Jono Shields

Learning Photography

Getting into Portraits with the Pentax 6x7

23 Oct 2018

A beige coloured cat hissing at me

We went to Stanley Bay in the evening to catch the sun setting behind the harbour bridge and as I was setting up this cat appeared.

It would not stop hissing at me. It was seriously pissed off for some reason. And then when I got closer to take a photo it hissed loudly and started coming towards me.

I wussed out and ran away, but managed to get this shot.

A clenched fist on the chest

I am enjoying the level of detail that I can get out of these medium format shots. I feel like when taking portraits especially there is a whole other feeling that you get with medium format.

Portrait of a girl in a Ponch (black and white)

Also, when I take images of landscapes sometimes I feel like that extra detail doesn’t add much.

So I find that I need to be more careful when shooting landscapes with this camera (samples below).

Muriwai Gannet Colony, an outcrop over the ocean with nesting seabirds

A boathouse under a tree nestled between the rocks

Silhouette of a man against the setting sun

Early Morning Photography

01 Oct 2018

I’m a morning a person. Every day while I have been in Christchurch for the last two weeks I have been up at dawn, exploring the city in the hours that I can before I have to go to work.

1950's Old Pickup truck

This old school 1950’s Studbaker sat on the side of the road.

The Chrischurch Cathedral now in pieces after the earthquakes(black and white)

A long black with water on the side(black and white)

This is my routine whenever I go to a new city. Spend an hour or two exploring. Then most importantly to the coffee shop.

Panoramas with the Pentax 6x7

28 Jul 2018

Another new camera?

Yep.

Our messy apartment

This beast of a camera came with a 45mm f/4 lens and a panorama kit. Now I can do super wide shots like the above.

Panorama of a woman running up the beach with a cloudy mountain in the background

The pano kit lets a roll of 35mm film cross the entirety of the 120 frame. I can get about 21 shots off the roll.

Get ready to scroll…

Vertical panorama of Byron posing with his camera up against a stone wall

The Yashica 35 M

22 Jun 2018

Look at this beauty!

The Yashica 35 M is now the oldest camera I own, from 1973 it’s more than twice as old as I am.

Yashica 35 M, a bit dusty

It shows its age in how you use it. It has a lightmeter on the front that I thought was a flash hahaha. It uses Selenium, a chemical, to measure the light rather than the more modern silicon semiconductors.

The lightmeter displays a number on top of the camera telling me what the EVS (exposure value scale)is, so that I can choose an appropriate aperture and shutter speed myself.

A blurry cafe

The other noticeable difference with this camera is that it’s a rangefinder. Sadly the viewfinder is not very visible and makes focussing this camera difficult.

Woman holding up electrical cables (out of focus)

Two people sitting at a cafe (Jono on the right)

And look! It’s me. Also, the self timer on this thing is mechanical. It’s pretty cool to hear the ticking and winding as it counts down.

A Photographer's Perspective

29 May 2018

My camera is always by my side these days. And I’m always on the lookout for interesting ways to look at things. The same things I look at everyday.

A barista makes espresso shot from directly above

The photo above is from a cafe called Rabbit. The main seating area is lofted above the kitchen, but I never once had a reason to lean over the edge and have a look down.

But now I do.

I am curious.

A hole in a roof covered in vines looks through to a brick building

Close up of a security camera that looks directly at you