Archive for the ‘Photographs’ Category

Weir

Sunday, March 20th, 2011 by


An old shot, from my hiking trip through Scotland in 2005.

Technical details

Shot on my Miranda MS2 Super, with its original kit zoom, on Kodak HD200 color print film.

Why I like it

Mostly, I like the sign.

Playing games

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011 by


A shot from last october, part of my family playing a board game. This was an emotional evening, as we’d just heard that my mother had come through a very complex surgery succesfully.

Technical details

Leica M3, 21mm Super-Angulon, Neopan 400, developed in Rodinal 1:45

Why I like it

I just works for me. The diagonal of the arm, the pose of my sister-in-law on the left, the depth of the image without excessive `wide angle distortion’.

Printing!

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 by

Well, I unpacked the enlarger, taped a few bin-liners to the windows and experimented a bit.

I used some old paper that was packed in with the enlarger and trays (making it at least 25 years old, probably well past 30), developed in Rodinal (the only suitable developer I had, since 30 year old developer is probably even more of a crapshoot than 30 year old paper), used a water stop and my normal fixer.

Note that this is a bad scan from an office copier. The actual print is much sharper and has no banding.

As you can see, the paper was heavily fogged1, but the image is still recognizable. Considering that I pretty much winged both exposure and development, and this is the second print I made (ever), I’m actually pretty satisfied.

Specs: Neopan 400@320, Rodinal 1:50; Ilford Ilfospeed #3, Rodinal 1:25

I just ordered some fresh paper and a proper paper developer. More to come…

  1. Interesting detail: The paper was probably older than the girl in the picture []

Fish ladder

Thursday, August 5th, 2010 by


Just a quick picture to show I’m not dead yet.

Shot two weeks ago in the east of the Netherlands, a close up of a fish ladder. A little experiment with shapes and close-ups.

Technical details

Leica M3, 135mm Tele-Elmar, Neopan 400, developed in Rodinal 1:45

Bus lane

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by


A more abstract street shot. I’ve had a 8X12 of this on my whiteboard for a few weeks now1 and once I get my darkroom set up, I intend to make a bigger one to frame2.

Technical details

Leica M3, 50mm Summicron, Neopan 400, developed by my lab in Ilford chemistry.

Why I like it

It’s something new for me, but one of the first shots where I really think I got to the gist of B&W photography (at least what I want to do with it).

  1. Whiteboards are great for keeping test prints. Much like a pinboard, but with the ability to add notes. []
  2. Unfortunately, my normal lab prints B&W shots on colour paper, which doesn’t look as good as I want it, you get a kind of pinkish undertone in the midtones. []

Trees

Saturday, October 31st, 2009 by


An picture shot earlier this year in Germany when walking down a hillside.

Technical details

Shot handheld on Velvia 100, with Canon 30 and Canon 50mm.

Why I like it

The dappled colours of the trees, which, especially in a big print, gives the picture a watercolor-like texture.

Cat silhouettes

Saturday, October 10th, 2009 by


One of the `real’ pictures from the first self-developed rolls. The cats loved the sunny spot between the screen and the kitchen window.

Technical details

Leica M3, 50mm Summicron, Neopan 400, Rodinal 1+45 (11 minutes).

Why I like it

I managed to get on film what I wanted to get when I pressed the shutter…

Ben in window

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 by


Well, finally back home, scanned about half of the back-log of rolls this weekend, so I can finally add some pictures.

This is Ben, one of our cats. He’s about one year old now.

Technical details

Shot with the Leica, of course. As you can see from the emphasized grain, the photo was slightly underexposed, but once again I was saved by the large dynamic range.

Why I like it

Because it’s a good, well focussed portrait of a cat. As anyone who’s ever photographed cats knows, it brings along its own difficulties. Taking a picture of a cat isn’t hard, if you don’t mind your subject being either a) sleeping, b) motion-blurred or c) not looking at you. Getting one to look at you and sit still for long enough to take a picture takes either hypnosis, skill or luck1. In this case, it was mostly the last.

  1. I’m not counting taxidermy, that’s just cheating. []

First week

Monday, August 17th, 2009 by

Well, the first week is over. I shot about 6 rolls, most of which were `calibration shots’: bracketing like hell and checking the contact sheets for best exposure.


When scanning, I was once again surprised by the big exposure latitude of negative film. This shot was the +1 exposure from a `Sunny sixteen’ batch, and gave a better image than the real sunny sixteen exposure. Expose for the shadows, I guess. (That’ll take a while to get used to.)

Another lesson learned this week was that when Mike Johnston said to make notes, he meant it. During the calibration rolls, I made a few unbracketed shots1, guessing exposure as best as I could. In some cases, I didn’t write down what exposure I used. As Murphy dictates, those exposures were dead-on, but I have no idea what values I used…

  1. In situations where bracketing wasn’t appropriate or possible. Snapshots []

Ducks in evening mist

Friday, August 7th, 2009 by


In between all the gear-talk, time for a real picture.

I shot this late in the evening after a hot day. The water was cooling rapidly, casting a fine mist, and the setting sun gave it a warm glow.

Technical details

Shot with my Canon 400D, using an old manual-focus, T2-mount 500mm f8.0 lens, branded Sunagor. I might even have had a 2x extender in there as well, I can’t remember. This is a glass lens, not a mirror lens, and wide open it’s pretty soft, as you can see. Still, it was only 1% of the price of a Canon 500mm1.

Why I like it

The softness of the lens, combined with the mist and distance combine for painting-like effect. As someone who usually strives for sharpness, I’m honestly surprised. I guess it pays to experiment.

  1. Though I doubled the price by adding a Wimberley lens plate to it. Tripods, wonderful things. []