James Shackleton's Blog

Kayt's Eyes

Recently, I have been using a Canon 70 – 200 L F4 lens for portraits, I have been pleased with the extra framing options this gives me and it is very sharp.

For a change, I thought I would try using a Canon 100mm F2.8 USM Macro lens. This allowed me get in really close, which was really pleasing. Usually I like lenses to be as sharp as possible, but on this occasion (having spent ages retouching), I think you can have too much of a good thing.

33 Milsom Street, Bath

I am trying to stick to my original plan, to only use recent photos, rather than trawling through my library for treasure.

As I wrote in a previous post, I’m intrigued by doors. An interesting door makes me wonder what lies on  the other side of it. In this picture I’m intrigued by the layers of peeling paint, which hint at previous lives.

A Newt

One of the things I love about photography, is how it allows you to look closely at things. Sometimes it is truly magical.

This is from a nature walk I took my class on years ago. Although we lived in London, there was a wildlife reserve nearby (run by the Selborne Society) and for a little while at least, you could pretend you were in the countryside. If you ignored the airliners approaching Heathrow.

Alex

I’m doing some portraits tomorrow. I feel quite anxious.  I can’t believe it, but I used to do this sort of thing all the time.

This picture dates from when I used to be a barman (another period that feels a lifetime ago) – Alex was one of my regular customers.

For the technically minded, I was using a Rolleiflex Automat with HP5+ (and most likely Rodinal).