Street Art at Bristol Docks

Another sunny weekend and just a hint of slightly warmer weather, so I thought a trip to the docks was in order.  I was shooting mainly black & white film, but I did pack the Canon 40D DSLR which enabled me to capture these images which are constantly changing.  Presently they are extremely vibrant.

Click images for bigger size.

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A Star-Filled Night Shoot in Bristol

Nope, not that kind of star.  This was an 8-point star filter.

Well, this is one of my toys that I've had for a while and not really tried it out.  I'm not going to pass these of as my better photos as it was merely a test to see how the flilter performed.  You can get these cheaply in smallers sizes, so I bought a 49mm version as this will fit most of my older manual lenses.

Carl Zeiss 135mm

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Urban Candids in Bath

Bath is one of my two favourite cities for street candids.  It has plenty to to offer for photographers and there seem to be as many people with cameras as without, so there's very little attention drawn towards urban shooters. 

This was a test of my new Canon 135mm lens; a focal length I don't really use for candids, preferring a shorter focal length for this kind of work to allow me to get closer to the subject. This lens is great for isolating subjects and getting some portrait shots.  Here are a few samples:

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Uncle Buck

I was invited to take some photos of a local rock covers band at their rehersal.  The studio was cramped (to put it mildly so equipment was very limited.  The walls were purple which would make bounced flash a no-no and there was no room for an umbrella for diffusion.  I used a mixture of flash guns, usually one as a main light and one with a sto-fen diffuser for fill, occasionally a 3rd light to illuminate backgrounds (amps). 

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Some Chairs

I found these chairs on an industrial site.  The colourful sky and the orange containers behind seemed to make a colourful shot.  Foreground lit by a Nikon SB-28 on camera, Camera was a Canon 40D with Sigma 17-70 lens

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Modern Architecture, or Lego?

Working in planning you think I'd be sick of the topic, but any excuse to take some photos is good enough for me.  I was inspired to capture these images after seeing similar in various magazines and thinking maybe I could do as good of a job.

The location was Bristol Harbourside.  I feel really old when I tell people I remember when it was all fields wasteland.  Now the modern buildings (that a colleague of mine has likened to Lego) seem to be popping up all over the old docks.  The lighting was good with plenty of sunshine and fluffy clouds making for some fantastic reflections on the overbearing glass windows.

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More Snow Photographs

I made a visit to one of my favourite locations as I had a feeling that the sunset would again be spectacular.  I wasn't disappointed.  I got to the footpath around 3pm so I had time to get some daylight shots first.

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Snow Pics

As it seems so many people are taking pics of the rare sight of snow, I thought I'd join in.  All pics here taken with a Canon 40D and a Helios 44-2 lens.

(Click images for larger view).

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Sights Around Hotwells/Cumberland Basin

These were taken on a crisp sunny Sunday in Early Jan using 2 very different cameras.  A modern digital SLR in the shape of a Canon 40D and an old 1966 Russian rangefinder in the shape of a FED 2.

If I was dishonest I would claim that I was making a comparison between the 2 mediums to show how they recorded this type of photography.  As I'm not dishonest (at least on this occasion) it was purely that I wanted to finish the roll of film in the FED 2 which was its 1st roll to test it, before loading and wasting a 2nd roll.  Also add to the fact that it was just above freezing and I just didn't fancy loading a film camera with numb fingers.

(Click photos for bigger sizes)

40D


FED2


FED2

40D


FED2


40D

If anyone knows what TBP is, please let me know.

40D


40D


40D


FED2 (comparison, sorry for the different framing)


40D


Note the fridge below with door intact.  That takes me back to adverts in the 70s warning of these dangers.
40D


The chair shot for Skinnyvoice :)

40D


40D


40D

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Bargain Find

It's amazing what you can find in shops. I'd been looking on a well-known auction site for an old Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 300mm lens to use on both digital an film. Eveytime, outbid. Now the lenses on offer at the time were not in great cosmetic shape, so when I spotted this mint condition lens & case for only 30 pounds I knew that it would be money well spent.

Here is the lens:

And here are some samples (click to enlarge):

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