Nikon F65+Voigtlander Color Skopar 20mm & Kodak BW400CN

Got out for my first photo walk of 2014 on Wednesday, 8 January. It’s been a while since I used my Nikon F65, and wondered how my 20mm Voigtlander Color Skopar would perform in full-frame (it’s effectively 30mm on my D40).

It’s been a few months since I used film, too. I had a hankering to try pure black & white again (rather than Portra converted), but since few outlets will develop and scan B&W all that cheaply, I opted to go for C-41, which can be processed with colour chemicals.

I chose Kodak BW400CN film, as the general consensus is that it looks less grainy.

(The Voigtlander is said to vignette a little below F5.6, but as I shot at F8, this wasn’t a problem. In addition, when photographing architecture, the lens is apt to shift on the horizonal plane, less so on the vertical.)

When shooting street, though, I’m amazed at the wide field of view. In one or two of the pictures below, people in the frame are positioned to the side (and had no idea they were in the picture).

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the results:

Edinburgh Castle and Ross Fountain

Tourists examine bronze model of Old & New Town and Castle, Mound Square

Royal Scots Greys Monument, Princes Street Gardens

The Trams are coming ...

Sales ...

Tryst

New World War II Novel on Kindle

I haven’t posted much on my street photography hobby lately as I’ve been pretty well engaged in the last three months with my other hobby: writing. (My last photo walk was in August, and since then I’ve been working on two novels, the last of which I’ve just listed for sale on Amazon’s Kindle.)

This post’s not entirely unrelated to the process of making images, however, as the cover for the e-book, entitled Paths to Victory, has only recently been completed by the artist, Ander Plana http://anderpeich.deviantart.com

Soon after I outlined my idea to Ander he came back to me with an outline sketch, which pretty much nailed my description of the novel’s main scene. Two weeks later he delivered the completed cover, and I think it’s interesting to see the difference between both embryonic and completed versions (see below).

My next photo walk will probably be in early January, 2014. Meanwhile, if anyone's interested in the novel, I’m including the following links:

Paths to Victory USA, click here

Paths to Victory UK, click here

(Also available at all other Amazon international sites.)

Outline sketch

Completed Cover