Skin & Blister

Firstly let me explain the title for those not in the know. “Skin and Blister” is Cockney rhyming slang for Sister. Meet my Big sister Eunice.

I find you have to work at getting a relaxed shot of people even if it’s people you know well. This time I think I nailed it. There was lots of light from behind streaming through the windows of the café. I took the camera and metered away from the light . As it turnrd out I got the shot I wanted 1st time . The lightmeter on my Leica maybe a simple centre weighted type but if you know how to use it it’s easy to adjust for such scenes..

Try some portraits this weekend. If you are shy ask people you know to pose for you. Have a great weekend

Leica M9P

Summilux 35mm f1.4 ASPH

Post in Silver Efex Pro 2.

Landscape

Black And White Photography, David, Photography

Now I’ll admit that Landscape shots are not what I’m good at. Those nice shots you see on chocolate boxes are great. With mine you’d have to give the chocolates away free. I have a mate who takes the most stunning landscapes. We live in Norway so it can’t be that hard..can it? Well for me I’ve never cracked the code properly. I’ve read all the hints and tips, all the composition guides, waited for the light to be dramatic, and come home with nothing too exciting. I think Landscape is just not my thing.

However having said that I do get the occasional shot that is worth a second glance like this one of the Sand buried church in the North of Denmark. Taken in late afternoon with my Nikon D800 and 24-70 lens then tweaked in Silver Efex Pro2.

I’ll just have to keep practicing :0)

A Policeman’s Lot…

Black And White Photography, David

I’ve let my lighter side win me over yet once more.

Back in the Eighties I was on a visit to London. I was on my way to visit “Grays of Westminster” For those that don’t know It’s a Nikon only camera shop. On my way there, my way was blocked by police making a human cordon for a Miners demo march. I mingled with all the press photographers raised my Nikon FM2 shouted “oi ” and this Policeman turned around and looked at me as if to say “I got your number sonny Jim!” However what makes the shot for me is where he has is hands.

Camera Nikon FM2

Lens Nikon E 100mm F2.8

Film Ilford XP2.

scanned from paper copy and adjusted with Silver Efex Pro 2

“He Was Nothing But A Pawn.”

Black And White Photography, David, Photography

The winters here in the frozen north are long and dark. I don’t ski so I have to think of things to occupy my mind. This is a little table top fun with my Hasselblad 203FE with the Carl Zeiss 80mm F2.8 FE mounted on an 32E extension tube. Taken on my fav black and white film Rollei 80s stand developed in Caffenol for 50 mins at 20℃ with agitation for only the first minute and then left to rest in a water bath for 49mins.

Here’s the Recipe
Make one litre
Washing soda (Stabil) 16gr/l
Vitamin C (Santa maria) 10 gr/l
Potassium Bromide 1gr/l
Instant Coffee 40gr/l
Inversions for the 1st minute and then left to stand for 49mins
Stop and fix as usual
More details on Caffenol here
davidapw.wordpress.com/caffenol/

The Reluctant Urban Explorer

Black And White Photography, David, Photography

When I posted my first guest post here at Monochromia I said that I did a little UrbEx. Let me explain.

It all started with me seeing some shots from a local abandoned psychiatric hospital. They were taken by a mate, also a photographer who lives almost as a neighbour to the building. He invited me along on a shoot and it scared the hell out of me. That is why I don’t do this kind of thing too often. My disposition is on the nervous side. When I do this kind of shoot I just have to concentrate so hard that it’s mentally exhausting. If I stop to think where I am, I’d run, and run fast. It’s a horror film waiting to happen. However after a few days I just want to do it again. It’s a strange kind of drug, if that’s not too strong a word for it. At least I got a few good shots before It all got a bit too much for me 🙂

Camera:- Leica MP

Lens: – Nikkor 20mm f2.8 manual focus lens on a Novoflex LeiNik adaptor.

Film: – Ilford Xp2 at ISO 400 exposure about a quarter of a second.

The Reader

Black And White Photography, David, Photography

The title should read “Never think you are finished for the day.”

The picture above, “The Reader” is an example of that. I’d spent the morning taking pictures while on a visit to the city of Bergen here in Norway. The weather was cloudy and it was raining, which will come as no surprise to people that live in Norway.

I’d kind of given up for the day after taking some lackluster shots while walking the streets. I was looking forward to lunch. We ended up at a restaurant famous for its Fish soup. While waiting for our order (It was lunchtime and the place was busy) I noticed a lady sitting by the window reading. The light was perfect. I slowly raised my Leica MP and shot off a couple of frames of Ilford XP2 between the shoulders of my friends sitting opposite me.

The result…well you can judge for yourselves.

So, as I said never think you are finished for the day 🙂

Talking to the Priest

Black And White Photography, David

This shot is one of my very latest. People are what really fascinate me. I’m a lazy photographer and I just stand in one place while the family shops and wait for the world to pass by my lens. However owning a Leica will not turn you into Henri Cartier Bresson overnight, I’ve miles of film and hundreds of digital images to prove it. However if you work at it, occasionally some magic happens, like this shot. I love the body language, and the facial expression of this lady talking to the local priest. Taken in Chios, Greece where I spent my summer holidays this year.

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

More of my images can be seen at – My Photographic World

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.

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