I really liked the background colours in this image from today and the contrasting droplet. It’s difficult to take macro shots like this by hand as even the slight swaying back and forth that happens as you stand effects what is in focus. By persisting though you can eventually get one that works.
Everyone loves a good oxymoron right. The Big Mini, is a modern classic that is clearly misunderstood. The camera is small so that must be the mini, so what’s big? The pictures it creates? Not really, there the same size as any other 35mm camera. OK it’s just a catchy name for a decent camera. One nice feature is the +- 1.5 exposure compensation, which works great for backlit scenes, like the one of the trees with the sun behind. It’s also quite good at close distances focusing down to 35cm. Hmm 35mm lens,35mm film, f3.5, 35cm close focus, those stats almost exactly seem like they are accidentally on purpose.
Ok that’s enough, I’m almost done, how many oxymorons are in my post of vexing fun?
Recently Fuji announced a new digital compact camera, the X100, that has many styling cues from the past. It’s an attractive camera and has garnered a lot of attention from photographers. I’m interested in seeing this camera in person when it comes out in 2011 but until then I decided to give one of the Fujica’s I already own a spin. The Fujica 35 Auto M has an unusual 47mm f2.8 lens. Another interesting feature and perhaps one of the first cameras to have it is complete auto exposure with both shutter and aperture controlled by the camera, this can also be overridden making it a very versatile camera. If looking at the camera leaves you wondering about advancing the film and cocking the shutter, the lever is on the bottom and easily done with a thumb.
And now the sample images.
I like the term Contre-jour it sounds more sophisticated than “Back lit” but really it does refer to photographs taken where the primary light source is behind the subject but not necessarily directly behind it as I have done here.
These images have me thinking about how often I use this technique, so I have just gone through some of my images to find other examples. This is by no means all of them but based on the number of images I had to look through to find them I can safely say I’m not being repititious when I do take an image like this.
UPDATE: Ok I found another one that I really like. It’s funny because until I looked at it again I had forgotten how a friend and I had rushed ahead so that I could capture this and we would still be able to make it back before dark. Based on the date this was 19 years ago.
You can modify the look of clouds and water with long exposures making them soft and ethereal, but what if you can’t achieve slow enough shutter speeds? That’s were using multiple exposures come in. In this case I have used 9 exposures combined in the camera (a Pentax K10D) each exposure taken with a small delay of about 10 seconds in between. This means that any single cloud will have moved a similar distance as a 90 second exposure, which would be unachievable in daylight conditions even with a strong neutral density filter. The image bellow is toggling between the multi exposure image and a single image taken just after.
The Yashica Electro 35 rangefinders are wonderful cameras with an electronically controlled shutter and aperture priority. The f 1.7 lens allows plenty of light for low light shooting, however there is no shutter speed indicator beyond the basic over exposure and slow shutter warning. If you can live within those limitations it provides sharp well exposed images. I shot these images using Kodak professional plus-x. Kodak describes the film thus ” PLUS-X 125 Film offers a combination of sharpness and fine grain that makes it the ideal film for beautifully printable negatives in moderate-to-bright light.” I would agree and because it has been used for so many years it has a particular look that many people expect when they view a B&W image.
Here is a detail from one of the images.
As far as piles of rubble go this one smells pretty good. It has that aged wood smell of an old building only intensified by the fracturing and the light rain. This image came about when the excavator was going to relocate so I moved to this side and placed my Pentax PC35AF against the fencing. It’s difficult to ensure the fence doesn’t obscure the lens because it’s viewfinder is not through the lens, but with care and luck I was able to capture the moment that created this composition.
I recently had my Canon QL17 with me when returning from a social function and I had two exposures left on the roll. The other one is of me driving so we will just leave that one where it is. The other one is this one. I waved at the security guards as I drove past, I think the shirt and tie confused them, turned around took this exposure and drove away. I have post processed this image but to be fare that is really to make it match better how I perceive it. One thing about a camera it doesn’t record how something makes you feel. But even someone who doesn’t see this as a cold industrial edifice can’t help but be slightly swayed by the cool tones I’ve enhanced
When I recently saw stacks of logs waiting to be processed I knew that I wanted to create an image that linked the raw materials together. These two images are merely an intermediate state for these trees and it is for the viewer to envisage a time before and after for them. Either as trees or the end products that surround us.
I have just returned from a trip which required driving through half of British Columbia. There are nearly endless opportunities to photograph on a trip like this so I brought several cameras with me. I took some photographs with the intent of applying the miniature filter of the Pentax K-7 and while stopped at a restaurant and waiting for my meal this is the results I came up with.
