Sepia Lobster Pot Buoys

Lobster Pot Buoys                                           ©Peter N Parsons

I scanned this black and white HP5 120 negative as a color image and transformed it into a sepia toned picture in Photoshop Element 8:

Enhance>Adjust Color>Remove Color>Color Variations>Adjust Color Intensity slider 2 clicks to the left (not all the way)>Decrease blue one click>Increase red one click.

In this picture at Eastern Passage, NS, the dark sepia border is 33230d in the Photoshop color picker.

Eastern Passage, NS                                       ©Peter N Parsons

Another shot with the 55mm on the C220. This  one of my favorite locations, the fishing village of Eastern Passage near Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

I used a yellow filter which darkened the blue areas in sky at top of frame. Ilford HP5, 1/125second around f8.0

Developed in Kodak D-76, 1:1, 20C for 11 minutes.

Dories

 Northwest Cove                                         ©Peter N Parsons

A string of dories is seen in Northwest Cove, Nova Scotia in October 2013. The dory is now mostly used for recreational events such as rowing races.

Photographed with Mamiya C220, 135mm lens,
Shanghai GPS100, 1/250sec @ f5.6 - F8.0

Film was developed in D76  1:1 for 12 minutes, Kodak Powder Fixer for 10 minutes.

Gulls on Wharf Pilings

                                                              ©2013 Peter N Parsons

Gulls sit on top of old wharf pilings at Tiverton,
on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia in July 2013.

Mamiya C220, 55mm lens, Ilford HP5.
Exposure was around 1/125 second at f8.

Developed in D76, 1:1, 12 minutes at 70 degrees

Testing 55mm

I have been testing the new to me 55mm lens which I acquired from Mamiya user James Clark in June.

 The lens has is equivalent of 36mm and is fast becoming my favorite lens.










The picture of the driftwood log was taken on the sandy shores of the Lawrencetown River near Conrad's Beach, Nova Scotia in July. 1/250 at f16. I slightly underexposed the image to retain detail in the highlights. Tri-X, D76 1:1

Old Tree Trunk

  An old tree trunk rests on the shores of Second Lake, Nova
  Scotia in August 2013. (Mamiya C220/55mm/Shanghai GP3
  1/125 sec./f8.5/ Y2 filter/D76 1:1)             ©Peter N Parsons

James Clark

Barbara and James Clark                                                         

I recently had the good luck to meet  fellow Mamiya TLR user James Clark who lives   along the Wallace River in Middleboro, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia.

Good luck in that he sold me a 55mm lens which I have long coveted but never gotten around to purchase.

I took a picture of James holding his C330 with his wife Barbara and asked him to write a brief bio of his photography history.

"Photography has been a fascination for me since taking a snap-shot of “Old Faithful” geyser, at age 9 using a pre-war Kodak folder.  As an adult complete satisfaction was found using Nikon gear.  At least until a couple of gifts arrived.  First came a Yashica "A" TLR, followed shortly by a Davis & Sanford Redi-Tilt tripod.  The camera was frustratingly poor, but the TLR design was pleasant in use and the large negative, sensational.  A knowledgeable friend suggested Mamiya, and the C330S soon arrived.  Again, satisfaction.  

The foray into roll film continued with another gift, a Zeiss Nettar folder, conveniently portable and capable of wonderful pictures.  More recently, and less limited in that contrast filters are readily available, a Rolleiflex 2.8E has found a place in the kit.  The adventure continues."

-James Clark 

(photo: Mamiya C220, 65mm, Ilford HP5, exposure not recorded, D76 1:1)

Subject, Lighting and Composition

                                   Woman with Basket, Sherbrooke, NS

      


















Equipment aside, for me, the three important things to look for while actually taking pictures are:

 - interesting subject
 - good light
 - effective composition

When these three elements are present a good  picture normally results. Pictorial photographers are always looking for good light. More often than not good light (sunlight bursting through an overcast sky for example] is fleeting/ frustrating and difficult to deal with for the film photographer, both with  filter selection/ exposure and the possible need to make film processing adjustments in the darkroom later on.

Earlier this week I headed to a remote beach which I had not been to for a number of years and had never shot in black and white. Much to my dismay it was blanketed in a thick fog, but still quite bright. My incident meter registered 1/500 at f16 set at ISO 400. I waited well over an hour for the fog to clear. It never did. I shot a roll of HP5 with my Mamiya 220, the 65mm attached. Mostly beach stones, to justify my trip. 

This happens to me all the time. Subject matter is located. Composition is fairly straight forward. Good lighting is usually missing. I have adjusted to this by mostly shooting under overcast conditions, hoping a good subject and a good composition will carry the picture. Avoiding good lighting altogether. My pictures may look dull, but I like them and in the end I shoot for myself anyway.

In the picture of a woman at historic Sherbrooke village in Nova Scotia, the strong s-curve composition and subject placement carries the image, even though the lighting is flat and overcast. The picture also has a good range of tones from the highlight on the woman's back to the blackness of the background.

The picture was taken with a Zeiss Nettar 120 folding camera and Tri-X. No data recorded. By cropping into the center of the negative it gives the illusion of a telephoto effect even though the Zeiss has a fixed normal lens.

PorroFinder Repair

Normally I am not a fan of the Mamiya TLR porrorfinder. For two reasons: first the viewfinder image area, now not reversed, is smallish and secondly, the focusing knobs do not feel comfortable down by my chin. Focusing and releasing the shutter with the same hand is awkward. I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for a left-handed person.

The TLR is an ideal studio camera, best on a tripod, used at waist level, looking down. Getting use to the reversed image and making slight framing adjustments for parallax becomes second nature after a few rolls of film. Okay for static subjects but dizzying when tracking something on the move.  I sold the first one I owned because I never used it, preferring to shoot more fixed subjects.

A couple of years ago I bought a C220 system from  a photographer friend and dropped the included porrofinder while playing with the stuff at home. A piece of mirror had broken. It did not matter much because it was the meter type, with the battery cover missing. Something for the garbage can. I threw in in a box of camera junk because of an aversion to throwing away anything photographic.

In Halifax there is an outdoor speed skating oval which is open to the public a few hours every day. It can be quite crowded on a good weekend and makes an interesting picture. I wanted to take pictures on film with the TLR and thought the old broken porrofinder would be ideal for tracking skaters in motion, ... if it could be repaired.

The beauty of the Mamiya is it can easily  be taken apart and re-assembled by someone with minimum of mechanical skill and the porrofinder was no exception. Two screws, clean and re-glue the broken mirror and Bob's your uncle. Now to test it out.

The Oxford Companion to the Photograph

One of my goals for 2013 is to read the Oxford Companion to the Photograph. This heavy, encyclopedic history of photography was published in 2005.

According to the publicity department of the Oxford University Press in Toronto:  'The Oxford Companion to the Photograph marks a watershed in the medium as photographic practice and materials go digital. Arranged alphabetically with over 1,600 entries and an advisory board of 18, it is international in scope, providing extensive and in-depth coverage of photography from its beginnings in the early 19th century and into this century.'

The Companion is 446 pages with 49 colour plate, 239 black-and-white photographs and line drawings with subjects from abstract, documentary and landscape to photographers, sports war and wildlife.

At 8-9 pages a week I hope to absorb all the delicious facts, stories and events which up to now are little more than a thin Swiss cheese of facts picked up from scattered magazines or the occasional biography. Lets hope that changes and my interest in the black-and-white film medium will be re-invigorated.

After all, how can one really enjoy film craft without appreciating  the achievements both artistically and technically of those who have gone before.  - Peter

Sept 30, 2013: The Companion is too encylopedic
to read as a book. I kept going cross-eyed and
falling asleep. Never made it out of the 'A'
section. Although a great reference and occasional read.
- Peter

A Bad Thing

Several years ago I got it in my head that film photography was fast becoming obsolete. I had been shooting digital  since the Canon 1D came on the market and rarely ventured into my basement darkroom.

I began doing things which in hindsight were foolish. I started selling off film related paraphernalia. I listed my Leedal stainless steel sink on Kijiji for $100  and got a buyer the same day. Like a fool I threw in my print drying screens, 11x14 and 16x20 trays.

I sold my Bronica system to a camera store. On eBay I sold off film equipment including Mamiya Paramender, a Porrofinder, a Sekonic meter, all my Nikon stuff, timers, and a number of other film/darkroom things.

I kept my C220 for sentimental reasons. My Omega XL66 enlarger was an old friend, so that had to stay. Safelights are still in place as well as plumbing.

I will be retiring in a few month and when thinking back realize I probably spent more time in a black and white darkroom than anything else. Maybe that is where my heart lies.

Maybe I will make this darkroom sink  (http://rustee.hubpages.com/hub/Photography_DarkroomPrintingTipsTechniques) buy some trays, paper, chemistry and make several collections of my life's work. I still have the negatives. Or maybe I'll  shoot more mamas with my Mamiya.