Tag: Clisson

Clisson — A Guilty Pleasure

Posted on Posted in Camera reviews, photography philosophy, Reportage, Street Photography, Travel photographyTagged , , , , 1 Comment

Gear: Canon EOS 6D Mark II | 16–35mm | 24–70mm | 70–300mm | CPL filter

A warm Wednesday in May. Clisson. Back in April I was here with the EOS 500 and wrote that I was missing the Canon 6D Mark II. Well.

I’ve been here before, of course. You don’t live in this part of France and not find yourself back in Clisson every so often. The medieval castle, the weirs, the old bridge with its stone cross, the Italian terraces creeping up the hillside. It has a slightly unreal quality, like someone has taken a corner of Tuscany and dropped it quietly into the Loire-Atlantique. The Sèvre Nantaise was running high and brown today — all that recent rain — which made the weirs more dramatic than usual, churning white water over the stone steps.

I came down through the town from the castle side. The bunting was up across the streets near the main square, yellow and red triangles strung between the buildings, flapping gently. A woman on a bicycle was navigating the cobblestones with considerable confidence. Two men were eating lunch outside on a terrace — “Bon appétit, messieurs” — and they looked up and smiled. These small things matter. The panama hat was on. I was in no hurry.

The juice bar near the bridge foot, Juste un Jus, had the castle tower rising directly behind it like a film set. I stood there for a moment with the 24–70mm and took the shot. Sometimes Clisson just hands you a composition.

Crossing the Pont Saint-Antoine, I stopped at the stone cross near the midpoint. It’s a modest thing really, weathered and lichen-covered, but the view it frames looking back toward the château is extraordinary. The cobblestones, the parapet, the ruined towers against the sky. I took several frames here and kept coming back to it. One of those spots where you don’t quite want to leave.

Below the bridge on the town side, a woman was standing at the water’s edge looking up at the arches. She wasn’t posing. She was just there, in her own thoughts, which made the photograph. Further along the bank, white calla lilies were growing wild in a tangle of green at the river’s edge, the old stone arch just visible beyond them. The 70–300mm earns its weight on a day like this.

The path along the Sèvre heading away from town is lush in May. The linden trees were in blossom, hanging overhead in the dappled shade. Yellow wildflowers were growing right down to the waterline, their stems reflected in the brown moving water. I don’t know the name of every plant I photograph. Sometimes it doesn’t matter.

On the way back through the streets I noticed a small yellow letterbox set into the wall. “POSTES — CLISSON.” It seemed like a reasonable way to end the afternoon.

On était bien là.

Article notes

On the Canon 6D Mark II in 2026: Yes, it was released in 2017. Yes, Canon has long since moved on to the EOS R series. No, I don’t particularly care.

I came to Clisson knowing this outing would feel different. I wanted to test that honestly: same town, same kind of light, a familiar subject, but a different tool. And it does get the job done. It gets the job done very well. But did I feel like I was cheating? In some respects, yes.

The 6D Mark II is in many ways point and shoot. The autofocus makes decisions quickly and accurately. The image stabilisation in the lenses gives you frames you would simply never achieve on film — handheld shots at slower shutter speeds that come out clean, details in low-contrast shade that hold together. You don’t have to count frames or worry about whether a scene is worth the cost of the shot. You can try things freely. And yet I was shooting mindfully, the same way I would with film. Pausing. Looking. Deciding before pressing the shutter rather than after. The camera was doing more of the mechanical work, but the intention was the same.

Which is where the imposter syndrome creeps in.

Do I deserve the results? The images are good because the light was good and the composition was considered and the 6D Mark II’s full-frame sensor handled everything it was asked to handle. But some small part of me wonders how much of that I can genuinely claim. With the EOS 500 you earn each frame by committing to it. You have thirty-six shots. No preview. No second chance. The discipline is built in. With digital, the discipline has to come from you, and it is easier to let it slip without noticing.

The 16–35mm was a deliberate experiment. I knew it would show me Clisson differently. Getting low near the castle, letting the wide end exaggerate the height of the towers, using the diagonal of the outer wall as a lead-in. That is something the EOS 500 and a fixed 24mm simply cannot do. I shot on aperture priority for most of the day, which kept me thinking about depth of field rather than handing everything over to the camera. It felt like the right balance: let the 6D Mark II handle the exposure arithmetic, but keep the creative decisions in hand. For the 70–300mm I switched to shutter priority. At that focal length you need to know the shutter speed is fast enough to keep things sharp, particularly with the river moving, people on the bridge, wildflowers shifting in any breeze. The compression and selective focus that lens gives you — the yellow wildflowers sharp against the blurred water behind them — only works if the shutter is doing its job. These are results I would never get on film. The workhorse earns its place.

The CPL filter helped throughout. It deepened that May sky, cut the glare off the weir, brought the riverbank green back from what the flat midday sun was trying to do to it. One of those practical things you stop noticing until you see what the images look like without one.

The colours are perhaps the starkest difference from film — and I should say, the most obvious one, given that the AGFA APX 100 I use in the EOS 500 is a black and white negative film. There is no colour to compare. The 6D Mark II gives you the full scene: the terracotta of the buildings, the vivid green of the May riverbank, the blue the CPL filter pulls out of the sky above the castle towers. AGFA APX 100 gives you grain, tone, contrast, texture. A different kind of truth about the same place. Neither is more correct. That is exactly why it is worth doing both.

Then there is the edit. The 16 images I kept were processed with minimal adjustment and a single Portra preset — a film emulation based on Kodak Portra colour negative film. Warm lifted shadows, a slight vignette, teal-shifted blues. The result is that these digital files, shot on a nine-year-old DSLR to see what digital could do that film cannot, have been processed to look as much like film as possible. I did not plan that irony. But there it is.

One concrete number from the day: 123 frames, 16 strong images. A 13% hit rate. On a roll of 36 with the EOS 500 I would expect to come back with 4 or 5 solid keepers — roughly the same proportion. The digital camera gave me more attempts, more flexibility, no cost per frame. The ratio stayed almost identical. That is either reassuring or unsettling depending on your mood. It suggests the extra frames didn’t make me careless. It also suggests that 36 frames of discipline might have found those 16 anyway.

But yes. Guilty pleasure. I know it is just a tool, and a good one. I know the results come from the eye as much as the camera. I know all the rational arguments. And I will keep making them to myself, probably for longer than I should, every time I reach for it instead of the film bag.

Previous Clisson outings: 7th April 2026 with the EOS 500 and 25th January 2026 with the Nikon FE.

Château de Clisson towers seen from below against deep blue May sky, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm CPL filter
Château de Clisson keep from the rocky base
Pont Saint-Antoine bridge and weir on the Sèvre Nantaise, Clisson town buildings beyond, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm
Pont Saint-Antoine Clisson from the stone riverbank, weir foreground and church tower beyond, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm Caption: Clisson from the bank
Two people sitting on stone bridge parapet in Clisson, backs to camera, green May trees beyond, Canon 6D Mark II 70-300mm
View along the Sèvre Nantaise from Pont Saint-Antoine, Clisson church tower and riverside houses in lush May green, Canon 6D Mark II
Stone cross on Pont Saint-Antoine with Château de Clisson in background, cobblestone bridge leading to medieval towers, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm
Juste un Jus juice bar in Clisson with medieval castle tower rising behind it, Canon 6D Mark II 24-70mm
Clisson street with yellow and red bunting, cyclist on cobblestones, terracotta building and mural, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm
Yellow POSTES letterbox set into dark green wall stamped CLISSON, Canon 6D Mark II 24-70mm Loire-Atlantique
White calla lilies growing wild at edge of Sèvre Nantaise, ivy-covered stone arch beyond, Clisson, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm
Linden tree blossom hanging over riverside path along the Sèvre Nantaise in May, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm Clisson
Yellow wildflowers sharp against blurred brown Sèvre Nantaise river, Canon 6D Mark II 70-300mm shutter priority, Clisson
Handwritten French rainbow quote on linen curtain in Clisson shop window, green shutters, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm
Old stone bridge arch covered in ivy and moss in soft May light, Sèvre Nantaise Clisson, Canon 6D Mark II 70-300mm
Stone bridge arch reflected in high brown Sèvre Nantaise water, lush green summer trees, Clisson, Canon 6D Mark II 70-300mm
Close-up of fern frond covered in orange spore clusters along Sèvre Nantaise riverside path, Clisson, Canon 6D Mark II 24-70mm Macro mode

Messing about along the river in Clisson

Posted on Posted in Architecture, Black and White Photography, Film Photography, Street Photography, The Film ArchivesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Good morning Dear Reader, I have been out with my camera. What a surprise I hear you say. I have been missing my Canon 6D Mark II but wanted to keep using my lovely lenses. Sometimes the 50 is great, but it’s nice to break out the zoom! I have the 24-70mm EF F4 because I’m not forking out the money for the F2.8 version. But I wanted to go with film. So I did! With the Canon EOS 500 and a roll of Agfaphoto APX 400.

I parked next to the river and ended up looking up at the Castle on the hill and thinking, strangely, of a certain Mr Sheeran, but without the teen angst and drinking. I think it looks lovely. To my right was the river and the old bridge and a vantage point to look at the Sèvre Nantaise coming over the weir. I thought about the photos I’d taken in February, as well as all the others taken over the years.

I took a right at the Café des Cordeliers but instead of going along to the Garenne Lemot park, I took a left down a passage to a place I had only looked at but never visited. Today my panama hat would become my explorer’s hat and I would take a closer look. Well what a surprise it was and definitely a butcher’s.

I remember some advice given to me which is the need to turn around and look behind you and see if you’ve missed anything, and have a real look and you might even see something completely different… This time I took that advice and it was more than worth it.

I would have missed the viaduct I’d driven over before, the one that runs from Clisson towards Gétigné, which I might have to look at sometime soon. The river was reflecting light on the arches and I could have finished the roll there and I would have been happy, but I kept a couple of frames “just in case” for the walk back to the car. You never know…

I walked back to the car just looking up and seeing the laundry hanging out.  It looked like canoeing gear that was drying.  Then back across the bridge, and I was happy with the variety the 24-70mm lens gave me.  Less distortion than my 16-35mm but still enough for some variety, especially the Macro feature for the fern spores.  We can have distortion another time.

All in all a very satisfying trip out and not far away, have you seen the price of diesel lately?  Thank you Orange man!

P.S.  If you want to wean yourself off digital and get back to the street cred that comes with film the Canon EOS 500 might just be your gateway drug.  Modern enough for the new EF lenses, but still having the necessary autofocus.  You can go full manual SLR later.  Break yourself in gently…

Black and white street scene in Clisson showing stone buildings, an estate agency, and the ornate Romanesque bell tower of Notre-Dame de Clisson rising behin
Black and white photograph of a stone arch bridge over the Sèvre Nantaise in Clisson, with multi-storey townhouses and the Restaurant de la Vallée visible behind.
Wide black and white view of the stone arch bridge over the Sèvre Nantaise in Clisson, with the town's riverfront buildings stretching across the frame.
Dramatic low-angle black and white photograph looking up at the ruined interior tower of Château de Clisson, stone walls rising steeply against a pale sky.
Black and white photograph of a weathered stone cross on the parapet of a bridge over the Sèvre Nantaise in Clisson, with a mill building and weir visible behind.
Black and white landscape view of the Sèvre Nantaise weir in Clisson, with the converted mill hotel on the left and a chapel visible to the right through bare trees.
Black and white photograph of stone buildings along the Sèvre Nantaise in Clisson, featuring tall arched windows, a spiral metal staircase, and a terrace above the water.
Black and white photograph of the Café des Cordeliers on a street corner in Clisson, a traditional French café with a painted sign and potted plants outside.
Black and white photograph of a building corner in Clisson with a large painted mural depicting a tropical jungle scene, a figure walking away in the background.
Black and white photograph of tattered fabric bunting or prayer flags strung between posts above garden hedging, with trees silhouetted behind against a bright sky.
Black and white photograph of a narrow dirt path flanked by ivy-covered stone walls, leading toward parked cars and houses in the distance, Clisson.
Close-up black and white macro photograph of fern fronds showing clusters of spore cases on the undersides of the leaves, shot with shallow depth of field.
Black and white photograph of white calla lily flowers growing at the edge of the Sèvre Nantaise in Clisson, dark water and tree reflections filling the upper frame.
Black and white photograph of the medieval bridge over the Sèvre Nantaise reflected in still water, calla lilies in the foreground, an ivy-covered wall framing the right edge.
Black and white photograph of the stone viaduct near Clisson reflected in the Sèvre Nantaise below, four tall arches rising symmetrically above the still water.
Black and white photograph of a white canoe moored on the Sèvre Nantaise in front of the stone viaduct near Clisson, bare trees framing the upper right.
Abstract black and white photograph looking up through the nested Gothic arches of the Clisson viaduct from directly below, stone masonry receding into darkness.
Low-angle black and white photograph of a single stone pier of the Clisson viaduct rising from the river, one arch visible above, taken from close to the water's edge.
Black and white photograph looking up at the Clisson viaduct from below, bare winter tree branches reaching into the upper left of the frame against a pale sky.
Black and white photograph looking up at the Clisson viaduct from below, bare winter tree branches reaching into the upper left of the frame against a pale sky.
Black and white photograph of cascading white wisteria flowers against a sunlit wall, deep shadows behind, shot on 35mm film in Clisson.
Black and white photograph of ornate wrought iron gates set in weathered stone pillars, a cypress tree and period house visible beyond, Clisson.
Black and white photograph of laundry — possibly canoeing gear — drying on a rack in a stone-framed window recess, dramatic shadow arcs sweeping across the wall on either side.

The HP5 Plus 100 ASA Experiment: A Happy Accident?

Posted on Posted in Black and White Photography, Film Photography, Photography Tutorials, ReportageTagged , , , , 8 Comments

Hello lovely people.

I’m a bloody fool. I made the stupidest of mistakes when shooting HP5 Plus 400 speed film at ISO 100.

I’d been intending to use 100 ASA film in my Nikon FE, so in preparation, I had set my camera’s ISO dial to 100. I loaded the HP5 and forgot to change this blasted setting. By the time I realised, I had already taken “some” photos. I didn’t want to wind the film on to change the setting because the sun was shining and I didn’t want to waste the light.

In for a penny, in for a pound. I thought, “What the heck?” They say you have all this “latitude” with film, so I went online to find out if I could salvage the roll. Here we go for a walk in the Parc Garenne Lemot in Clisson.

I developed the film in Ilfosol 3 (1:9) and used the development times for Kentmere 100, praying that I would have something usable…

ParameterDetails
FilmIlford HP5 Plus 400
ExposureRated at ISO 100 (2 stops overexposed)
DeveloperIlfosol 3 at 1:9
Development Time5 minutes 30 seconds (using Kentmere 100 time)
ResultLower contrast, smooth tonal transitions, fine-looking grain, excellent shadow detail
CameraNikon FE
LocationParc de la Garenne Lemot, Clisson
THE STATUE – Front view of classical statue on pedestal – This shot demonstrates the beautiful tonal range achieved through pull processing

The Theory: Pulling Two Stops

For those who aren’t deep in the film weeds, here is what I actually did. By setting my camera to 100 ISO while using 400 speed film, I was overexposing by two stops.

Now, common wisdom says that pulling HP5 to 200 ASA (one stop) is perfectly fine. But I thought I was pushing my luck pulling it two stops to 100 ASA. I thought I was taking the mickey with the film gods.

By giving it extra light and less development, I was essentially asking the film to reduce contrast and grain significantly. I was testing just how much abuse it could take before the negatives turned into flat, grey mush.

I didn’t develop it for standard HP5 400 times. I treated the whole roll as if it were 100 ISO film from start to finish.

The Results

When I pulled the negatives out of the tank and held them up to the light, I braced myself for grey mush. What I got instead was dense, rich negatives — a bit chewy for the scanner, but nothing it couldn’t handle. And when the scans came up on screen, I just sat there for a moment.

The first thing that struck me was the shadows. HP5 at box speed can get muddy in the dark areas — a graininess that clogs rather than adds texture. Here, the shadows under the pergola and along the fence are deep and rich, but they’re not blocked up. You can still see into them. That matters.

FENCE WITH LONG SHADOWS – Diagonal shadows cast across gravel path – wood grain inside film grain. Both doing their job.

2. Texture and Grain

But the real revelation was the grain — or rather, the near-absence of it. Because the film had been drowning in light and starved of development, the grain structure in the mid-tones is almost Delta 100 territory. Look at the texture on that weathered wooden post. Every crack, every split in the grain of the wood — the film is rendering it, not obscuring it.

WEATHERED WOODEN POST – Close-up showing wood grain and texture – The fine grain structure is clearly visible in the wood texture

3. Highlight Control

I’d been braced for blown skies. Two stops of overexposure in spring sunshine — I was mentally preparing my excuses. But the reduced development had pulled the highlights back beautifully. Look at those bare branches against the sky. It’s a grey gradient, not a white void. The film held on.

BARE TREE BRANCHES AGAINST SKY, Garenne Lemot — I was expecting white sky. I got this instead.

4. Tonal Range

And then there’s the tonal range across the whole roll — from the white marble of the statues to the dark foliage behind them. The separation is superb. There’s a creaminess to it, a classical smoothness, that I’m honestly not sure I’d have got from HP5 at box speed. A happy accident, as it turns out, can sometimes produce results you wouldn’t have had the nerve to plan.

ORNATE URN WITH STATUE IN BACKGROUND – Layered composition – Foreground and background detail with smooth tonal transitions
CLASSICAL COLONNADE – Stone pillars with cloudy sky – Weathered stone texture and cloud detail demonstrate the technique’s versatility

The Verdict

So, was this a disaster? Absolutely not.

In fact, it might be some of the most satisfying film I’ve shot in a while — and I shot it by accident. The shadow detail is rich, the highlights are controlled, the grain is almost invisible in the mid-tones. It has that smooth, almost medium-format quality that you usually have to pay for in slower film and longer development times.

Ornate scrollwork detail – Razor-sharp detail and micro-contrast prove no sharpness was lost

It turns out, what I thought was a stupid mistake is actually a technique some photographers use on purpose. Pull processing HP5 (rating it at 100 or 200 ISO and developing accordingly) is known to produce finer grain and lower contrast. I thought I was pushing my luck going two stops, but the film handled it like a champion.

Would I Do It Again?

Would I do it deliberately? Probably not — if I want 100 ASA film, I have 100 ASA film. But that’s almost beside the point now. What this roll taught me is that HP5 has reserves I hadn’t tested, and that sometimes the best thing you can do is commit to the mistake and see where it takes you. In for a penny, in for a pound — and in this case, the pound came back with interest.

If you ever load the wrong film, or find yourself caught between changing light and the wrong ISO setting, don’t panic. HP5 can take the abuse. It might even thank you for it.

Have you ever accidentally shot film at the wrong ISO? Did you save the roll or bin it? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy shooting

Ian from IJM Photography

P.S. The Kentmere 100 development time was a guess. An educated one, but a guess. The fact that it worked is either good research or dumb luck. Probably both.

P.P.S. I have since checked the ISO dial on the Nikon FE before every single roll. Every. Single. Roll.

P.P.P.S. The images from this roll are available as prints. Some accidents are worth keeping.

Black and white film photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus at 100 ASA, showing clean shadow detail from pull processing
Wide panoramic black and white photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus at 100 ASA, demonstrating the film's latitude when overexposed
Portrait format black and white photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus rated at 100 ASA, pull processed, scanned on Opticfilm 8100
Portrait black and white film photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus rated at 100 ASA, Ilfosol 3 pull development
Portrait format black and white photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus at 100 ASA, showing fine grain from pull processing
Wide landscape black and white film photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus pulled to 100 ASA, clean highlights and rich midtones
Portrait format black and white film photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus pulled to 100 ASA, fine grain and soft tones
Portrait format Nikon FE photograph with Ilford HP5 Plus rated at 100 ASA and pull processed, showing tonal richness of overexposed black and white film
Black and white portrait format photograph on a Nikon FE with HP5 Plus at 100 ASA, demonstrating reduced grain from pull processing
Landscape format HP5 Plus pull processing result, Nikon FE, rated at 100 ASA, showing how HP5 handles overexposure with grace
Landscape format Ilford HP5 Plus pull processing result on a Nikon FE, rated at 100 ASA instead of box speed 400, February 2026
Portrait format black and white film photograph on a Nikon FE with Ilford HP5 Plus at 100 ASA, February 2026 pull processing experiment

The Opening of the Film Archives—Clisson, September 2016

Posted on Posted in Architecture, Black and White Photography, Film Photography, France, Street Photography, The Film Archives, Travel photographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

Welcome back, Dear Reader, to the film archives, still with the Canon AE1 and HP5 Plus from Ilford, but in Clisson this time.  You will remember Clisson from previous articles and will have seen the pictures, so it shouldn’t be a stranger to you.  Who knows, it could even feel like revisiting an old friend.  It certainly is for me. 

But why Clisson I hear you say.  Well, it’s not very far away from where I live.  It’s also one of those market towns that is renowned for the beauty of its architecture with an Italian slant.  It has the massive castle that towers above the river.  It has me taking photographs of it.  

Clisson, like most things, has options.  On a Friday the main option is the huge market, and wandering around the 14th-century Halles, which can keep you out of the sun, the rain, the heat or the cold, depending on the time of year.  I either go down to the river and wander along the river banks in the Garenne and Lemot park, or park at the top of town and stroll around the Halles and surrounding streets.  In the series of photos at the end, you will see some stone steps that join the two options, but I have dodgy knees, and those steps are like leg day at the gym.  You can avoid those steps by just following the road that wraps itself around the church, and going under the tree that just got tired and decided to rest on the house opposite.  

But this time I decided to break out of my habits and visit the Quartier St Jacques with its decommissioned chapel, and garden.  It’s yet another pretty place in a pretty town, and when I was sitting there in the sun, I felt that I didn’t have a care in the world.  Serenity flooded my mind and all was well with the world…

The Opening of the Film Archives – Clisson May 2016

Posted on Posted in Architecture, Camera reviews, Film Photography, France, The Film Archives, Travel photographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Introduction

Welcome back to the film archives.  Today I’m going to share some photos of the first reel from my “new” Canon AE1.  Well, not new, but certainly new to me.  The Canon AE1s were produced between 1976 and 1984.  It is one of those iconic cameras and at the time I must have paid about 50€.  When I say iconic, I really mean iconic.  It is a shutter speed priority camera using Canon’s FD lenses. I used it an awful lot that summer.  I liked it so much that I even bought a second one that I ended up giving to a photographer friend. 

Colour

To some people of my generation they represent their first cameras, and were so popular.  Talking of popular, the photographs from this part of the archive are from the very popular and photogenic town, Clisson.  Also you will have noticed that the photos are in colour.  Which only goes to show that not all film photography is black and white photography.

Clisson, as you can see in the photos, is one of those beautiful French villages that oozes Gallic charm.  It also exudes a certain Italian charm, and is known for its Italian style architecture.  

Canon AE1

I have both a Canon AE1 and AEI Program. The AE1 is the big brother of the AE1 Program, and doesn’t have a program mode, but as you can see from the photos it still works a treat.

FeatureCanon AE-1Canon AE-1 ProgramDifferences
Release Year19761981AE-1 Program released 5 years after AE-1
Exposure ModesShutter Priority AEShutter Priority AE, Program AEProgram AE added to AE-1 Program
MeteringCenter-weighted AverageCenter-weighted AverageNo difference
Shutter Speeds2s – 1/1000s2s – 1/1000sNo difference
Viewfinder DisplayLEDsLEDsNo difference
Film Speed SettingManualManualNo difference
Self-timerYesYesNo difference
Depth of Field PreviewYesYesNo difference
Motor Drive CompatibilityYesYesNo difference
Other NotesFirst Canon SLR with microprocessor; revolutionary for its timeSimplified controls for easier use; appealed to wider audienceAE-1 Program aimed at beginners and enthusiasts
As you can see there’s not a huge differece between the two. The major difference being the Program option, and the other allowing for easier changing of the ASA film sensitivity setting.

On the day in question I must have parked just next to the river and concentrated on this picturesque  area.  You can see the castle, the bridge, and the river, all making for a peaceful spring moment.

I think the film was Fuji Superia, and I just wanted to use colour.  Thetones are slightly muted and warm, and the flowers, trees and plants were just screaming out to be photographed.  I remember the excitement of loading the film into this “new” camera, and the novelty of simply using an iconic camera.

Here is what fuji tells us about the film:

FUJICOLOR SUPERIA X-TRA400

An all-round general purpose, high-performance, high speed color negative film delivering truly fine-grain. Superb for snapshots or action, in low light with flash, outdoors or indoors. Ideal for general use with compact zoom lens cameras.

  • Excellent skin tones
    For beautiful, clear people-shots.
  • Fine grain
    Great results even when enlarged.
  • High-speed
    Superb results, whatever the shooting conditions.
  • Sensitivity and Film Sizes
    ISO : 400
    Film Sizes : 135 : 36 exp.

 When using digital, it’s so difficult to get that particular film look, and using film and an older camera just changes your whole outlook.  The fact of not having your image straight away leaves you with that anticipation that we all used to feel when we sent off our films to the lab.

Give film a try.  There are still cheap film cameras out there, and your photography experience will be totally different.  I certainly appreciate it.

Sir Foxy Foxalot

Posted on Posted in ReportageTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

I have been writing for this blog since 2019, and it seems I am still here, sharing my thoughts on photography and its role in my life. Photography, alongside music, appears to be one of the few things I do quite well. Another talent, it seems, is writing, as evidenced by the fact that just over 13,200 of you have viewed this site over 51,000 times since I started this project. I’m not saying this to show off, since for a British subject of His Majesty King Charles III, it is formally forbidden to blow one’s own trumpet—a social faux pas—and, were I to be completely honest, the behaviour of a cad!

However, when somebody else does it, those social cues are no longer applicable. Sir Foxy Foxalot — aka Fox Reviews Rock for those in the know — does the same kind of thing as I do. His expertise lies in Rock Music and Heavy Metal, genres I might not be very knowledgeable about. However, learning something new is always a voyage of discovery. We have been following each other for some months now, gradually learning about our different worlds and coming to appreciate each other’s forays into the blogosphere.

Recently, he sent out a message asking for volunteers to be interviewed by him and answer some questions on Rock and Heavy Metal. Being the decent chap and all-around good egg that I try to be, I said that despite my ignorance, I would be delighted to participate.

Despite my limited knowledge of the genre, I did spend three years working with the famous and infamous Christophe “Bobonne” Bonnin, who taught me all I know. He introduced me to a certain Tennessee Bourbon, a favourite of the late Lemmy, bass player and singer of Motorhead, and an all-round legend. Lemmy has a memorial at Hellfest in the quaint village of Clisson, which becomes the centre of all things Metal once a year. I even learned that he had a custom-made case for his bass, with compartments for said Bourbon, his bass, and a packet of cigarettes. Despite the much-vaunted medicinal properties of the aforementioned Bourbon, don’t overdo it, chaps!Let me tell you more about the man behind Fox Reviews Rock. Like me, he has dedicated himself to writing about his passion, and despite having been at it for a relatively short time, he has acquired quite the following. His output is impressive, and he maintains a very high standard. He has also had the great intelligence to surround himself with an excellent writing team. His articles, though about a subject I know little about, are always a good read. I also enjoy the structure of his blog. Check out his weekly schedule here. What more can I say, except get your pretty self to his site and check him out. It’s quite the blossoming project, run by those who are passionate about their subject. Tell him I said hi!

PS.  Here is the link to the article they wrote about me.  Go and visit it right now.  Off you go.   No messing around.  You’ll  like it!

Pentax ME Super Review: The Best First Film Camera in 2026?

Posted on Posted in Film PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

The Pentax ME Super is one of the finest 35mm SLRs ever made. Small, quiet, and genuinely capable; it’s still available on the used market for a fraction of what most beginners spend on their first camera. If you’re getting into film photography, it belongs on your shortlist.

What It’s Actually Like to Shoot

Mine came from Robert with two lenses already attached. I trusted him, put some film in, and tried it out. Some of the photos worked and some didn’t — but that was about getting used to the camera, not the camera failing. The more I used it, the more it became second nature. It has the same feel as my X100F, which is a high compliment: a camera that stops being something you operate and becomes something you just use.

I’ve shot with it on the streets of Nantes and taken it into the mountains. In the mountains especially, I was impressed — I could just put the film in and take photos. No fussing, no second-guessing the settings. A 24mm from my cousin in the States, a 28mm and 50mm that came with the camera from Robert. Between those three focal lengths, it covers everything: architecture, people, light, the kind of landscape you find when you’re walking a city and the streets go quiet.

The shutter isn’t noisy. It’s not silent either — this is a 1980 SLR, not a rangefinder — but it doesn’t announce itself. The Nikon FE is louder; that’s the sound of different machinery. The ME Super just gets on with it.

The Films Worth Putting Through It

Most of what goes through mine is HP5+ or Fomapan, and the ME Super handles both well.

HP5 is the obvious choice for a camera like this — fast enough to keep pace with aperture priority in unpredictable light, forgiving of the exposure errors you’ll make while learning to trust the meter, and consistent enough that you stop thinking about it. That’s a compliment. The best film stock for a camera you’re still getting to know is one that gets out of the way. And with a top shutter speed of 1/2000th, you can shoot HP5 at box speed and still open the lens right up in decent light — something a lot of cameras at this price point can’t offer.

Fomapan earns its place differently. It’s cheap enough that you stop treating frames like they matter, which turns out to produce better shooting habits than expensive film does. Fomapan 400 in particular has a quality to it — grainier than Ilford, lower in contrast, a little rougher around the edges — that suits a camera from 1980. They feel like they belong together. Fomapan 100 wants better light, but when it gets it, the results are clean and sharp in a way that doesn’t announce itself.

The two together cover most situations without requiring much thought about which to reach for.

ME Super vs. the Standard ME

The two cameras are nearly identical. Same compact body, same K-mount, same aperture-priority automation, same viewfinder. If you handed both to someone who didn’t know what they were holding, they’d be hard pressed to tell them apart.

The difference is that the ME locks you into aperture priority entirely. The Super adds manual mode — two small buttons that step the shutter speed up or down — but that’s not really why you’d choose it. Most of the time, you won’t touch those buttons. The meter is good enough that you don’t need to.

The reason to get the Super over the ME is for the moments when the meter gets it wrong, or when you’re shooting something unusual enough that you want to override it rather than argue with it through exposure compensation. It’s a fallback, not a feature. But it’s a useful one to have, and since the two cameras sell for similar prices, there’s no real reason to choose the more limited version.

If you know for certain that you want a point-and-shoot experience and nothing else, the ME does that. For everyone else, the Super is the sensible default.

Buying Used: What to Check

These cameras have been around for over 40 years and most copies you’ll find have lived some kind of life. The things worth checking are specific.

Battery corrosion is real. My cousin sent me his old Pentax K1000 from the States — same era, same dependency on small cells — and the battery compartment corrosion meant it went straight into a drawer waiting for repair. I kept the 24mm lens. The ME Super takes two LR44 cells in the base; check the contacts before you commit. Light oxidation can be cleaned. Green crust is a different problem.

Mirror foam is the other common issue — the light-sealing foam around the mirror box breaks down over time into a sticky residue. Open the back and look. If you see black gunk around the mirror frame, budget for a re-foam job. DIY kits exist; a repair shop will charge €20–40. It’s not a reason to walk away, but it’s worth knowing about going in.

Check the shutter at all speeds in manual mode, and look at the door seals along the back for crumbled foam — that’s light leaks on your first roll.

A working body in decent condition currently sells for around €70–130, with the sweet spot around €80–100. With a 50mm lens: €85–130. Serviced or near-mint examples from Japan go higher — €150 and above. Parts-only bodies start around €15. Anything listed as “untested” is a gamble worth skipping unless the price reflects the risk.

A Note on Batteries

One thing worth knowing before your first outing: the ME Super is almost entirely battery-dependent. Without working LR44 cells, you have exactly one shutter speed — a mechanical 1/125 failsafe. In good light with the right aperture, that can save a situation. In anything trickier, you’re stuck.

Carry a spare pair. They’re cheap, they last a long time under normal use, but running out mid-shoot on a cloudy afternoon in a city you’ve walked an hour to reach is frustrating in a way that’s easily avoided.

Technical Specifications

  • Shutter speed: 4 seconds to 1/2000th, plus Bulb
  • ISO range: 12–1600
  • Exposure control: Aperture priority (with manual override)
  • Viewfinder: 0.9x magnification, 95% coverage
  • Other: self-timer, cable release socket, exposure compensation (±2 stops), K-mount lens compatibility
Wind socks photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 film in Nantes, black and white street photography
La Grue Jaune crane at the Hangar à bananes in Nantes, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 black and white film
The waterfront near the Hangar à bananes in Nantes, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 black and white film
A second view of La Grue Jaune at the Hangar à bananes in Nantes, shot on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 black and white film
A street musician playing guitar in Nantes, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 black and white film
Bokeh shot at the Hangar à bananes in Nantes, taken on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100, demonstrating the 50mm lens's shallow depth of field
Street portrait of a man in Nantes, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 black and white film
A bicycle in the streets of Nantes, shot on a Pentax ME Super with Fomapan 100 black and white film
A landscape in Clisson, France, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Ilford HP5 black and white film
A street scene in Clisson, France, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Ilford HP5 black and white film
Portrait of a young man in Clisson, France, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Ilford HP5 black and white film
The Le Voyage à Nantes art trail installation photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Ilford HP5 black and white film
Café Bécot in Nantes photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Ilford HP5 black and white film, street photography
A bicycle on a Nantes street photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Rollei RPX 100 black and white film
The Pitta Pit restaurant frontage in Nantes, photographed on a Pentax ME Super with Rollei RPX 100 black and white film
A pub frontage in the streets of Nantes, shot on a Pentax ME Super with Rollei RPX 100 black and white film
Post Scriptum

If the Pentax ME Super has caught your attention, I’d recommend checking out my other posts on classic film cameras like the Olympus Pen EE S (Aug 9, 2023) or my reflections on the lasting appeal of film photography in In Defense of Film (Aug 23, 2023). For a more in-depth look at the Pentax in action, mark your calendars for Capturing the Essence of Nantes: A Street Photography Journey with the Pentax ME Super and Kentmere 100 Film (coming Nov 17, 2023). And for those curious about the Fujifilm X100F, you can preview how it compares in Seeing the World Through 35mm: Street Photography with the Fujifilm X100F (Jun 21, 2023). A more detailed comparison between these two cameras is also coming this November!

Clisson

Posted on Posted in Architecture, Café Culture, France, History, Landscape Photography, Street Photography, Travel photographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Have you ever come across the articles named “The 10 Prettiest Villages in France,” “The 10 Prettiest Villages in Yorkshire,” “The 10 Prettiest Villages in Northumberland,” or “Some Other Dream Spot in This Beautiful World?”  No? The one closest to us, is about 15 kilometres away and not in the south of France, which I believe to be completely overrated. Like most contenders for this type of little town, there is a bustling market every Friday morning (which is actually pretty wonderful, if not a touch on the pricier side), a park that hugs the river and lets you unwind while taking in the gentle sound of the water.  A castle stands watch over the entire town.  Meandering streets wonder up and down hills as do the locals.  It is in wine producing country surrounded by vineyards who would be more than happy to flog you some wine…

Yes, it is one of “those” places, Dear Reader, but it is still beautiful. Clisson is also aware of this. Of course, I’m simply jealous because I don’t live there but wish I did.

In this series of photographs, I also chose to maintain the film-like appearance of my digital photography. It appears that summer is rapidly approaching. The days are already warmer and sunnier, but are not yet unbearably hot. And such weather is simply God’s way of encouraging you to go have a refreshing pint!

Happy Birthday Wife!

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Today is the 13th of May 2022 and is my wife’s birthday. It is also Friday the 13th, so I don’t know how I should be feeling, happy for my wife but slightly preoccupied by lady luck deciding to have fun at my expense. Strangely, in France, Friday the 13th is considered lucky. What a peculiar country!

But what a strange coincidence though? But little did I know that 30 years ago, almost to the day that we first met how many coincidences there actually were…

She is born on the 13th, and me on the 26th. 26 being the double of 13. As a Catholic, yes, it happens, I have have always felt close to the Virgin Mary. My mother is Anne, the mother of Mary, and my beloved Grandma was called Mary. My wife is called Virginie… But you could argue that a lot of Catholic women were called Mary or Anne. We also live in the Vendée which has the number 85 – 8+5=13.

Today is also the feast of Our Lady of Fatima who appeared to three children in Fatima in Portugal in 1917.

Can you see a pattern developing here?

Anyway, it doesn’t, in any form, detract from the fact that it is my wife’s birthday today. I used to be great at thinking of presents for everyone, be it Christmas or birthdays. I just knew exactly what to look for and where to find it. Now, as in a lot of things, I now know nothing. What do you get for the person who has everything, including Yours Truly? My dream solution, my daughter seems to have stolen my talent and also seems to be very good at spending my money, but this time it is for a good cause.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate in a dignified manner with friends and have a barbecue, with salads, meats, and sausagy things that have been drawn up on the famous shopping list. It is a long shopping list and in a sudden and surprisingly rare instant of genius, I dared to add, don’t forget the charcoal Darling. The charcoal had been forgotten? I had’t saved the day, but I think I scored at least one brownie point.

So now you know what awaits le this weekend. Last weekend was a little more musical. When I first arrived in Vendée just over 20 years ago I played the horn for the local wind band in Montaigu. It was local and it got me out of the house and introduced me to local people who would eventually become friends. After a certain amount of time I got bored and didn’t feel challenged which is not a good thing to happen. You find that resentment can build and boredom never helps. I eventually stopped playing the horn and felt I had had enough, and then in 2009 a friend from the band said that’s had started playing with the windband in Cholet and I played with them from then on, even getting to the point of trying to get my French teaching diploma, but with burnout, and a change of horn teachers, that idea fell by the wayside. I cut music right back to the basics.

Durning Covid, the old conductor from Montaigu died, and within the year his wife died too. At least they’re together now. The band in MOntaigu had wanted to have a concert to remember them by, and last Satudray, after a lot of work by the band committee, they managed it. As an old player, I was invited to join in, and it was a lovely experience.

During the rehearsals, I received news that my boss in Cholet was resigning at the end of the year. Certainly unexpected, but I think I know some of the reasons why. All of a sudden, choices opened up to me. The band in Montaigu found out, and I was told that if I wanted, they would be happy to have an extra horn player. Not an easy decision to make, and I will certainly think about it. It would certainly mean less driving, and with the price of petrol, that is one huge argument. I feel a certain loylaty for the boss at Cholet even more so than for the band itself. not only is he my musical director but has over the years, become a friend. I’ll keep you posted.

Sunday was going to be about rest and relaxation. I felt I couldn’t face Nantes, and would be going to mass there anyway later on. So I went to Clisson instead. We all have those pretty towns just near us. In Hull, it was Beverley, in Noisy le Sec, it was Paris, and in Saint Hilaire it’s Clisson. I’m not denigrating the places that I have lived, but they were also slightly cheaper places to live, but that’s by the by…

I seem to be getting back into using my Canon DSLR and loving it too. It’s the 16-35mm lens that does it. And as you can see in the photographs from that day, Clisson is very photogenic, almost more than Nantes, but let’s not tell everyone, or they’ll all want to go there…

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you!

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Everything is in the title, to be honest. It’s Boxing Day today, therefore the aftermath of Christmas. I hope you all had a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas. I have a cousin whose plans were altered because of COVID. The post on Facebook showed a beautiful London living room decorated for Christmas and you could feel the deception in her writing. Thankfully Covid doesn’t last forever, and this new south African variant seems slightly less menacing than the one from India. Is the old Empire trying to get back at the Mother country for past wrongs?

At the end of each year, we all seem to have this primaeval urge to analyse the year just gone by. With Christmas just finished, you’ll realise this when you watch the news with all the look-backs on 2021. This year has been yet another year that I haven’t seen my parents. All this Covid bollocks is annoying the shit out of me! I haven’t seen them since August 2019, and it’s long. Too long. I’m fortunate enough to still have my parents still alive, and I know that so many people have been left without since this Covid. At first, I tried to joke about it, but it’s not been a joke for quite some time. Our lives have changed in so many ways and we have seen our leaders being completely defenceless against it. Policies have been brought out, each one being even less coherent than the last ones. Boris has been caught out not obeying his own rules and has so much egg on his face that he could prepare an omelette for the entire country. He appears to be finished as people no longer want a posh bawdy wannabe comedian; I mean Prime Minister, lording it over them. In France, it appears to be just as ridiculous, with the Président Macron contradicting himself all the time and just shouting loudly to show that he is “managing” the crisis. People might accuse me of being a tad conspiratorial when I say that this crisis has been used to erode individual freedoms and “track” us even more than before. The one thing however that is not codswallop is the vaccine which I would urge all people to get. “Big pharma” definitely is making millions out of it all, but do we really have a choice in the matter. I don’t really fancy dying just yet and feel that I may still have things left to do in this strange life of mine.

Now that my mini-rant is over, I suppose it is now the moment to tell you all how our Christmas went. This might take some time, so please try to bear with me. It might even be worth the read. As always, I will try to start at the very beginning, which is still a good place to start. ABC and Do Ré Mi etc. Get out of my head Julie Andrews!!

The factory shut its doors on Wednesday at 5pm, and we were freed. No need to come back until the 3rd of January 2022. Might as well go home and try to get into the Christmas spirit, whatever that is. My short-term memory seems to take the mickey yet again. I know I went out with my daughter to Nantes for the day and we ended up in the pub eating fries and having a quiet glass of something with friends and just enjoying being together, which is what pubs are for, after all. The drinks are just a side attraction. I’ve just looked at my phone and it was last Saturday. Thank heavens we have our phones to tell us what we did. Anyway, it was on that evening that I said to my friends that I would try to come along to say hello on Thursday night before they shut for Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Back on track. I sent a text to my wife that since we were both on holiday, then we would go for a drink at the pub, and then attempt vainly to get a table at a restaurant for a nice little something to eat. Full of optimism, I even texted my son to say that since it was going to be -2°C the next morning at 2am when he goes to work, that I would take him in. Strangely enough, he took me up on my offer. So off to work we went, and I asked when the “girlfriend” would come over. That night I was sent out by Madame to do the Christmas food shopping, and take my son to wash his bedding in anticipation of the “girlfriend’s” visit.

Driving to the shops, he let slip that it wasn’t even sure that she’d be there for Christmas. Oh, clucking bell! Red lights just started flashing, and the drama was just beginning. He looked so despondent, and above all didn’t want to “talk about it.” So that was that. I don’t know if bullshit tolerance is at an all-time low because of my age, or that I simply don’t need this shit anymore. My daughter was amazing at helping me with the shopping, and even packing it all away in the car boot. I know she’s at that “difficult” age, so I was just enjoying being a good guy for once, instead of Papa, who just understands nothing! Small mercies, people, small mercies! We picked up my son and his spotless sheets and went home. He would shower and then just go to bed because of his early start the next morning. My daughter had prepared something to eat in the microwave and everything was hunky-dory, even though a little subdued because of the mal-être of my son.

I arrived home and dumped the shopping in the kitchen.  My wife was getting ready for our date night and looked lovely!  We don’t get much time like that so every minute is so special.  I couldn’t get my poor upset son out of my mind.  Well, stop talking about it then.  Well, sorry for being concerned about my son.  But merde, we never go out, and just let them deal with their own shit!  I had been told and remembered that is more important to be kind than right and to choose my battles well.  This was not the time or place.  I kept driving and shut the f up!  Probably a wise decision.  

We arrived at the pub and said hi to people behind the bar and to other people that can be found behind the bar but not tonight.  They’re all friends anyway, and I do enjoy their company but tonight is date night.  I had some vitamin G, and Madame had a Leffe.  The restaurant is just across the street and yes, they had a table for two. You know that funny feeling you get when you kind of recognise the person sitting at the table next to you, but that’s all.  No precise idea.  Little did I know that the lady lived in Newcastle the year after we did, and moved back to France the year before we moved to the Vendée.  It turns out that it was the mother of a young friend that used to work in the pub and whose girlfriend still does.  Definitely a small world.  It also reminded me not to diss the French too much when I talk to my wife in English when out and about.  Or even about and out.  You never know.  I know that the French need to be put right on a wide variety of subjects, but it was still time to be kind and not right again….  Damn you conscience!!!

I was allowed a pint before going home.  Wonders never cease!  I saw the weather for the next day and sent a text to my son telling him it might well be raining at 2am and would he like me to take him to work at 2am.  Again, strangely he took me up on my offer.  I can hear my father telling me what a big softy I am, and my mother telling me that I am too soft.  Ah well…  There goes a day….  Again….

On the way to work, my son seemed slightly better than the previous evening, so I supposed they must have “talked things through.”  I knew that it was a tad early in the morning or in the middle of the night depending on your point of view, but since he was finishing at 11am I could have a lie-in.  Or at least that I what I told myself.  Little did I know that he would phone me at 8am telling me he had finished and could I please pick him up!  Oooh, the little bugger!!  Give me 10 minutes son, and I’ll be on my way…  10 minutes later I was indeed on my way to get him.  However, it was his turn to be nice to his old man.  I didn’t care if he was going to see his girlfriend for Breakfast, he was going to help me finish the Christmas shopping in the market in Clisson.  He carried everything back to the car for me.  Bless his little cotton socks. 

So this all sets the scene for Christmas Eve.  Virginie, bless her, would tidy the downstairs part of the house, whilst I would take Kate to Nantes, and eventually find some stocking fillers for the children. I would then be in the kitchen preparing the Christmas meal.  Boeuf Bourgignon, from a vintage recipe by a certain Constance Spry.  Those who know will just know!  I was busy as a little beaver, ok, let’s be serious for one moment, a rather large, middle-aged, and ever so slightly rotund beaver.  I am always wary of skinny people who cook…

Everyone was there.  Well, my wife had spent time preparing the salmon, fake caviar, and foie gras.  The “girlfriend” was taking photos with her new camera and a rather snazzy lens.  Everything is always fine when we just talk about photography.  My daughter, or so it would seem, decided that she no longer wished to have her photo taken.  I know this is a cue for me to put my camera down and change subjects.  The “girlfriend” however, did not.  Oh, bugger.  Here we go again.  The shit storm had just been let loose and words were said and things just got shouty all of a sudden.  

I had an “Oh bollocks!” moment.  We had a situation Houston.  I had a screaming 12-year-old in the living room, two very young adults in my son’s rooms arguing about how Kate had been mean.  Female violence is not like male violence.  Men will just kick several tons of crap out of each other, and then go and have a beer and get over it.  It would appear that this isn’t the same approach with ladies, where one will talk about an unclean hob, and what happened to her brother.  I know it was low, but don’t go down that road.  It’s not good.  So my wife came down and asked what the hell was going on, and I had been in the kitchen creating culinary miracles so I only had second hand and possibly biased information.  

Situation report for everyone.  One 12 year old in her room feeling shitty for having ruined Christmas, two you adults arguing in their room, over analysing everything and getting everything wrong.  One furious wife, and how dare they ruin her bloody fucking Christmas, and they had bloody well get a fucking move on downstairs because everything was ready.  At the precise moment I was wanting to put on body armour, and a helmet and take cover.  I would have been quite happy to go and take cover in my own room and sod the food.  A cheese sandwich would have been fine, we could always eat the stuff on Christmas Day!  

It is better to be kind and not right, and it was time for a cheese sandwich however appealing it might seem at that very moment.  Who could imagine that some cream cheese on one slice of bread, Branston pickle on another slice of bread, and a couple of slices of mature cheddar, could make a rather large, middle-aged, and ever so slightly rotund beaver, rather happy and forget WW3 that was starting.  The children were told how furious my wife was and how they had better bloody well come downstairs this bloody instant.  The “girlfriend” said she was going to see her mother.  Oh clucking bell, here we go again but assured us that she would be back soon.  I took cover on the sofa, and eventually, the “girlfriend” came back, and my daughter had remembered how it had been decided that presents would be opened at the apréro.  The daughter went to tell the lovebirds that it was time to come down for the presents.  Two attempts were needed but her peacekeeping skills were amazing.  Five people around my table were no longer wanted to kill each other, but open presents.  Peace had come back to the proceeding.  Our own little Christmas miracle.

The youngsters spent Christmas Day with her family, and therefore not my problem anymore.  My daughter stayed with us.  I sent a text message to our neighbour asking if she wanted to come round for tea, or drinks.  Seeing what time it was I knew it would be drinks.  Ah well.  Into the breach once again!  It was nice.  I was calm.  I spoke to my parents who indeed told me how soft I am with that lad, and how Christmas can lead to a little drama.  I think that I am not a fan of drama. 

Clisson in colour, and close up…

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As you might know from reading the rest of this blog, I love using my Canon 6D Mark II with vintage glass. This Helios M44-2 is a bokeh beast for my inner bokeh whore… I love depth of field and this lens allows me to really express myself. Not only do I get the bokeh but due to a design falut in this lens, you get a “swiry bokeh.”

When I saw photos with this swirly bokeh for the first time I was blown away. I wanted that so boadly and when I first got this lens onto my camera I loved it. I’ve been getting acquainted with this lens and am beginning to get find what I can do with it.

Of course it has limits, the major one being that I can’t focus to infinity but i’m ok with that. I can get around it by using zone focusing. I can be around 6 to 10 metres away from my subject and have a small aperture. Above that the mirror with smack into the lens and my camera with start throwing a wobbler! And we don’t want that , do we!

So this bokeh, what is it then?


In photography, bokeh is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”.

Wikipedia

Clisson in Black and White.

Posted on Posted in Black and White Photography, Landscape Photography, Travel photographyTagged , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Clisson is one of those pittoresque little market towns that France is famous for, except for three days a year when Heavy Metal fans come for the Hellfest and celebrate the late demi-god Lemmie! When these photos were taken, it wasn’t one of those three days and you could “quietly” breath in the tranquility and history of the place.

On a Friday morning there is the weekly market that I love going to but haven’t been able to go for ages as I’m no longer doing shift work. I would wander along the food stalls and have a few favourite places to stop and be seperated from my money for some wonderful produce. I’m talking about the good stuff… The kind of stuff that makes a foodie drool with pleasure. The place not to go when you’re hungry… I’m so weak!

I spent about two hours in Clisson before going off to Nantes to meet other photographers for a “photowalk,” just to see what I could get and to try and see a familiar place in a new way. It ended up falling through but I met other friends for an impromtu picnic. I’d been wanting to see Clisson again and try out the X100F and the Canon 6D with the Helios 44-2.

This first series of photos were taken on the Fujifilm X100F, and the 35mm equivalent lens and I was after trying to get some wider shots so you can get a feel for the place.

The second series will be more about how I see the place, and more in my style. IE the place where I seem to be on my photographic journey at the moment. That doesn’t mean that these black and white shots aren’t me. They are. And the editing is a reflection of me too. But I do love getting closer. You’ll see when you read the next article!