Ken Anderson’s Weblog

I have been shooting photographs for more years than I care to remember really.  I started out with an old Pentax my father gave me.  It was used, he didn’t believe in buying new stuff!  As kids, my brother, sister and I received all kinds of things at birthdays and Christmas that had seen slightly better days!  Having said that, the Pentax was a joy.  The 50mm lens seemed to be all you really needed from a focal length standpoint.  Back then; as it remains today, it was the film choice more than anything that gave you the most latitude while taking photographs.  The standard colour films were all Kodak with the kodachrome and echtachromes being the most popular for high quality images.  Ilford was in the process of introducing their new black and white films that never really replaced FP 4 and 5 as the standard.  There was much more trial and error, and it was a little like having a baby (maybe not today with the proliferation of ultrasound) you really didn’t know what you had until you got it out of the tank and printed a contact sheet. 

I bought my first Nikon not long after I got my first real job.  It was on old FE with a 35mm and 50mm lens.  I later added a 135mm.  The camera took great photographs.  Even though light meters were not what they are today, it gave good across the board readings that were for the most part accurate and gave a good representation of the scene.  I remember the day I bought my first “pro” camera body.  It was a used F3.  I loved that camera, took thousands of frames with it, carried it everywhere.  It was a solid piece of kit.  Not like the Pentax or even the FE.  I dropped it on more than one occasion and it kept right on taking incredible pictures.  There was a noticeable difference as well in the capabilities by that time.  On camera flashguns were just coming into their own.  Until that time you just about had to have some large press head with a battery pack to take flash photographs.  It must have been a little like putting headlights on cars, it opened up a whole new world to photographers who had to stop taking photographs at dusk.

I still use my older Nikkor lenses on my D3 and D200.  One of my favourites is my 35-70 f2.8.  It is push pull zoom, doesn’t have the ability to send the D3 distance information but still is a wonderful, bright, and sharp workhorse.   My old 80-200 f2.8 still serves as one of my primary lenses on both the D200 and D3.  Great glass, still a very sharp lens.  They also give me full frame on the D3 unlike the DX lenses I bought to go with the 200. 

Stepped inside of Gray’s of Westminster for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  What a great shop.  One of those places you can spend an afternoon, see all the new equipment, and reminisce with the old stuff.  Very helpful/knowledgeable staff.  They have EVERYTHING Nikon, and know about all of it! 

Beautiful day today.  Yesterday and today are really starting to signal a real change in the weather.  Only problem with living in the Cotswolds is that the crowds start to appear at the first sign of good weather.  As you might imagine, today is busy!

For those of you who like to shoot landscapes with a lot of colour, the next few weeks will provide the years best opportunity.  The rape fields will be in full bloom over the next 2 to 3 weeks.  Bluebell woods will also be at their best.  Later in the year is the turn of the lavender fields around Snowshill, not to be missed.  My favorite time of the year, can’t believe I am indoors typing this so, I am out of here!  Enjoy!