Guest Post – David Williamson

Black And White Photography, David, Photography

David Williamson is the fourth photographer in our guest post series . Along with shooting digital David also still admires film photography. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Nikon FE2 which I owned and was the aperture priority sister camera to Davids fully manual Nikon FM2.  Some of the best photos I have ever taken were with that camera.

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My name is David Williamson. I am a Brit who has lived in Krokstadelva, Norway for the past 20 years.  I would like to thank you for inviting me to contribute as a Guest to Monochromia.

I’ve had an interest in photography since the early 70’s but it was not until the 80’s that I got around to doing something about it. That’s when I purchased my first real camera, a Canon EOS 600.  That didn’t last long though, and I swapped it in for a Nikon FM2 which I still own and use to this day. The digital medium is not easy to ignore these days and it seems everyone has one, so I also shoot with a Nikon D800 and a Leica M9P.

I have a very eclectic film camera collection and at any given time depending on the mood I am in I will shoot on any of the cameras in this collection.  Sometimes the deciding factor is the availability of film for that particular model.

What do I like shooting?  People are my first love whether it be on the street or at family gatherings. I also have a mate who drags me around to a lot of derelict places to take shots of too. The whole Ubex thing interests me, however It’s creepy walking around alone in an old psychiatric hospital so I don’t do it often.

I love film, and black and white is a passion. My favorites are Ilford XP2 and Rollei 80s and T-max 100. I’ve recently tried Adox CMS 20,which impresses me. That said I don’t have a darkroom so I adopt a 50-50 approach of developing myself, and scanning the negatives on my Epson V700. I print my favorites off on my newish Epson 3880 printer using Adobe Lightrooms print module.

This picture was taken of my son some 20 years ago, only 10 minutes old and as you see he was in an incubator. It was taken on my FM2 with Ilford Xp2

Well thanks for giving me your time.  Now go out and shoot something 😀

When you come back you can check out my blog here – My Photographic World

20 thoughts on “Guest Post – David Williamson”

  2. David, what a wonderful treasured image of your newborn son from, oh, so many years ago. As a digital-only shooter, I am in awe of anyone who uses film, and in fact, your description of your workflow is rather impressive to me. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work here on Monochromia. Welcome!

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  4. Welcome David! I look forward to viewing more of your work!
    I am impressed with your camera arsenal and your experience and I look forward to learning from you!

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    1. Thanks LB,
      It may seem I’m a gear head but I’ll take pictures with anything. I’ve just used my savings on my dream cameras. Some fantastic film cameras are quite cheap now,the Nikon F4 is one.

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  5. Such a sweet and lovely photo, what a great moment you’ve captured David! Like Patti said I’m sure 20 years have passed more quickly than one would imagine. Lovely to meet you and I hope to see more of your work! 🙂

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    1. Thanks Elina,
      One of my pet peeves is colour shots of new-borns in hospitalstaken with mobiles and poorly adjusted SLRs the colours are never right in my opinion .

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  6. What a gorgeous photo, and I’m sure it doesn’t seem that long ago that you took it . . . . Lovely to meet you David and look forward to wandering over to see more of your work!

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  7. Like ONEOWNER I shot with a Nikon FE2 and I that camera was sweet. My film days are over also but it is nice to see some actual film grain rather than the noise added by film simulation programs. This is a great shot of your newborn son David and I’m sure when he looks at this today it will bring a smile to his face knowing “Dad” was there with a camera to get that Kodak moment.

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    1. Joe my FE2 finally gave up the ghost a year or so back. I loved that camera too. The lovelly titanium honeycomb shutter was was a wonder. It’s a shame about your film days being over my freezer is bulging with film so I have plenty of ammo yet a while ;0) Thanks for your kind comments about my son. He’s a head taller than me now. Doesn’t time fly.

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  9. I shot with the original FM for many years and it was the best film camera I’ve used. They were great cameras but now my film shooting days are over. Very nice shot, David.

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  11. Welcome David. It seems somehow appropriate that your first post is one of your newborn son. Hope he is doing well to this day. And you, I hope you enjoy posting here and join our little group on a weekly basis.

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