Archive for the “black and white” Category

Black and white photography. Contains both photos and discussion of black and white photography

In lieu of any content here’s a picture of a fern in Nottingham’s arboretum. Lots of stuff on at the moment with M208 TMA03, 2 audax gps routes to sort out (Lincolnshire Cross 200km, and “Moors and Wolds” 400km and lots of chances to spend longer than expected at work have contrived to make life a bit duller than expected. Hopefully sorting out the first 2 of those will provide some interesting posts, and unless I really want to become know for Dynamics CRM and SQL Server clustering, I’ll keep the last one to myself.

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Plant

And we’re not talking about policemen trying to be environmental activists either. Plant growing in Nottingham’s Arboretum park last summer. Taken with Canon EOS 3, 50mm f/1.4 on FP4 @64 ISO and developed in ID-11, scanned on Epson V500

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lathe

Working through a backlog of photos I found a couple more from the Great Central Railway at Loughborough. Just taken inside the restoration shed of bits and bobs lying around. Though obviously not of the same quality they do remind me of the Maurice Broomfield exhibition we visited in Derby last year. Need to get out and take some more of these sort of photos, but it’s all a bit hectic trying to fit it all in with cycling and OU coursework. Maybe need to work out a decent way of carrying the camera kit on a bit. Shame I don’t have rack mounts atm.

wheel

(Both photos taken with Canon EOS3, Sigma 24-70 2.8 on Ilford FP4+ @ISO125, developed in ID-11 and scanned on Epson V500).

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nottingham in the gutter

Another one from the rainy afternoon in nottingham. Just down the gutter from the other photo (here). A bit more swirling and motion in this one, and a little leaf holding on

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Swirling waters of nottingham

A photo from last year during a particularly wet night in nottingham, almost thought I’d broken my 50mm lens but thankfully it just needed a good drying out back at home.

This is one the reasons I’m moving Lightroom-wards. I scan my negatives in to 16-bit uncompressed TIFFs, which means Bibble won’t take them. So I end up having to work on them in Photoshop, which is fine for the images that need a lot of work, but most of the time I just want to adjust levels and curves and go.

Taken with a Canon EOS 300, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 on Ilford HP5+ 400, developed in Ilford ID-11 and scanned on an Epson v500.

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So which trusted construction material do you think this is?

man made wood

Despite all appearances this isn’t wood. It is in fact concrete. To be exact it’s concrete somewhere on the Royal Festival hall. Looks like someone decided the concrete montser would look better if they tried to make it look like wood.

You can see some more of the texturing in this photo:

Royal Festival Hall

So, it looks like they decided to use it quite liberally over the whole building.

This weekend sees a jaunt up to Infest to take some band photos, it’s been a while so hopefully I can remember which end to point at the stage. Debating whether to take the film camera as well. And then there’s always the change of  getting some reportage shots as there’ll be fuckwits protesting as well in the city centre.

(photos taken with Canon EOS3, Sigma 24-70 EX 2.8 on Ilford FP4+ @125 iso, developed in Ilford DD-X and scanned on an Epson v500)

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Not going anywhere

Or at least I hope not, as it’s part of the support for the Millenium Bridge in London.  This one came out pretty sharp considering it was hand held in a rather dark spot at an swkward angle to try and get the support beam in. Yet another photo from a day wandering around the southbank (previously)

Taken with Canon EOS3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 on Ilford Fp4+ @125 ISO, developed in Ilford DD-x and scanned on an Epson v500

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Nuts and struts

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Seed on brick

Something (most likely a squirrel) appears to have been eating on top of this wall slab somewhere in Nottingham’s Mapperly park

More playing around with FP4+, again shot at ISO 64 and developed for 125.  Lots of lovely detail in the gritted edges of the slab. And the bokehed highlights at the back look nice as well.

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What do the numbers mean

Carved/branded telegraph pole in Nottingham’s Mapperly Park. Guessing BT is for British Telecom, but no idea for the rest. Doesn’t seem to be on every telegraph pole, so guessing it must mean it’s some sort of wiring hub?

Trying to play around with film a bit. So in this case the film (Ilford FP4+ 125) was actually pulled to 64 and then developed as normal (Ilford ID11 1:1 for 11 minutes). Quite liking the tones and detail that’s coming out of it.

Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford FP4+ @64ISO, scanned on Epson V500

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Cracked painted door

Went for a wander round the yards at the Great Central at the weekend for a bit of a contemplative look around. In the harsh sunlight this cracked and peeling door on an old goods van was too good a chance to miss.

Minimal photoshopping, just a bit of contrast and level adjustment, plus a slight sharpen to compensate for the scanning.

Canon EOS 3, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8, Ilford fp4+ @ ISO 125, developed in ID-11 1+1, scanned on an epson v500.

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ghost bridge 1ghost bridge 2

So while waiting for the abortive attempt to visit Exposure at Tate Modern I spent the day wandering along the South bank of the Thames with cameras trying to look for something different.

The foot bridges looked interesting, but covered in people using them (this was about 3 in the afternoon). So, not wanting to wait for 13 hours for sunrise I decided to see how well multiple short exposures would work to ‘ghost’ out the walkers. From the above it seems to have worked well.

I really like the first one of the Millenium bridge. The lighting seems to have worked out nicely and I like the slightly washed out tones. And the backdrop of St Paul’s works nicely. Just a bit of a shame about the fact that the trees aren’t planted symmetrically. Everyone seems to have disappeared, apart from the gentleman in the wheelchair playing the steel drum.

Hungerford bridge turned out a bit differently, definitely a bit more claustrophobic and darker. Was actually crammed into a little nook on the bridge itself so the ‘ghosts’ are more visible. Don’t think this one is quite as sharp, but I think that’s down to a cheap tripod and a little bit of bridge vibration (I did think about doing something similar on the Millenium bridge, but standing on it and remembering it’s vibration problems I don’t think it would have worked).

Taken on a Canon EOS 3 with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens on Ilford FP4+  @ 125ISO, developed in ID-11 @ 1:1 and scanned on an Epson v500.

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Not as controlled as it could be

Don’t think this Zone’s as closely controlled as Nottingham City Council would like. Or maybe the graffiti only appears after 5pm Mon-Sat?

Canon EOS 300, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford FP4+ @ ISO125, developed in DD-X 1+4, scanned on Epson V500

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Sudbury hall stumpSudbury Hall stump

Really loving the crispness and textures that I’m getting with the black and white film, being able to see all the saw marks on these stumps. And the extra isolation from the lager film area is great as well, really like the way that the backgrounds on these 2 photos are full but they’re cut off from the main point of the photo.

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Wormrot @ The Old Angel, Nottingham, May 2010

Finally they’re up. Far too much stuff on at the moment, but here’s the photos from the Wormrot gig at The Old Angel all the way back in May. Top sweaty night of grindcore.

Tried something slightly different with the PP on these and it seems to have come out nicely, almost a selenium toning effect. Thinking that might have been helped that I shot them at ISO 800 and developed for IS1600 (Oops)

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Twig on step

A little budding twig found randomly lying on some steps while wandering along Castle Boulevard in nottingham. I liked the textures in the shot, shame I blew the highlight on the buds though. Still getting to grips with exposing for film, there isn’t the helpful blinking histogram like there is on the back of the DSLR unfortunately.

Photograph taken on Canon EOS3, Canon EF 50mm/1.4 on HP5+ @400ISO, developed in Ilford DD-X and scanned on an Epson v500.

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Luxury Stranger playing at The Old Angel, Nottingham, May 2010Luxury Stranger playing at The Old Angel, Nottingham, May 2010

Following on from the Screaming Banshee Aircrew photos we have the headliners, Nottingham’s own Luxury Stranger (myspace).

Another band I’ve not seen for a while running around with other things. But they’ve just got back from playing at Leipzig, so things seem to be looking up. Recommended for those who like their old skool Cure or Echo and his Bunnymen.

Colour ones taken on the 30D, black and white on the EOS 3

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Screaming Banshee Aircrew playing at The Old Angel, Nottingham, May 2010Screaming Banshee Aircrew playing at The Old Angel, Nottingham, May 2010

Been a while since I’ve seen Screaming Banshee Aircrew play (last time may well have been supporting The March Violets a couple of years ago (Pictures). There appear to have been some lineup changes (I’m sure I remember more than 4 in the band?) and a change in sound. There definitely seems to be a bit more of an edge to their sound these days. But it still sounds good, or at least as good as it can through ear plugs 12″ from the PA (my fault not theirs).

Took the EOS 30D out for a play as well for a bit of a change, so there’s some colour this time.

Black and white pictures take on a Canon EOS 3 on Ilford HP5+ @ 1600, some with flash, some without.

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Sudbury Halls steps and ballsSudbury Hall ball

More playing with film. A quick couple of shots from a trip to the National Trust’s Sudbury Hall.

I like the perspective in the first one, though I should have been a little more careful with the framing of the bottom ball. While the viewfinder on the EOS 3 is larger than the 30D it’s still not 100%.  I think kneeling down would have helped this shot a lot as well, if I could have place the centre point just about the middle step maybe, though then there wouldn’t have been quite the same sense of perspective. That and it was a filthy day so I’d have got muddy, note to self; one must suffer for one’s art.

I do like the tones in the 2nd one. The ball looks almost like a small moon. And there’s enough apparent ‘depth’ that it still seperates nicely from the wall at the back. Divided on the almost complete shadow at the bottom, while it definitely helps to define the shape of the ball, it would be nice to have some detail in there. Possibly a touch more exposure, or maybe a reflector of some sorts?

Taken with a Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens and Ilford HP5+ @400. Developed in Ilford DD-X. Scanned on an Epson v500.

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Boss on a wall in The Park, Nottingham

Not the greatest sight in Nottingham, but I do like the contrast and tones in this one. Would have been nice not to have to shadow cast by the central nut, but I didn’t have a flash on me and the EOS 3 doesn’t have a built in.

Wonder how this would work with filters? Another plan at some point is to head out with the tripod to find a suitable test subject and then work through trying out lots of filters to see exactly what they do. I’ve tried a red filter a couple of times, but it doesn’t seem to have made a major difference, which isn’t what I was expecting.

Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford HP5+ @ ISO 400, developed in DD-X, scanned on an Epson V500

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