Photonews Celebrating the Postal Photographic Club and its Members
The Lockdown Diaries - Vol 2
Lockdown Diaries - Volume 2 Greetings from The Torbay Riviera, living up to its name, for once, with cloudless skies and the Bay a sparkling blue. There are even a few boats out and about now that restrictions have been lifted and people can once again visit their boats, social distancing having to be observed of course, but sailing with members of the same household is OK. But, with the shops and businesses that service the harbour closed, things remain a long way from normal. A very big thank you to Dave and the contributors to the Lockdown Editions who have made the effort so worthwhile and which will provide something to look back on when the dust from this has settled. Photography, for me, has been fitted in around all the household/garden jobs that needed doing! But, an hour here and another there, soon adds up. The dining room has become a makeshift table-top studio, my macro lens has seen good use and the results have been, well, OK, but nothing special! I decided to restart entering FIAP Salons after a break of a couple of years and have been trying some more compositing in Photoshop. Mr Whenham and Photonews may also benefit from the odd “how-to” article, as well! The Travelling Exhibition is a major event in the PPC calendar and I shall be contacting your committee over the next week or so for a discussion on the format we adopt in these unusual times. Details on what is decided will be with you shortly. So, keep safe and enjoy this special edition of Photonews!
Roger
Roger Edwardes General Secretary PPC
Welcome to another extra edition of Photonews to commemorate what PPC members have been doing in Lockdown. Yours truly gets in on the action, Jeff Waters and David James make a welcome second visit and Pat Couder makes her Photonews debut. I have templates ready for Volumes 3 and 4 … they just need some content … you? All the best - stay safe!
Page 4: Pat Couder makes her Photonews contributor debut in this issue, but we have more planned from Pat in the future so enjoy this taster Page 9: Now for an all-too familiar name: thought I’d share my Lockdown images too in a selection from a series I’ve been sharing on Flickr entitled Random Images from Isolation
Dave Whenham Editor davewhenham@aol.com
Page 16: The promised “bonus” images from David James which I held over from Volume 1 because of the similarity to Richard’s project.
Cover image: © Pat Couder
Pat Couder Pat’s Adventures in Lockdown
“The toy ones were a lot of fun!” … and right on topic too! (ed)
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Pat Couder Pat’s Adventures in Lockdown
“Something different. Lockdowns been great for my photography hobby. Have done so much processing of old photos for a new talk and enjoyed indoor photography too!” These flower images show both the before and after versions. They are all scans manipulated in PS with textures and brushes.
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Pat Couder Pat’s Adventures in Lockdown
Watch for an article on using textures from Pat in a future issue assuming I can twist her arm sufficiently (ed)
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Pat Couder Pat’s Adventures in Lockdown
Our cover image before and after Lockdown Experimentation.
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© Jeff Waters
Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation It was mid-morning on Wednesday 18th March that I received the notunexpected call from my consultant – please stay home for your own safety. It was an instruction dressed up as a suggestion/recommendation. She conceded that I could use my back yard for fresh air but insisted that this should be my boundary until further notice. Like so many others with medical conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 I was in Lockdown before the phrase had been uttered by HM government. From the start I was determined to keep my 366 Project going. This might be Lockdown but I was determined it would not be a shutdown photographically. I am well past the 900 days mark with my long-term picture-a-day challenge, and I was not going to let this “inconvenience” stop me from going past the 1,000-day mark; my eyes are still firmly fixed on the end of July! We only have a small back yard and a tiny front yard (three metres from the front door to the public footpath – I measured it) so it was going to be challenging. In the event I’ve more than met my daily image, partly because of the Bronica ETRS which I bought on my last trip out of Elland before incarceration. Oh, and a drawer of film bought for shooting landscapes and urban monos this Spring and Summer which are my usual photographic fare. So, I have had to improvise and have found myself shooting the flowers in the back yard, the bark of the tree in the front yard, still life images of fruit and so-called intimate landscapes within the confines of the back yard. Not often I shoot 35mm these days. Nikon FM2n with out of date Rollei Retro 100 shot at box speed and developed in Rodinal (1+50)
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Presented here are some of the additional images I have shot over and above my 366 requirement - a project I’ve dubbed Random Images from Isolation.
Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation
Bronica ETRS 250mm lens and AEII metered Prism. I wanted to see if this set-up could be used as a (heavy) P&S relying on the metered prism to set the shutter speed.
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Half a dozen frames captured with an Olympus PEN-EE3 35mm half-frame camera and a long outdated roll of Rollei Retro film.
Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation
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My Lockdown Location!
Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation
Just for fun whilst I’m in quarantine. Out of date Kodak 35mm colour negative film. Bronica ETRS with 75mm lens Bronica ETRS with 75mm lens
Sometimes an idea pops into the head and the only way to get it out again is to stop what you are doing and attend to it. It happened to me last Sunday, and by 7pm, just as I was about to settle down with a book for the evening, the itch became unbearable. So, I grabbed my Bronica ETRS, the 220 film back that I’d purchased in error and a roll of expired 35mm B&W film and headed into the garden. By 7.30pm I was mixing chemicals and by 8pm the still-wet negatives (top left) were hanging in my bathroom to dry. I’ve since tried colour too … and my 6x6 Bronica SQ-A … I think I need a lie down now please matron. The idea of putting 35mm film through a medium format film camera is hardly new or innovative but it’s been niggling away at the back of my mind for a while now and I’ve been itching to try it for myself. Lockdown gave me the opportunity. 11
Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation
World Pinhole Day 26th April 2020 – my submission
I enjoy the occasional foray with a pinhole camera, even building one myself not so long ago and so was annoyed with myself for missing World Pinhole Photography Day (WPPD) in 2019. I was determined not to miss it this year however and had even scouted out a couple of suitable locations on the River Calder ready for the big day. I was it seemed all-set and ready to go. WPPD is held on the last Sunday in April – the 26th this year – and of course, I’m being shielded at home and not allowed out of my yard! Best laid plans and all that. I was determined not to miss the fun though and so the night before I loaded a fresh roll of Acros II into my wooden Zero Image 612 pinhole camera and dug out a mini tripod. At 7.30am on WPPD morning I was out in my backyard with pinhole camera, mini tripod and light meter to capture my first WPPD submission. 12
Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation
Back in January when I was stocking up with film for the Spring/Summer months I picked up a few single films of different stocks in addition to my usual to try out as the opportunity arose. I think that in the back of my mind was that these would be used for something “special” or a specific project that took into account each film stocks particular properties or quirks. As an enthusiastic (digital) infrared photographer, I have an IRconverted Fuji X-T1, I also picked up a couple of rolls of 120 Rollei Infrared 400 intending to use it whilst in Devon for a family wedding. Well, I’m consigned to barracks and in any event the wedding is postponed until 2021. So, the first roll, which I bought to test before using the second in “anger”, has now been exposed within the confines of my back yard - and I’ve just ordered another five rolls!
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Dave Whenham Random Images from Isolation
Above and opposite: Fun in the sun with some Rollei Infrared 400 film shot at ISO 6 necessitating a tripod, a Bronica SQ-A medium format camera and a 720nm filter. I chose a slow shutter speed to create the contrast between the static lampost and the branches of the tree waving in the breeze. Shot and developed 21/5/2020. Rodinal (1+25) for the curious.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this rather eclectic selection - just goes to show that you can’t keep this old dog down! 14
Finally, a couple of iPhone images to prove I do see the world in colour sometimes!
© Jeff Waters
David James Twirls
Screw City in the Clouds
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David James Twirls
It seems Richard (Volume 1) wasn’t the only one having a “twirl” at these abstracts! 17
David James Twirls
Untitled
Untitled
Tulips
Tube 18
David James Twirls
Aged Twirl
Through the Bars
I am currently “gently persuading” someone to pull together a tutorial or cheat-sheet for a future edition of Photonews on this creative technique. It will be no surprise that it is a digital, software driven activity and that much of the material I found online related to creation of these images with Photoshop. If you can’t wait for an article then try Googling (other search engines are available) “PHOTOSHOP - How to make a Twirl Effect” and you will be overwhelmed with options! As you can see even I had a go! (ed)
Leeds
Thanks for sharing these David, they complement Richard’s folio in Volume 1 very nicely - does anyone else have any creative Photoshop tricks to share? (ed) 19
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Photonews Celebrating the Postal Photographic Club and its Members
Photonews is published four times per year. All rights reserved. All materials copyright The Postal Photographic Club and/or their respective authors. Any opinion or statement expressed by the author of any article published in this magazine does not necessarily reflect the views of The Postal Photographic Club, the editor or its members.