I was in Belfast today, and driving slowly past this litter bin, I caught a glimpse of the poppy wreath on top of the bin. A poignant reminder perhaps tat nothing in this life lasts forever, not even our acts of remembrance.
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Ecclesiastes 9:5
I stopped the car, and photographed it with the Fujifilm X-T5 camera.
There’s a common question asked, “Which camera is best for…” Add your own circumstances! Yesterday I was faced with a stark choice. I was at a country churchyard around dusk, and there was a magnificent sky behind the silhouetted church building and trees. I wanted that image! So here it is:-
So, what’s the answer to the conundrum? Which camera is best for a shot like this? The answer is…
Whatever camera you have with you!
In this case, just an iPhone 12!
CAVE HILL, BELFAST, from Hightown Road.
Image made with a Nikon FG20 using Ilford Delta 3200, pulled to ISO1600. f=34mm, f/16 @ 1/500th sec.
A good film choice for a wintery day, although this image was made during weak sunshine.
This is a fast (by film standards) film, which accounts for its grainy appearance. In the developing tank, I split the processing time between 1600ISO and 3200ISO, giving it 10 mins 30 secs in Fotospeed FD10, mixed at 1/9 at 20deg, then 1 minute stop bath in 20 deg. water, 2 mins in hypo-clear and 10 mins wash.
It’s the first time I’ve used this film, and I must admit I expected more contrast in the scanned image, but, there’s another film loaded, and I’ll try again.
The River Crossing’ – a sculpture by Jane Hart, manufactured as part of a set by Danbury Mint in the 1990’s.
Photo made under studio flash, – two reflector umbrellas, placed directly above the item. Camera was a Nikon Df, with a Tampon 28-70mm f/2.8 portrait lens. Because this lens has a shallow depth of field, (it’s designed to be a portrait lens). I selected a tiny aperture, just f/22 with a focal length of 70mm, to produce sharpness throughout the image. For reciprocity, that required an ISO of 1600.
The shutter speed under studio flash is of little importance, for the flash duration more or less determines the exposure time,
(…so long as it’s under 1/250th sec – or the shutter will be faster than the flash and will obscure part of the image, and to slow a shutter speed will admit ambient light, which can be useful when using flash outdoors, or for fill-in, but not usually in studio, where the flash would usually be the only source of light).
So shutter speed for this image was 1/125th sec.
The Better Half wanted to take a phone call, just as we drove through the village of Gracehill, near Ballymena, Co.Antrim, so because the rural phone networks are patchy, I parked the car in the street and jumped out with the Fujifilm X-T30. This served two purposes, for it meant I was able to get a quick shot of the beautiful village green, with its historic Moravian Church, nestling in autumnal colours, and at the same time, avoid having to listen to one side of her phone call.
Here’s the quick shot…
For more information on the historic village of Gracehill, click this link: https://gracehillvillage.org
Continuing the occasional series featuring my eclectic collection of cameras, here’s the
This fascinating little camera came into my possession when some of the remaining possessions of my wife’s late grandfather Sam Scott were being sorted through, quite a while after his death.
Continue reading The ‘Jiffy Kodak’ Vintage CameraA Ballymacarrett icon, St Patrick’s Church on the Newtownards Road, with one of the Harland & Wolff cranes in the background.
Photographed on film with the Nikon FM3a classic camera.
On Wednesday 27th October (It’s 2023) the good citizens of Norn Iron were introduced to Big Aggie, or, more formally, Storm Agnes, the remnants of a gale blowing across the Atlantic, or somewhere! We were, apparently, spared the worst of it; that privilege was granted, so they say, to the people of the south west of England, but we did have lashing rain and some wind. Anyway, I was in Comber that day, with the Fujifilm X-T30 resting in the car seat beside me, and I had the photo-itch. (You know that urge you get to make a photo of something – anything…) but there was no way I was getting out of the car in THAT rain.
So, I was looking something, something that would appeal to me as an image, that I could shoot from the comfort of the driver’s seat! (Yes, I know, a total lack of dedication.. A REAL photographer would stand in the rain, la de da de da…)
I was to meet someone in Killinchy Street, – and I just happened to park opposite this…
I lifted the camera, and – there it is! My photo-itch was scratched! Later, on Flickr, the image was elevated to ‘explore’ status, – something I was really chuffed about!
Hornby’s ‘SMOKEY JOE’ locomotive. Introduced by Hornby in 1983, this OO Gauge model represents the small shunters in the The Caledonian Railway 264 class. They were 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotives designed by Dugald Drummond and built by Neilson and Company in 1885, later built at St Rollox Works, up to 1902. I’ve owned this one for a long number of years, probably around 30 years or more.
I photographed it under studio lighting (2 Elinchrom heads) with the Fujifilm X-T3. Post-capture RAW conversion in Photoshop.
Lough Erne, Co.Fermanagh
Photographed with the Nikon FM3a Film Camera, on Ilford HP5 ISO 400.
Portraits2Go.co.uk 