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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

Ok, getting very tardy with band photos now. These ones date from the 8th May, but I blame having too  much fun at other gigs in the mean time :).

This was a bit of a strange one. Just a couple of songs performed just outside The Heavy Sounds shop in the middle of the West End Arcade in Nottingham. Don’t really know much about the band, except they’re a 2 piece consisting of guitar and drums, and that this event was to celebrate the launch of their debut 10″. Pretty good sounds, but I haven’t managed to get back down and pick up a copy, oops.

After this the bands just kept on coming as I traipsed up to The Old Angel for Wormrot, Unkind and a couple of others. Photos from that gig should be up pretty soon. Though I’m about to head out to Luxury Stranger and Screaming Banshee Aircrew, so I’m going to have even more to develop and process.

Canon EOS 3, Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 EX DG, Ilford HP5+ @ ISO 400, developed in DD-X, scanned on an Epson V500

Merciless Terror @ The Old Angel, Nottingham

Merciless Terror @ The Old Angel, Nottingham

Another evening back at Nottingham’s Old Angel, with the camera in tow. This time to catch Merciless Terror tearing up the stage. In fact, fast enough that I could barely focus, so not too many keepers out of the lot.

Hopefully there are some more Angel shot’s to come from Wormrot’s nottingham gig, but I’ve realised I’d shot them at ISO 800 and developed at ISO 1600, so we’ll have to see how they come out.

Decaying wall in Nottingham's Lace Market

Some bits of Nottingham don’t seem to be fairing as well as others. In facts bits of the Lace market seem to be crumbling pretty rapidly.  Bit of a shame really, some of the old buildings are lovely sandstone monstrosities. but it seems that the clubs (or their landlords) aren’t too bothered about keeping the exteriors in a decent condition.  Quite like the batlike shape on this one, and the fact that is eating through the ‘pillars’ is nice too. Shame about the no parralel lines but i can’t quite afford a TS lens or a view camera just yet.

Canon EOS 3, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Ilford HP5+ @ ISO400, developed in DD-X, scanned on an Epson v500

Just to prove that sometimes it’s worth looking at the floor.  Just a little bundle of  feathers and twigs on the floor in front of the main doors to St Mary‘s church in the Lace market (apparently the oldest Christian foundation church in Nottingham). Think it would have looked slightly better with a slight deeper DOF, and I’m wondering whether I should have moved the twig behind it as well. Or would that count as having created the scene?

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

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

…..remember the fucking earplugs.

Just a tad loud last night at the Old Angel, and I can still barely hear. Going to have to make sure I stash plenty of earplugs in each of my camera bags.

Another tip I forgot was to mark which speed I shot each film at.  I mean, how do you tell the difference between a full casette of HP5+ @ 800 from one @1600? Thankfully I managed to remember that the ISO 1600 roll had been followed by a roll of DX3200, so if I’m right the 1600 ISO HP5 roll is in the Delta cannister. Hopefully…….

Good gig though. Absolutely knackered as I’d walked up to the Angel after getting the train back from Nottingham to Luton (which was redirected via Toton yard, cool if you like looking at old railway hardware). Necrocest had cancelled so Merciless Terror got to headline, pretty energetic so just hoping the autofocus kept up this time. Did end up cheating and getting the flash out, be interesting to see how that works with film.

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

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.