Category: Normal Lens

Weeping Sunflowers at Solstice

Well, it’s that time of the year again. The shortest days bring the least amount of light into our lives and most everything that grew over the summer is dead, sleeping or suicidal – like these poor, pathetic sunflowers. Looking at them, I wanted to crowd fund some therapy for them, but instead I did what any heartless photographic voyeur would do, I exploited their trauma with a picture.
When I pressed the shutter button, I knew that the image would be backlit, but I expected more color in the image from Kodak Portra 400, which is usually so delightfully vibrant. I was surprised and happy however, that the suggestion of color, rather than an overt blast of chroma, adds to the sense of the loss of light in the world at this time of year.
Shooting film on antique cameras never ceases to bring surprises and joy for this camera geek.

About the photo: This was taken with a Plaubel Makina 67 medium format film camera on fresh Kodak Portra 400. The camera is a unique joy to shoot with and the f/2.8 lens is unheard of in such a small portable package.

The Chicken Says Don’t Drink the Water.

Listen to the Chicken.

I enjoyed the simplicity of this water spigot – in Philly, we pronounce that ‘spicket,’ The simple plaster background really helped isolate the subject and the rooster shaped handle truly fit the theme of Chanticleer Gardens, where I took this photo. I enjoy the tiny splatters and drips on the wall – along with he cracks and texture it creates such a subtle background. The patina in the metal, along with the strange angle the little metal sign is resting, all lent to the subtle whimsy of the shot. I made this image with expired film in a vintage camera using an old lens, shooting patina and decay. We all have our hobbies. I guess it doesn’t take much to amuse me.

And there is a lesson in this image for all. When a chicken tells you not to drink the water, you should listen to the chicken. I shudder to think of what could have happened if had ignored his advice.

About the Photo: Shot on my of my three favorite Nikon film cameras, the Nikon FM. The whole FM family is great, but I like the FM and the FM2N, they are small, handy, light and have everything a film purist needs. My other two film camera bodies are the F3HP and the F100, which are both great cameras in their own right. It took a lot of camera tests and a lot of film to come up with this triad. The lens used here in the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 Ai. It’s a fast, small, light autofocus lens that does an excellent job for manual and autofocus cameras. Truly one of my favorites. The film was Kodak Gold, long expired and of dubious origin, found in an iced over freezer on an abandoned farm in Oregon wine country. Really. What could possibly go wrong.

Darkroom Fun With Lightroom

This photo is my favorite visual analogy of how I felt emerging from the pandemic. I felt like the boat – beached, abandoned, broken, and a target for pigeons. I spent a lot of time on this negative in the Fleisher Art Memorial Darkroom, working contrast filters and dodge and burn techniques in order to bring up the clouds and minimize the shadows enough to bring detail, but without losing the mood.
This version is what I replicated in Adobe Lightroom, which is so much faster and intuitive. Still the darkroom teaches these concepts so much better. Both tools, the darkroom and Lightroom make me a better photographer in different ways.

This was a borrowed camera shot and the biggest problem with borrowing a classic camera and a classic lens is that I usually have to go out and buy one after I’ve had a chance to play with them.

About the Photo: One of my favorite photography friends and my film processor of choice, Professor Gina Talley of https://www.femmefermental.com – lent me her 50-year old Nikon F2 camera along with a Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Micro lens for my first post-pandemic vacation in Chincoteague, VA. The camera was amazing – it has a tactile feel that I can only describe as what a film camera should be. We discussed this and we decided that it had great ‘clickiness,’ which meant something at the time. The heft of the camera, the feel in the hand, the smooth throw of he film advance lever, the feel of the shutter button and the lovely sound of the shutter release all bring home a feeling of pure correctness. All though I slightly prefer the F3 due to its weight and its ability to be pure manual and also autoexposure – I like having options – I would rate this as one of my favorite 35mm film cameras.

The lens – the Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Micro – is joy. It is primitive; It doesn’t have autofocus and you can’t meter through it, but it is one of the finest lenses I have used in the Nikon universe. I just had to buy both an F2 and a 55mm Micro after this exercise. Darn you, Gina!

Film used for this shot was Ilford HP5 400, it has a nice grain and I love it as much as Kodak Tri-X, well almost.

Life is a Bowl of Freakin’ Cherries

In the dead of winter, up here in the northeast US, great color and indirect light can warm the mood to the point of being almost bearable. And when you are dreaming of Margaritaville and feeling like a mushroom, it’s great to have a visual reminder of how pretty, colorful and light filled the world is around us. Consider it a bit of visual hygge.
It’s no secret that I love old cameras and old, expired film. The grain and anomalies give me ‘warm and fuzzies.’ And the process of shooting with this great old gear, and the surprises you get after development, all make it a worthy pass time. Using the wide aperture of the f/1.8 lens, the focal plane is narrowed and that gives a dreamy, off-focus effect to much of the image. And life is, indeed, a bowl of freakin’ cherries.

About the Photo: The camera used to make this photo was the less-than-remarkable Nikon 2020 35mm SLR film camera. I purchased it for $25 at a camera show. After carving a huge pile of battery corrosion out of it, I got it working, loaded it up, and ran a few rolls through. I call the camera less-than-remarkable because it is not the best example of Nikon’s electronic capabilities, but still, it is perfectly competent for hobbyists who don’t need instant autofocus and can live with a few missed exposures per roll.

The film used is long expired Photoworks 200, which was never more than just OK when it was fresh. I’m not sure, but I suspect that this film stopped being fresh when Ronald Reagan was president. The lens was the underrated, compact, and delightful Nikkor 50mm AF. It’s slow to focus, but utterly competent in all other ways – an inexpensive, must-have lens for any Nikon film shooter on autofocus or manual cameras.

A Kinder, Gentler Age.

I like old cameras, I like old film, and I like old houses, so this image gave me a happy. I’m not so fond of the pickup truck, but you can’t always get everything that you want.
Cape May, New Jersey is the last town heading south on the Jersey shore. It’s a throwback in many ways – more civil – calmer – and less overtly obnoxious than the glitz and over-the-top ostentation of the New Jersey beaches to the north. It’s not like they don’t show off here, they’re just more subtle about it and adhere to community set standards. And what that creates is a beautiful town with grand old houses that make for wonderful photography.

About the Photo: This shot was made with a small, handy Ricoh AF-5 point-and-shoot camera – manufactured around 1983, and shot on long expired Kodak Gold 400 film, most probably from the 1990s. The house is at least 100 years older than either, and the truck, well who really cares?

The great thing about the Ricoh is that it’s cheap and small and has a great lens – a 38mm f/2.8. It produced such lovely colors and awesome grain, even with ancient film. On beach excursions with this camera, I usually bring a quart ziploc bag with me to keep it safe from water and to keep it free from sand. And then I slide it into my backpack pocket to have a great, light and compact film camera always ready to go. One that I don’t have to worry about.
Cheap film cameras (relatively cheap, anyway) are great. I purchased this one five years earlier for $20. I see they’re now going for $75-$100 on ebay. Retro fun doesn’t mean that you have to break the bank, but as these cameras start to disappear, it’s getting more expensive every day.

Kingston, on the Hudson

Sometimes life throws you fog. When that happens it’s best to get out your camera. For this image, I used the old, trustworthy Nikon N90, Kodak Portra 400 Film, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 lens. The camera did a great job of metering a fairly tough image despite the fact that it is more than 30 years old. The colors came up great with the Kodak film. What amazing grain!

Photographer at Work – Banksy Style

While I’m not a fan of Banksy’s pretense, I am a fan of his work. One image that I love is the girl losing her balloon in the wind. This image of a photographer making an image in the wind hopefully catches some of that essence. It was shot with a Nikon Z7ii, using a Nikkor Z 24-70 f/2.8 lens.

Sometimes indirect photos can suggest a good story.

The Three Tenors

‘Even a fish would not get in trouble if it kept its’ mouth shut.’
– My Dad (Who once worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency.)

At the docks in Garibaldi, Oregon, after the fishing boats come in, I used a Fuji XT2 – the perfect travel system – to capture these stunning, back lit, dinner-to-be’s. In post-prod, I brought down the white heat at the top of the photo along with a touch of clarity to fill in some of the details.

It’s The Dead of Winter and Even the Flowers are Blue

This photo uses a north-facing window for a flattering, diffuse light source, a wide aperture for a narrow, dramatic field of focus, and high ISO for a textured grainy effect.

Still, the photo wasn’t quite depressing enough to match the weather, so I used Lightroom sliders to increase the shadows and clarity.