Category Archives: Photography

Still life painting – Pentax Espio 120mi

Bottle and Glass - Pentax Espio 120mi by 35mm_photographs

Still life painting is something that I have grown into and I am inspired, not by the great masters like, Caravaggio who applied his form of naturalism to still life, but photographs.

Using the camera to – set the composition, the precise aspect ratio, depth of field, the distance – is a great tool. I then use these images in conjunction with the real observed objects.

The photograph above was taken using a Pentax Espio 120mi, which I obtained from a charity shop for £1.50. I used Ilford HP5 Plus a 35mm black and white film. More on HP5  here?

The quality of point and shoot 35mm film cameras is rather poor if you compare them to modern digital SLRs but…

The warm quality and retro feel of the images are perfect for my paintings.

The Pentax Espio 120mi is point-and-shoot, mid-range, 35mm film camera (also called a compact camera) and is a still camera designed for simplicity. The Espio is an autofocus unit, having automatic exposure settings options and a built in flash unit.

Flowers Vase and Bowl - Pentax Espio 120mi

Design initiatives make this a small and flexible camera – notably the physical size and overall quality of finish make this camera a stylish baby. It houses a good quality zoom lens (38-120mm), with plenty of features that enable a variety of picture taking settings.

The focus and exposure system on this easy to use camera is an improvement on earlier Pentax compacts, giving sharp results and a decent contrast of tones. One of the most useful applications available on this model is ‘backlight compensation’ setting, which enables you to take a photograph using natural light in the background and flash in the foreground, giving an even tone across the image. Panorama mode is included in this little package which gives a different aspect ratio from most other cameras.

Caravaggio‘s Basket of Fruit (c. 1595–1600) is one of the first examples of  -pure still life, precisely rendered and set at eye level.

Olympus Trip 35

My rummaging around in junk shops sometimes reaps great rewards. On my recent hunting expedition I found an Olympus Trip 35, another film camera I was searching for.

The Trip 35 is a 35mm compact camera, manufactured by Olympus. It was introduced in 1967 and discontinued, after a lengthy production run, in 1984. This camera makes use of a selenium photocell to select the shutter speeds and aperture let novices use the camera as a “point & shoot”, unfortunately this does not work on mine.

The Trip name was a reference to its intended market – people who wanted a compact, functional camera for holidays. During the 1970s it was the subject of an advertising campaign that featured popular British photographer David Bailey. Over ten million units were sold.

Olympus Trip 35. (2012, August 16). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:03, October 20, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Olympus_Trip_35&oldid=507702469
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Pentax Spotmatic

My blog has reach number 1 in the top printing blog charts today. Image taken with a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm Camera - August 2012. Here is another photograph taken with vintage Pentax camera I purchased of ebay on the 15th July 2012. The Pentax Spotmatic takes M42 screw-thread lenses and was introduced by Asahi in 1964, it was the first SLR … Continue reading ?The image above: After Lunch by 35mm_photographs on Flickr
Image above taken with a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm Camera – August 2012.

Here is another photograph taken with vintage Pentax camera I purchased of ebay on the 15th July 2012. The Pentax Spotmatic takes M42 screw-thread lenses and was introduced by Asahi in 1964, it was the first SLR … Continue reading ?

The photograph: After Lunch by 35mm_photographs on Flickr

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I love film cameras – how unreal are these colours? #ndevon

Speckled Wood Butterfly

The Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) is a butterfly found in and on the borders of woodland throughout much of the Palearctic ecozone. In North Europe, Central Europe, Asia Minor, Syria, Russia and Central Asia.

Taken with my Pentax K1000 35mm camera (September 2012) on a walk in North Devon. Speckled Wood Butterfly by 35mm_photographs on Flickr.

Towards Morte Point by 35mm_photographs

I love film cameras – how unreal are these colours?

Taken with my trusty Pentax K1000 35mm camera – September 2012. Towards Morte Point, a photo by 35mm_photographs on Flickr.

Looking towards woolacombe

The Pentax K1000 is an almost all metal, mechanically (springs, gears, levers) controlled, manual-focus SLR with manual exposure control. It was completely operable without batteries. It only needed batteries (one A76 or S76, or LR44 or SR44) for the light metering information system. This consisted of a center-the-needle exposure control system using a galvanometer needle pointer moving between vertically arranged +/– over/underexposure markers at the right side of the viewfinder to indicate the readings of the built-in full-scene averaging, cadmium sulfide (CdS) light meter versus the actual camera settings. The meter did not have a true on/off switch and the lens cap needed to be kept on the lens to prevent draining the battery when the K1000 was not in use.

Pentax K1000. (2012, May 31). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:26, June 8, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pentax_K1000&oldid=495230110

The decking is rotting and the barbecue is rusty – the garden furniture is… …and the view is: The horseshoe of sand that is Woolacombe Bay, constantly changes. The summer and the sun bring the tourists, the winter brings drama to … Continue reading ?

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Pentax Espio 120mi

Grasses

The photographs above and below were taken on Morte Point using a Pentax Espio 120mi and Ilford HP5 Plus a 35mm black and white film. More on HP5  here?

The Pentax Espio 120mi ‘point and shoot’ camera is a mid-range, 35mm film, auto-focus compact Design initiatives make this small but flexible (notably the physical size and overall quality of finish). It houses a good quality zoom lens (38-120mm), with plenty of features that enable a variety of picture taking options. The focus and exposure system on this easy to use camera is an improvement on earlier Pentax compacts, giving sharp results with a decent contrast of image. One of the most useful applications available on this model is ‘backlight compensation’, which enables you to take a photograph using natural light in the background and flash in the foreground, giving an even tone across the image. Panorama mode is included in this little package which gives a different (from the norm) aspect ratio.

Grasses

Both images were taken using the ‘backlight compensation’ mode.

These images below are of the same subjects, taken at the same time, using a Pentax K1000. The quality of these images is far superior.

Grass on a dry stone wall Morte Point

The panorama mode on the Pentax Espio 120mi only uses half of the 35mm film (height) creating a letterbox shape in the middle of the negative. The K1000 uses the whole of the film.

Grass on a wall Morte Point