Technical stuff (ish)

Cameras

Until recently my workhorse camera was a Canon 620. I then "upgraded" to an EOS 5 which is technically marvellous but I never really got on with it. Eye controlled autofocus? It may be good for fighter pilots, but not for me. Like I always say - it's horses for courses. I have recently upgraded again to an EOS 1V.

My main lenses are an 18mm wideangle, 50mm standard, 85mm and 70-300mm zoom with Image Stabilisation. I try to use prime lenses whenever I can as I prefer to use available light. My work to date with flash comes under the "could do better" banner, so the wider apertures of a prime are essential for me personally.

My choice of Canon was sentimental rather than technical. I first started by borrowing a Canon AE1 from my then wife to be and as a total novice actually managed something half-decent, in between fogging half my films through misloading and unloading. I then progressed to an EOS 1000 as being shortsighted I needed some help.

Now I use the 620 for when I’m travelling a bit rough - I’ve dropped it a few times and it’s still going, (I haven’t got round to accidentally drop-testing the EOS 5 yet). I tend to use the EOS 5 for wildlife that won’t keep still, (whales are especially tricky). However, having field tested the EOS1V in Uganda, this is now my main body. Couple this camera body with a fast prime lens - it's fast and accurate - a delight to use.

Film

As you've probably guessed from the above, I'm still committed to 35mm. Filmwise I’ve settled on Ilford XP2 for B&W and Fuji Sensia slide for colour. I get consistent results and I find they scan well. That said, I have been experimenting with converting Sensia slide to B&W. It's not bad but XP2 is great for days with dark moody skies.

Scanner

On the scanner front I use a Nikon Coolscan V ED which is excellent, with the exception of the film feeder for 35mm which is a tad fiddly.
Slides are no problem.

Software

I have been using Photoshop Elements 2 and its more than adequate for what I’m doing. I have an old version of Photoshop 5, (yes it does go back that far)which I recently "upgraded" to Photoshop 7. Absolutely no problem with Elements but I need the CMYK capabilty and an upgrade was easier then messing about with plugins.

Image manipulation

All of the images on this site are pretty much as taken in camera.

I wouldn’t say they are not manipulated; the moment I scan silver halide into pixels the image is being manipulated. However, the Photoshop work is limited to what I would have done in the darkroom e.g. dodging, burning, cropping, contrast control, colour correction etc. It's like a darkroom, but without people knocking on the door wanting to use the toilet, (other people used to suffer for my "art".) Also I just can’t get the hang of grafting things from one picture to another. If I take a dud picture and go to those extremes all I end up with is a dud manipulated picture - so I don’t bother.

Digital...

With regard to digital cameras, I’m all for it. That said though I won’t be taking the plunge just yet. 35mm suits my pocket at the moment. There are some used bargains to be picked up on 35mm kit as pro's upgrade to digital, the EOS1V a good example.

A friend of mine observed, that inevitably the next great advance in digital camera technology must be a “Talent button”. Cartier Bresson mode anyone? When that happens I think I just may be in the queue.

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