As it was my son Ben’s birthday at the beginning of the week we called down my Mum & Dad’s on the weekend for them to see him. My Mum has had an awful 6 months after falling down and having a hip replacement she the got Pneumonia and it was touch and go wether she would make it, but she is a fighter and luckily she is still here with us. I realised that I don’t have any photographs of my parents except  old snapshots so after a bit of kicking and screaming they relented and let me take a few portraits……..

As I am getting back into film I shot off a roll before taking a load with my D300s, These were then converted to B&W using Aperture. I am still waiting to get my films/prints back so I don’t know what they are like yet but I am pleased with what I shot Digitally and will print these out over the weekend. While we were there my Mum asked if I could restore and colorise an old wedding Photo she recently came across, I didn’t know quite how difficult it would be but I am very pleased with the final Photo………all comments welcomed……………

The one thing that I have found over the last couple of years is that I enjoy shooting people more and more.

I have off camera flashes and studio lights but much prefer take photographs of people either candidly or much better after meeting them when I am out and about and taking an informal type of portrait.

Since getting back into film recently I am looking forward to shooting in this style on various types of film camera and waiting in anticipation for the results……..

Here is a little selection of shots, so of which I have posted on the web previously but some are new.

Comments as always very welcome…….

Because it was snowing while we went out for a walk I didn’t really want to take my DSLR so used my trusty Olympus E-PL1 and as it is always in my pocket my iPhone4 using Hipstamatic.

The iPhone shots used the combination of the James M lens with Ina’s 1969 film.

While the Olympus was set to Pinhole mode and the emulsion frame effect was added in Photoshop.

iPhone……

Comments greatly accepted…………..

Maybe its because I am not distracted by so many colourful elements that it gives me more time to really look at the composition and lighting and my mind and eyes are not competing with each other so find what the photograph is all about.

Here is a selection of fairly ordinary shots from a few of my local walks that seemed to have much more about them in B&W if I had not gone back and looked through my Aperture library for this exercise they may have never seen the light of day here on my blog.

Comments are very welcome………..

I shot various subjects just to get used to using a fully manual camera on Kodak Ultramax 400 film. The portraits were shot using the Nikkor 85mm f1.8 and the others with the Nikkor 50mm f1.8.

I wasn’t very impressed with printing or the scans from Boots but I was very pleased with the focus and exposure considering I am used to Aperture priority and Autofocus.

I can’t wait to get some Fuji Professional PRO 400H and some Kodak Professional Portra 400 and shoot loads more stuff but get it processed by a decent lab.

The camera is a real pleasure to use and I am so pleased with the results, there is such a difference between using Film to shooting Digital it slows me down and makes me think about the photograph instead of just snapping away and picking the best in post production.

Feedback on the photographs greatly received……..

The Nikon FM2n that I got my hands on is a dream camera, when I was in school I looked at the Nikons and longed to own one but never managed to get one.

I have a few film cameras now and do use them but not as much as I should but this FM2n is definitely going to change that.

I have just put my first roll of film through her and it was such a good feeling ( manual only was very liberating) and really slowed my photography down to a snails pace.

I cannot see myself shooting any sports with this camera even though it goes to 1/4000 sec but having to manage the aperture and shutter speed is not as easy as the Aperture priority I have been used to for the las 30 years or so.

Here are some shots of my lovely cameras messed about with in Photoshop    :)

I decided to just set out with the Olympus E-PL1 just in case I got caught in a downpour.

All of the shots here are using the ‘Art’ filter… Pinhole, as I shoot Raw all the time selecting the Art Filter writes a Jpeg with the selected effect and an untouched Raw file incase the effect was not successful.

I really like what the Pinhole filter does to the images even though you do lose some of the detail and sharpness.

click on an image to view………

Still have the Nikon 50mm on the camera so I decided to annoy the family with some candid abstract shots around the house using the D7000 and the SB700 flash.

Not the most exciting of shots but it sums up the relaxing day at home……lol

So as a bit of a challenge I have been grunging up some of my shots with loads of layers and textures, vignettes etc and feel just as good being in control of the end results and obviously the quality and resolution is far better to be able to print.

Usually I am a sucker for sharp, precise photographs but the iphone/instagram feel is a real passion at the moment so I hope you enjoy and any feedback will be greatly recieved

Thanks for looking  :)

It was very liberating just using the phone camera but I did feel like I was missing something by not taking along my regular camera.

I was pleased with what I captured even though they were pretty random stuff and will not be winning many awards………..

click on image to view larger…….