Blue

A collage based on part of this:

The drawer where I store CDs is full; overspill lives in cardboard boxes and redundant camera bags. I suppose I should celebrate the streaming of music which has replaced CDs but just as I was annoyed at having to replace my vinyl collection, I feel similarly robbed by the end of the CD. These two orphan CDs just hang around like guests who won't leave the party. With fewer opportunities for photography during the pandemic, subjects which would never before be considered are getting exposure. I used a Nikkor 28mm f/3.5 lens on a Canon EOS 30D camera.

Camera: Canon EOS 30D Lens: Chinon 55mm f/1.4 Supplementary Lens: Minolta Close-Up No. 1

Before an eccentric edit involving conversion to B&W, cropping, powerful filters and finally, overlaying the result on the computer screen with a blue acetate and photographing it for its final edit ... this was a fairly ordinary photograph taken in The Parade shopping centre off Fleming Way in Swindon on 21 June, 2012 at half past one. The melancholy look on the young woman's face remains memorable ten years later, whereas the other photographs of that day are largely forgotten.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AI-S lens.

It is said that the 135mm prime lens is vestigial in this age of fast telephoto zoom lenses. Countering that opinion I would simply say that the lens is much cheaper and much lighter in weight.

I thought she resembled the painting by Dante Gabriël Rossetti (1874).

Using a 28mm f/2 Nikkor 28mm lens on a Nikon D2Xs, I photographed this scene at three different settings, all with 1/125th shutter speed. The first was at 3200 ISO and f/8. The high ISO negated any advantage of the small aperture. The third was at 200 ISO and f/2. Despite what I had read about the excellence of this lens even wide open, it was not the best. The picture shown here was easily the best despite the use of 800 ISO where received wisdom says that the D2X becomes unusable. The aperture was f/4. In every case I cleaned the photos up using the same settings on Lightroom. That made a big improvement to all of them.

With the fragmentation of the Famous Five, Julian had cycled to France for a break where he would have time to reflect on the maelstrom which had engulfed the Kirrins. Pausing for a glass of Coca Cola in Aix-en-Provence he was joined by an elderly man for a convivial discourse on life, art, modern culture, and Spanish history. That old chap turned out to be Pablo Picasso, and he had so influenced the young Julian Kirrin that he became a leading figure in the art world of the 1970s renowned for the many masterpieces he painted exclusively in shades of blue oils on old packing cases.. To be continued. Or not, as the case may be.

Nikon D2Xs and 50mm f/1.4 AF-D lens. The D2Xs has a hi-speed crop feature which doubles the field of view on the lens, so the experience was akin to 100mm. Given the luxury of getting several test shots, I eventually settled on f/5. Anything faster than that gave no form at all to the passing lorries. Another time I might try f/8. The raindrops could do with being sharper.

I have discovered that the Fuji X-E1 struggles with accurate recording of blue colours. I don't recall this was always a fault. Maybe my X-E1 is too old. In addition, I am reminded of why the Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 lens (used to take this picture) enjoys such a good reputation even long after it has gone out of production.

Myrtle is on her second year BTEC combined dressmaking and photography qualification. She funds the course with income from her sideline as an actress in blue movies (see above). Myrtle uses a Toyota sewing machine and a Nikon D50 digital camera. Her ambition is to meet and photograph her idol Billy Idol. All this is entirely true.

Nikon D2Xs and Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens. That combination - cropped sensor camera and 35mm lens - gives the old fashioned field of view of a 50mm lens on a 135 film camera. If you bought a camera, you got a 50mm lens with it. You could add more lenses, but many photographers never did. You can do a lot with a standard 50mm lens. Received wisdom gives that the most useful alternative to a 50mm lens is a 35mm, which is a mild wide-angle (in olden days it was the only available wide-angle for a long time). According to one far Eastern expert*, a 50mm gives a lower yield of usable shots than a 35mm lens, but a higher yield of great shots. A 50mm lens usually beats a 35mm lens on image quality, but possibly not by much. A 50mm lens will usually be faster by a stop or so. A 50mm lens is great value for money, providing good quality at low cost. However, a 35mm lens can do pretty much everything a 50mm lens can do and a bit extra, such as setting the subject in context; providing greater depth-of-field; being able to focus closer. Extending your options from a 50mm lens might involve adding a wide-angle and a telephoto. Extending your options from a 35mm lens probably involves adding only one extra lens, such as an 85mm or a 105mm. Apparently, you do not need a 35mm as well as a 50mm (so it is claimed). A 50mm can replace a 35mm simply by means of the photographer taking one step backward. This supposes there is sufficient space. Deaths caused by falling off clifftops are highest amongst photographers. It therefore follows that if you only have a 35mm, you can get the field of view of a 50mm by simply taking one step forward (again supposing you have space and/or there is no objection to the subject's personal space being invaded). The general wisdom regarding being equipped with prime lenses is to go in steps which double; hence 24mm and 50mm; or 35mm and 85mm are possible foundations of a two-lens kit. * Don't ask me who.

Nikon D2Xs and Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens.

Fuji S3 Pro + Tamron Di II SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR LD Aspherical (IF) lens.

The occupant was elsewhere when her dress was discovered and photographed.

The new dress, as yet uncompleted, was shot as a JPG, at 1/320th and f/4 with ISO set at 800, using a Nikon D700, with a Nikkor-H Auto 85mm f/1.8 lens. For many years I searched sporadically for a Nikkor-H 85mm f/1.8 lens which had been factory-adapted to the new Nikon AI system introduced in 1977. The company never offered the lens in the AI range because they had a more compact f/2 lens ready to go. Opinions vary over which was the better lens, but there is strong affection for the original. At long last I found one for sale; cosmetically beaten up but still functional, as you might expect of a Nikkor lens of the 1964-77 period.

It could be any town in England where the council prevents the people who have paid for the public lavatory from using the amenity. In this case it is Melksham, Wiltshire. Shame on the council. You are a disgrace. www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/1273240.0/?act=complaint&cid=145755 Nikon D50 + AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6G lens.