I usually frame, focus, meter, and hope for the best. Practice has improved my odds considerably, making hope less a part of my photography strategy. But given that I shoot with whichever of my classic cameras feels right on a given day, it’s hard for me to know most of them deeply and be sure of what I’ll get from them.
But a well-designed, highly functional tool sometimes makes up for what I lack. I had one of my last rolls of discontinued Kodak Plus-X spooled into my Nikon F3HP and was driving through Crown Hill Cemetery looking for interesting subjects. The cemetery is bisected by 38th Street, but a grade separation featuring a concrete-arch bridge creates easy connection between the north and south portions of the enormous grounds. There was more light under that bridge than this film and my 50mm f/2 AI Nikkor lens captured — but didn’t the F3 do a great job of setting exposure to keep detail in both the light and dark areas? This might just be my favorite shot of the year.
Proving that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. :) This picture has a mesmerizing quality about it. Very cool.
Thank you for being the first of probably many to leave that joke today!
Best to get it out of the way early.
A very hopefull capture for us humans: there is light at the end of the tunnel!
Well, that’s what we do here at Down the Road: shine light and offer hope! :-)
Reminds me of the views through the back window of my parent’s big old road cruiser station wagons :)
I remember those!
Rather than attempt to list the 129 reasons I love this image, I’ll just say this: You didn’t oversell it, Jim! Wish I’d shot this. :) Beautifully done.
>blush< Thanks Heather!
I can’t stop myself making a joke about doing a wonderful job capturing “the light at the end of the tunnel to the Other Side” here. Just too appropriate. :)
Now with that out of the way, wow, yeah… what a fantastic job your skill and the properties of your selected film did to capture the detail in both shadow and direct sunlight. I really am deeply impressed. I would have thought that range of detail would have been next to impossible outside of an HDR composite of at least a couple of shots. Hey, but what do I know? I’m down to using my phone. :D
No original jokes in this comment thread today! ;-)
Thanks LP — I can’t believe the F3 read the light so perfectly either.
Of all of the wonderful photos you have shared this year, this one is really the finest…and that’s saying a lot. Kudos!!
Oh wow, thank you for saying so!
Very nice! Just out of curiosity (because I’m currently putting an F3HP through its paces) … did you frame first to spot meter through the lens and then recompose? Or did you just compose and shoot?
I don’t remember for sure, but I remember wanting lots of depth of field, so I probably set exposure and then composed and shot.If I had to guess, I’d say I shot this at something like f/8.
Fantastic shot Jim one of your best.
Thanks Christopher!!
Awesome shot Jim!
Thanks Sam!
It’s like a window to another world. I love tunnels. Great shot here.
Thanks Jeanne!