MorseBlog

I decided now at the end of this year to go through the exercise of defining and selecting my best landscape photos of 2018. I wanted to make the list short so figured on 6 photos and finally ended with 7. I started with a short list of 18 from the 378 film photos I took this year. The process of whittling the short list down was not too easy. I rejected ones that had imperfect focus, bad film, or were not strictly landscape images. Here they are in roughly what I think is reverse order leading up to the best. Here is a video summary of the same photos... Whernside:  Force Gill.  (Fuji 690 GSW--Ilford FP4+) This I took as we hiked up Whernside in Yorkshire. Initially it seemed wrong to feature this waterfall from such a distance with a wide angle lens (65 mm). However on reflection I became really taken with the composition. A conventional photo would have made the waterfall fill the frame substantially. This places it in the broad open country of the Yorkshir...

On a business trip to the US I had the chance to stop by BC to visit my son. Since he had to work the first day I was there I had the chance to visit a few places in Vancouver. I started out at Granville Island an old industrial area mostly turned over to nice shops and galleries. No brand names or outlet but mostly artists and craftspeople. Quite enjoyable. I got this one photo below there. Next I went to Stanley Park which is a really big park with lots of hiking trails. It is mostly wild with one highway running through the center and road around the edge. I was blessed with  a very clear but cold day and there were patches of frost in areas where fog banks had coalesced in various areas. I brought my Rolleiflex 2.8F as a good portable travel camera. I shot Kodak Portra 400 for the speed as these shots would all be hand held. The conditions were challenging however as the winter light is relatively dim and shooting in a deep forest made it much worse. Very often I shot wi...

Retropan 320 film has been around for a few years now. Made by Foma it is a ASA 320 black and white film called retro as it is supposed to look like older film. (It is panchromatic so not that old.) There are some enthusiastic reviews online (as well as some detractors). I got swept up in the enthusiasm and decided to buy a few rolls to try out. I can say now I regret it. My goto film for black and white is Ilford Fp4+ (ASA 125) as a slow high resolution film it is very consistent and pretty cost effective. I have shot some Kodak and Fuji which I like but here in the UK Ilford is a quality product and good value. Normally for high speed film I have shot Ilford HP5+. However having been caught up in the Retropan reviews I decided to see if it would work as my high speed film. I was recently in British Columbia to visit my son so I took a couple of rolls along to try it out. I brought my Rolleiflex f2.8 as it is an easy to carry camera and simple to use. I brought my Sekonic light...

Two years ago I picked up 'The Beast' a Durst Laborator 54 Universal Camera 4x5 enlarger at the very satisfying price of free. I have installed it up in the top floor and have gotten some good use out of it but not often. I don't shoot a lot of 4x5 and print it less frequently. Recently however I have printed my 4x5 Gladiolas negative on it. I have also had my Fuji GSW 690 camera whose 6x9 negative does not fit my original Meopta enlarger as it can only handle up to 6x6 negatives and an old MPP 6x9 rollfilm holder for my Intrepid 4x5 MkIII. This experience has reminded me that I am missing some key components from the enlarger. Namely I need a 4x5 and a 6x9 mask. I have a 6x8, 35mm masks that came with it. Previously I found I could suspend a 4x5 negative in the negative holder but it is rather tenuous and difficult to place it in the right position. I also learned in my last round of printing that light leaks around the negative and can produce noticeable glare on t...

I have become intrigued by old film and photography logos. They represent for me often a more interesting graphic design than what is on offer today with the emphasis on stripped-back modern design. Don't get me wrong I really like the modern design look as exhibit by my sister blog MORSE BROS STUDIOS look. But this older aesthetic holds visual appeal and some nostalgia for me. For instance there is the Gevaert company. A Flemish maker of film paper and cameras eventually acquired my the German maker Agfa. I like their old logo for instance... This has lead me to think about several projects; however the one I want focus on is a mashup of this interest and my discovery of RazorLab in London. RazorLab makes laser cut sheet materials. The great thing is you can submit your own designs and have them made for you from a variety of materials all online. The design is submitted in vector form and created on one of their supported drawing package, in my case Inkscape a free open...