First attempt in 20+ years with B&W film

[DaveO]

I just got back my negatives from a roll of T-Max 100 today. Haven't shot b&w in over 20 years so I did screw exposures up on things in the shade. This is a stone bridge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. This was taken with a Nikon FM2n with a Zeiss 50mm ZF lens.

 

[Huss]

Very nice! Doesn't seem like you've missed a beat.

 

[CMoore]

Just a beginner (me).....but that sure looks good...exposure and composition.
Like riding a bike I suppose......does that mean you have only been using color for the last many years.?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

View attachment 159465 I just got back my negatives from a roll of T-Max 100 today. Haven't shot b&w in over 20 years so I did screw exposures up on things in the shade. This is a stone bridge built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. This was taken with a Nikon FM2n with a Zeiss 50mm ZF lens.

Isn't fit fun?

 

[cooltouch]

Your exposure was spot-on with this example, Dave. Just keep in mind this truism, which is the case with print film in general: it can handle overexposure much better than underexposure. So, when shooting in the shade, keep this in mind. If shutter speeds got too slow and you don't have a tripod handy, you can use a flash to open up the shadows and get the shutter speed back up to a decent hand-holdable speed.


So, now that you've had some success with B&W, the next step for you will be to do your own developing -- of course. Developing B&W is just about easier than falling off a log. You don't need a lot of gear to do it and you can scan your negs and take the scans down to most any place for prints -- if your printer can't handle photo paper, that is. Or you can do the whole wet darkroom thing and get yourself an enlarger -- but that's starting to go off the deep end, requiring a commitment that not everyone is willing to go for.

 

[HiHoSilver]

That's my story too, Dave. 'Fell back in love w/ mono. 'About 10 rolls in the last 3wks. Have a blast. Those here seem to drip good will & good help. 'Glad you're having fun. 'Hope to see more images.

 

[pbromaghin]

Welcome back, daveO. That's better than anything off my first several rolls.

 

[michaelorr]

Heck of a bridge, and more heck of a photograph! Can't imagine what is screwed up exposure, but it sure looks great to me. The @cooltouch truism above is best rule that has worked for me.

 

[John Bragg]

Welcome back DaveO. Shoot as much film as you can and keep on turning out good work like this shot.
Regards,
John

 

[DaveO]

This exposure of the bridge was pretty close to right on. I just darkened it slightly. The ones that were badly exposed were old homes that were in the shade of huge trees and were very underexposed.