Disrepair

If it was restored it would be an almighty home. I lost count of the bedrooms. The land and out buildings were vast.

The cost would be ginormous. Too much for average Joe.

Entrance was straight forward, the door was open.
It was easy going around the house as all belongings were gone and the majority of the house had been stripped to bare brick. Light shone in from all directions through holes and cracks in the walls. Sections of the house are not advisable to explore as the ceiling and floor look rotten. Even the last owner/developer has barred access to the worst room as I'm sure you would fall through immediately.

Take a look for yourself.

From the window of the grande house we could see another building in the distance. A 5 minute drive  landed us on the door step of this over grown farm building.

Look at how nature has reclaimed the land.

Thanks to Lloyd for the company.

Thanks for looking.

Tune in next time.

Spalding

Time is precious.

Any chance to use a camera and shoot some pics i want to take it.

Any excuse.

Ive purchased a 6D to replace my back up body as it was becoming a bit long in the tooth for me. The 6D is supposed to be a low light monster. Let me tell you it certainly focuses well in a dark room. I need to compare my 5d and 6d and see which really does perform better.

So 2 full frame camera's and 2 Fujifilm cameras for weddings. Its a good job I've got a big bag.

Im still not ready to leave Canon fully. Every time i put a big camera in my hand it feels so right. Big camera, big lens, big smile. Quit those dirty thoughts!!!

T
he fuji's are great for the candid moments, where you want to capture people having fun, when you don't want them to notice you. With Fuji's you can blend in. They're less intimidating.

But throw on a 70-200 on a full frame body and the images just have... something.

So. It turned up the other morning and in the constant challenge mode that I'm in, instead of throwing on one of my nice lenses, i chose to put on an old lens that i realistically paid about £2 for with a film body attached. 

The Helios 44-2 58mm, has a good write up by people who use it for swirly bokeh portraits and other images. 

'Swirly Bokeh' google it.

I just put it on because its small and i can use the depth of field scale on barrel to estimate focus for street photography. Ive not really shot street photography with a 'big' camera before, its always with a small Fuji. A new challenge.

Image quality from the 6D is nothing to worry about.

The 44-2 however suffers terribly from soft corners, so don't go putting the subject in the corner of the frame as you may/will be disappointed.

Spalding was the location for this Street photography outing. Not my favourite place in the world, though i have a great fondness for a night out there.

Much like my local jaunt of Wisbech, Saplding also has a huge eastern european population. Beer cans a plenty then.

There's alleys and claustrophobic streets, empty shop fronts and a general grey feeling to the place. Perfect for me then.

Look closely at your surroundings and you might find interest

The street at night. A return to digital.

Its been 3 months since my last post.

Time flies.

I guess I've been busy. In second thoughts, i have been busy.


Film, lots of film.

Shooting, developing, scanning.

Ive been on holiday to Turkey. Originally, a pack light on camera gear occasion but in the end it involved two camera bodies, a light meter and a bag of different films to play with.

I need to blog about my film exploits and i will, i just need to get round to it.


As always, i shoot when ever the opportunity arises. I make opportunities a photography opportunity.
There's always a camera in my pocket, bag or car at all times.
Thats the beauty of smaller camera systems.

Being a multi manufacturer owner, it can take are a while to get round to using different equipment but they all have their uses and their time.
Client work is generally shot on my 'big' canons with their big lenses, although the Fuji's sit in the bag screaming to be used. On accessions I've thrown the wide angle adapter on the X100T and have shot some of my favourite portraits with it.

My Fuji's are my 'go to' if I'm travelling and for any occasion that i think "I'm gonna take my camera" and as i put above, i take a camera everywhere so it does mean that i shoot Fujifilm the majority of the time.

Having a couple of months of full on film shooting, I've not used a digital camera much. My heart just wasn't in it. I'd lost my motivation and inspiration. Shooting film was my excuse to just shoot, because you never know, i might mess the developing up and not get anything out of it, so why worry.
Its been a buzz. Like when i 1st got interested in photography. Some things worked, some things didn't.


The X100T is a great camera but eventually I'm always drawn back to the X-pro 1. It's a classic. Such a pretty box of wires. It works for me, the buttons are where i want them to be.

Ive not always got time to visit the city. I'm a village boy. I have to make do with whats around me, so i need to make it a new challenge every time. Challenge is good, challenge is motivating. Motivation means i pick my camera up.

Win!

So night time street photography is this blog's challenge.

High ISO, large apertures, shallow DOF.

More deleters than keepers but why bother keeping the photos that are not good enough anyway. They'll just sit on your hard drive and gather dust. I've started deleting images i know i will never use again, or those images where i once liked both of them but now a fresh set of eyes can see that one really is the better. Plus, i shoot raw, i could always edit it differently.


Its good to offload this photography blabbering, to share my (probably not) wisdom and judgement.



Night 1. A Thursday night.
The slow to focus but sharp as 35mm F1.4.
When i look at these images and compare them to the night 2 images i relise i must make the effort to use it more. In the dark, you have no chance to focus quickly, off the cuff style and so i need to be more covert when this lens is attached.
The slightly longer focal length gives me further reach so i can stand back a little bit and be less noticeable as I'm waiting for the lens to hunt back and forth before focusing. Or because ensuring sharp images at F1.4-F2 when manually focusing takes me a few seconds.

But look at the images they are sharp and much brighter than the next set.

Again and again. I always come back to here.

Treat life like an open door (and wait for someone to look at you)

What would people do without their phones. Conversation is dead.

Night 2.

A post work Friday walk around Wisbech town waiting for Laura to finish work so we can do the food shopping together. As i said earlier, use the opportunities to shoot.

27mm F2.8.

A more usable lens with a more usable focal length for ensuring focus.

A more friendly 'pre focus at 1.5mm and walk in closer to make the subject sharp' type lens.

It soon got too dark for F2.8 though. ISO2500 and a little noise reduction in Lightroom saved the day.

Always time for a smoke

I pushed myself to get as close as possible to this lady on the phone. 

The top image was 1st and was the test of strength. That look!

The 2nd was on the way back down the street as was my 'safe' shot.

I waited and waited for someone to walk by.

I say it often, Challenge yourself. 

But do what makes you happy.

The Bull Hotel. Light in the darkness.

The place on the corner stood standing empty for years.

Colourful painted boards on the windows at the front. Demolition taking place at the back.

The Bull Hotel is a place I've driven passed time and time again as Laura used to live just up the road from it. Only the other day, i noticed a way in.

With something you love in life, you must try your hardest to do the best job you can, no half measures. Get results.

Ive not enjoyed urbexing for a while, its nothing compared to street photography. The explore itself is the best part, the photography can be a bit boring or a bit basic.

My constant challenge of finding the light has produced some of my greatest urbex shots ever.


Its a dangerous place to be; holes in the ceiling and holes in the floor, piles of defecation under foot left by the birds. Every step could be an expensive one if go through the floor boards. Its all part of the fun.

A blessed moment, a bird flies away at the decisive moment.

The light in the dark

Exploring in the dark, following the light, whats round the corner?

There's always a chair.

Open doors provide so many photographic opportunities.

The female of the species is more deadly than the male

Danger

How can you ignore the opportunity. The beauty in the decay.
Each time the cloud broke above, this beam of light was the centre piece.

Everyone has issues.


I like these times alone.



Embrace the light.