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Having just bought a Nikon D90 and a couple of wonderful lenses for it, I've decided to...
Get my 75 year old Leica III with matching Summar out and start a new project 😀
Of course there is some method in my madness (just not much) and the rationale is as follows:
Modern cameras, or even old cameras equipped with modern lenses give sharp accurate results with neutral colours, minimal distortion, and flare. As a result, unless you go for the 'I shoot all my pictures pre-dawn' approach, results can appear cool, even a little detached. Now I'm a little lazy to be up at dawn, and anyway I'd just have to jostle shoulders with Charlie Waite and Joe Cornish. So, I'm taking a slightly different approach in my antidote to the vast amount of chocolate box (fudge box generally here) images of the local landscape.
What prompted this train of thought initially was looking through some old photographs belonging to an elderly relative of my partner who recently had sadly to go into a home. In there, were some very early colour snaps dating to 1960. I was knocked out by the rendition of colours both skin tones and clothing. They somehow reminded me of the 1950's and early technicolor films. That got me to thinking, and I then reviewed some shots I took with the III and my Summar, and thought that despite evident flare, they really had something. Most of the images were quite poor though, so I decided to test out this theory by heading off to my local church on a sunny afternoon. I've just uploaded a few of the results into my gallery and to cut a long story short was really impressed. The main attractions for me are the way out of focus highlights become an attractive misty swirl, yet do not burn out. Also that colours are smooth, but not oversaturated, and there is plenty of detail visible at higher magnifications.
My plan therefore is this:
To take as many pictures over the coming year as I can with a view to putting them in a little local exhibition I plan on putting on, and maybe to create a calendar from them. Subjects will be local, and I'm not lacking in them. Film will either be colour print, or Mono.
What I'm asking from you forum guys is suggestions on print stock to use, and also B&W film/developer combinations that will work well. I reckon I'll need a lens hood to control that flare, but I don't want to spend a fortune, so suggestions for that too would be helpful. And any other wisdom will be gratefully received. Oh, I'll be scanning myself using an Epson V750, which I'm pretty confident in using. Prints up to 8x10 will also be done by myself. Anything larger will be handled probably by a pro lab.
Thanks in advance for reading this lengthy missive and I look forward to having helpful & constructive replies (hint posters please read the last sentence 1st!)
Andy
Gorran Churchyard
Get my 75 year old Leica III with matching Summar out and start a new project 😀
Of course there is some method in my madness (just not much) and the rationale is as follows:
Modern cameras, or even old cameras equipped with modern lenses give sharp accurate results with neutral colours, minimal distortion, and flare. As a result, unless you go for the 'I shoot all my pictures pre-dawn' approach, results can appear cool, even a little detached. Now I'm a little lazy to be up at dawn, and anyway I'd just have to jostle shoulders with Charlie Waite and Joe Cornish. So, I'm taking a slightly different approach in my antidote to the vast amount of chocolate box (fudge box generally here) images of the local landscape.
What prompted this train of thought initially was looking through some old photographs belonging to an elderly relative of my partner who recently had sadly to go into a home. In there, were some very early colour snaps dating to 1960. I was knocked out by the rendition of colours both skin tones and clothing. They somehow reminded me of the 1950's and early technicolor films. That got me to thinking, and I then reviewed some shots I took with the III and my Summar, and thought that despite evident flare, they really had something. Most of the images were quite poor though, so I decided to test out this theory by heading off to my local church on a sunny afternoon. I've just uploaded a few of the results into my gallery and to cut a long story short was really impressed. The main attractions for me are the way out of focus highlights become an attractive misty swirl, yet do not burn out. Also that colours are smooth, but not oversaturated, and there is plenty of detail visible at higher magnifications.
My plan therefore is this:
To take as many pictures over the coming year as I can with a view to putting them in a little local exhibition I plan on putting on, and maybe to create a calendar from them. Subjects will be local, and I'm not lacking in them. Film will either be colour print, or Mono.
What I'm asking from you forum guys is suggestions on print stock to use, and also B&W film/developer combinations that will work well. I reckon I'll need a lens hood to control that flare, but I don't want to spend a fortune, so suggestions for that too would be helpful. And any other wisdom will be gratefully received. Oh, I'll be scanning myself using an Epson V750, which I'm pretty confident in using. Prints up to 8x10 will also be done by myself. Anything larger will be handled probably by a pro lab.
Thanks in advance for reading this lengthy missive and I look forward to having helpful & constructive replies (hint posters please read the last sentence 1st!)
Andy
Gorran Churchyard
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