Travel
The one thing the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than anything else was a restriction of travel for me. Luckily no-one in my family and circle of friends was negatively affected by COVID-19 but it has left its mark on my travel itinerary. Travel was slow, very slow. That meant having to rediscover my local surroundings when shooting.
Naardermeer nature preservation area, Pentax 645Z
Gear
I've managed to get my hands on some interesting stuff in the past year. The purchase of a brand new Pentax 645Z medium format digital camera and the refurbishment of my Kiev 60, Kiev 80 and Kiev 88 medium format film cameras had the most impact on my photography. With regard to the Pentax 645Z, its predecessor the Pentax 645D blew me out of the water when I managed to get hold of one in 2014 and the Pentax 645Z did that all over again. The image resolution I get with this camera is simply amazing. And although I really enjoy the work fellow photographer Joeri van Veen creates with his large format Cambo Ultima 23D camera plus Leaf Aptus digital back I feel that with the arrival of the Pentax 645Z my digital needs are fully fulfilled. The three Kievs are another story. These really take me back to the pinnacle of film photography. I really like their classic feel and look.
Naarden, ARAX (Kiev 88) CM-MLU
The fortress city of Naarden, Canon 90D
Another piece of kit I bought was a new scanner. After years of loyal service my Nikon LS-8000ED Super Coolscan stopped working. Sadly Nikon no longer supports their superb film scanners and replacement parts are not available. That meant having to buy a new scanner and after some deliberation I chose the Epson Perfection V850 Pro. On the one hand this scanner allows for more negative formats to be scanned, up to 4x5 format. On the other hand it is no dedicated film scanner like the Coolscan and that is very apparent when for instance you use the ICE dust removal option. It worked pretty flawlessly on the Coolscan, on the Epson ehh, not so much. But in the end it gets the job done and if I ever want to venture into the world of large film photography I've got a scanner that supports that.
Black and white
2021 had a photographic 'first' for me: I started developing film myself. Due to that 2021 saw an uptake in the use of black & white film. It was also fun to discover how an expired color film would look when developed in black and white chemistry.
The best shot
So what was my best photograph of 2021? If I had to pick one it would probably be one of the shots seen above. However my friends over at Flickr had the following thoughts on that:
According to my Flickr pals these are my best shots of 2021. Funnily enough the first one was scanned and uploaded in 2021 but was shot a few years earlier. So the winner is...
Naarden, expired color film developed as b&w, Pentax LX
2022
This year will see the start of a new project: 12 months - 12 cameras. Regular updates will appear here so stay tuned!
Very cool you starting to develop black and white yourself. And it has led to some beautiful photographs already, your ‘audience selected’ top photograph of 2021 as one of them. Even though for me, the first photograph, your winter landscape shot with the Pentax 645Z remains favourite. It has all the things I look for in a photograph: balanced chaos, a succinct colour palette and not in the least some weirdness going on (often perspective related but not necessarily in this photograph) that makes you look twice. Anyway. Looking forward to your 2022 project, you bet I will stay tuned :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Joeri, that particular shot is also one of my favorites of 2021.
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