• Point your lens at the sun
• Colourphotos with Yashica J-7
• What makes a good picture?
• The hazards in the life of a naturephotographer
• Spring setback

(clicking on the images opens Flickr in a new window)

• No, you don’t need autofocus to photograph moving objects
• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Yashica MC Zoom 35-70mm/3.5-4.5
• 5 reasons I love manual lenses
• Review of Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 M42-lens

Shoot something green with a greenfilter on. It’s good to get light son your subject, since it probably have some red light in it.

Cherry Green

In Photoshop make a Adjustment Layer with Channel Mixer, make Monochrome and build a black and white conversion using mainly the red channel (red channel almost 100, blue and green almost 0). Most things in the image will be black, except where the light is.

Black and white pine

• Pidgins with Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5
• Portraits with Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5
• Black and White vs Colour – part 2
• Black and White vs Colour – part 3
• The warm and cold

Sure. I have not shot birds, swallows in flight, racing cars… oh, but I wait I am mistaken. I have photographed those things with manual focus. But the “newer is better myth” says it’s impossible. I wonder what more miracles I can perform? ;)

I don’t have time to find really good examples today, so just some I fetched from my flickr, but my point is that it takes some practise but it is possible. The swan is one of my first manual photos and not the greatest of images but it is in focus:

Racing a cloudy, foggy day

Flying Swan, one of my first manual photos

• 5 reasons I love manual lenses
• Do you need autofocus for moving objects
• Review of Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8 preset T2
• Review of Yashica MC Zoom 35-70mm/3.5-4.5
• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8

Well, I needed a couple of images for different occasions. So late tonight I took out the cameragear and gave it a try.

• A chair
• Two constructionlights (500W)
• Tripod
• Camera with m42-lens Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8
• A piece of string
• Some Photoshopping

I tied the string to the tripod and stretched it to the chair. Sitting on the chair I focused on the tripod. Without touching the focus I put the camera back on the tripod. With the string I could tell where the focus in the image is.

I put selftimer on and ran back to the chair. Took the string to my eye (so it would be in focus). The lights were like I wanted them after several attempts. It’s a bit trial and error. I don’t have good flash or studiolights so I have to use whats available, but I think it turned out ok:

Selfportrait with Asahi Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8

• Factory with S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Retrocamera lost in cyberspace?
• My wife on colourfilm, scanned and converted to black and white. Daydreaming?
• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42

Well, I have come up with this rutine. Simple, I know – but useful. Take a picture of the lens before you mount it. If you use some kind of filter, take a picture when you mount it and when you dismount it and put it back in the bag.

Heres from my session the other day… I started with Pentax Super Takumar 35mm/3.5. Added macroring to shoot some flowers.

Add macroring

I took my flower-pictures. Removed the macroring.

Remove macroring

Took some pictures without the macroring. Then changed to Yashica ML 35mm/2.8

Change to Yashica ML 35mm

Shot some images. Changed back to Super Takumar.

Changed back to Super Takumar

A new change to Yashica ML 50mm/2. Well, I think you get the hang of it now? ;)

Change to Yashica ML 50mm

Pros

• You dont have to remember a thing… well, almost nothing.
• The pictures of lenses don’t need to be good, as long as you can see what they are.
• Add keywords in your digital darkroom when you get home, then delete the pictures of lenses.

Cons

• You need to know which lens you started with.
• Could be a bit clumsy when you’re in a hurry
• You dont get the f-stop recorded, so you might want to take notes anyway.

• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2
• Autumnleafs with Yashica DSB 50mm/1.9
• I discovered a new world 2008
• Point your lens at the sun
• Yashica Guy (Joe Marcel Wolff) interview