BLACK and WHITE for 2019

In this new year of 2019 I would like to change the format of my blog, slightly. by creating more of a personal gallery. My hope is to have less text with more images. However; I will continue to label and explain the photographs, as in the past. All of the included images were taken in England, Wales and Scotland.

The image sizes are 16 x 20 inches with a 24 x 28 white matte unless noted otherwise

ISLE OF SKYE

ISLE OF SKYE

ISLE OF SKYE

ISLE OF SKYE

WALES

WALES

ISLE OF SKYE

ISLE OF SKYE

image size 16 x 10     matte size   22 x 16
THIRSK,  ENGLAND

image size 16 x 10   matte size  22 x 16
THIRSK, ENGLAND

image size  16 x 10   matte size  22 x 16
BROADFORD,  ISLE OF SKYE

image size  16 x 10   matte size  22 x 16
BROADFORD,  ISLE OF SKYE

ISLE OF SKYE

studio90@wowway.com               kevart62@gmail.com

Lazy Autumn Morning!

Last Wednesday I awoke to a window view of ominous fog and although I felt like sleeping in, I didn't. I promptly loaded my Pentax 645N medium format camera with Kodak Tri-X 400, black and white  film and headed north about twelve miles. My destination was an old estate, now operated by the county, called Addison Oaks. This has been, for many years, one of my favorite places to wander about with my camera.The fog and mist was not a disappointment but it was beginning to lift by mid morning. I used a 50mm lens on the Pentax to include a broader view for effect and an orange filter for better separation of detail.I find that the wide angle lens is best for my landscapes and easier to hand hold
The morning was fantastic. Even if my photography had been a bust I would have been quite content just with the fog, the Canada Geese and the solitude. By noon the haze was all but gone and the sun had brought out more people to enjoy the scenic surroundings. Later that same day, I developed the film in Kodak D-76 and scanned the negatives on my Epson 2450 scanner.
I hope you enjoy the images that I took at Addison Oaks and the three additional photos that I included. The add ons are old negatives that were originally shot in color but were printed in black and white. The roundhouse doors and the medicine cabinet were taken at Greenfield Village in Dearborn.  The marshwalk was shot at Point Pelee National Park in Ontario.. All included pictures were shot on film.

MOODY RIVER

AUTUMN MIST

SOLITUDE

SUMMER'S  END

COTTAGE ON THE LAKE

MARSHWALK
Pt. Pelee, Ontario

The Medicine Cabinet

ROUNDHOUSE  DOORS

How Many Megapixels?

Almost everyone with a digital camera wants to know how many megapixels it takes to make a good picture. The answer depends on what you are doing with the image. If you are limiting it to screen purposes a small number of megapixels will suffice, however; if your intent is printing you will require a greater number. Also; the size of the print desired will dictate the number of necessary megapixels. The larger the print, the more you need. So what do you do?

Well; if you are only using your images for screen purposes or small prints a five megapixel camera or a cellular phone is more than adequate. If you enjoy making larger prints there are several ways that you can go about creating them. The first, and most expensive is to constantly update your equipment by purchasing a new camera every couple of years as technology advances. We are able to obtain a forty megapixel camera today for about the price of a small car. The problem is that your old camera has no real trade in value because it is old technology. In other words; to get more megapixels you have to dig deep every couple of years to keep up.

The second choice and the road I have taken is to use interpolation software. I know there are those who would argue with me but it works and it's a fraction of the cost. The software increases the print size by filling in the pixels, sharpening and removing noise. It can take a ten or twelve megapixel image and enlarge it three or four hundred percent without noticeable loss in contrast or resolution.
All of the actual picture sizes on this post are either 20 x 11, 21 x 12 or 18 x 12.

The software that I use and rely on is called Akvis Magnifier. It is totally adjustable to suit your own requirements, plus you can create and save your own programs. It is not something that I use every day but when needed it works great. The company, "Akvis" has been around a long time and all of their software is superb and affordable.

I hope I have shared some information in this post that is helpful and that you might find useful in your printing efforts. I always like comments, whether they are pro or con, so please check the box at the bottom. Thanks for looking in.

SCOTLAND in black and white

Here I go again! It seems like every couple of months I post more images of Scotland but there is a very good reason. This magnificent little country is at the top of my list for landscape photography and especially black and white.

On my first trip to Scotland I took a 35mm camera strictly for color and a medium format camera explicitly for black and white. The Nikon F3 was loaded with Kodachrome 64 transparency film, while I put only Kodak Tri-X ( 120 ) through the Rolleiflex. The 35mm slides were excellent but since I am a printer the larger black and white negative was my preference and on future trips I only took larger medium format cameras.

All of the images that I am posting now are over twenty-five years old but were not necessarily taken in the same year. I still have a large number of negatives that I haven't printed but when the urge hits me it's quite easy to spend an entire day working on them. Needless to say; the urge strikes often but I don't know whether it's my love of photography or my memories that actually move me.

I find myself returning more and more to black and white film because it still has a purpose and it is what I have spent much of my life enjoying. As photographers we all have to find the tool and the medium that allows us to express our feelings in what we see. Ansel Adams once said, " We don't take a picture, We make a picture."

I hope you enjoy my Scotland prints from the eighties and nineties. I always like hearing from other photographers and those just interested in old photos. Please send me an e-mail or leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Thanks for looking in

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Moat Bridge

Eilean Donan Castle

Eilean Donan Castle in the morning light

Elgol on the Isle of Skye

The rugged coast at Elgol

Elgol with the Cuillins in the background

The Cuillins in the mist

Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye

Hiking in the Highlands

Family cemetery plot on Skye

Ancient Crofter's cottage on Skye

Serenity at twilight

Coastal rock formations

White cottage on the Loch

Eilean Donan Castle at high tide

The remains of Duntulm Casle on Skye

Duntulm Castle tower