Gone?

Some of our neighbors really do have quite wonderful front yards. And I definitely enjoy photographing them, often trying to frame the shots in a way that looks like I'm out in nature. Of course, the well-manicured grass is usually a dead giveaway that I'm actually standing in the middle of the human occupied zone. Not that I am complaining, because these days builders tend to clear-cut the lots such that there's no possible visual ambiguity. Well not for a few decades anyway.

Tasting notes: Nikkormat FS, 50 mm f/2 Nikkor, Fomapan 100.

Fall is for Film?

During the doggiest days of summer, I find that I do not really want to shoot film. I guess I've gotten enough bad shots in bad light that I don't really need to repeat that experience anymore. So, I tend to reach for a digital camera instead. But as the season slowly changes over to fall, I start to think more seriously about shooting film again. 

I think the Nikkormat FS might just be the perfect film camera to take with you on a walk for some casual shooting. Just to keep your eye in as they say. It is a real no ups, no extras kind of camera. Bare bones, sufficient. On this afternoon, it was loaded with Foma 100 and I had a period correct 50 mm f/2 on the front. The FS is not burdened with a built in light meter, so I made my exposures using the Sunny 16 rule. I developed the Foma in DDX developer and got 36 decently exposed negatives. Mostly the photographs were pretty boring, though, and to my further dismay, it looks like my manual focusing skills are a little bit rusty. 

Of Provenance and Time Travel

The weather was perfect when I went out to photograph the first of the dogwoods in bloom. On this occasion I was using the Nikkormat FS along with the period correct Nikon 50 mm f/2 lens. It is a fine combination to walk around with and practice your metering-by-eye skills. The camera is in like new condition and was very inexpensive to acquire owing to the fact that one of its previous owners had chosen to engrave their Social Security Number on the bottom plate. Hard to believe that was considered good practice back in the previous century. I suppose I could do a little research to determine something about the provenance of my old Nikkormat, but honestly, I am not keen to know more about a person who would mark up their camera like that! I tend to prefer imaginary time travel to historical research in the case of my old cameras anyway. I think what got me interested in collecting old cameras in the first place is imagining what the old masters had to go through to get images. So, as I walked through the neighborhood, I imagined myself taking photographs on an early mid-century modern Spring morning. This old dogwood was likely flourishing back then as it is now.

Good light to you this weekend.

Tasting notes: Nikkormat FS, Nikkor-H 50 mm f/2, HP5+, Sunny 16, HC110 B.

Primordial visions

I was alone among the trees with my ultra-basic Nikkormat FS from the 1960s in hand. The equally ancient 55 mm macro lens was my view into the world that afternoon. There is nothing quite like encountering a fully mature magnolia tree, a hundred feet tall with a triangular shaped leaf canopy unlike almost anything you've probably ever experienced before. Otherworldly. Waxy green leaves chaotic in their local arrangements, the whole mass of which can fill up your complete field of view. 

An old manual camera, Sunny 16, and stand development

Yesterday I shot a roll of Fomapan 100 through my newly acquired Nikkormat FS. You see, I'm going through a bit of Nikkormat phase, and I especially like the bare bones FS that comes without a meter. I had an old 55mm f/3.5 macro lens attached. I was using Sunny 16 and had an exposure index of 400 in the back of my mind. My plan was to go with stand development, using a combination of Rodinal and HC110, and I was expecting a boost in effective film speed. I've never tried combining two developers like that before, and dad jokes aside, the results were rather mixed. The negatives were too dense for my liking, and the contrast too high, but I think I can dial things in pretty easily. I want to settle in with a single film/developer combination for a while. So, I'm going to have to do a more serious experiment with a camera with a reliable meter. To be continued...