15 Jul 2010

Another Velvia Sunset


Actually the same sunset as the one that I posted on the 4th July, only about 10 minutes later (and zoomed in a bit), hence more delicious red colour.

This Fuji Velvia 50 film is simply the best for these wild colours! This is straight from the scanned jpg, no saturation or sharpening added. All I did in my favourite graphics program was touch up four tiny dust spots, resize and brand. No grain removal needed, at ISO 50 it is plenty smooth enough!

Nikon f801s, Junky Quantarray 35-80 zoom, Fuji Velvia 50, scanned with a CanoScan 5600F, edited in the GIMP.

10 Jul 2010

Ancient Measuring Equipment, and a small pot.


Taken at the Fort Klapperkop Museum in Pretoria, South Africa.

Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, heavily expired but frozen for years Kodak Ektachrome EPR 64 ISO film. Sigma EF 500 flash hand held to my left on a Nikon flash extension cord. Scanned on a CanoScan 5600F. Edited with the GIMP.

9 Jul 2010

Praise


Nikon f801s, Tamron 100-300 zoom, Fuji Superia 200, scanned with a CanoScan 5600F, edited in the Gimp.

5 Jul 2010

StatCounter

If anybody needs a website counter and statistic collector and you don't have a budget worth speaking about, then I highly recommend StatCounter, they are the best I've seen. Below is a screenshot from my yearly stats... looks like a little growth happening there since I started the blog in 2008! Hooray!

It's really easy to use and is great for seeing if anyone is actually visiting the blog you work so hard on updating!

What brand of film do you prefer?

There is an interesting question asked here about which brand of film is your favourite. Here is my answer to that question:


I like a few, depending on the application.

A good all round cheap daily use film: Fuji Superia 200 (cheap to buy and develop, and surprisingly good quality, a little grainy but in a nice way)
Black and White: Ilford XP2 400 (cheap to develop, sharp and has great exposure latitude, unobtrusive grain)
Landscapes: Fuji Velvia 50 (expensive to buy and develop, but incredible colours and no grain)

...there are many other very competent films out there and really it comes down to what "look" you prefer. Try as many as you can, compare the results and then concentrate on getting to really know how to use those films to get your own unique look and style.


How about you guys, what do you prefer to use and why?

4 Jul 2010

A Velvia 50 Sunset!


Nikon f801s, Junky Quantarray 35-80 zoom, Fuji Velvia 50, scanned with a CanoScan 5600F, edited in the GIMP.

30 Jun 2010

Natures Patterns


Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, Ilford XP2 Super 400 C41 process B&W film. Scanned on a CanoScan 5600F. Edited with the GIMP.

28 Jun 2010

537


Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, heavily expired but frozen for years Kodak Ektachrome EPR 64 ISO film.  Scanned on a CanoScan 5600F. Edited, and desaturated, with the GIMP.

23 Jun 2010

Red and white toilets on Kodak Ektachrome EPR 64


Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, heavily expired but frozen for years Kodak Ektachrome EPR 64 ISO film. Scanned on a CanoScan 5600F. Edited with the GIMP. I got given about 30 rolls of this fantastic, historic film.

7 Jun 2010

The wild colours of Fuji Velvia 50!


These colours are straight out of the scanner, no saturation applied. No wonder it has such a following. Just look at the amazing blue of the sky, the reds are really RED (not orange), the orange is orange, and the blacks are deep black. Nice and sharp film too.

Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm f1.8D, Fuji Velvia 50.

6 Jun 2010

Homemade Flash Diffuser




Just trying some DIY and came up with this handy, homemade flash diffuser made from a margarine tub, bubble wrap, duct tape and a rubber band. Tech info: the bubble wrap is a double layer and I used a Stanley knife to cut the tub. ;-)

Not sure how it will work, if at all, but I will post sample pics as soon as I have some. Stay tuned!

10 Mar 2010

Minor disaster useing the Olympus Trip 35

I think I must have had a defective roll of film, my first ever, because it simply pulled very easily out of the canister when it got to the end. Not really knowing what happened, and not having a dark room, I opened the camera and discovered the fatal problem. Oh well, now I can re-shoot the same shots and do them better! (me being positive!)

At least this means I could finally look under the pressure plate for the date of manufacture code and can now say with certainty that my Trip 35 was manufactured in March 1969. That makes it 41 years old! My hat off to Olympus for great build quality!

In my initial post I never included a pic of the original leather pouch it came with so here is the poor hapless battered wreck... but it does still work!

More to come soon...

Abstracts we pass by every day 2