No One Uses Film Anymore…

…or so say’s Nikon.

Maybe it’s the time of year getting to me, but I came across a couple of black and white competitions and decided to enter. I’m not usually one for competitions as experience has taught me that I never win them, but I this time I thought, ‘what the heck’. It’ll be an experience.
One of them happened to be Nikon’s Inframe webzine’s photo of the month competition and there was no limit to the number of pictures I could enter, as long as they were taken with a Nikon camera. So it was time to dust off my old negatives (or scans of old negatives) and submit some of my older stuff. What a surprise to learn that only images taken with a Nikon Digital SLR or Coolpix were eligible. I guess Nikon don’t think anyone uses their film cameras anymore. So that’s it then, everyone has gone digital. It’s official. Nikon say’s so!
Seems a shame for Nikon to exclude film photographers, especially since there is not shortage of buyers for Nikon SLR’s on ebay. Indeed, it would appear that despite what Nikon thinks, there are still plenty of togs shooting film.
I’ve contacted Nikon and it should be interesting to see what they say, if they respond! Until then, I’ve got a post Christmas project involving a couple of rolls of Tmax 3200 and an F301 that has been stood on my desk for far too long.

Come on Nikon. remember some of us still use film.

Timing is Everything

Rule 23: Timing is everything

When I read that rule back to myself, my first thought is Cartier Bresson’s famous line about the decisive moment. Personally, I’ve never subscribed to that school of thought. There are, after all, many decisive moments. I do get what he’s trying to say though, and some moments are better than others.
My rule has a broader application. For example, take the photo below…

This is a shot of Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, taken earlier today – a gorgeous sunny day with crisp October air.

This is a shot I’ve tried to capture three times now. Each time is a little disappointing, but this is the view of the Abbey I like the best. Only trouble is, no matter what I tried, there was no getting away from that sun shining brightly in the sky. (This was actually one of the best of the bunch!)

This is where timing comes in. This was shot in the early afternoon, so the sun was high in the sky. If I’d have shot this earlier in the day, then it might not have been such a problem. Having said that, Bolton Abbey is close by so I have that luxury, but sometimes you don’t and you have to make the best of the hand you’re dealt, like today, but today was about more than just the Abbey. More of that later.

Favourite Locations: Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire

Everyone has a style of photography that suits them, or subjects that they love to shoot time after time. For me, I love ruins. Ruins provide a plethora of shapes, textures and a fair bit of play between shadow and light. I’m very fortunate to live not too far from some spectacular Abbey’s, of which Fountains Abbey is my absolute favourite.
I’ve only been to Fountains twice, but now that I find it on my doorstep, I have the luxury of being able to go back more often.
My first visit was back when I was shooting film, and insanely carrying around a full 35mm setup and a Pentax 645 setup. (How my back coped with that I’ll never know.) By this time, I was shooting monochrome as part of a college course and was well on the way to ditching colour film. It was also the first real time shooting medium format and an excuse to try two new films – Fuji Acros 100 and Ilford Delta 100.
Fountains Abbey sits in a large estate with a variety of gardens and structures, yet I never ventured far from the Abbey itself. The stand out feature of Fountains is the Cellarium, a large vaulted chamber that is remarkably complete and awe inspiring. I set up my tripod and spent about half an hour taking shots, changing lenses and taking more shots. It was almost surreal standing there. I chose a side of the Cellarium that had a cross located at the end and it seemed that no one else had noticed it as people were taking photos elsewhere. It gave me an unobstructed view and plenty of time.

The Cellarium Fountains Abbey — The Cellarium at Fountains Abbey

The stand out shot was taken on Fuji Acros with a Pentax 645. It is the only negative I printed to 16 x 20 and kept – it still hangs in the living room, spoiled only by a streak where the fixer has started to turn brown. The detail captured by the negative is staggering; you don’t really get the full impact of that from the scan.
Several years later, we moved closer to Fountains and we took a family trip. This time I was shooting digital and had far less gear to carry around, but again, I was drawn to the Cellarium. No tripod and four kids running around, the atmosphere was totally different, and so was the way I made the shots. ISO 800 with a Nikon 18-105 DX lens and hand held, plus shooting in colour.
I decided to try and get more of the Cellarium into the shot and tried to get the kids in there as well. There was one stand out image and that was the one below. My youngest son was overjoyed to be out of the pushchair and running around. The presence of the toddler and his wandering toward the cross lend the image an atmosphere that is missing from the first image.

That said, neither really captures the full impact of standing there. A third visit is definitely on the cards and an opportunity to try capture the place in yet another way.