Lacock, Wiltshire

Nikon D300s + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF lens.

Nikon D300s + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF lens.

Nikon D300s + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF lens.

Nikon D300s + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF lens.

Nikon D300s + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF lens.

Nikon D300s + Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF lens.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/2 AI lens made sometime between 1977 and 1979. During the 1970s it was implicit that when you bought a single lens reflex camera it came with a 50mm or 55mm lens. Keen photographers subsequently added a wide angle prime lens (usually 28mm) and a telephoto prime lens (usually 135mm). On the day I photographed these daffodils I took those three lenses. Yet after taking this picture I switched to the 28mm and then the 135mm. I have noticed this before: the 50mm is a great lens but is not my preferred focal length and the best way of getting the good of it is not to pack any other lenses. The Nikkor-H f/2 dates from 1963 and was in production for 16 years. The design is an orthodox Gaussian configuration of six elements in four groups. The Nikkor-H.C indicates only a new lens coating and was introduced in 1972. Later - in 1974 - a better lens coating was introduced, along with a rubber focussing sleeve and a diamond pattern ridged aperture ring. Minimum focus was reduced to 45cm from the previous 60cm and the H.C designation was dropped. The lens was now known simply as the Nikkor 50mm f/2. Nikon classified it as a ‘K’ version. It lasted until 1977 when the lens was modified to AI standard, but remained the same in all other respects. The AI version continued until January 1979, having been superseded by the slightly faster f/1.8 version in 1978. The design of that lens has six elements in five groups.

Learned minds grappled with detail, words, and concepts; printers toiled over typesetting and presswork; bookbinders laboured to amalgamate the whole using thread, glue, and leather. Now they exist as exhibits; they are periodically inspected for mildew, mould, parasites. They are occasionally dusted. But they are never read. Nikon D700 + Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 AI lens made sometime between 1977 and 1981.

I used a Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI lens on a Nikon D700 to make this picture. Because of the processing, you get only a glimpse of the sharpness and contrast provided by this uncommon lens, so I won't go on about its capabilities lest I become more didactic and boring than ever.

Some people whom you ask will readily agree to be photographed but they will stand in front of you like a board. Others know exactly what to do, and this lady falls into that category. If I were a better photographer I would have done her more justice.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 AF-D lens on a Nikon D2Xs, which provided a field of view equivalent to 75mm on full frame. I took this at f/8. It surprised me that an aperture so small would provide the kind of distant focus that I wanted. 100 ISO; 1/200th.

Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AF lens on a Nikon D2Xs, which provided a field of view equivalent to 35mm on full frame. 100 ISO; f/6.7; 1/180th.

Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AF lens on a Nikon D2Xs, which provided a field of view equivalent to 35mm on full frame. I like the sign being positioned so that it runs parallel to the eaves of the shed behind. It really is a gardening shed - at Lacock Abbey. Perhaps it served as some servant's dwelling in earlier times. Or perhaps the wealth of the Talbots enabled them to specify the best even if it was merely a shed.

Lacock Abbey. Nikon D700 + Nikkor 135mm f/2.8 AI lens.

Lacock Abbey. Nikon D700 + Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI lens.

In the western liturgical year, Lady Day is the traditional name in some English-speaking countries of the Feast of the Annunciation, which is celebrated on 25 March, and commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In England, Lady Day was New Year's Day from 1155 until 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. Nikon D700 and Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens.

In the western liturgical year, Lady Day is the traditional name in some English-speaking countries of the Feast of the Annunciation, which is celebrated on 25 March, and commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In England, Lady Day was New Year's Day from 1155 until 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. Nikon D700 and Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens.

In the western liturgical year, Lady Day is the traditional name in some English-speaking countries of the Feast of the Annunciation, which is celebrated on 25 March, and commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In England, Lady Day was New Year's Day from 1155 until 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. Nikon D700 and Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens.