Vic's Blog

26/04/2017

Looking up

Once again a month seems to have sped by since my last blog post when, if I remember correctly, I wrote about film.

Due to the fantastic spring weather we’ve been enjoying I decided not to load another film because I only have HP5 in stock, and I think it’s just a bit fast for sunny weather shots.

Although at the time of writing the winter has returned, I’m sure it won’t last long and we can soon look forward to some long sunny days, so perhaps I should get some slower film… just in case. But assuming that weather wise things will soon be looking up, I thought I’d post this ‘Looking Up’ trilogy taken in the garden at the beginning of April. – What would I do without a moveable monitor!

Daisies – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Cuckoo Flowers – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Dandelions – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

25/03/201727/03/2017

Let’s chat about film!

It was about a month ago when I last mentioned Film. Well, here I go again!

In this very digital age, where even reasonably priced cameras can make really good photographs, and the all singing, all dancing mobile phones work wonders, it seems quite strange that a growing interest in film seems to be flourishing.

Well, perhaps it’s not so strange after all.

Despite the fact that developing a roll of film and scanning it to CD will cost you a small fortune, there is still something fascinating, perhaps even wildly romantic, about loading a roll of film into an old camera. Some say it’s that grainy, uniquely filmy effect that people are searching for. But let’s be honest, quite pleasing ye olde filme effects can be achieved with ease using camera settings, Gimp and a whole host of other programmes and apps.

I believe it’s that yearning for the antique that seems to be in vogue at the moment. Why light a candle when there are numerous LEDs offering a similar quality of light. Why fiddle around with vinyl records when an MP3 player performs brilliantly. Why go for a spin in a veteran car when a new car with all those lovely features is no doubt far more reliable and economical, and of course who on earth would want to go on a journey in an old, smelly, oily and grubby steam train when the new trains are quicker and far more comfortable – well, me for one!!

Morning deliveries in the pedestrian zone.
Film: Ilford HP5. Camera: Yashica T5.

Street scene.
Film: Ilford HP5. Camera: Yashica T5.

Perhaps I have succumbed to the lure of the antique and perhaps that’s why I plopped a film in my Yashica T5 a while ago, and enjoyed every minute pointing and shooting with it. Who really cares why the good old film has once again captured my imagination – but if it has, and your imagination has been captured too – let’s just enjoy it.

Café in the rain.
Film: Ilford HP5. Camera: Yashica T5.

Paper bundles.
Film: Ilford HP5. Camera: Yashica T5.

26/02/2017

A walk by the river with a fixed lens

Leaving the subject of film for a moment, I thought I’d post a few pictures I made whilst walking along the banks of the River Thur this afternoon.

Normally I would have probably taken my gadget bag with me and mainly used the 18 – 55mm zoom, which offers a certain amount of flexibility. Today however, I simply used the Pentax K-70 with the DA 35mm F2.4 AL lens. The reason? – Well, for a start it’s lighter, which does make a difference when walking for a couple of hours. But I also enjoy the idea of having to walk about a bit to get the picture I want.

Railway bridge, Ossingen – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Left to nature – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

24/02/201724/02/2017

Film – interest rekindled

Once upon a time there was a photography shop in Zurich that never failed to catch my attention. I used to ride past it on the way to work quite regularly, and the windows were full of fascinating stuff – enlargers, developing stuff, paper cameras… you name it they would have it. But the shop never actually appeared to be open.

Imagine then my excitement last year when I read that the shop was closing and there was to be a closing down sale “flea market”. For various reasons I didn’t actually attend, but I did read a couple of interesting articles in the newspaper about the history of the business and decided to capture this historic event on film.

Waiting for the flea market, everything must go.
Film: Ilford HP5. Camera: Yashica T5. – April 2016

That was almost a year ago. Since then the shop has reopened http://www.ars-imago.com/ and sells all sorts of film related stuff. I plan to visit the shop within the next few months or so, but in the meantime I did back their new product…. more about that soon.

19/02/2017

Car Lights

It’s not often that I’m up and about before sunrise on a Sunday morning, so what better way to spend the extra time than to make a couple of pictures.
The first picture shows the car eager to leave the garage. The second image depicts the view I had as I climbed into the car after closing the garage doors. Not particularly breathtaking perhaps, but the early Sunday morning quietness was almost deafening…. except for me banging car doors of course.

Raring to go – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Lighting the way – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

14/02/201714/02/2017

A Black and White experiment

I’ve spent a lot of time during the last few days reading several very interesting blog articles concerning the ancient art of using film. Although still waiting for my recently exposed film to be developed, I couldn’t resist trying to recreate that “film feeling” using a digital camera. So, this afternoon I took my little Panasonic for a short walk, set it to B&W f2.8, ISO 200, pointed and shot.

To achieve the element of surprise I didn’t look at the display whilst taking the pictures (the camera doesn’t have a viewfinder) neither did I check what I’d taken after pressing the shutter – silly really, but when I first looked at what I had taken when I got back home it really was a sort of film feeling.

Particularly surprising was that the pictures seem to be nice and horizontally straight, something I rarely achieved when looking at the display!

Taken with Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP

09/02/201709/02/2017

A few black and white shots

I’ve had a film in my Yashica T5 for about a year now, and yesterday I actually got round to finishing it. As the excitement mounts whilst waiting for the film to be processed, I thought I’d put myself in a sort of b&w mood by rummaging through my 2016 pictures, and selecting a few b&w images which I posted on the 365 project during last year.

31/01/201709/02/2017

The Rhine Falls

Having spent the most part of January under a layer of cloud, it was very nice to see a bit of sunshine last Sunday. Assuming most would be heading for the mountains, we decided to visit the Rhine Falls. We were by no means alone, but the crowds didn’t bother us too much. Due to the exceptionally dry spell over the last couple of months, the waterfall didn’t have a lot of water and due to very icy conditions it wasn’t possible to reach the lowest viewing platform – but the views were nevertheless quite spectacular.

All shots were taken on my Pentax K-70 with the HD PENTAX-DA 55-300mmF4.5-6.3ED PLM WR RE .

Rhine Falls – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

06/11/2016

Woodland Walk

Last weekend we decided to go on a Sunday afternoon walk through the woods. The weather was ideal and the camera was just itching to get out into the fresh air.

19/10/201609/02/2017

Cinque Terre

I must confess I was not quite sure what to expect on a four day coach trip to Italy’s Cinque Terre region. With a day to get there and a day to return home, the trip would surely be quite stressful. But I needn’t have worried; the coach was very comfortable, the driver and travel guide were both competent and friendly, and we had ample time to explore the pretty towns and villages, both on our own and with the local guides who joined the coach for the duration of our stay.

Rapallo – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Apart from being a very welcome break, the trip also gave me a good opportunity to try out the Pentax K-70 and 55-300mm lens. Obviously I couldn’t publish all 200 pictures here, but here is a selection of a few of my favourites.

Cast Off – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Portofino – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

One of the Five – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Portovenere – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

Up in the hills above La Spezia afforded great views of the port. That big boat in the middle is “Harmony of the Seas” and at the time of writing she is the biggest passenger ship in the world……

La Spezia – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP

….and she really is impressively big!

Harmony of the Seas – Pentax K-70; Developed with GIMP