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.
Shot on my Miranda MS2 Super, with its original kit zoom, on Kodak HD200 color print film.
Mostly, I like the sign.
Leica M3, 21mm Super-Angulon, Neopan 400, developed in Rodinal 1:45
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’.
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…
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.
Leica M3, 135mm Tele-Elmar, Neopan 400, developed in Rodinal 1:45
Leica M3, 50mm Summicron, Neopan 400, developed by my lab in Ilford chemistry.
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).
Shot handheld on Velvia 100, with Canon 30 and Canon 50mm.
The dappled colours of the trees, which, especially in a big print, gives the picture a watercolor-like texture.
Leica M3, 50mm Summicron, Neopan 400, Rodinal 1+45 (11 minutes).
I managed to get on film what I wanted to get when I pressed the shutter…
This is Ben, one of our cats. He’s about one year old now.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.