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Got a chance to use up some of the expired film I had. This is a Black and White shot, straight from the camera, to the developer, to your eyes.

Sharp eyed readers will notice it's more of a Sepia tone than Black and White. Not sure if this is an effect of the developing, or the age of the film, but it adds a wonderful hue to the image.

Shot with my Nikon F3HP, 135mm Tamron Adaptall lens at f/2.8 and about 1/2000 of a second.

The Heresy Continues

 As you are well aware, I'm no stranger to Black and White photography. If I could find a dedicated dSLR that shot in monochrome exclusively (and that I could afford...I'm looking at you Leica) I'd dump everything and use that for everything.

Well, I got close, these shots are not from my Nikons, but rather a new camera I picked up with some birthday money (thanks!) It's an Olympus OM-D E-M5, certainly a mouthful, and an interesting camera. It's tiny, like too-small-for-my-hands level of tiny, but with the battery grip, it fits, barely. It's micro four thirds format, and has a host of "art" filters built in, one of which is "grainy B/W", of which you see here.

There is a learning curve to using a new camera, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do but so far, I'm impressed with it.

Trying my Hand

At a bit of portraiture. This is Monica, a young singer who needed some shots for her accounts. I had hoped to take these indoors at the Main Street Station, but those plans fell through and we took them outside instead.

They were in colour, but converted to B/W for more impact.

Nikon D2x, 50mm 1.8 lens.

Texture

 A study of wood grain and effect on a cloudy day. ISO 100, F/8-11, Nikon D2x. Images converted to B/W.

Total Mystery

During any move, commonplace things disappear and little used things...disappear as well. Case in point here, looking for something else entirely, I ran across two un-processed rolls of B/W film. Having no idea what was on them, I made the trip to my local developer and handed them over. 

As it turned out, not much exciting was on either roll, with this image being the highlight. Taken several years ago (at least) at a rodeo, this cowboy was preparing for his ride.

I don't recall any settings used, or even the camera I used, though I suspect it was the Nikon F4s and of course Kodak's BW400CN.

That Old Time Religion

As I mentioned earlier, here are some proper film shots with my Nikon F3HP. There is a smooth look that I just cannot get with a digital SLR. I think in large part because the grain on film is truly randomly placed in the creation process, whereas in digital, there is no true randomness. The top shot was done with a 135mm f/2.8 and the bottom one with my 50mm dedicated Macro at f/8. This was for a contest, of sorts, and I wasn't real pleased with the lighting, but that was part of the rules, so I worked with what I had. A true photographer would have used some GoBos (Go Betweens) so adjust the ambient light to his advantage, sadly I don't have any.

Back to Film

I managed to score a deal on my favourite film, BW400CN, which I took out shooting today in my Nikon F3HP. This shot isn't from that roll. Instead, this is from my Nikon F5 in some Fujicolour film, converted to a stylized Black and White look. The proper stuff in undergoing developing and will be here shortly.

Angel, from local Cemetery, 50mm lens.

Salvage

 So today I was supposed to go to an archery competition to photograph the event. It was quite a drive away and I confirmed the prior night that it was still on...

This this morning I make the drive only to find out it had been canceled at the last minute. Shucks, rats and other rated G comments.

I did, however, find this pair of deer skulls and decided to make a series of shots from different angles to explore their detail.

All shot with my Nikon D2x, 50mm lens set at f/2.8.

I'm still here!

Sorry for the lack of updates, the new house, spring, yard work, etc have kept me away. But I am still alive and kicking. 

Here is my new friend, Argo.

Argo is a Roughneck Monitor (Varanus rudicollis) a wonderful species of Monitor lizards. He's shy, yet friendly, and highly intelligent (for a lizard anyway) and doesn't get too big. Currently he's about 1 foot snout to vent, and another foot for tail, and will reach (with tail) perhaps 5-6 feet.

Once the house is settled, and all the moving and unpacking (and sorting and and and...) is done, I'll get back to my vacation. Sufficed to say Belize was a blast and I look forward to going back again.

Cheers!

Conversion

Sometimes band members would go shirtless while on stage, doubtless it's hot as heck under so many lights, and that red quickly blows out details. So Black and White conversion to the rescue! Details, such as the intricate ink on his chest, are retained, while still giving the sense of emotion that the red lights brought.

Rise Up

As I have said in the past, I'[m not a fan of Photo-shopping my pictures, much preferring to show them as taken, warts and all. I'm a firm believer that the more you get right in the camera, the less you have to do after the fact.

Here is a shot I converted to Black and White, the Rhythm Guitarist was performing a sound check before they went live, and originally bathed in deep blue light. My Nikon D2x can shoot in pure Black and White mode, but at the time I didn't want to miss any shots, so it was done in colour. I feel the image is better this way, so here it is.  

Apocalyptic City

Storms have been skirting my city and leaving interesting cloud formations in its wake, which is a nice change of pace from the usual formless sky w get.

Most of my planned photography outings yesterday fell through, but I did manage to capture the city from a few vantage points. There is a great flood wall lining the river, as apparently decades ago the lower downtown area was prone to flooding.

I have managed to find a way around the wall, and should be shooting from the rocks you see in the river, assuming the water stays low enough to get to them.

Colour shot from my Nikon D2x, converted to B/W, with a 50mm Macro lens

Last Shot of the Day

You can see the raindrops starting to hit the water, just four or five. Just a hint of things to come, but it held off for about 15 more minutes until I was done shooting.

Wider View

Here is a wider view of the marina with that beautiful wood hull in the foreground, and the perfect sky above.

Unsurprising, given the weather, but there was no one about, lending an air of mystery to the scene. 

Classic Boat

The marina was full of very expensive boats. Although the word "expensive" is redundant when it comes to boats. As I once heard, the word "boat" is an acronym for "Bust Out Another Thousand". As much as ownership of a boat appeals to me, I've seen firsthand how expensive it can be to actually own one for long periods of time, so I think I will pass for now, and stick to admiring them through the lens.

The marina was fairly high above the decks of the boats, so I went prone, ensured my camera was securely strapped to my wrist, and lowered my arm down close to the water, and shot blind.

This is one of my all time favourite shots (along with Of Fog and War, taken on Emerald Isle in March of 2011) I've taken of water related images, the wooden hull contrasting beautifully in black and white.

Little Used

So the entire state is under "widely scattered showers" advisory for the whole week, and while that makes for great sky shots, it does make for tricky shooting, as most electronic devices don't work well when soaked.

Yesterday I wanted to photograph boats and when I woke up, it was sunny. Well the trip to the nearest marina is nearly two hours away, and by the time I got there, the sky was threatening to unleash fury.

Fortunately it held off while I shot the following series. In fact, as I'd taken my last shot, put my lens cap back on my camera and was walking back to my car, done shooting for the day, it started the torrential downpour.

So special thanks to mother nature for playing nice with me.

Side note: I have a Nikon 10-20mm ultra-wide lens that I got for a good deal some years ago, but haven't used it much. I put it up for sale but so far have had no takers (it's an expensive lens.) Undecided as to what I was going to do with the lens, I brought it along with me for the day's pictures. What you see here in Black and White, are all shots done with this lens. I have found a purpose for it, it's really good at shooting boats, and bridges.

I may keep it after all. All the Black and White shots are from my Nikon D1x, it has a B/W shooting mode option, and I wanted to explore it further. I'm really like the effect.

Ready for Battle

Found, in the newsaper of all strange places, a weekly meeting for the SCA, or Society for Creative Anachronism, where members dress up like knights and do battle.

They have a huge event next weekend I'm going to, but for now here is one ready to joust.

Yes, they wear real metal armour and use real (if blunted) weapons

Stormhouse

During a lazy weekend, I kind of wasted it inside doing little, if anything, productive. Finally, around 7.30pm I decided I wanted to go out and shoot some film, as the storm clouds were gathering in full force.

Sadly, I've been in a rut lately and most of my work isn't fit for viewing, this shot is probably no exception, but here it is anyway.

From the same batch as the rest posted, adjusted slightly to make it pure Black and White, as the local one hour joint typically puts a tint to the film. 

A Little Bit of Film

So I go away for a bit (mainly due to terrible weather) and when I do come back with something to post, Blogger changes the back-end and wipes out all my preferences.

Bloody irritating that is.

Nonetheless, I'm gonna give this a try and see how well it works, or if I can turn it back to "classic" mode (I hate that term "classic", I wish I could call it "just works the way I want it to" mode, but that's too cumbersome)

In any case, a sunny day, some Kodak B/W film, a manual camera, and a willing subject. Not muchmore I could ask for.

And in First Place

I had a full roll (err..compact flash card, you know what I mean) of shots from the 10k run I shot recently.

Biggest problem I had was I didn't bring a long enough lens, having never been to a run before. I didn't know the layout or where I'd be stationed, so I grabbed my most versatile lens, a 28-200mm, and went from there.

This is a picture of the 1st place runner, from Kenya if memory serves me right. It's been cropped, and converted to B/W, otherwise it's as I shot it.