I've decided to do some portraiture of friends and colleagues. It's also a chance to brush up on my black and white technique. I still have trouble with getting clean negatives, possible due to the very hard water we get here in Cambridge. I seem to be spending most of my time spotting scans. Will have to try some boiled water next. I am beginning to fall in love with the Minolta AF 85mm/1.4 G lens. It is so sharp, yet not harsh. The transition into out of focus areas is really smooth and the bokeh is unobtrusive. Sometimes it can be a bit of a handful, but the vertical grip seems to balance it nicely.
My first victim^H^H^H^H^H^Hvolunteer was Petra, a fellow quantum information theorist. We were lucky in that the sky cleared up in the afternoon when we wanted to do the shoot. The mix of late afternoon sun and diffuse light gave a flattering light, not that Petra required much flattering.
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| Outside Churchill College (85mm/1.4) | At St. John's College Playing Fields (85mm/1.4) | On the Bridge of Sighs, St. John's College (85mm/1.4) | At the Craft Market (85mm/1.4) |
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| In front of King's College (85mm/1.4) | In Queen's College (50mm/1.4) | In the Market (50mm/1.4) | After a Hard Day's Shooting (24mm.2.8) |
Technical Notes: The first 3 photos we shot on Fuji Acros 100, processed in ID11 1:1, standard devlopment. The final 5 photos were shot on Ilford XP2 Super, commercial development.
After seeing how Petra's pcitures turned out, Roberta (another quantum physicist) was persuaded to pose for me. Unfortunately, the weather was very lousy so I had to take some indoor shots, using a large comfy leather louge in the foyer of the CMS. It was very cold outside so we rushed to take a few shots before my hands froze and Roberta shivered too much and blurred the pictures:).
I had some Delta 3200 left in one camera so I decided to use that for some grainy, contrasty shots. The massive grain gives a pointalistic effect. The Ilford Pan F is in a different universe when it comes to grain, and the tonality is really smooth. In fact I have to dial in a bit of contrast.
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| Dreams of a Final Theory (50mm/1.4) | 50mm/1.4 | 50mm/1.4 | I must have told a funny joke (50mm/1.4) |
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| Balcony, Pav F (50mm/1.4) | 50mm/1.4 | 85mm/1.4 | 85mm/1.4 |
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| 85mm/1.4 | 85mm/1.4 | 85mm/1.4 | 85mm/1.4 |
Technical Notes: The first 6 pictures were taken using Ilford Delta 3200, processed in Microphen 2:1, 12 minutes at 21 degrees C. The second 6 photos were taken using Ilford Pan F, processed in ID11 1:1, 8 1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.