MorseBlog

Last September I made a couple of posts about using my Fuji G617 panoramic camera for intimate landscapes. Part of this was to try and defeat the summer photography blues. I got some rather good results.  Now I am facing another photography drought and Spring has arrived, and I have never really known what to do with Spring photography. Indeed, Spring and Summer are the worst seasons for me. Fall has color, Winter has forms, and both have frost and fog. Right now, we are at peak bluebell season. I find photographing flowers generally unsatisfying, and bluebells are a bit of a cliche even though they are amazing to walk amongst this time of year. Don't get me wrong they really are spectacular, but I really haven't gotten an image of them that makes me say 'wow'.  And so, I find myself out on a brilliant and cool spring morning that quickly warmed as the sun rose. The bluebells are spectacular right now in Monk's wood and are accompanied by Wood Anemones, Celandines,

I was out again last week at Woodwalton Fen in the early morning as there was a forecast of some fog. I wasn’t disappointed as I walked in the pre-dawn darkness. I stopped in the middle of the reserve where a bench is located by a small pond. I sat and sipped coffee and ate my breakfast while I waited for the light to come up. When the light and color saturated I picked up my equipment and walked on.  I headed down a track I last travelled last summer along a line of oak trees. This lead to a little used trail and I found my first photo. Three interesting shaped trees in the mist. I setup first with my 150mm lens but needed the 90mm lens to capture it. This lens does not get much use. It is difficult to see the image on the ground glass because of the way the light disperses.  I was using my SINAR Zoom film back exclusively today and had loaded a roll of Fuji Provia 100. My limited experience with shooting in mist in fog has me favoring Fuji Astia and Provia. I find that Fuji Velvia an

Last year I was watching a Steve O'nions' video where he used a Horsman 6x12 roll filmback on his Intrepid 4x5. I had picked up years ago an old 6x9 MPP filmback that I have used on the Intrepid I have. I am a sucker for the panoramic format (I really enjoy shooting a Fuji G617.) so when I saw the 6x12 I thought that might be something I could use.  With rollfilm backs on a 4x5 the inevitable question why not just crop the 4x5 image? The usual response is economics. 120 film is cheaper than the 4x5 equivalent. Processing is easier to find as well and more affordable.  I researched 6x12 backs and stumbled across the SINAR film backs and the Zoom model in particular. These backs fit like a sheet film holder and so do not require the ground glass to be removed for each image. The Zoom model allows one to shoot a variety of formats on the same roll of film. This means 6x12, 6x9, 6x8, 6x6, and 6x4.5. I am a sucker for versatility and fortunately at the time I found one for sale for

It seems I am making regular rounds to my 3 local woodlands. Each has a unique character and rather than being repetitive I find new areas to explore afresh in some and comfort in the familiar places of ones I know better. Of course these woodlands change all the time, with the seasons, the weather. If one looks carefully enough and is sensitive to subtleties there is change all around.  This morning it is Monk’s Wood. Growing up a a hillside on determinedly clay soil it is markedly different from the he two fen woodlands of Holme and Woodwalton. These latter two are pancake flat being in the drained marshes of the fens. They are also relatively new.  The silver birches of Holme would not have turned up until after the draining of the fens as they prefer well drained soil. The nearby area of Whittlesey is the last of the fenlands to be drained so the forest is perhaps 150 years old.  Woodwalton Fen was purchased by Charles Rothschild in 1910 as a nature reserve. I am not sure the state

I was looking forward to this morning for the last couple of days. The gale that has been blowing winds is finally done and a high pressure was due to park itself over the area. Finally we would have the first frost of the year (extremely late historically) and perhaps some fog. So I scraped the windshield (windscreen) and bundled myself into the care at 5:30am. The sky was deep blue with just a rim of orange on the eastern horizon. Venus was up as was the moon along with a couple of wisps of cloud. It was dead still.  It didn't feel that cold when I got out of the car. There was frost but the sense was it was barely freezing and hadn't been that cold for very long. I had been vacillating about where to go amongst my 3 local choices. I settled on Woodwalton Fen on the theory that with lots of water about the place perhaps that would improve chances of fog. On the way I didn't see any signs of fog patches so probably any choice was bound to disappoint on that front.  I pulle

The clocks have changed. I got up too late and rushed to get out of the car before sunrise. A very clear sky and I don't need a headlamp this morning. I don't really have a plan except to take photos and explore some new areas along the south edge. The sun will be up very soon and I want to see if the light looks good going into the forest along there. A cormorant like a black arrow streaks across the azure sky.  I walk along the ditch and see again the open field before the sparse forest. The birch look good, very white. I have often contemplated photographing this scene. Since I have nothing special in mind I think perhaps a 6x12 with the SINAR Zoom 120 film back. I setup, compose, and focus, drag out the film back and begin to load some Velvia 50 into it. Alas I forgot I put a fresh roll two days before. It should have been apparent had I bothered to check but I just opened it up and saw the film leader in the take-up roll. I decide to unload this roll and put in fresh film.

 I returned a couple days later from my earlier visit for another early morning. I went back to a section I think of as special where I photographed the fallen tree earlier.  I had seen a path on this earlier visit I wanted to explore however on my way there I was exploring a clearing and accidently found the other end of the trail I was looking for! It was one that went to a deer stand. There are many dead-end trails that lead to deer stands here.  I explored the local clearings and assessed some potential images when the rain started up. Much like the last trip it was a light rain and seemed not intent on hanging around. So again I sheltered, this time under a silver birch and brought out coffee and a granola bar and soaked in the surroundings (as the surroundings soaked me!), enjoying the peace and rich smells of this peaty forest. When the rain let up I walked over towards the fallen tree and found a brown fern I liked the look of. I took one 4x5 photo with Astia using the 150mm l