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COPYRIGHT NOTICE

No photograph that is displayed and posted on this blog may be reproduced, copied, stored, manipulated or used in whole or in part of a derivative work without the prior written permission of the Copyright (c) Owner & Photographer: Trevor David Betts BA (Hons). All rights reserved.

A POLITE REMINDER

If you want to use any of my photographs displayed upon this blog, for inclusion in an essay, presentation, talk, or for posting on your blog or web site. Or for use in any other way or means. Then it would be very much appreciated if you could contact me first (as a matter of courtesy and decency) to seek my permission to use any of my photographs. Failure to do so is breach of my copyright and rights.





Sunday 31 July 2011

PIER

An autumnal day on the North East Coast. There are currently less than 54 piers in existence around the UK coastline. This particular Victorian Pier was first opened in 1869. It was refurbished after storm damage and reopened to the public in July 2001.

Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Cleveland, England.

From my Traces from along the Edge Project, 2003-.

Copyright of all images displayed upon this blog spot are the exclusive property of Trevor David Betts.  All rights reserved.

Saturday 30 July 2011

DUNES

Sand dunes and mariam grasses feature prominently in this shot, with a cloudy summer sky overhead.

Theddlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England.

From my The Next Wave Project, 1996-97.

Copyright of all images displayed on this blog spot are the exclusive property of Trevor David Betts. All rights reserved.

Friday 29 July 2011

NOTICEBOARD

WHEN THE CAMERA DID NOT LIE

Colin Edwards recounts the tale of a chance discovery thanks to the authenticity of the photos produced by Kodakchrome film

IT IS just over a year since the last-ever roll of 35mm Kodakchrome film was produced. It was given to New York photographer Steve McCurry, who used it in his Nikon F6 for a travel documentary. That final roll ended a success story that began in 1935.

In May this year Michael Lyman, a photographer from Florida in the USA, bought a vintage slide projector in a charity shop. The projector had a drawer in the base that contained 80 cardboard-mounted Kodakchrome slides dating from the 1950s.

Because Lyman didn't know the people in the pictures, he invited his website visitors to seek any identifying clues. He wrote, 'Looking at these pictures is like stepping back to a time of post-war prosperity when America was at it's greatest, when people had well-paid jobs that allowed them to buy nice homes and big cars that had style and personality.'

Lyman continued 'They make me feel kind of sad, Photography is about capturing moments that are gone forever. The father was proud of his 1951 Chevrolet because it features in many of the pictures. He probably worked locally with enough wages for two vacations a year, to go bowling with his friends and to put food on the table for his family.'

'Within weeks, Lyman had sufficient  responses to identify the town, the street, the house and even one of the girls pictured in her school uniform. Then, in a final breakthorough, he identified the family and now plans a trip to New York to return their photos. 'I want to tell them how the story unfolded and what a gift they have provided by allowing so many people to lift their spirits and to feel good about those days, 'he explained.

Ok, so maybe Michael Lyman saw those old Kodakchrome slides through rose-tinted spectacles where the past always looks wonderful. Even so, there is an amazing sense of authenticity in every shot.

If you have a problem associating authenticity with Kodakchrome's typically vibrant colours, remind yourself that these slides are the actual film that passed through the camera. They are from the days when the camera did not lie. Family photos were not manipulated on a computer beyond recognition. What you got was what you saw.

Many cassettes of long-lost Kodakchrome also passed through my Voiglander Vito C. Now my digital camera yields predictable results instantly, but in doing so it manages to remove some of the fun, most of the uncertainty and, I suspect all the future nostalgia.

Article by Colin Edwards in the Back Chat section of Amateur Photographer magazine. In the 30th July 2011 issue.

* To read more about Michael Lyman's story, visit: http://rochester.ym.com and search for 'Michael Lyman.'

Thursday 28 July 2011

ON THE BEACH

People wandering upon the beach, on a cool summer evening.

Whitby North Beach, Whitby, North Yorkshire, England.

From my Traces from along the Edge Project, 2003-.

Copyright of all images displayed upon this blog spot are the exclusive property of Trevor David Betts. All rights reserved.

Saturday 23 July 2011

PS LINCOLN CASTLE

The PS Lincoln Castle, moored up on Hessle Foreshore in the early 1980s. It served as a pub and restaurant before ending up moored alongside the National Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby. Sadly in 2010 it was broken up and destroyed despite a determined attempt by the Lincoln Castle Preservation Society to purchase it and restore it to it's former glory.

There were three main Paddle Steamers/Ferries sailing the River Humber in the years before the Bridge opened. From Victoria Pier in Hull across to New Holland Pier on the South Bank.

They were the PS Wingfield Castle, PS Tattershall Castle and the PS Lincoln Castle. All the Humber Ferries were withdrawn on the 24th June 1981 when the Humber Bridge opened.

The PS Lincoln Castle, Hessle nr Hull, North Humberside, England.

From no specific project as such.

Copyright of all images displayed upon this blog spot are the exclusive property of Trevor David Betts. All rights reserved.

Thursday 21 July 2011

AND FINALLY...

The third and final one, in this little selection of colour images of this famous landmark. Taken at the same location and time as the first image in this trilogy.


The Humber Bridge, Hessle nr Hull, East Yorkshire, England.

From no specific project as such.

Copyright of all images displayed upon this blog spot are the exclusive property of Trevor David Betts.  All rights reserved.

ONCE MORE

Another image of the famous Humber Bridge. This time taken at night, from the South Bank Approach Road. I am not sure if I had a 'Starburst' filter fitted to my camera lens (I suspect that I did, hence the effect on the lights).

The Humber Bridge, Barton upon Humber, North Lincolnshire, England.

From no specific project as such.

Copyright of all images displayed upon this blog spot are the exclusive property of Trevor David Betts. All rights reserved.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

NOTICEBOARD

THE LIVES OF GREAT PHOTOGRAPHERS

15 April - 4 September 2011
Gallery One, The National Media Museum, Bradford BD1 1NQ

The Lives of Great Photographers is a compelling new exhibition drawn exclusively from the Museum's extensive and diverse Photography Collection.

Photographers featured include: Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, William Henry Fox Talbot, Lady Clementina Hawarden, Alfred Stieglitz, George Davison, Fay Godwin, (Mary) Olive Edis, Andre Kertesz, Julia Margaret Cameron, Roger Fenton, Eadweard Muybridge, Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier- Bresson, Robert Capa, Weegee (Arthur Fellig), Larry Burrows, Lewis Hine, Dorothea Lange, Brassai (Gyula Halasz), Edith Tudor Hart (Edith Suschitzky), Bill Brandt and Tony Ray-Jones.

Some of the greats of photography, not to mention leading photo-journalists, fine-art, documentary and landscape photographers. With work spanning over two hundred years. There are also examples of some of the equipment these photographs used. A really excellent, interesting and educational exhibition that everyone should visit. A must for all photographers and photography students.

Admission is free. For further information Tel. 0844 856 3797. Also log onto: www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

SLIDE SHOW

HELLO AND WELCOME

To my Photo Blog,

All my monochrome photography is darkroom produced. This portfolio consists of photographs from several of my projects, assignments, personal and course related work. Some of these monochrome photographic prints are then selectively toned.

Take a look at the slide show, or the popular posts. Click onto some of the many excellent blogs that I have listed in my blog roll. I welcome constructive feedback (post a comment).

Click onto the links in some of my posts which will then take you to the relevant website link where you will be able to find out more about that location, charity or organisation etc featured in the post and which is relevant to that specific image.

Also please click onto my links. Join my blog and my Google + followers. If you would like to know more about any particular photograph or project then please send me an email. My email address is at the foot of this page.

Also from time to time I will post videos that are of interest to me, mainly from my military background.

Yours sincerely

Trevor David Betts BA (Hons)

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TECHNICAL INFORMATION

All the photographs featured on this blog spot were taken on Canon analog 35mm SLR cameras which included: Canon A1, Canon AE1 (non-programme) and Canon T90. The Canon A1 was rendered useless after prolonged exposure to salt spray residue, and the AE1 suffered a malfunction, and one of my T90s just packed up on me during a photographic shoot.

Most of my camera equipment was initially purchased brand new, then as the years have past I have purchased second-hand equipment. But the vast majority of equipment I currently possess is well over twenty years old.

Canon FD lenses used were: 28, and 35mm wide angle, 50mm standard, 35-105mm short telephoto zoom and a 70-210mm large telephoto zoom lenses. Also used was a loaned Mamiya 645 with 50 and 80mm lenses. My favourite combination is a T90 fitted with the 35-105mm lens with an Hoya orange filter. I use Hoya orange, red, neutral density, and skylight filters. Hoya and Canon lens hoods. A Canon remote cable. I have used a great Metz 45 CT-4 flashgun for many years. I used this for the bounced and fill-in flash for some of the documentary and portraiture work.

Studio flash used was Courtenay brolly flash (just two heads fitted with soft boxes) at Hull Community Artworks studio (sadly this excellent local arts facility closed in 2001). Billingham and Tamrac camera bags (the Billingham is a old model that I have had for years - wonderful bags). The Tamrac one is a medium sized back pack type bag. Slik Black Diamond 88, and 500 DX Pro tripods. A Cullmann touring set (which consists of a light tripod, ball and swivel head, all-purpose clamp, suction cap, and a ground spike). I presently have three Canon T90 and one A1 SLR cameras.

Film used was mainly 35mm (with some 120mm). Ilford Delta monochrome negative print film, 100 asa (a few rolls of 400 asa as well). Ilford HP5 and FP4 (400 and 125 asa respectively). Fuji Neopan 400 asa. Various Fuji colour film. Photographic chemicals: Ilford ID-11 and Microphen film developers. Agfa Rodinal fine grain film developer, and Ilford Hypam fixer.

Photographic paper: Ilford Multigrade IV VC paper, Fibre based VC paper including warm and cool tone. Kentmere Velvet Stipple and Art Document papers. Kodak selenium toner. Barclay and Fotospeed sepia toners, and Colorvir blue toner. Durst M60 and Meopta 5 enlargers fitted with 50 and 80mm Schneider lenses. Kenro negative sheets and Jessops negative folders.

Most of my photography involves the use of the camera being securely mounted onto the tripod, with the shutter set to the 10 second delay. I bracket my exposures (relying on the excellent Canon in-camera meter). My aperture settings are usually between F5.6 and F22. In the vast majority of cases the very first exposure I take is usually the correctly exposed one.

Finished photographic prints (spotted if needed). At the 10 x 8 inch size are then scanned on an Epsom 1660 photo perfection scanner using Adope Photoshop CS2 at the 5.5 x 3.5 inch image or canvas size, 150 dpi and at the 750 x 550 pixels size, and saved as for the web. The only thing that is manipulated is the brightness balance and contrast levels.

DON'T FORGET

"It is the soldier, not the minister, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to fair protest.

It is the soldier, not the politician, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."

From: "Fighting for Queen and Country,
by Nigel 'Spud' Ely. Blake Publishing London, 2007.
"