Passion

This is the other singer. The band is called 'Sister Sweet', but the two are not sisters. I felt their original work, interspaced with covers, was stronger material.

Band

Had the opportunity to catch a local band playing live this weekend. Although a little light for my tastes, they were nonetheless enjoyable to listen to, and photograph.

The band is fronted by two women who alternated lead singing duties. The weather was wonderful and the light was constant as the band was under a tent the entire time. Perfect shooting environment.

Chick

On a ferry ride this past weekend, I got a chance to test out a new lens. 70-240 f/4-5.6 for my Nikon.

I'm quite pleased at the sharpness of the lens.

The distance to the nest, as the crow flies, was probably 30 feet.

Glamour

A little bit of model work with a friend. She shoots well, very photogenic.

Forgotten

A different, ah, angle on an angel I'd shot previously. This one was with the Kodak 400CN, as opposed to the Ilford XP2 I normally use.

Resting

The cemetery is such a cool place to shoot. It dates back to the Civil War, and possibly earlier than that. It's a sprawling sight, over gentle hills, through heavy scrub, past raging rivers and ancient rail lines. I could spend an entire weekend there and still not capture all it has to offer.

Nikon, Kodak 400CN film

Wildlife

Well not really, when was the last time you saw a flock of wild chickens?

I can picture it now, geared up for battle, camera in hand, stalking in the underbrush for the elusive grey squirrel. Around the tree is heard a noise, slowly coming past the tree you creep, only to find...nothing.

A pause when realization hits that something is behind you. A sound, a simple and quiet "cluck", and you know, it's all over.

Later, when the police arrive, they will take their hats off and shake their heads. "Somebody should do something about those wild chickens, " they'll say, and others will agree, but no one will, they don't want to end up like you.

Yeah, I can't see that happening either....

Nikon, Kodak 400CN film

Lost

The same ruined building where I found the skeleton just a few feet away. The flowers here had completely overrun the back half of the building, if you look carefully, you can see a window.

Nature taking over where Man has left.

Pentax dSLR

Lightplay

In a quiet (is there really anything else in a cemetery?) corner, walled off by trees and low bushes was this trio of flatstones. The light was playing through the trees just so, to make for interesting contrasts.

In addition, shade meant I could shoot with a smaller f/stop, giving me a shallower depth of field, blurring out the busy background.

Nikon, Ilford film

Contrast

This statue was in the shade under a big tree. Just past the tree was bright sun thus allowing for a high contrast shot.

Nikon, Ilford film

Toys

The edge of the cemetery boarders a river and I snapped off this image with my ultra wide angle lens.

Getting the roll back I thought this looked a lot like a model railroad scene, which pleased me greatly, as I love model railroads.

See if you agree.

Accident

I was loading my Nikon N4004 with a new roll of film, when it jammed (it's an autoloader and on occasion, it does this) on first feed.

Normally it's simply a matter of opening up the back and re-seating the film. In this case, I had to advance the feeder a bit, and then close the back.

Once closed, I pressed the shutter button to begin the autoload process, and it snaps off 4 shots. Normally, this would get me to te start of the roll, but in this case, it was +1 and I accidentally took this shot.

I liked the way the accident turned out, so I'm presenting it to you. Typical sepia tone that I get from having c41 process film (the Ilford I love so much) done at the local 1 hour joint, but I'm starting to like the effect.

Age

More Black and White from the ancient cemetery near here. Sunny day, but lots of old trees to stand underneath, allowing me to shoot wide open and get the effect I like with busy backgrounds.

Nikon, Ilford film.

Curves

Just a quick image of the area I visited. I couldn't get closer because it's an actual wildlife sanctuary and it was walled off. The area was beautiful and I would have loved to go exploring, but that's not allowed there. Still, would be a good place to go back with big glass and go bird watching.

Kiteboarders

Part of the shore set, the kiteboarders were out on this sunny day having a good time and the conditions were perfect for that and photography. Caught this guy readying his gear to go out.

Lucky

Managed to capture a seagull in flight. A LOT harder, for me, than it looks. My lenses don't autofocus fast enough for their erratic movements, but this one was holding against the wind, posing almost.

Bones

Still sorting through a ton of images I'd taken from my shore trip. I'd stopped at a ruined building, and while trapsing through the underbrush out back I ran across a skeleton.

It is either from a very small deer, or a very large dog. Numerous Birds of Prey were circling around overhead, which I thought was strange until I chanced upon the skeleton.

Too many trees in the way for good shots of the birds, but the skeleton wasn't going anywhere.

L

A sharper image than the one below, for my friend L. You know who you are :)

Return

A friend I worked with some in the past was kind enough to let me try again, to compare how my skills have improved (we'll set aside any discussion of IF they have improved, and merely assume they have)

This is my favourite shot so far, really captures her natural beauty.

Shot with my Pentax and ne(ish) 50-200mm lens and studio light rig.

Preference

One of the things students are taught in photography class, is to find your preference. That is, things you like or are good at shooting. From the beginning, I've worked with buildings, plants, people, ruins, wrecks, and so on, and although I've yet to find a subject matter I like over all the rest, I'm starting to really dig Black and White photography.

So with that in mind, I present an image shot with my Nikon, from the local ancient cemetery.

Airborne!

Warning, this image isn't very good. Oh sure, the composition is good, and the light was right, but the clarity isn't. The glass I was using on my Pentax just isn't that sharp, and at full zoom, as here, it shows.

However, it leads toa greater question: Is it more important to get the shot, or more important to get the *good* shot?

This image, and the dozens I took like it, only serve to illustrate to me to get better glass.

Uncovered

A nearby camera shop is closing its doors, which is unfortunate, but for me, probably for the best. The last thing I need is another temptation to spend money on things I don't need.

In any case, they called me the other day, having found some film I had developed there, but forgot to tell me about. It's medium format, so it's from my Yashica, but I haven't shot that in at least a year, so Id completely forgotten what was on it.

More pictures of the local park apparently. I adjusted the tone on it until it matched the tones I've been getting on my Nikon (which I've grown to love) but the image is still the same.

I'm selling my Yashicas, and I will miss them a bit, but they are worth a little bit of money, which I can use towards useful things (like more Pentax glass. Ha!)

Splash

Working more this weekend with moving thngs, action shots. Always the hardest to get just right, but in this case, a little patience paid off.

Memories

A forgotten fragment of a train station. What memories it holds, the people that have passed through the door. Time is written on every crevice and board.

I tried to capture that sense of time. I think I succeeded.

Balance

Too much monochrome images on the main page, so a splash of colour. I participated in an autocross this weekend as well, and took some outstanding shots of some stunning cars.

The Lotus pictured here is my favourite. But then I've always loved Lotuses.

Absence

I have been away for far too long. The reasons are because I've been enjoying the weather, in between bouts of torrential rain. I took a weekend to devote solely to photography, visiting the far reaches of my state, encountering quaint little townlets, abandoned buildings, historic rail lines, and so on.

I've taken thousands of shots, both digital and film, and I am in the process of sorting through them.

This is from the Nikon, and is a detail of train leaf springs. The film is the same that I have been using, Ilford XP2 Super, but the processing house has been different, and as such, the outcome is slightly different than I am used to working with. I'm not certain I like the change, but I will reserve judgement until I've worked through all the shots.