thatjoshguy.com

Category: Nikon FE2

  • Spring is beautiful, and so are you.

    Spring is beautiful, and so are you.

    I had some time to kill while my wife went for a run while training for the Pittsburgh Marathon, so I visited Ruby Amphitheater in Morgantown, WV as I had heard that the cherry trees were in bloom. Wow, they did not disappoint. Having so much time in one spot forced me to finally slow down and take my time, chasing light and investigating every angle.

    This was my first time shooting kodak Kodacolor 100, and I was not impressed. The majority of photos I kept were actually shot on Fujifilm 400 (which is really Kodak Ultracolor 400) and it was on this day that I decided it would be my primary from here on out. It’s readily available, has noticeable grain but not too much, you can push it a few stops in a pinch, and it looks like childhood to me.

    I capped off the day by taking the most poignant photo yet. It doesn’t exactly belong with the other photos from the day, but the irony was too much to bear.

  • Key West 2026

    Key West 2026

    My wife and I had a lovely time in Key West for our 20th anniversary. It was February, so the weather was warm but mild, and the streets weren’t too busy.

    Leading up to the trip, everyone spoke about how you just HAD to visit Duval Street. We did, and it was nice, but renting bikes and exploring the island away from the crowd is the best way to experience Key West. The excitement and chaos is there when you want it, but a few streets back is quiet and subdued – plus that’s where all the iguanas hang out.

    I carried my Nikon FE2 everywhere, paired with the Nikon AF NIKKOR 24-85mm f/2.8-4 D lens I ordered from KEH specifically for this adventure. It is a large lens, and heavier than I expected, but it’s fast for a zoom, performs well enough of a film camera, and is stupidly flexible when it comes time to frame up a shot. In spite of its heft, it has become my go-to lens for travel.

    Most of the photos I took on this trip were on Lomography Color Negative 800 ISO film. It has prominent grain and soft color rendering, perfect for a nostalgic beach vibe. It also does well when converted to black and white, should the image call for it. I got a few favorites from this trip, and would love to go back for more.

  • Winter Wonderland

    Winter Wonderland

    January brought snow, and a trip to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA with my wife and her folks. It was a wonderful opportunity to work on shooting handheld in difficult lighting conditions and manually metering for exposure instead of relying on aperture priority mode.

  • Finding my way with the Nikon FM2 and FE2

    Finding my way with the Nikon FM2 and FE2

    So a funny thing sometimes happens when people find out you are getting into shooting and developing film. If they have a bunch of old cameras shoved in a closet somewhere, sometimes – if you’re lucky – they end up on your desk at work. I’m a lucky guy, as this happened to me.

    A coworker (my boss, actually) gifted me a Nikon FM, an FM2, and a selection of lenses and accessories that once belonged to his father. This gave me plenty of things to experiment with, but I missed having access to aperture priority mode, so I soon procured a Nikon FE2 that would happily accept all of the same lenses.

    Finally, I was shooting, developing, and scanning 100% on my own. I still had have much to learn, but that’s what the internet is for. It’s around this time that I started to see more photos per roll that I would consider keepers. Good enough to hang around the office/house anyway. Note that I don’t attribute this to the gear exactly, but having so many new toys to play with kept me invested enough that I started shooting every chance I got. I started going on photo walks during my lunch hour, and even joined a local photography club.

    My color processing greatly improved during this time as well, much attributed to picking up a Darkroom Helper from Pira.mx.

    Eventually, I settled on the FE2 and an all-in-one Nikon AF NIKKOR 24-85mm f/2.8 lens that also sports decent macro focus. It’s big and heavy, but having it with me means not having to carry multiple lenses on the days when I just want to play and be ready for anything.