Back in February when I took the
photos made in this previous post. I also took along my Fuji G617 panoramic camera. I managed only one photo but it was one I really wanted to see. So I finally got out to take some photos at the local RSPB refuge at Fen Drayton. (I feature my photos from here at another blog called
At The Water's Margin.)
The first photo on this roll however I had anticipated quite a lot. On the way to Lynwood Arboreteum I drove through the middle of the Fens on a rather bleak looking day. The Fens were created in the reign of Charles II and drained with the help of the Dutch much like Holland was. As a result it is unremittingly flat around here. The sky is immense and intimidating. My wife feels quite anxious driving through this area. I too feel something almost dark and foreboding when the weather is gray. My family is from the Midwestern US so I am no stranger to flat lands...
As I drove alone I really wanted to capture the mood and so looked for a safe place to pull over on the narrow humpy roads. Finally I found a road leading to a farm some distance to the south where I could pull my car out of the way. It was a cold and breezy day, I setup my tripod, my camera loaded with Fuji Acros 100 black and white film. I metered and composed the image and then waited. I waited for the wind to die enough that it wouldn't shake the camera and for the light to do something nice. The moment came and I snapped the photo, tore everything down and continued with my journey. The result is below...
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| We are so small in the eye of God. |
The I think photo captures perfectly the mood, flatness, and distance, click for a larger version. The trees on the horizon are fully grown. There is a farm at the end of the road. I am now itching to print this though it will have to be on 'The Beast' and I won't get it all in. I may also try a triptych.
The rest of the roll I took last Saturday. I also brought along my Olympus OM1 35 mm camera where I had half a roll of old Fuji Superia 200 that I
experimented with splitting the roll into two rolls. I had my 135 mm telephoto lens and since this camera is lightweight I could snap completely different photos closely cropped-in and color while the big G617 took in wide black and white photos. I will post the color shots once they return from the lab.
It emerged, after I developed the one roll, that I have a light leak problem in the G617. I fixed this the next day by replacing the light seals and ran another roll through to test the results. The second day was very bright, cloudless, and so a good test. The first photos were shot on Fuji Neopan Acros 100 film. The test role was shot on Ilford FP4+ 125 ASA film.
Luckily the darkness of the day meant my first photo in the Fens was unaffected by the light leak.
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| Holywell Pond (Fuji Acros) |
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| Drayton Lagoon (Fuji Acros) |
This is the photo that shows up the worse of the light leak below. Really disappointing as it is my favorite of the three.
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| Light Leak at Elney Lake (Fuji Acros) |
Here are the next day's photos taken at Elney Lake. I am pleased to say the fix worked. So the photos are better but the sky is not so interesting as it was yesterday.
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| Elney Lake |
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| Elney Lake |
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| Elney Lake |
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