Twelve favourite photos from 2023

As another year comes to a close it’s time for my annual selection of favourite pictures, one from each month. As is always the case with these things, the list is based on my thoughts in the moment and the selection could easily change if I were to pick them yesterday or tomorrow.

Looking back through the year I was curious as to which camera has been used most for my photography. I thought there might be two or three contenders for the prize but, in actuality, there was a clear lead in the shape of my Bronica ETRSi, which has been used to shoot sixteen rolls of film in 2023. In distant second place was my Yashicamat 124G with six rolls (including one I developed today and have yet to scan), and then a tie for bronze between the Olympus Trip 35, and the Fujica GW690. I wonder which camera will be most used in 2024? Tune in this time next year!

January

Fujica GW690
Kodak Gold
Converted to B&W in Lightroom

I struggled to get colours I was happy with using Negative Lab Pro for this roll. It usually works very well, but this roll was having none of it, so I resorted to a monochrome conversion.

February

Bronica ETRSi
Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE
Ilford HP5+
8sec exposure @ f/22
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

March

Yashicamat 124G
Ilford HP5+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

April

Chroma 4×5
Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6
Fomapan 100
Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 12 mins @ 20°
1/30sec @ f/32

May

Olympus Trip 35
Kodak Colorplus
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

June

Olympus OM-1N
G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8
Ilford HP5+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 @ 20° 15mins 45secs

July

Bronica ETRSi
Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE
Kodak Portra 400
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro

August

Bronica ETRSi
Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC
Ilford HP5+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins

September

Chamonix 045N-1
Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6
Fomapan 100
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

October

Fujica GW690
Kodak Portra 400 NC (expired 2007)
Lab Developed.
Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

November

Canon Sure Shot Z135
Kodak Gold
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

December

Yashicamat 124G
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins

I expect that December’s picture might be changed as I still have a bunch of other stuff to develop and scan, and there may be shots amongst those that I prefer.

So that’s another year’s round-up. Now onto 2024! Have a happy New Year everyone.

Eggs

A couple of pictures I made on Saturday with my Chamonix 4×5 camera. The closing date for the photo contest I enter each month is tomorrow and I needed something to fit October’s theme, which is Culinary.

In the end, I chose the second picture as my entry, although I was really torn between the two. The second shot fits the theme better, I think, but artistically I probably prefer the first. I’ve probably made the wrong choice.

I usually do.

Chamonix 045N-1, Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 28 October 2023.

Return to North Leverton Windmill

As I wrote about yesterday, I visited North Leverton Windmill back at the start of the month. I shot five frames in total at the location, three of which are posted here today. The other two were both out of focus to some extent, which I put down to a combination of being in a meadow with slightly springy ground, and also because I was using a 90mm lens that I’ve got on loan at present. It’s a nice lens, but it’s huge compared to my 135mm, and the aperture locking switch is a little stiffer than my Fujinon, meaning there’s a risk of me moving the camera when operating it. I’m not sure if that was the cause here, but it’s something I need to take care with.

It was a hot day and there were few clouds in the sky most of the time I was at the site, although a few blobs of fluffy cumulus had started to appear when I took the two pictures of the windmill.

The people who look after the windmill were curious about my old-fashioned looking camera and asked lots of questions. The mill still produces flour, and is apparently the oldest windmill in the country to have seen continuous operation (it was built in 1813). They were even kind enough to set the sails in motion (even though that kinda made it more difficult to get pictures, it was great to see), and also to move the cars from the front of the mill (which you can see in the first shot), which was very nice of them.

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 (second shot: Linhof Super Angulon 5.6/90 on Fomapan 100) & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 2 September 2023.

St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Sturton-le-Steeple

I took a trip out with the Chamonix 4×5 camera last weekend. I had two reasons for doing so. The first was that I had some free time, the weather was nice (even if the skies were a little too clear this time), and I wanted to go out and take pictures. The second reason was to shoot some pictures without my yellow filter to see if I would still get any out of focus areas without it being used.

The answer to the second was that, no, I didn’t, which is a relief. I did get some out of focus areas, but these were ones that I can explain away to camera operator failure. 🙂

I went out to North Leverton Windmill and took five photos there, some of which I’ll publish here in due course. After photographing the windmill I headed over to Sturton-le-Steeple to shoot my final sheet of film, with the idea of photographing West Burton Power Station which sits a mile ot two away, taking advantage of the nearby River Trent.

I did take a picture of the power station but with the Bronica, which I’d also taken out with me, and which had my 150mm lens, giving a better view of the station (one day, I think I’ll go for a walk around the power station, and try to get some nice atmospheric pictures from closer range – there are a whole bunch of public footpaths surrounding the facility).

In the end, I shot my final sheet of Fomapan in the village itself, with the church as the subject, and it has come out quite well. A functional yellow filter might have added some more “pop” to the skies and, annoyingly, the new box of Fomapan I’ve just received appears to have the same issue with white speckles on the negative that I’ve encountered before, which means I now need to try and get a refund and the messing around that will entail. I think I might stick to Ilford film in future, even though the cost is higher.

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken 2 September 2023.

Beached

My final shot taken while using the knackered yellow filter. As with the other pictures shot with this filter, there are unusual out of focus areas on the image – in this one, it’s the trees (and part of the bridge suspension cables) beyond the front of the boat. The filter is now in the bin.

Otherwise, I’m pleased with this shot.

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 28 August 2023.

Old-school ice cream

This vintage ice-cream truck was parked close to the car park when I visited the Humber Bridge and made for an obvious subject for a picture. Annoyingly, it’s another shot marred by the out-of-focus issue that I wrote about yesterday, and I still have another two sheets to develop where I also used the yellow filter that I suspect to be the cause, so those might also exhibit the same problems.

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 28 August 2023.

Under the Humber Bridge

Another photo of the Humber Bridge, and another affected by some unusual out of focus areas (this time the far river bank in the lower right of ther image). The good news is that I may have worked out the cause of these odd defects – I think it might be the yellow filter I’ve been using. The rationale behind this is that I’ve realised that the out-of-focus areas are only present in shots where I used the filter. All the others are either fine, or any OOF bits can be easily put down to camera movements.

The next thing will be to take some photographs without the filter. Hopefully these will be ok and I can move on and put this situation behind me (and also throw the filter in the bin – it was only a cheap one. Which I gues may be from where the problem stems…).

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 28 August 2023.

Humber Bridge

A couple of pictures from a recent trip to the Humber Bridge. For once I actually got nice conditions, with plenty of light and also an interesting sky, helped quite a lot by a yellow filter. I did have to hang around for awhile on occasion when the sun was obscured behind clouds, but I can’t really complain.

I’m happy with these two pictures but, again, there are issues with the focusing, with the far tower of the bridge being out of focus in both images, even though I’m pretty certain I checked it was ok before taking the picture. I’m wondering if it might be the way I use my loupe to focus and so I’ have’ve made some changes to this proces ready for my next 4×5 outing. Fingers crossed.

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 28 August 2023.

Dead tree and pylons

Another large format shot. And another with faults, this time some out of focus elements in the middle right of the frame. I’m not sure whether this might not just be a gust of wind blowing the power lines and trees about though. I’ve had similar issues with other shots however, including some I’ve just developed, so it could well be something else causing it. More (time consuming and tedious) trial and error work will no doubt be required. So far I have to say that it’s the promise of large format that is keeping me going rather than the actual process – 35mm and medium format are sooo much less faff!

Still, the problem in this picture is barely noticeable unless you start pixel peeping, and otherwise I like the picture. Maybe I should give myself a break. I used a yellow filter here which has really given the skies some nice contrast.

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken 1 August 2023.

Magpie Mine

Last week, when I had a few days off work, I decided to go and shoot some more sheets of film with my large format camera. It’s been over six months now since I first got a 4×5 camera, and in that time I’ve bought two of them. This wasn’t my original intent but, due to problems with the first camera that I was unable to resolve I was left with two options. The first, give up on large format, wasn’t really an option as I’d invested in all the associated kit that goes with the format (plus I didn’t want to give up on it). The second option was to bite the bullet and buy a replacement camera and, thanks to finding a used Chamonix model at a good price, this was the route I took. There was actually a third option too – to borrow a camera from someone, and this is what I’d set out to do before I found the Chamonix. In fact I’ve still been loaned another camera and a couple of lenses, meaning that I’ll soon have shot three large format cameras in this relatively short period of time!

However, shooting large format is not something that can be done on a whim. While 35mm and even medium format cameras can generally be picked up and taken out to make some pictures quickly and easily, large format demands much more of my time, both in terms of setting the equipment up to make a picture, and also in preparing for an outing in the form of loading film into holders using a changing bag. No grabbing a roll of film and quickly dropping it into the back of the camera with this format!

What this has meant is that I haven’t really been out with a large format camera all that many times and so I’m not well practiced in using the gear. I know what I’m doing, but I’m not very good at it yet, which means I tend to make mistakes every time I do have a session. Not major mistakes usually, but enough to reduce the quality of my work to some extent. Still, practice makes perfect, so I try to get out and use the large format when a suitable opportunity presents itself.

I had hoped that last week would be such an opportunity as the weather had looked promising, but it turned out to be less optimal than I’d hoped in the end. I decided to visit Magpie Mine in the Peak District, a place I’ve photographed before, and which I thought might be promising for some 4×5 photographs. The day had a cloudy sky, albeit one with plenty of texture and relatively frequent gaps where the sunshine would break through. With smaller formats it’s relatively easy to take advantage of the good light when it fleetingly appears. Not so much with large format as, by the time you’ve set everything up, the light has changed again. This was made even more difficult by a brisk wind that was present. While the camera wasn’t being blown about too much (although I did lose one shot due to camera shake), the darkcloth that I use to be able to see the ground glass on the rear of the camera was whipping around like a dervish and making it very difficult to check composition and focus.

While there was the occasion splash of nice light, I didn’t have the skill (or patience to wait!) to make use of it, so the shots I took at the location are a little flat. I’d planned on shooting more images while there, but the conditions (well, the wind) meant I decided to head off to somewhere in a more sheltered position.

Of the three shots posted here today, the first is probably the best executed. The focus is good across the piece and, while the lighting could be better, the subject isn’t harmed by it too much. The second picture is my facourite in terms of composition, but I wish I’d closed the aperture another stop as the distant buildings aver a teeny bit soft (although the wall in the forground and the building at middle distance are both fine). The final picture of the lone chimney, was a bit of an experiment. I wondered how it might look shot wide open at f/5.6. However all this has done really is soften the foreground grass, add a noticeable vignette and, because there was probably a bit of tilt on the front standard that I neglected to check properly due to my frustration with the wind, has thrown the top of the chimney out of focus too. Still, as I’ve already said, practice makes perfect, and every time I use the camera it’s a learning experience!

Chamonix 045N-1. Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 1 August 2023.