Isn’t it great when you shoot them and they have both feet off the ground. Incidentally, this image was made at a distance of around 150 yards from camera position.
For those who like to know these things, the image was shot at F=290mm, f/5.6 @ 1/500th second on ISO500. The aperture was wide open to allow a shallow depth of field, hence the bokeh (the fall-off in focus) visible on the ground, while the faster shutter speed froze the feet in a fraction of a second – a moment in time. The ISO was set at 500 to achieve a 1/3rd stop over-exposure, and CLICK.
I’ve been trying out a new-to-me Nikkor lens on the Nikon D100, using Fujifilm Neopan Acros Black and White film, – old stock dated July 2013. I’ve never developed Acros myself before, (although Acros Film Simulation is one of my favourite shooting modes on the Fujifilm digital cameras). I have to say, I really like this film. It has a beautifully soft grain, and gives great depths of contrast on the digital scanner.
Raindrops in monochrome, shot on the Nikon F100 film camera, F-50mm, f/3.5 @ 1/500th sec, after a long heavy rainy day – typical of our Northern Ireland summers…
Photographed on (out of date) Ilford HP5 film, ISO400, and developed in FD10 for 7 minutes. Negatives scanned.
I’ve been messing around with a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 manual focus lens, attached to the Fujifilm X-T5, using an adapter made by K&F Koncept. The depth of field is amazing.
This shot of a cutlery drawer demonstrates the bokeh possible with a lens like this, and of course with Fuji’s ‘focus-peaking’ feature, manual focus is a doddle!
My Nikon FM2 film camera has no meter, for the battery connection is broken and I can’t find anyone willing to fix it. “It’s too old, – it’s not worth it…’ etc etc. But I bought this great camera back in 1987, and it’s been like an old friend. I can’t just throw it away. I’d tried using it with a Sekonic analogue meter attached, but the numbers are too small now, for me to see them!
But there may be a solution, the TT ARTISAN LIGHTMETER.
Another in my occasional series featuring cameras in my rather eclectic collection. Here’s my Brownies! (For those of a more recent generation, – Brownies are NOT a crumbly dark confection!)
The earliest Brownies were made by Eastman Kodak in the first years of the 20th century, and production continued right up to the 1950s. My maternal grandfather, the late Bob Kirk owned one of these in the 1960s, and I can well remember family caravan holidays in Millisle, and lots of photos being captured with the ‘Box Brownie.’
Ballylaggan Reformed Presbyterian Church lies close to Agivey in the district of Aghadowey, on Curran Road, the road between Kilrea and Coleraine.
I often pass this church on the journey from Randalstown to Portrush, and I’ve often wanted to make a photograph of it. Its austere architecture denotes its Covenanter / Presbyterian heritage and its rural location gives it an attractive surround. But we’re always in a hurry, and I’ve never had time to stop…
Another example from my weird collection of cameras and photographic bits and pieces gathered up from friends, relatives and charity shops. This little film compact camera is the Ricoh XF-30. Mine is black – but I’ve seen a few nice red examples on the second hand market.
In September, 2023 I visited the Belfast Book Fair, held this year in Methodist College (Methody) at Stranmillis. There was little in interest this year, by way of books, (mostly Irish history etc), but there were a couple of dealers selling antique postcards, and I spent quite a time trawling through them – with no intention of buying, of course, (some of these antique postcards can be rather expensive), despite the enthusiastic sales techniques of one of the vendors, who mistook my prolonged browsing for a potential sale. I was looking for photographic inspiration! Actually, I was sorry I hadn’t taken a notebook and pen!