Scafell Pike

I know its been a long time since my last post… But I’m hoping to start posting more regularly and here goes..

So a friend and I went on a walk up Scafell Pike in the lakes and the weather was beaut. Clouds, sun, wind. It was a good laugh and I got some good pictures. Autumn is a fantastic time of year for photographing. You see pictures of golden trees all the time, but its the start of the time of year when you get the lovely crisp clean air. It makes the light look prettier and makes all your pictures look better, it’s particularly good for landscapes. Theres less time to wait between golden hours and you don’t have to get up unbelievably early for pictures of the sunrise. Just great.

Also before I forget I’ll have a little chat about the Fuji Film X-Pro 1. I know it’s an old camera and there’s no need for me to go back over old reviews. Basically this camera is fantastic and the camera quality is amazing. I do wish it maybe felt abit safer in the rain but.. Oh and one thing I really miss is the interval timer. I have gotten into timelapses in a  big way and I do miss the feature.

Anyways enough waffle. Here they are.

Just a small cairn on the path up to the summit of Scafell Pike in the Lake District, Wast Water in the background.

A walker on Scafell Pike looking over Wast Water.

Looking over Angle Tarn to the east.

Looking East.

Looking North. Sun coming through the clouds,

My friend Mike stood on the edge of the abyss.

The clouds broke just long enough for these sun stairs to come out over Wast water.

Lovely autumnal weather (NOT) but perfect for sunstairs and dramatic clouds.

Low cloud caught the cliffs nicely causing a fairly pretty scene.

Some really dramatic lighting over Wast Water catching a tree nicely on the slope edge.

Sunset at the top of Hardknott Pass.

My exploration into Medium Format (and scanning)

So over the past few months, I have been experimenting with medium format, with both the KIEV 88CM and the Zenza Bronica ETRS. Bought from West Yorkshire Cameras. Being cheap as I am, I have been self developing using Ilfrasol and Ilford Rapid Fixer. Using a medium format camera is a steep learning curve over using a regular SLR or rangefinder. The key difference is the size of the film. On a medium format camera, the surface area of the film is about 2 times the size of regular 35mm film. This allows for a number of benifits, increased dynamic range, far higher (equivalent) resolution and a “cleaner” grain. Medium format also has a particular look. The bokeh is unique and fantastic. Developing your own film is interesting and rewarding. I mix up my own solutions for the developer from powder chemicals, kindly donated to me. I use a method known as agitation developing. I won’t bore you with the process, but it is fantastic. I can only do black and white as I do not have a precisely controlled water temperatures, and black and white is quite forgiving.

I had developed the films as soon as I exposed them all, but had (until today) no means of digitising them. So far I am honestly, a little dissapointed in the results. None of my scans are particularly well focussed. I think this is due to the convex nature of the negatives when they are placed on the scanning screen, which may throw the neg out of the focus zone. If anyone can offer any insights, PLEASE let me know.

Enough waffle, heres the pictures:

Camera: Zenza Bronica ETRS, Lens: 75mm f2.8, Film: Tri-X 400

 

Camera: Zenza Bronica ETRS, Lens: 75mm f2.8, Film: Kodak Tri-X 400

 

Camera: Kiev 88CM, Lens: 80mm F2.8, Film: Ilford FP4 400

Taken at the Colleville cemetery.

 

Camera: Kiev 88CM, Lens: 80mm F2.8, Film: Ilford FP4+ 400

Thanks for reading.