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas.  This has been the last lab in the world that was able to process the film.

Well today is the end of an era.

Dwayne Steinle the owner, will today have the last every roll processed.

With no more places left to process the film today is the end.

I shot a few rolls of Kodachrome 25 myself back in the 1980’s, but my allegiances switched to that young upstart Fuji Velva 50.  It is a sad day.  With so few film sales now, not many films can survive but I am glad to see film has seen a bit of a revival this year.

Even I have shot more film this year then in the past six.  Most of it being Medium format and some Large Format, but I only shot one roll of 35mm.

I think we may see the end of the 35mm film, but medium and large format still seems to be going strong and sales even increasing.  Lets hope it continues.  I still feel there is a place for film in this very digital world we live.

Large Format Course

Saturday was my introduction to large format photography.

The one day Intensive Large Format Landscape Workshops are a great way to get a taste of what Large Format Photography is all about.  Dav and Tim are great tutors.

Taken with my iPhone.

The course gives you the chance to get your hands on a large format camera and have a go for real.  Tim and Dav do their best to explain the somewhat complex ideas around Tilts & Shifts, but its the demonstrations and being able to try it for yourself that brings the theory to life.

The downsides of large format photography are generally the sheer size of the camera’s and the amount of time and effort it takes to set up a shot.  This slow and deliberate nature of photography is something that I like, and have got used to when using my medium format Hasselblad camera. Others may also consider the fact that most large format photography is still done with film a major downside, but the cost of digital large format is out of the question for the majority of people, and large format film is hard to beat.

The big advantage of large format photography is the range of movements available.  If you are from a small format (35mm) background this is possibly a big mystery unless you have used a tilt and shift lens.

I certainly know, that for my landscape photography, large format is tempting.  For the price of a modern Nikor Tilt and Shift lens I can buy a complete large format outfit.

A full explanation of camera movements would fill a book, and some university photography courses take an entire term (semester) to explain them.

Basically the advantages of movements are as follows:

  • Apparently infinite depth of field without resorting to closing down the aperture.
  • Correct perspective when photographing buildings, ie no converging verticals.
  • Removing the camera from the image when photographing a mirror.

Tilt is one of the key effects that landscape photographers utilise to produce apparently huge amounts of depth of field.  The effect is known as the Scheimflug Effect.  It was discovered in 19th Century by Theodor Scheimflug.

While it can be hard to explain, once you have seen it demonstrated and have tried it for yourself  you start to understand it.

Tim and Dav first explained the basic workings of the camera, and then with the aid of sketches, how movements work.  It was then a practical demonstration, so you could see the effect yourself.  Then it was time to have a go.  At first just focusing the camera was a challenge, and the temptation was to use too much tilt, but after a while I got the hang of it, and it all began to come together.

With the basics understood, we then had a walk round Robin Hoods Bay taking a few shots, trying to use the movements available to our advantage.

The other part I found a struggle at first, was using the spot meter.  Taking readings round the scene to determine the dynamic range, from that selecting an appropriate film to try and match the dynamic range or using filters to control the scene and bring it back to the dynamic range of the film.

All in all, a very worthwhile day and I look forward to putting some of my new skills into practice with my small format and medium format photography.

Thanks Tim, Thanks Dav, a great day and i’ll try to put some of the things I have learnt into practice.

Landscape Photography Course

Tonight I paid for my photography course.

I have always used small format camera’s; eg 35mm film or APC-C sensor equipped SLR’s.
This year I made the move to Medium format to complement my SLR kit, it certainly slows you down and makes you think about your photography.
I decided to book myself on a large format course, now thats slow photography.
Its being held in December so i’ll update you all then.