Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney

My first roll of colour film is back from the lab and I'm pretty happy with the results for the first go. The film was a last minute grab from the RBS shop, which made the choice very simple. 24 exposures go fast, especially after tourette-style shooting that is digital, but I'm starting to slow down at least a little. Another roll to come. Thankfully it's so much cheaper to process colour film.

We came late in the day to the RBS, so the tropical area was closed, and the few flowers left in the other parts were made even more drab by the failing light. Better planing required next time.

Martin Place

First photo from the roll of Chromogenic Kodak BW400CN I took last week, and I'm very very happy with it. I think I'll be sticking with this for B&W for a while.

This picture is a good advert for Earth day. Someone should go in and turn off the lights!

Added an abstract crop from this.

Three wise men

Three wise men
Originally uploaded by Sharanjit

These are the buildings I see from my office in the Sydney CBD. I'm intrigued about how there seems to be a glow on each building - no idea how that happened, and wonder if its something to do with the Ilford HP5 plus film I used.

Upgrade Path

I find myself spending way too much time looking at cameras and lenses and figuring out what to buy. I think I have enough gear now, and it's time to focus on using what I have:

Nikon D60
Nikon 18-55 and 55-200 AFS VR kit zooms
Nikon AFS 35mm f/1.8G DX

Nikon F80
Nikon AF 28mm f/2.8 D
Nikon AF 85mm f/1.8 D

However, I have figured out where I want to go next, in case you'd like to buy me a gift :)

1) Panasonic Lumix LX3 - An excellent compact camera with a Leica 24mm f/2 lens, for when I can't carry around my SLRs (within the year)

2) Only full frame AF Nikon lenses - no more DX lenses. Must be compatible with D90 (and so also the D700). Starting with:

• The Nikon AFS 50mm f/1.4G - will work on my current cameras, and is the missing portrait lens I'd like for digital (within the year), and the normal lens I'm missing for Film
  

• A wide-angle lens, Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S, usable on both my cameras, and plus I'm really enjoying the wide angle shots (2 years)
  

• A macro lens, perhaps Nikon 105mm f/2.8 AF or the AFS with VR (3 years)
  

3) D90 - or the then replacement - so I can start to use the AF lenses in digital as well as on the F80 (2 years)

4) D700 - or the then replacement - so I can go full frame (5 years).

Angels

Angels
Originally uploaded by Sharanjit

Some results from excursion last weekend through Waverley Cemetary. I find it a tough place to photograph. I'm desperately trying to avoid the Gothic look, in a place that is almost perfect for Victorian Gothic Chic. Plus the lighting is always tricky - big skies, big ocean. Composition too - hard to avoid distractions in the shot. I think I was more successful this time than I've been in the past. I particularly like the converging diagonal lines implied by the statues and the graves in this shot, that lead the eye through the frame. The sky didn't come out too bad either, and perhaps that's where the Ilford HP5 plus grain helps - I'm not sure.

It's an interesting place anyway, and a great place to spend the afternoon, and not too far from a string of cafes at Bronte Beach.

Man from Armidale

Man from Armidale
Originally uploaded by Sharanjit

I found a few videos on how to use some of the develop tools in Lightroom 2, and played a little with this shot to try and get some better exposure on the face, whilst keeping the detail in the clouds.

Interestingly enough this photo seems to be the consistent favourite of my friends who look at my photostream on flickr.

It's a photo of my grandfather-in-law on his 80th birthday. A man I admire greatly. He's lived in or around Armidale for most of his life, and built many of the roads when he worked for the local council. He spends most of these days walking around the land, which he is so strongly connected to. Racing across the hills, he leaves us younger ones behind.

Bronte Pool & Thoughts on Film

Bronte Pool, originally uploaded by Sharanjit.

Took a new roll on the Ilford HP5 Plus film I got for a low price. I'm still undecided about how I feel about this film. Some shots (such as the one above) work well, but others seem to lose so much sharpness because of the grain, or perhaps because my technique is off. Well I have at least another ten rolls to try out and see if I can improve my results.

Currently I have a roll of Chromogenic Kodak BW400CN to take to the developers. I'm interested to see what that will turn out like.

B&W is expensive to process, and the turn around times seem to be at least two to three days. I've had bad experiences with some labs with excessive dust on the scans and prints. Looking forward to my B&W course at ACP in July, and then I'll get to develop my own.

So far, the Kodak T-MAX 400 has been my favourite, as in this shot of Tanvi.