Month: June 2018

Square Saturday… The Kershaw 450

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It’s been mentioned before that in recent years I’ve become something of a rest home for elderly cameras and this particular example has been a resident for quite a while now…

Kershaw 450Kershaw 450
Fujifilm X-T10, Fujinon XF 18-55mm f2.8~4 R LM OIS at 44mm, 1/80s, f11, ISO 200

The Kershaw 450 was manufactured by GB Equipments Ltd in Leeds during the mid-1950s and is a folding camera that takes 120 film, giving 12 (square) shots on a roll.

Midland Railway 156 Class 2-4-0 No.158AMidland Railway 156 Class 2-4-0 No.158A
Kershaw 450, exposure details not recorded – Ilford XP2 Super

Fitted with an Otar Anastigmat 80mm f/4.5 three element lens the camera was supplied with either Vario or Velio shutters, mine has the latter, giving speeds of 1⁄10, 1⁄25, 1⁄50, 1⁄100 and 1⁄200 plus Bulb.

Cromer, September 2013Cromer, September 2013
Kershaw 450, exposure details not recorded – Ilford XP2 Super

As the camera has no focusing aid (and I’m terrible at judging distances) I tend to use mine only in the summer months, relying on the depth of field scale and a small aperture to get sharp(ish) images…

As I was given an assortment of 120 films for Christmas I really ought to shoot some of it… soon!

Scans by Peak Imaging with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom CC.

Photography Friday… Lumsdale Valley

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Another Photography Friday trip today, this time to the Lumsdale Valley near Matlock in Derbyshire, a scheduled ancient monument and one of the best water-powered industrial archaeological sites in Great Britain.

Lumsdale ValleyLumsdale Valley
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 26mm, 1s, f11, ISO 200

Long exposure was the name of the game in the cool shade under the trees beside Bentley Brook and after a little bit of a wrestling match* Rachel got the hang of setting up a tripod!

I’d not been to the area for many years and was pleasantly surprised to see that little had changed since my last visit, the owners of the valley, The Arkwright Society are doing a fantastic job of preserving the site without spoiling its natural charm.

WaterfallWaterfall
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 116mm, 1/3s, f8, ISO 200

* That is to say, a wrestling match between Rachel and the tripod… I wasn’t involved.

Single frame… White cliffs from Birling Gap, East Sussex

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White cliffs from Birling Gap, East SussexWhite cliffs from Birling Gap, East Sussex
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 25mm, 1/240s, f11, ISO 200

A quick trip to see friends at the weekend gave me the opportunity to spend a little time at one of my favourite places… the coast!

The tiny specks on top of the cliffs are walkers on the South Downs Way and given the rate of erosion on this stretch of coastline they’re a bit too near the edge for my liking!

Born on this day… Bob Carlos Clarke

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‘The big problem for photography is the machine called ‘Camera’. Billions of snaps are churned out, most worth less than the chemicals and paper that created them. This relatively new and brilliant invention has been brutalised by the fumbling fingers and unfocused eyes of the ordinary man. Politicans, pathologists, parents, paparazzi – everyone’s a photographer.
And now photography lies bleeding at the feet of Art, and won’t get up until 67 billion ‘ordinary users’ are rounded up and stripped of their accessories.’

Bob Carlos Clarke (British documentary, portrait and fetish photographer) – June 24, 1950 – March 25, 2006.

Photography Friday… Shardlow

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The Trent & Mersey Canal, ShardlowThe Trent & Mersey Canal, Shardlow
Nikon D5500, AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 G II at 30mm, 1/160s, f11, ISO 125

In recent weeks Fridays have become ‘Photography Fridays’ with myself and my camera finding friend Rachel taking ourselves off out for the day with far more photographic equipment in tow than is sensible…

Today we ended up in Shardlow in Derbyshire, a village on both the River Trent and the Trent & Mersey Canal, and spent the day snapping and ‘Gongoozling’ (and managed a pub lunch!)

These shots are pretty much as they came out of the camera (my wife’s Nikon D5500) but I also managed to get through a roll of film in my Nikon FE2. Rachel was also shooting film (a new thing for her) and somehow (on such a glorious day, with such a colourful subject) we both managed to have black & white film loaded!

Narrow boats, The Wharf, ShardlowNarrow boats, The Wharf, Shardlow
Nikon D5500, AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 G II at 26mm, 1/200s, f11, ISO 125