Portrait – Page 3 – tim dobbs photography

Day out to Mumbles with some Ilford Delta 100 ….

I had to pay a visit to a doctors in Swansea the other week to have a Steroid injection in my foot in the hope to ease the pain from arthritis and as I was not sure where it was or how long it would take we popped along on a Sunday morning just to get my bearings.

It was pretty easy to find and didn’t take to long so we decided to carry on along the Gower coast to Mumbles, somewhere we have not been since the kids were little.When we left the weather was pretty poor and was still pretty gloomy when we arrived but the clouds dispersed and we got some lovely sunshine now and again which was nice as I had some ilford Delta 100 in the Canon T90 with the 50mm f1.4There was not a lot to do there really as the Pier was shut for renovations but I did manage to get some nice shots.I have not shot Delta 100 very much unlike 400 which I quite like and I was very happy with the results, the grain is very smooth and the tonal range is great, not as contrasty as my favorite HP5 but hey …. horses for courses.I may push the next roll that I use just to see if I can bump up the contrast a bit, I could do it in Lightroom after the scans but I try to leave the scans pretty much as I get them with a bit of dust spotting and slight tweaks. All in all it was a nice day and I was happy with the T90, 50mm and Delta combo.

click an image to view larger……..

Thanks for looking … I also have a “Film Only” blog over at usingfilm.wordpress.com if you want to take a look

A day out at the seaside ……

We paid a visit to Amy last week in Aberystwyth and just for a change we had a lovely bright day.

The last few trips to “Aber” have been wet and dark so it lends itself to some grainy B&W images but for a change I loaded the F100 with some Kodak Portra 400 and shot it 2 stops over.

I must admit I love the way Portra looks when pushed especially when shooting portraits and along with the 50mm f1.4 wide open the film really makes the image pop.

I really need to start shooting more portraits, I have to pull my finger out and make a point of getting some willing subjects ( its like pulling teeth getting my family to pose for me)

All in all it was a good day out albeit a bit cold but it was nice to shoot in sunshine for a change.

As usual the film was processed and scanned by http://www.filmdev.co.uk/ who did a great job, I can’t recommend them more highly.

Click on an image to view larger….

comments welcomed…. and if anyone local is up for some portrait shots drop me an email 🙂

Shooting Ilford HP5+ at 1600 iso……..

My favourite B&W film is ilford HP5 and I rarely shoot any thing else when it comes to B&W.

I love the contrast and grain it produces and depending on which developer I process with I can get plenty of looks from one film stock.

I have been reading quite a few blog posts and watching some youtube videos where various other photographers recommend shooting HP5 at 1600 iso as it don’t seem to loose any sharpness and the increase in contrast/grain doesn’t impact on the image.

I like grain and contrast so I was not all that bothered if they increased but as a test I was interested in how sharp the images were, so I shot a roll with my Nikon F100 and 50mm f1.4 which is a very sharp lens and processed it using ilfotec HC 1+15.

The results were great, the sharpness was impressive and the grain didn’t impair the look at all.

Rating HP5 at 1600 may become my standard from now on as it gives me extra versatility to be able to shoot in more lighting situations while keeping the look I like from using this film stock.

Thanks for looking

Click on an image to view larger……

You can find more lovely film stuff on my film only blog at ……..

https://usingfilm.wordpress.com/

Expired Agfa HDC plus and my Nikon F4……..

Ages ago I was kindly given a bag full of film, all expired ranging from 2000 to 2009 and the friend who gave it to me didn’t know how it was stored as he himself was given it by 3rd party.

I have been using some of it to test any old 35mm camera I managed to pick up and to be honest it has all been ok but I have not shot it with a decent camera/lens combination and had it processed professionally so the other week I loaded up my Nikon F4 with some Agfa HDC plus 200 that expired back in 2002.I deliberately set my iso to 100 and also over-exposed quite a few shots hoping to get a bit of contrast and colour in the film as what I have found with the other rolls that I shot at box speed and camera exposure have all been a little flat.As with most Agfa colour films I have used before the images had a magenta tone to them which I don’t mind.

I was impressed with the contrast and sharpness too, it really made a difference shooting this film in the F4 with my nice 50mm f1.8. After our little walk I still had a few frames left and my better half had a go with the F4 while we relaxed outside our local pub shooting my happy face.All in all I am very happy with how the film performed, it really made a difference using it in a good camera and the processing was done by AG Photographic and not at home by me.

I have another 10 rolls of this as well as various other Agfa/Kodak mixture so now I know that the film works fine I will shoot these in my better cameras rather that just as test rolls in the many point & shoot/rangefinders I seem to pick up in charity shops “I have a GAS problem 🙂 “.Thanks for looking….comments most welcome 🙂

Please click on an image to view larger……

also check out my “Film Only” blog at Using Film

Merlin Maddock’s Workshop…….

My friend and neighbour Merlin has a huge challenge/project going on for the last couple of months to attempt to build a replica of a plane built in about 1904 here in the Garw valley.

I have had the pleasure of trying to document the building of the said plane as the project has been progressing. Sadly Merlin’s health has slowed him up greatly but his determination is a pleasure to witness.I love popping next door to his workshop and exploring all his quirky, interesting pieces dotted about.Hopefully this project will see the light next year and I will be there to see the finale 🙂

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-21366975

D600A-0411-Edit Thanks for looking…. comments welcomed

Mamiya 645 & some Fujichrome Velvia 100F …………

Slide film has been a bit of a hit or miss for me over the years, back in the pre digital days I tried and mostly failed with most of my attempts at shooting slides.

Most probably as the subject matter I seemed to shoot was not really suited to the medium and I never really found the appeal that others did.

Since getting into medium format I decided to give slide film another bash so bought a few packs of both Fujichrome Velvia 100f and Provia 100f.

I shot some Velvia a while back and cross processed it with some interesting results which can be seen on my other blog http://usingfilm.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/cross-processed-velvia-100/

But this time I had it processed E6 at AG photolab http://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/

I was quite pleased with the resultant scans even though my exposure was a bit over on most of the frames, I’m not sure if it was the Mamiya meter as it has been fine on negative film but I know that slide film is not very forgiving.

Nevertheless I am going to try another roll when the weather is right and this time meter with my Sekonic meter just to see.

Thanks for looking…. feel free to comment

Click on an image to view larger ……..

“Race for Life” …….

My wife Annette and her sister Bethan both entered the Bridgend “Race for Life” event on sunday and me and the kids all popped along to show support and also document the day.

Here are a selection of the images from the day.

for more info on the “Race for Life”event for Cancer Research uk please check here :

http://raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org/index.html

Just click on an image to view larger……………

Contact me if anyone featured here would like a copy of the image 🙂

Fuji X-Pro 1 on the street …….

I treated myself to an early 50th birthday present last week …. a Fuji X-Pro 1 along with the xf 18mm f2 and 35mm f1.4.

This post is short and sweet and is just to show my 1st quick attempt at some close street shooting using the 18mm wide open at f2 just as a test.The lens is very sharp even at f2, obviously not the best aperture to be sure of getting the image but as it was an experiment I wasn’t to upset at the missed shots.

I had a few surprised looks as I took the images but I didn’t feel as conspicuous like I do that close with my Dslr.I am shooting Raw and Jpeg at the moment and I must say the Jpegs are really nice, great colour and sharpness and seem to have the added bonus of a little lens correction in camera over the Raw (not drastic but noticeable) which makes a difference with the 18mm.

I will post a lot more in the next blog, I have just tried the 35mm at f1.4 and its gorgeous 🙂

Thanks for looking …….

Garw Carnival 2013 & Kodak Portra 400………..

I love my Nikon F4s but as I seem to have collected 50+ cameras over the last 12 months I don’t get to shoot with it very often.

This weekend I decided to load it up with some film and attempt to shoot with it but when I opened the back I realised I had a rewound roll of Kodak Portra 400 sitting in it.

As I have not developed any colour film for a while I was not sure if my C-41 chemistry was shot or not but I thought I would give it a try. (I didn’t even know what was on the film)

To my surprise when the film came out of the tank it was from last years Garw Carnival back in September if I remember correctly and the negs seemed to look ok albeit with a slight yellow cast but after scanning I liked the look so didn’t colour correct them.

Moral of this little story is make sure you remove completed film rolls from your camera and also make a note of what you actually shot on it 🙂

Thanks for looking

Click on an image to view Larger…….

Any comments greatly appreciated 🙂

Garw Valley Railway & Heritage Fair….. and my 100th post to :)

On saturday it was my local Railway & Heritage societies fair here in the lovely Garw Valley, so as good local citizens we popped along (with my camera in tow).

I have never really had any interests in trains before but thanks to a great young guide called Stephen the tour of the railway shed was a very interesting way to spend a Saturday morning.

There was loads of stuff to point my camera at and luckily I took along the D600 as the light was pretty dim in places but the camera performed excellently at iso’s up to 4000 without a problem.

click on an image to view larger……………….

All the people involved with the running of the Railway society were very enthusiastic and helpful, eager to explain in detail what was going on and their plans for the future (and didn’t mind having their photographs taken either)