In the depths of Winter
What crazy weather we have been having this winter. Fog and Fog and even more Fog. The weather has been so benign, hardly any frost or snow. Still it's made for some interesting winter landscapes. I have been out on a few occasions since I returned from the Falklands, and found shooting the Fog so frustrating, as there is no pattern to it, nor does it do what you want it to. I went out yesterday -3 in Derbyshire and the fog so thick in parts you barely saw anything over 50 metres away. I tried to find a break in it as I knew the dawn would be special, found a decent spot over by Alsop en le Dale, got the drone up in the air, even though I kept getting warning notices that the batteries were cold and that performance was being limited, so I flew it out to where I thought I could get a decent image from, it was 150 feet up and in a waiting hover, the sun finally broke for a few seconds, then the fog rolled back in. I took half a dozen images.
Image taken with the Dji Inspire Pro with Zuiko 12mm
Alsop en le Dale DerbyshireSunrise though hill fog
It took a further 12 miles or so before I found the edge of the fog, and was rewarded with some spectacular light. A quick stop and whipped out the Mamiya 645df with the 210mm, I was after some compression and minimum depth of field, the telephoto is one of my most used lenses when out in the field. The Mamiya 210mm is perhaps not quite long enough for me, but its a great lens for an oldie, very sharp. Not as contrasty as the new digital designed lenses, but has a nice quality to how it renders objects.
Image taken with Mamiya 645df with Phase One P21+ back. 210mm AF
Beech Trees in the foglayers of fog near Pikehall
So the mad dash continued, thought Minninglow may be interesting. When you see rolling fog like this the light can change in seconds, a chink of sunlight last only a few moments before it's smothered by the grey blanket. It certainly is quite exciting chasing around like this.
Image taken with the Mamiya 210mm
Minniglow Hilllayers of hill fog near Pikehal,l Derbyshire
My last image of the morning was perhaps the most excting, a little knoll and a tree appeared around a bend in the road, the sun was just trying to break through, quickly setting up with a 35mm having chucked the X trail into a partial ditch, I managed a few frames before the light went completly.
Mamiya 35mm MF with Lee ND Grad
Sun breaks through the fogOn the road between Pikehall and Parwich Derbyshire
I tried to get a more detailed shot of this little Hawthorn tree but the light just got worse. I waited for awhile but I knew that by the time it cleared the sun would have moved out of the frame. A place to go back and explore further though.
Image taken with the Maiya 645df 35mm MF lens
In the gloom of winter
The above image was shot just a few moments after the amazing burst of sunlight, thats how quickly the light can change. Always be prepared to move from your initial choice of photo location, as 9 times out of 10 the weather will do it's best to screw up your day.
My last frame of my morning outing was of a small copse. Quite like the contrast of the trees against the fog. Thanks for reading and your comments are always welcome.
Small copse in the fogA freezing cold morning near Parwich Derbyshire
Apologies
Yep I have an apology to make, I've been missing in action for several months, kept meaning to update my blog, then something got in the way, then it became harder for me to write a catchup on my work. So apologies for that.
So whats new ?
I'm using medium format
Returned to The Falkland Islands after 35 years.
Had a wonderful Autumn
Flying a Drone
Got Married
This is no particular order by the way, and of course getting married was by far the best thing that happened to me (honest dear). So plenty to write about and catchup on.
The move to Medium format for me was a tough move, especially as I've waxed lyrical about how much the Fuji system is such a joy to use when out in the landscape. However I have had this thought in my head for sometime, that despite Fuji's attempt to bring the analogue style shooting concept back into fashion, they keep making the cameras seemingly more complex with loads of bells and whistles that I don't really need. When I look back at my first Fuji (X100) it was quitea simple camera to operate. Looking at the latest iteration the XT2 it has got so many features that for me it has become far removed from what I really want a camera to be.
I want a simple picture taking machine one where you set the aperture and shutter speed according to your requirements, set the focus point and press the shutter. Simple isn't it? thats all I require, for the majority of my work I don't need Live view, hundereds of focus points, programme modes and the like. I want a machine that gives me a good exposure, has good build quality and delivers nice image files. Bearing this in mind I began looking at medium format as the way to go. I settled with a Mamiya 645DF coupled with a Phase One back a P21+. The reason for choosing this back was simple it had a great reputation for delivering very good colour files, albeit at the expense of low ISO use only. Allowed me to take images upto 1 hour long, great build quality, and an ease of use in its menu system that a child could operate. One other factor was that although this is quite old tech, the back when it was new cost about as much as a decent car. Nowadays they are quite cheap and as an investment make so much sense. You can change the back without losing the camera, you can scale up the back to a higher MP rate at any time. Plenty of lenses to go at, both old Mamiya manual focus, as well as the newer tech from Phase One. You still get AF if you want it, you can get leaf shutter lenses which allow for higher flash synch.
The Mamiya 645 system has been around for ages, and has a good reputation, the 645Df is built like a tank, and yes it's a weighty beast, so hand held only in super light conditions. It's pretty much stapled to my tripod, its very rare I shoot handheld, although on a recent London workshop I took, I did shoot it hand held mainly with a 210mm and I was pretty pleased with the results. The one caveat I have is that mirror slap at low shutter speeds is an issue, so I usually shoot mirror up mode, tripod mounted, cable release. The Mammy is so easy to use, set it in manual and use the dial to set shutter or aperture. The exposures are pretty good. Although now I have the benefit of a super light meter, as an aid to exposure measurement, and comparative results show the camera is pretty much on the money exposure wise. It has been such a joy to use, simple no fuss photography. My favourite lens at the moment is the 35mm MF given the crop factor of the Phase One back this equates to around 23mm in 35mm terms. No super wide angle I know but the widest lens on offer is well over 2k and is outside my budget at the moment. Though the 28mm Phase One lens is very very nice. Some recent images shot using the Mamiya 645df and Phase One P21+
Images taken using the Mamiya 35mm MF
Sunrise Ratcliffe on Soar
Dawn breaks River Tame Staffordshire
Old Barn Peak Dsitrict Derbyshire
Images taken using the 45mm AF
Autumn colour swirling leaves Padley Gorge Derbyshire
Autumn Padley Gorge Derbyshire
Dawn small meadow pond Satffordshire
Image using the 210mm AF
Storm over Winnats Pass Castleton Derbyshire
I am sure you will agree the colour rendition out of the Phase One is quite stunning, even for old tech I am using colours are the best I've seen. In fact I shoot very little monochrome with this combo. My Fuji kit is still with me and I won't ever give that up in a hurry, I still have weddings to shoot :) My next blog will be covering some City shooting in London. Thamks for reading, please post a comment, any questions just ask.
What an Autumn
As a photographer I just love Autumn, the colours, and the light are simply wonderful things to experience. Days are drawing in now the clocks have gone back, spent a few hours out earlier this week, started out in typical Peak district fashion of real gloom over the hills, then the sun broke through and the real magic of Autumn came out. A few images from the day, all taken with the fuji Xt1 combination of lenses 55-200, 18-55, and 35mm.
Autumn in the peak
Well it's my favourite part of the year again, and have been out and about with visits to Curbar, Padley Gorge, Burbage amongst others. Trying to capture the autumn colours, the weather has been a bit hit and miss, wonderful days found me stuck in the gallery biting at the leash. When i did manage a few hours out the weather was less than inspiring. Still I think I've managed to convey the autumn mood.
The River Derwent is a beautiful and quite tranquil place to spend an hour or two exploring it's banks. Fuji Xt1 with 55-200 and 10-24 lenses.
Dungeness visit
I have been wanting to visit Dungeness for quite some time, it's a fair old trip to get down to the south coast from Derbyshire. So last Sunday Trudy(my long suffering partner) and I decided a trip to the coast was needed. After some gentle hints and we were off to Kent. Had a fantastic day, the late September weather was perfect for a day at the coast.
Dungeness is a strange but quite wonderful place to visit, Ok I know it's got a Nuclear power station by it, but the landscape is just incredible. I would think on a raw winters day it would be quite foreboding. It's seems that the place over the years has attracted all types of flotsam and jetsom, the decaying hulks of old boats and fishermans sheds provides a wonderful photographic opportunity. You can easily understand why its been used as a location for film and TV.
The scattered remains of livelyhoods litter the shingle beach. All the images taken on the Fuji Xt1 using 10-24mm and 55-200mm lenses.