The Limbo Connection's photos

A black and white conversion. Lots of possibilities with this process.

The bag is a Billingham 225 in khaki-tan, photographed with a Nikon D2Xs and a Nikkor 50mm AF-D f/1.4 lens. I've owned three of these, four if you count the slightly larger 335, and they've all driven me mad. Fortunately they have an excellent reputation and are easy to sell.

Everything wrong. Shooting through a dirty window. ISO 3200 (gives the D2Xs a nervous breakdown). Using a zoom lens at its greatest focal length. Probably a load more faults if I could only recall the moment.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor-O.C 35mm f/2.

Nikon D2Xs and AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens at 112mm, Poor light, therefore 800 ISO, and with a maximum aperture of f/5.3 available, the shutter was limited to 1/15th. I switched to a 35-70mm f/2.8 lens after this experience, and eventually picked an f/1.4 lens for the necessary speed. Yet this particular picture, although an accident, is not altogether lacking charm.

Nikon D700 and Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8.

Celebrated only by me, I shouldn't wonder. Photographed with a Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 lens.

Photographed with a Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 lens.

There are many proponents for using just one lens, often a 50mm prime. They argue that it improves your ability and liberates you from heavy bags and opportunities lost in switching lenses. I started out with a Zenith and a 58mm Helios lens, and it wasn't long until I added a cheap 135mm - a Hanimex I think - which added greatly to what I wanted to do. So I'm not convinced by the hair-shirt ideology of just one lens, but that doesn't prevent my seeing its attractions. On this occasion I took only a Fuji X-E1 with a 35mm f/1.4 lens (equivalent to a 50mm on a full-frame camera). 800 ISO; f/5.6; 1/340th.

Fuji X-E1 with a 35mm f/1.4 lens. 1600 ISO, f/2; 1/125th.

I was searching a hard drive for something else when I rediscovered this. On a whim I put it through the processing mangle again; it's a bit more ethereal than previously, and a bit more concentrated. This was taken in that strange Covid time which changed so many things. Nikon D2Xs with a Nikkor AF-S DX 18-200mm lens.

Nikon D2Xs + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D lens. Then much cropped. Then converted to B&W.

The V&A Museum sell souvenirs and this coaster and mug is a typical example. The mug does not take kindly to black tea; it would have benefitted from a better glaze in production. I'm not adding milk simply to spare the crockery. Thus I try to use this mug for coffee only (and instant at that). I used a Fuji X-E1 and again noticed how it has a problem rendering blue shades - the out-of-camera picture was a strong blue, whereas the V&A product is decidedly blue-black, like the old Quink ink shade. I tried to make it like that colour in post-processing, not altogether successfully. The coffee was brown, but you wouldn't know it here. A bit of a waste of time really.