Mechanical Landscapes

Tag: Nikkor 28-70 AFS

  • #232 – Super D Part 1

    #232 – Super D Part 1

    All aboard for an early start! Well, maybe not, but driving from Chorley to Bury at rush hour always takes a little longer than I think it will, especially when going the scenic route to avoid the dick-dance that is the M61/M60 in the morning. The reason for my brisk cross-country drive was Richard Newtons latest charter…

  • #226 – People In Railway Photography Revisited – Part 2

    As I wasn’t using the optimal lens for the job, cropping played an important part of post processing., and this is where having a reasonably high megapixel count comes in handy. Now I’ve never subscribed to the theory that you should get it right in camera and never crop – it’s a laudable idea, but…

  • #225 – People in Railway Photography Revisited – Part 1

      Due to the usual late running on the Saturday of the East Lancs Steam Gala, the planned nightshoot was also running late, so by the time the assembled throng were let in, the engines were still being put down for the night. Never one to miss an opportunity to do something different, I hiked up the…

  • #177 – Thorpe Marsh Revisit – part 1

    #177 – Thorpe Marsh Revisit – part 1

    I’ve been fascinated by power stations and cooling towers since my dad took me to see the massive cooling towers at Kearsley Power Station in Bolton being blown up in 1984. Dad had grown up in their shadow in the 50’s and 60’s and it was fairly poignant for him to see them come down.…

  • #176 – The Last Days Of Fernhurst Mill – DoF Tomfoolery

    With the trespassing element of the visit complete, I thought I’d indulge in a bit of creative arty-fartyness. Nikon D700, 28-70mm, 1/1600 @F2.8  

  • #110 – Grown Up Scalextric – One Way

    #110 – Grown Up Scalextric – One Way

    I quickly got bored of photographing tarmac. I can do that in my street outside my house, so I looked for things that made this place unique. There weren’t too many, but there one or two things that made it interesting.

  • #109 – Grown Up Scalextric – Tyres

    #109 – Grown Up Scalextric – Tyres

    I don’t know why, but I was surprised to see piles of tyres at the test track. Turns out most of them were to indicate where manholes were, becuase the manhole covers had all been nicked. However, it did seem appropriate somehow.

  • #96 – Explosives!

    Unlike proper heritage lines, Snibston didn’t appear to have a demonstration freight train running, at least not a steam hauled one (although there was a charter on the Friday, but I only found that out afterwards). That was a shame as they’d brought a steam train in especially from the Chasewater railway and it ended…

  • #92 – Peak Rail 2

    Nikon D700, Nikkor 28-70, 1/100 @ F18, ISO 400 Another one from Peak Rail. 8624 waits at Rowsley South to be turned on the new turntable. I wanted to inclde different elements of the railway in the scene, as most photos taken from platforms are, frankly, boring record shots. So I waited for the driver…

  • #91 – Peak Rail 1

    I’d never been to Peak Rail in Derbyshire before, partly because it’s a pain in the arse to get to from central Lancashire. However, I’d read that they’d got an event on, so I braved the windy A-roads and headed south. The line is pretty flat and short (4 miles), and with a stop half…

  • #90 – Buxton Lime Firm 2

    Another one from Buxton. As before, processed in Nik Silver Efex Pro, using the Wet Rocks filter and (I think) the Ilford Delta 100 effect.

  • #89 – Buxton Lime Firm 1

    Converted to black and white using the ‘Wet Rocks’ filter in Nik Silver Efex Pro, and some HP 5 film grain. Not sure why it looks slightly HDR like, it’s only one image, and it’s not seen Photomatix.

  • #77 – Haworth Landscape

    First shot of the day from my visit to the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway was from a road bridge that overlooks the sheds at Haworth. Although the railway have an excellent viewing area that overlooks the sheds, I tried here first and was rewarded with a view along the rainy valley (it was absolutely throwing…

  • #76 – Vale Mills, Oakworth

    War Department 2-8-0 storms out of Oakworth Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. I’d spotted this location when I was on the train earlier and drove down for a closer look. When I got there, I had a walk round to see if I could include the mill and the railway in the shot,…

  • #75 – rare station photo

    I’ve said in the past that I never take pictures in stations. So here’s one I took at the weekend! As I’m not a ‘rivet counter’ I don’t get much satisfaction out of taking photos of stationary trains in stations. But as the train was delayed, I thought I’d see if I could make an…

  • #74 – it’s grim up north

    Vale Mill, Mytholmes. I think that this was a path from Oakworth village and I imagine that it was used by generations of mill workers going to and from the mill in the valley floor. I took this when I was unsuccessfully trying to figure out a composition where I could include the mill and the…

  • #70 – When colour works…..

    I’ve blogged a few times about how sometimes colour works best, and sometime black and white does. Here’s one where colour does. I visited Jumbles Quarry deep in the Trough of Bowland with David Kitching (see his excellent website here), after failing miserably a couple of weeks back. Tracing the route of the old railway…

  • #67 – Colour? Or black and white?

    I took this late on a February afternoon, with the sun low in the sky on the other side of the bridge. Clouds kept partially obscuring it, but I kept getting some terrific light on the railway arches, but no train! It finally arrived (on time), and I got this image. I must admit that…

  • #66 – it doesn’t always go according to plan… (part 3)

    Somewhere in this valley is a quarry that was abandoned in the 1920’s, complete with steam crane and some railway track. Unfortunately I’ve no idea where. I’d seen a report on a forum containing some pictures from the 70’s, and a search on geograph eventually showed me where it was. However, with all the recent…

  • #64 – Guesswork / bulb mode

    Sometimes, you run out of pre-set exposure times on your camera and you have to resort to the ‘guess’ mode, AKA  Bulb. This particular scene was tricky as the big floodlight in the background kept being turned on and off, which made exposure a pain. After several tests, I ended up thinking f*ck it, counted to…

  • #63 – new toys, old toys

    My policy on camera equipment puchases is one of gradual upgrades, basically using spare money from overtime, backpay and annual bonuses. I’ve just bought this years purchase, and it’s likely to be the last for some time. And this is it, a near mint Nikkor 28-70 F2.8 AFS. It’s a HUGE lens, even on the…