Category: Photography

Throwback Thursday… Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

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Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
Nikon Coolpix 885, Zoom-Nikkor 8-24mm f/2.8-4.9 at 24mm, 1/250s, f4.9, ISO 100

What was I photographing on this day in previous years?

17 years ago it was this Small Tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae). The pic isn’t wonderful quality but I think this was the first time I’d composed an image on a LCD screen at arm’s length to avoid disturbing a skittish subject…

A 3.2-megapixel sensor is laughable these days but in 2003 the Nikon Coolpix 885 (replaced in October 2002 by the 4-megapixel Coolpix 4300) was still regarded as a very capable camera!

Slide Film Sunday… Chevrolet 3100 Pickup

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1956 Chevrolet 3100 pickup1956 Chevrolet 3100 pickup
Nikon F75, AF Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D at 50mm, 1/160s, f11, Kodak Ektachrome E100

I hadn’t used slide film in almost 20 years until I bought a couple of rolls of Kodak Ektachrome E100 from Analogue Wonderland last summer.

This gleaming 1956 Chevrolet 3100 pickup was photographed at MFN‘s ‘American ‘n’ Classic Car ‘n’ Truck ‘n’ Bike’ show in August on the fantastically compact and lightweight Nikon F75 SLR fitted with the very underrated AF Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D lens…

I loved the results from the Ektachrome, the images are sharp, contrasty and so very colourful, hopefully I’ll be able to shoot some more this summer!

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Single frame… Moon

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MoonMoon
Fujifilm X-T2, Centon 500mm f/8 Mirror Lens, 1/500s, f8, ISO 1600

I spent a fun hour last night photographing the moon (and giving a phone tutorial to Rachel on the same thing…)

I’d found a cheap 500mm mirror lens in the cupboard and with the aid of a T2 mount and a Nikon-Fuji adapter managed to mount it on my X-T2 giving me the equivalent of a 750mm lens.

This lens seems to be able to focus beyond infinity though and I had trouble getting a correctly focussed image… this one is the best out of the 59 shots I took!

Monochrome Monday… Alport Heights, August 2018 (yet again…)

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Alport HeightsAlport Heights
Olympus OM20, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 – 1/125s, f8, – Rollei RPX 100

I’m posting this image of Alport Heights for my regular ‘Photography Friday’ partner in crime, Rachel… thanks to the lockdown here in the UK we’ve not been out snapping for a while but this is one of her favourite places (and a fantastic spot for a picnic… when we’re allowed out again that is.)

Incidentally it was taken with an Olympus OM20 that she’d found for me in a charity shop a few months previously!

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Miniature folly

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Miniature follyMiniature folly
Nikon F3HP, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI-S – 1/125s, f11, – Kentmere 400 rated at ISO 320

In the current situation I’m struggling to motivate myself where photography is concerned but I’ve decided to post images here that evoke happy memories, if they have any artistic or technical merit too then that’s a bonus!

This miniature ‘folly’ is only a few inches across and adorns the wall that separates a holiday cottage from the sea in the Scottish village of Lower Largo.

We had glorious weather the week we stayed there in October 2018 and enjoyed a few al fresco breakfasts even though the cold waters of the Firth of Forth were only a few yards away.

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Born on this day – Edward Steichen

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‘When I first became interested in photography, I thought it was the whole cheese. My idea was to have it recognised as one of the fine arts. Today I don’t give a hoot in hell about it. The mission of photography is to explain man to man and each man to himself. And that is no mean function.’

Edward Steichen (Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator) – March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973.