This is a set of photos that have no common feature except that they were exposed on 35mm film.
On the left: August 2015 on holiday to the Norwegian Fjords. First time on a cruise ship, not my cup of tea really but the only way to see the Fjords is from the water. Ergo, a cruise!
As we were leaving Geranger I took this image over the stern of the boat. It is difficult to capture the immenseness of the Fjords, the closeness of the mountains but this image I hope does give some insight to this. Exposed on Ilford FP4 Plus using Minolta Dynax 404i. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
On the right: This is one of a number of photos I took of this church in Jondal Norway in the summer of 2015. This photo was taken under some trees near the front of the church. This gave a very interesting angle from which to take the photo and allows for all sorts of artistic impression. I have printed a number of variations on this but the one I like best is the one below this image. Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 film using a Minolta Dynax 404i camera. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy paper.
On the left is an image of some wheat taken by lying on my back in an English field. This is not as easy as it used to be. The modern wheats being much shorter than the wheat of my youth means that the camera has to be almost of the ground making it press the button and hope!
Exposed on Ilford Delta 100, Minolta Dynax 404i.
On the right. Well the Camera never lies! Ah, but the darkroom can. This image was double exposed with Jondal Kyrkje overlaid with the wheat in the other image. The bleached area on the top right is where I tried to prevent too much shadowing from the overhanging leaves.
Both printed on 8 x 10 glossy paper.
This image was taken as the inspiration for a painting. The scene was the silhouette of a tree against the setting sun in the hills inland from Guadalmina in Spain. The image is a little underexposed at the print stage of the process. The more interesting thing to note is that this photo was exposed on Kodak Gold 400 film using a Minolta 7000 in September 1991. Just to prove that you don’t need a black and white negative to make a black and white print. Just might be contrasting issues in some images.
On the left an image of the Comms mask in Langdon Hills. I looked at this in the negative and thought ‘I can’t remember taking a photo of a pier’. Once I realised what this was I drew inspiration and did a painting of a pier using this image as the basis.
On the right – this sign just suited my warped sense of humour. No, it isn’t fancy writing or paint being washed away. It is the lettering coming unglued from the back board. Fun all the same.
Both images exposed on Ilford Delta 400 using Minolta Dynax 404i. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
Left: this photo was taken at Barleylands. I was trying to get a good image of the reflections in the water, to see the ripple effects. I also exposed two more frames with a polarising filter attached but I have not included them here. Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 using Minolta Dynax 404i. Printed 8 x 10 on glossy paper.
Right: We took another cruise to Norway in 2016. I thought this image of the houses in the Hanseatic quarter of Bergen offered an photo opportunity. Two of these buildings were being renovated and had cladding in the front. Have a look and see if you can spot them. No prizes on offer! Again I like the contrast and these would offer themselves to a painting one day. Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 film. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
Summer 2017 we visited Australia. Armed with my Minolta Dynax 404 and a Brownie 620 camera I blatted off about 200 frames. We flew into Melbourne, did a trip along the Great Ocean Road before returning to meet family in Melbourne. We then flew up to Alice Springs and visited Uluru before flying across to Cairns. Thereafter we drove down through Queensland in and out from the coast visiting family until we flew back out of Brisbane. The images taken on the Brownie appears on the page of Medium Format 6 x 9 pictures. What are here are a selection of those taken on 35mm film.
Left: Early on our visit to Australia I was waiting for my body clock to meet up with the real clock and rose early one morning. This image of the Melbourne skyline across the river from the Crown Hotel complex appealed to me. Exposed on Ilford FP5 400 film using Minolta Dynax 404i. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
Right: Going down the Queensland Coast towards Bundeberg we took a flying visit to Agnes Water. Walking out on the peninsular I came across this view seaward across the bay. The justaposition of the trees gives it a spacial quality. I cannot work out if the image is contrasty because of the film or if it was just a lucky draw. I do like the way the clouds appear in this photo, it is so easy to lose clouds in this sort if image. Exposed on Rollei RPX 100 using Minolta Dynax 404i using R25a red filter. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
Left: Our visit in Victoria, Australia 2017 took us around Lake Eppalock. It is a man made lake for water capture but it did offer itself for photographic capture.
Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 using Minolta Dynax 404i using R25a red filter. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
Right: I was not going to Australia and not visit Ayers Rock (or Uluru as it is now commonly referred as). We went on a ‘Sunrise at Uluru’ tour and I blatted off I hate to think how many shots as the sun rose. Some were digital but many were film. This is just one. The contrast as the sun strikes the rock is just magical. If you get the chance go there and live it for yourself.
Exposed on Ilford FP5+ 400 film using Minolta Dynax 404i. Printed on 8 x 10 glossy.
On the left having risen at an ungodly hour I went out to take the morning air. I wondered from out B&B to the beach at Lorne and on the way I saw this image and just had to capture it. Exposed on Ilford FP5+ and printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (14s, f/8).
On the right a bit more tricky. I was standing with my back to the Olgas and saw this lady drawing a sketch of the hills behind me. After printing I thought of making another print to increase the contrast but then I look more and thought that the image conveyed something reminiscent of times gone by – so I left it as it was. Exposed on Ilford FP5+. Printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (10s, f5.6).
Two images of the Henderson Falls near Lorne. Basically the same shot but just to protect those of sensitive natures the young lady it the front of the left hand image knows she appears in a photo. If she ever comes across this page and wished to either identify herself or have the image removed then I would make appropriate arrangements.
Both exposed on Rollei RPX 100. Both printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl, The left exposed for 18s at f/8.0 and the right exposed for 10s at f/8.
Two pictures of rivers. Yes believe it or not the picture on the left is of the Todd River in Alice Springs. However if you understand Australia you will realise that a lot of times their rivers look like this. Exposed on Ilford FP5 film and printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (20s, f/8).
On the right a picture of the Gibson Falls near Malaney, South Queensland. Exp[osed of Ilford FP5 and printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (14s, f/8).
Maybe one day I will get a mate for this picture. Commercial use of this railway seems to have ceased in around 1969 but it is now a heritage railway running trains from Toowoomba to Wallagarra. Thulimbah lies between Warwick and Wallangarra. This picture shows the Thulimbah railway station. In the UK all railways are enclosed so to be able to wander at will around this station seems odd to say the least. Exposed on Ilford FP5 and printed on Ilford MGIV (14s, f/8).
Slightly more organised here. Summer 2018 we visited Canada and Alaska. For weight reasons I took the Minolta Camera rather than the heavier Fuji or Bronica models. Actually once I added in the weight of the 80-300 lens I don’t suppose there was much difference. So we have here a number of 35mm images. OK, so the trip was to fly into Vancouver, fly up to Anchorage to visit Denali; cruise down the coast back to Vancouver. After a stay with family we took the Rocky Mountaineer across to Jasper via Whistler and Quesnel. We hired a car and drove down to Banff and Lake Louise and back up to Jasper. We then hopped (hopped indeed!) onto Via Rail to Toronto and 4 day, 3 night journey. After a further stay with family in Oakville, Ontario and a visit down to Niagara we then drove to Quebec via Kingston, Ottawa and Montreal. Finally another Via Rail journey from Quebec to Halifax with a two night stay in Moncton and we flew back home. I have not presented the images in the order they we taken, that would be a step too far, but have a peruse.
As you might expect when in a mountainous, glacial region there were one or two waterfalls. These two are two images of Tangle Creek Falls between Jasper and Lake Louise both exposed on Ilford Delta 100 film. Obviously they differ by the exposure settings On the left exposed for 1/10s at f/16 with focal length 35mm, UV filter only. This printed for 14s at F/8 and developed in PQ Universal.
On the right exposed for 1/1000s at f4 with 35mm focal length; developed for 10s at f/8 in PQ. Both printed on Ilford MGIV glossy.
Apologies for those poor individuals who appear in the shots. If you hadn’t climbed so far up the mountain I would have avoided you.
More water! This time the image on the left is of the Athabasca Falls. They do seem a long way from the Athabasca Glacier but so be it. This image was exposed for 1/125s at f/4.5 with fl of 100mm on Ilford Delta 100 film. Printed of Glossy for 10s at f/8.
On the right. Well it had to be. A picture of the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara taken from water level on Hornblower. The height of the spray is breathtaking. This image was taken on Ilford Delta 100 film for 1/125s at f/5.6 with fl of 105mm. Printed on Ilford MGIV Glossy (14s at f/8)
This is a watery end. The lefthand image shows the America Falls at Niagara. This is a long exposure on Ilford Delta 100 at 1/10s at f/22. Printed on Ilford MGIV Glossy exposed for 14s at f/8 with fl 40mm.
On the right another shutter priority image. This is the view of the Horseshoe falls as seen from the viewing platform. The falls are some 30 feet above you at this point and it does make you stand in awe of this natural phenomenon – the sheer power, brute force of the falls. This image was exposed at f/11 for 1/15s with 28mm focal length. Taken on Ilford Delta 100 film. Printed on to MGIV Pearl for 5s at f/4.5.
Two images here taken in Alaska. On the left the tower of St Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka. Similar to the image I took of the church in Jondal. This image exposed on Ilford Delta 100 for 1/60s at f/8 with fl 50mm, (UV and R25 filters). Printed on Ilford MGIV glossy for 14s at f/8.
To the right an image I am particularly pleased with. It is of Mount McKinley in Denali National Park, Alaska. Taken on Rollei RPX100 film for 1/90s at f/5.6, 65mm fl, (UV and R25 filters). Printed on Ilford MGIV glossy for 14s at f/8. I do like this Rollei film but I don’t like rolls of 35mm with 36 exposures on them. It does not allow for changes of film if needed – you always have too much film left to waste it. I am going to go for Rollei film for 120 and stay with Ilford for 35mm.
On the left here a wide angle (28mm) view across Bow Lake, BC. This image was taken purely for the reflection in the lake. Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 film for 1/60s at f/6.7 and UV and Polarising filters. Printed on Ilford MGIV glossy.
On the right a picture of the Athabasca Glacier. This is a distant view and I do have some close up images of the glacier. This was taken on Ilford Delta 100 at f/11 for 1/90s with UV and R25 filters and fl of 35mm. Printed on glossy paper.
In between Banff and Lake Louise there is a little place where we stopped for a cup of tea. Out the back of the restaurant runs the Baker Creek. We sat in the sun and contemplated. I took a number of pictures both digital and analogue.
This one required the attachment of the remote release, placing the camera on rocks close the the surface of the water and seeing what happened. This one was shot at f/4 for 1/2000s with fl of 35mm and UV filter only. Printed on MGIV glossy at f/8 for 14s. I am disappointed that the creek does not show up better but, hey!
Further up the road is Lake Louise itself. Am I happy with this image? Not really. However it is of Lake Louise from the hotel grounds towards the glacier in the distance (some 5 kilometres away). Taken on Ilford Delta 100 film, exposed for 1/90s at f/4.5 with fl of 50mm (UV and R25 filters attached). Printed on MGIV glossy paper exposed for 14s at f/8.
For these two picture we skip across from British Columbia to Ontario. On the left is a Martello tower in the harbour at Kingston. The picture was taken from the hotel room hence the reflection top right of the picture. I looked at cropping this out but it would simply mess up the scene. Taken on Ilford Delta 100 at f/4 for 1/10s,. fl 60mm and UV and R25 filters. Printed on MGIV glossy for 14s at /8.
On the right a very out of focus picture of a tree root near Crawford Lake, Oakville, Ontario. I thought maybe I had left he camera of manual focus but looking at the exposure settings maybe there was some operator shake! Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 film for 1/10s at f/4.0 with focal length of 60mm. Printed on MGIV glossy for 14 at f/8. Disappointing.
Touring the Bay of Fundy for a day we visited the Lower Pot Rocks at Hopewell. The picture on the left is one of several stacks left after erosion leaving the trees on top of the stack where they once were probably part of a woodland. Exposed on Ilford Delta 100 for 1/45s at f/5.6; printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (14s, f/8).
On the right the sky exposed and framed by trees in Ketchikan, Alaska. Taken on Ilford Delta 100 for 1/45s at f/4.5. Printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (14s, f/8). I kept looking out for a shot where I could get more skeletal looking trees but this will have to wait for the next trip.
In Skagway we went on a raft down the Chilkat River through the bald eagle reserve. What appealed to me was the clouds atop the mountains bordering the river. I do have a digital shot similar to this picture but it looks too benign! I like the darkness and the look of foreboding this picture gives you. Exposed on Rollei RPX 100 for 1/90s at f/13 with Polarising filter. Printed on Ilford MGIV Pearl (16s, f/8).
