Making Contact

A few weeks ago I posted that I had decided to get my Pracktica MTL3 out of the attic and put some film in it.  In the end, I put two rolls of film through it.

The first was a roll of Kodak BW400CN.  This is a black and white negative film rated at 400 ASA and is processed using the C41 chemistry.

This roll of film was 36 exposures of complete and utter randomness.  That being said, it was largely shot in and around Colne.

Talk about coincidence.  The last few shots on the roll was of a 1960's London Bus in Colne Town Centre.

Once processing the film I decided I would get them on to the computer and with a little editing may come out with some nice images.  First a learning curve!  Getting the images in to the computer.

I was quite lucky that my Canon MP220 Printer/Scanner works quite well at scanning on the bed.  However, it is no where the quality of a true neg scanner and I may have to either invest in one or pay to have the negs scanned.

Funnily enough I quite like the image above.  The scan quality and dust on the scanner give the image a really dated feel.

Before I wanted to go and make prints I thought I would go back to the traditional way of selecting before printing.  That is making a contact print.

For those that haven't a clue on what I am going on about.  A photographer would lay the negatives across a piece of photograph paper then expose it to light.  Once the negatives had been removed and the paper processed you had a sheet with a copy of the image on them.  This sheet would then be used to select which of the negs would go for final processing and printing.

With my little experiment I decided I would make a digital contact.  That is, scan each of the negs and make a contact sheet of them rather than individual images.  So that is exactly what I have done.  Below is the finished contact sheet.  Now I must go and find a better neg scanner!!!

Weather Warning: More Snow to Come!!!

A couple more shots from the snow series!

Playing in the Snow

Finally, I managed to get out an take some photographs in the snow!

I've always been a little bit obsessed with textures and negative space in photographs.  Of course, I am naturally drawn to monochrome photography as well.  All this is very easily exploited in the snow.  See more of the snow images on my flickr site.

Cheeky Sheep

Just because these sheep are so darn cheeky!

Just Because Snow Can Be Beautiful!

I know the recent snow has brought misery and difficulties to a lot of people during the course of the last couple of days.  However, it is easy to forget that it actually can be quite beautiful and a lot of fun.  Try and enjoy it while we can!

January/February issue of New Pixel Magazine Out Now

Our Free photography magazine, Pixel has undergone a make over.  The latest edition is out now!

Feeling at Home

Jubilee (Darwen) Tower - Taken from 

Remnants.

For nearly as long as I can remember I have had a love for high places.  In essence it's not just a love of hills and mountains but more in particular Lancashire hills.

It began when I was a teenager.  I would get home from school, blow off homework grab my trusty spotted companion (a dalmatian named Billy) and head for the moors.  I loved the walk through the wooded valley and up past the reservoir before striding out on to the open moorland which is home to Darwen Tower.  Billy loved it too.  We spent hours and hours up there just wondering, sitting by moorland streams, listening to Skylarks and generally watching the world go by.

Even as I grew up that love didn't die.  In fact it grew deeper as I joined Lancashire Countryside Service as a Volunteer Ranger and eventually working full time.  Funnily enough, it was the same hills that I wondered as a boy that I now worked as a man.  Sometimes, Billy would be with me too.

The Ranger Service broadened my knowledge of the hills and sent me to other areas to explore, firstly in the West Pennine Moors and Rossendale, then the South Bowland Fells along with Clougha to the far North finally settling in Central Lancashire and becoming intimate with Pendle, Boulsworth and the hills surrounding the Wycoller Valley.

I do love the Lake District, I love North Wales even more but there is nowhere like my home turf.

What has this got to do with photography?  Everything.  I produce my best work when I'm working in Lancashire.  Why?  I think its because I love it or that I know it as well as anyone else.  Maybe it's just because I'm fascinated and amazed by it.  Perhaps its a life long love affair.

Some places I am really drawn to.  One of these is known as Walton Spire.  The Spire sits on Knave Hill high above the towns of Nelson and Colne in Lancashire, is directly between both Pendle and Boulsworth Hills and is in close proximity to the site Castercliffe Hill Fort.

Knave Hill is a bit strange.  It is my opinion (and also that of others) that the hill is man made.  Looking at aerial photographs it is possible to identify concentric rings of terracing that appear to be the construction of the hill.  However, the site has another feature in the Spire it self.  The bottom part of the cross is an ancient stone monolith that would have probably acted as a marker for travelers on the trade route from the Irish Sea to the North Sea or vice versa.  It is possible that the monolith could be somewhere in the region of 4,500 years old although some legends say that it was erected in rememberance of the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.  The top of the spire was added in the 1830's by Richard Thomas Wroe-Walton a local gentleman with strong religious values who live in Marsden Old Hall that still stands in nearby Marsden Park.

What ever the reason or how ever old the Spire is.  I can't help being drawn to the place.  Earlier this week I went up there in the snow and got some lovely pictures of it while enjoying a bit of pleasant if not cold weather!  Even the sheep seemed happy to be there.

Back to the River

The good thing about a break is that it gives you time to think; time to research and time to plan.

During the run up to Christmas most of my posts surrounded shots taken on a river and I have to admit, I am highly delighted with the results.  However, it did get me thinking about the river broadening the series of shots in to a small side project.  It’s early days yet but it has meant that I have managed to spend a bit more time on the river capturing images like these posted here.

See more at my flickr page.

Exposing the Dark

Last night I had a little time on my hands.  As a result I thought I would go out and capture some night landscapes.  This is something that a few of us from Blackburn & District Camera Club and Pixel Magazine have been playing with.

The images that I took last night were really a trail run.  Firstly to see if I could do it and secondly to scout a couple of locations.  I captured a couple of images that I really liked, the one at the top of this post being my favourite.  However, it's not quite what I want to achieve.  That may come at a later date!

If you would like to see the rest of the images then please visit my flickr page.

2000+ Views

My blog has now reached over 2000 views.

Thank you everyone who has visited and spent a little time with me!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!