vancouver

Springtime Walk Around the Neighbourhood by Nathan Jones

Nikon FE, Nikkor 35 mm f/1.4 AI-s, Kodak Gold 200, Cinestill CS41.

Portraits of Jericho Beach under Cloudy Skies by Nathan Jones

Leica R8, 60 mm f/2.8 Macro-Elmarit, Ilford Delta 400 Professional, Kodak D76.

Coal Harbour, Vancouver by Nathan Jones

Leica R8, 28 mm f/2.8 Elmarit, Fomapan 100, Kodak D76.

Vancouver Cityscapes and a New Lens by Nathan Jones

Over the Easter long weekend, I made several attempts to photograph the setting moon at dawn from the clifftop of our vacation property on De Courcy Island. I haven’t developed that roll because I have run out of C41 colour negative developer, so I don’t yet know how the images turned out. However, I suspect that I will be disappointed—and not only because the sole film I had at the time was the lacklustre Fuji 200. As I made the photographs, I found myself lamenting the lack of a longer lens to bring the moon “closer” and to flatten the image. As all film photographers know, eBay is both a blessing and a curse, and no sooner had I returned to Vancouver than I found myself browsing the site for a 135 mm lens as a step up from the 90 mm focal length that I used on the clifftop. My “new” 135 mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R arrived from Japan earlier this week. The cityscapes in this post are among the first of the photographs that I have made with it.

I am pleased with the sharpness, contrast, and linearity of this lens. I am looking forward to using it to make more photographs of the city, particularly at night.

The photographs of False Creek were made from the roof of the parking lot on Lameys Mill Road, while the long views of downtown Vancouver from the east were shot from the bridge over the skytrain tracks on Clark Drive at 6th Avenue, near the cruciform East Van sign.

All of the photographs in this post were exposed on Fomapan 100 black-and-white film (shot at ISO 80) using a Leica R8 mounted with the 135 mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R lens focused to infinity. In all cases the camera was mounted on a tripod. Exposures were made at f/11 and ca. 1/45 s.

Another Main Street Portrait, 2011 by Nathan Jones

Rolleiflex 6006 Model 1 (equipped with 645 back), 80 mm f/2.8 Planar, Kodak Portra 400.

I love the Nikon F this fellow photographer is carrying. I have added the upper photograph to Candid, a gallery of colour photographs of my family, friends, and acquaintances.