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

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.

Right, back from the States, Nottingham half marathon completed, and I’ve stopped panicing about colours as my work monitor is just crap so it’s time to get on with some more Infest photos.

Starting off just like the festival with Mandro1d

So we kicked off with a band I’d never heard of, and of course I hadn’t read my programme by this point either. So it took me slightly longer than most to catch on to the humour in the songs (never claimed to be quick on the uptake).  But soon saw the funny side of songs like “The summer of 6.9“, the one that rips off Headhunter and the free advertising for Jaeger and MusicNonStop meant there was plenty to laugh at

Mandro1d Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/mandro1d

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

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

Nice wood grain and a pint of guinness. In this case being enjoyed in the beer garden of Nottingham’s Orange Tree.

Popped the contrast a bit in Photoshop, thinking about printing I wonder if I could then have dodged a bit to bring back the reflections in the Pint?

Canon EOS 300, Ilford HP5+ @ 400ISO, developed in Ilford DD-X and scanned with an Epson V500.

Well, one thing that probably won’t run out is the amount of graffiti in Nottingham to take pictures of. Though the quality of some it is probably debatable (my photos AND the graffiti :))

A nice stencilled piece of graffiti on one of the wall posts along Forest Road. I like the way the ivy’s creeping up the other side, showing 2 of Nottingham’s buildings biggest enemies (the others including idiot developers).

Slight increased the contrast in PP, but not by a huge amount.

Canon EOS 300, Canon EF 50mm 1.4, HP5+ @ ISO 400 scanned on Epson v500

The Munsters appear to have decided to move to Nottingham. Taken through a gap in the fence surrounding the reservoir by Mapperly road.

Canon EOS 300, Ilford HP5+ @400ISO, developed in Ilford DD-X and scanned with an Epson v500.

So, the first trip out to see a band with the film camera in tow.

First up were  Twilight’s Embrace. A local Nottingham band tagging themslves in the Dark Melodic Metal camp who’ve been around a while, but this was their first ever live performance. Judging from the performance and feedback from the decent sized crowd I think we’ll be seeing them again soon.

Not many pictures as the 300 appears to not like focusing in the gloom, grrrr.

Headliners for the night were Sorrow’s fall, hopefully there’ll be some pics of them up shortly.

All pictures taken on a Canon EOS 300, with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens on Ilford HP5+ pushed to 1600 ISO, developed in DD-X and scanned on an epson V500

So buying a film camera was the start of a slippery slope. I’m really enjoying the relative simplicity of it, and the hands on developing technique and the lack of pressure to photoshop it 7 ways to sunday to get it to look right.

But, I’m starting to crave more cameras. After some frustration while trying to take photos of Twilight’s Embrace and Sorrow’s Fall at the old Angel last Friday I’m really craving a film body with a much better AF system. And having seen some of the interesting metering decision the 300 makes I think I’d like  a better set of metering options. So I think I’m going to be on the lookout for a 30 or a 3 in the very near future.

And for something slightly more obscure I really have a hankering for a 120 film based pinhole of some sorts. I just see things that would good in a nice wide format and the slightly more contemplative mood appeals as well. So need to start thinking about whether I want something fancy, a holga or go the whole hog and build one from some nice offcuts of wood.

Though I’ve got to admit it was fun at the weekend to breakout the 30D at Kedleston hall. Though that might just have been using a better camera, which only makes me want a 3/30 that little bit more :).

Canon EOS 300, Canon EF 50mm 1.4, HP5+ @ISO400, home developed with Ilford DD-X, scanned with an Epson V500

Minor amounts of work after scanning, but nothing that couldn’t really be done in a darkroom. Contrast increase, slight dodge and burn

Ivy and Bricks, Mapperly Park, Nottingham, NG7

I love the really shallow Depth of Focus I can get with 35mm film and the 50mm lens. Just lets you pick out the parts of the picture you really want to emphasise. Though going through some of the photos I do notice the EOS 300 does have a tendency to focus a little nearer than I’m wanting. I’m guessing in this case the contrast on the bricks was just too enticing for it :)

Canon EOS 300, Canon EF 50mm 1.4, Ilford HP5+, self developed with Ilford DD-X, scanned on Epson V500

So finally I’ve taken some photos with my new camera, developed them and then scanned them. Here’s the first:

Pretty happy with that. There’s definitely something satisfying about working with film. There’s the mystery about what’s actually on the film after you’ve taken the shot and the timing and skill in getting the film developed properly. It’s almost a bit of an anticlimax once it’s been scanned, just a little bit of levels and sharpening to get over the film->image artifacts and it’s all done.

Anyway, a little bit of Nottingham urban decay with a tagged switch box at the top of the Forest Recreation ground. Not the most original compositions but the bright white tag caught my eye nestling in the trees.