The Reluctant Urban Explorer

Black And White Photography, David, Photography

20110506-untitled shoot

 

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 ReaderThe 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 🙂