Photo Friday
Still tons of scanned negatives to go through, but I saw this one and couldn’t resist posting it. I absolutely love the contrasting pattern in the foreground. This is at the palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris. Taken with my Voigtlander Bessa R using the 15mm Heliar lens on Fuji Neopan 400. Scanned and no adjustments added, I did straighten the photo slightly (it’s tough to keep the 15mm level!).
Photo Friday
I think I’m like most people in that I love taking photos, but I’m not so keen on keeping them all neatly arranged. I’m finally finding myself with a bit more time so I’ve been slowly going through old photos trying to get them arranged, tagged, and sorted. Of course I’m doing it a completely disorganized fashion, but at least I’m putting some effort into it.
The above shot was taken on my voigtlander Bessa R, with the 15mm heliar I believe. Used Kodak E100 slide film and had it cross processed. It’s taken out the back door of a canal boat on a family trip taken almost 3 years ago.
Photo of the Week
Well, after posting my 52 create pinhole camera, I promised a pinhole picture for the photo of the week. Unfortunately, none of the pictures turned out. All three were completely blank which leads me to believe that my safe light was not in fact safe. A camera store told me I could simply use a red light bulb from the hardware store, but seeing as all three pictures were completely white, and I used exposures varying from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, I think the light was the culprit. I’ll try again soon.
So instead I bring you the picture above. It was taken during the Fete des Vendanges (harvest festival) in Montmartre Paris. This was a parade that ran up the hill and people gave out free wine as the parade marched by. These Alpenhorn players were indeed in a marching band (it reminds me of the Woody Allen Sketch where he laments being in a marching band as a child as he was a cello player…). Every block or so they would stop walking and put down there horns to play. Quite the festival and if you are ever in Paris in the fall, it is an event you don’t want to miss.
Back to the details… Taken with my Voigtlander Bessa R using Fuji Neopan 400. I think the lens was my 35mm skopar, but it could also have been the Jupiter 8, doesn’t really matter now does it? Developed in D76 and scanned.
Photo of the Week
I’m down to my last three rolls of film to develop. I came across this gem a few nights ago after developing and scanning a roll of fuji Neopan. I don’t usually gush over my own photographs, but I absolutely love this picture. I find myself sitting at the computer and pulling it up just to look at it, probably not healthy, but oh well… I’ve also come to realize that I really prefer the Neopan to the Tri-X that I shot in Paris. I read on rangefinderforum the other day that you should shoot tri-x at 200 when in Paris, maybe this was the problem, but I think in the end I really prefer the higher contrast of neopan, even when developed in D-76.
Back to the picture: taken with my Bessa R and the 15mm Heliar. This sculpture sits in front of Saint Eustache by Les Halles in Paris. It’s a little over 2 metres tall and usually has kids climbing all over it. To fill the frame I got very close with my camera to take the shot.
Photo of the Week
Hot off the scanner…. Still working my way through last year’s European adventure, developed another two rolls the other day and just scanned them in this evening. This shot is from Amsterdam, a biker flying over one of the many bridges. A nice slow shutter speed gave me a little motion blur in the biker while still enabling a sharp foreground. The brick pattern really makes this image (in contrast with the blurred biker).
Taken with my Voigtlander Bessa R, and I think my 15mm Heliar due to the great depth of field, but I could be wrong. Film used was Fuji Neopan 400, I took a lot of Tri-X near the end of our adventure, and looking back at the two films, I still prefer Neopan, will have to stock up before our next trip.
Put up a collection of photos on Etsy as well, will be updating my store more frequently in the coming weeks.
Photo of the Week
Ahhh, Amsterdam. One must wonder whether the railings along the canals are to keep people from falling in, or simply to serve as a place for all the bikes to be locked up… This week’s photo is from a November trip to Amsterdam. It was fairly cloudy that week but there were a few moments of sunshine. I really liked how the point of view makes it seem like the bikes are clamoring for a view of the steeple in the distance.
Taken with my voigtlander Bessa R, not sure which lens, quite possibly my 15mm, and using Kodak Tri-X. Processed with D76 and scanned on an Epson V700.
Photo of the Week
Taken in Berlin, Germany from the cafeteria of the KaDeWe department store. The enormous windows giving a panoramic view over the city were just begging me to pull out the 15mm and take a few pics. I liked this one the best, it looks great huge with the curving window on the left hand side.
Photo taken with my Voigtlander Bessa R, 15mm Heliar, Tri-X, developed in D-76.
Photo of the Week
Started scanning some of my backlogged black and white film from last year. I still have several rolls to develop, but I’ve scanned most of the developed stuff now. I tried Tri-X, the film that everyone seems to praise. Not sure if I like it, lots of dark negs it seems, might have to adjust my developing on the rest of the rolls.
This week’s photo taken with my voigtlander Bessa R and the 15mm Heliar. Gives some great wide angles but also makes all the posts in the picture crooked… Taken with Kodak Tri-X, developed in D76. We had gone to Gare de l’Est for a day trip out of Paris, but due to some striking workers, we ended up heading to the local park instead.
Nikon D300 vs. Panasonic GF1
To start off, for those of you looking for a comparison between the two, you’ve come to the wrong place as I only own one of these fine cameras… The following are merely some musings of mine regarding my photographic future so to speak…
I love taking pictures, but I don’t love lugging around heavy cameras. My most used camera is an Agfa Optima because it’s tiny, and doesn’t weigh much. I mean it helps that it takes great pictures, but it certainly isn’t the only criteria. While I do love film cameras, I still have a digital slr that honestly takes wonderful pictures. Where it fails me is in the weight department. I often get great pictures with my Agfa not because it has some wonderful secret touch to it, but because it’s always in my shoulder bag or in my pocket, ready to be whipped out and used, whereas the Nikon is usually sitting on the shelf collecting dust with a big honking lens attached. When I do take the Nikon D300 with me, I thoroughly enjoy using it, it’s auto focus (of which none of my film cameras are), and the immediate feedback is a refreshing change. The problem is it gets used very, very rarely these days.
This has got me thinking whether I should switch to a smaller system? I’ve always liked the size and design of the Panasonic GF1, it’s very rangefinder-esque and with the small pancake lens would certainly be very portable. I realize it’s got a smaller size sensor which isn’t going to be able to touch the quality of the D300, but I so rarely blow up my digital photos, maybe it just doesn’t matter? I could easily pay for the GF1 by selling my Nikon kit (and have a fair bit of cash to spare), but then I also worry wether this would then replace my Voigtlander rangefinder? I’d have two cameras with similar focal lengths, similar sizes, but one has auto focus, auto exposure, instant feedback, whereas the other has none of these things…
With the recent GF2 announcement, I suspect the GF1 will drop in price before it is sold out, so maybe a deal could be had and I could keep both, cause I really need more cameras at this point…
Photo of the Week
I’ve taken so many pictures over the last 5 months, and they get developed in batches, so that some good ones often fall through the cracks. I’ve been visiting rail stations lately, and looking back to some older photos I saw this shot I took of Gare du Nord. We were waiting for a train and I went for a little wander as I often do, camera in hand. Used my Voigtlander Bessa R with the 15mm lens.
