Digital Cameras

My digital camera is a Nikon D700 and I use 24, 50 and 85mm lenses on it. For a lightweight climbing/mountaining kit I have also recently bought a 28-105 zoom and chest-mounted camera bag. I’ve used the camera for a few months now in Winter conditions and it produces 12x16” prints of equal quality to the Hasselblad but the digital file allows me to print the finished article at home wihout the need for a darkroom.

My 24mm lens is probably the most used optic and this is about 15 years old. Its a manual focus AI lens and it works perfectly on the new autofocus camera.

I set the camera to record in lossless compressed RAW format, normally set to ISO200 and with pre-set sunny white balance on all pictures. The finished prints are made using Nikon NX2 software.

Film Cameras.

Standard and Telephoto Lenses

The standard (80mm lens) is rarely used, my favourite telephoto is the 160mm which is equivalent to a 100mm lens on 35mm film. Over this length, the lenses start to get really big and heavy. I have a 250mm C series lens but this is really too big to carry any distance with the rest of the kit.

Hasselbad 501cm fitted with 80mm (standard lens). 160mm CB lens on the left.

Wide Angle Lenses

I use wide angle lenses quite a lot to get some foreground or sky into the picture, creating a feeling of depth. I use the 50mm lens mainly, which is equivalent to a 28mm on 35mm film.

In Augus 2007 I bought a SWC/M camera which has a fixed 38mm lens which is great for architectural pictures.

Hasselbad 50mm CF lens (used with the 501CM above). On its right is the SWCM camera with viewfinder and fixed 38mm lens..

Hasselbad XPAN with 45mm lens (left). Nikon FM2 with 50mm lens (Right).

Panoramic and Lightweight Camera

The cameras shown above are nearly always used on a tripod, in a controlled, slow way. Sometimes I need to carry a lighter camera for long-distance walks, fell-walking etc. In these cases I will take either the Hasselblad XPAN or Nikon FM2.

The Hasselblad XPAn is a panoramic camera with uses 35mm film (exposing very wide strips each frame). I found the very high contrast lenses (45mm and 90mm) very effective for monochrome, but not so good for colour.

Materals and Printing

Colour Film

I use Fuji transparency film (slide film) for nearly all my colour pictures (when not shooting digitally). 90% of the time I use Fuji Velvia 50, but since Fuji have messed around with this product over the last year or so, I have needed to experiment with Fuji Provia 100, Velvia 100 and now I’m back to plain old Velvia 50 (back where I started). The reason why I use transparency film is because I have historically chosen not to print my own colour work and using transparency film allows me to make any image adjustments “in camera” and ask the printer to print all the images “straight” from the film ie. with no further adjustments or manipulation. If I shot with colour negative then the printer always needs to make judgements associated with colour and contrast which is outside my control.

Most colour prints are made by Owen Boyd, I have previously used BPD Photech and Transpacolour but had quality problems with both. Owen does a great job and prints exclusively on Ilford materials (Ilfochrome Classic).

Whilst I was searching for a new printer a couple of years ago, I experimented with using high-end scans and then getting light-jet prints done. The prints done by Metro (Clerkenwell in London) are excellent but expensive. The prints don’t have the same vibrancy as Ilfochrome Classic but for very large prints over 12x16” the computer seems to help out a little and the prints have a greater sharpness.

Monochrome Film

I get the films developed locally and print in my own darkroom. I use mainly Ilford Multigrade RC Glossy paper. I purchase all my film and paper from Morco, whilst it’s cheaper to buy off-shore, they have offered excellent service and have continued to support traditional materials.

Digital

I load the files into my PC using Nikon Transfer software, edit down to my favourite shots using Nikon View and get my favourites printed using Nikon NX2 software. I prefer using NX2 to Adobe Photoshop (which is far more popular) because it works directly with the original file produced by the camera without any need to change file formats. All of the editing and cropping is completely reversible.

Each print is normally cropped then adjusted for tonal range and about 50% have a small amount of sharpening applied. If a monochrome print is required then the software conversion is done in NX2 and both colour and mono prints are printed to a Epson 2880 printer on Permajet Oyster paper (normally A3).

Technique Questions

 Do you have to wait a long time whilst taking the photographs?

None of them are ever that quick! Nearly every photograph is highly planned so that I maximise the probability of the light and weather being in my favour. Before travelling to a location I will often calculate the viewpoint, time of day, sun position and if necessary tide level beforehand. For my picture of Chalkwell Pier I wanted the sunset to be in a particular position which only happens at a certain time of year, so I put this in my diary and visited the location every weekend for the appropriate month.

Once positioned I rarely have to wait in one spot for longer than an hour.

Once the conditions are right, things can often progress very quickly. Sunlight in windy or changeable weather conditions can change drastically in a matter of seconds. The light in at Dukes Pass for example only lasted for a matter of seconds and to be ready, I needed to stand in the rain for a while.

What’s your favourite piece of equipment?

My favourite accessory is a shower cap (the kind they provide at hotels), particularly useful in Scotland and the Lakes. The camera wears this, not me.

Walking and Climbing with the Camera

Most of the photographs on this website were taken within a mile or so of a main road and it was fairly straightforward to carry a heavy camera and tripod to the location. In some of the mountain photographs it was necessary to do some hard walking or scrambling to get to the rights spot and I’ve needed to slim down on equipment. My current set-up would include a Nikon D700, 28-105 zoom lens, no tripod and a Lowepro AW65 chest mounted camera bag. I’ve found that this bag fits onto the front straps of my Berghaus Freeflow 35+8 rucksack using two clipgate karibiners. Initially I thought this would un-balance me when walking and make it difficult to see my feet, but the system seems to work very well. Photo below is of me with all my kit on the summit of High Raise, Langdale in Jan 09.

Is Wasdale Head the Best Campsite Ever?

Yes - probably. But its pretty hard to get to. In the Winter I need to travel round the coast to get to it. In the Summer the “bum clenching” drive over Hardknot pass makes the journey a little shorter. The site is run by the National Trust and the little shop has everything. When I was there the ex-servicemen held a memorial ceremony at the summit of Great Gable. In November the peaks of the Scafell range start to ice up.

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