Frames of Norway 1

With this entry, I am opening a new series of entries and also Youtube-videos. In these entries, I don’t care too much about the camera or film, but rather focus on composition and my thoughts behind the choice of location or film in regards to what I wanted to achieve. Everything is allowed in these entries, regardless of price of camera. And yes, obviously I will still have some entries in the old manner too.

For the kick-off of my new series, I chose one of my favorite cameras. My Hasselblad 500c, which not by any means is a cheap camera. I love shooting square format, and the Hasselblad along with my Ikoflex are to me the most inspiring cameras I own. There could be something with the waist-level finder that just makes everything look very lively and nice and makes composition very easy.

My location for this outing is the site of an old derelict saw-mill just north of Gjøvik. Back in the day, this was a very active saw-mill with close proximity to the lake and easy access for boat-cargo on the lake. There are still a lot of poles and marks in the shallow water after extensive log-driving on Mjøsa.

Remains from the Log-driving on Mjøsa – Hasselblad 500C w 80mm Planar f2,8 -Bergger Pancro 400 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

Log-driving was a dangerous job and many log drivers would drown while working on floating timber. Sometimes, workers had to do the dangerous maneuver of loosening up jammed logs using a pike-pole. To utilize this tool, they had to walk on the floating logs, and sometimes, they either were hurt when the jam broke up, i.e. being crushed, or they could stamp on a loose log and fall unto the water and get stuck in the water under the massive amount of logs.

In honor of the history of these brave workers, I decided to go with a somewhat gloomy look to these images. To me, gloom means additional grain and a rather «grey» palette. A film I have often had issues with being too grainy or gloomy for my taste is the Bergger Pancro 400. I have used this film just a few times, and I still have some lying around in the freezer. I thawed up one of them and went for this choice.

It turned out better than I expected, and this film might just be perfect for this kind of shooting. A few pieces of reflection though are the following:

Be very precise when exposing Pancro 400 as it handles underexposure extremely poorly and easily loses the highlights. I tries my best to nail my exposures dead on, and did reasonably well until my lightmeter decided to produce a flat battery. After that I had to rely on a simple app on my phone, which surprisingly worked rather well.
Take your time with this film. I have tried different development cycles for this film, but this is by far my best results with it. I often shy away from very long development times of more than 12 minutes if possible, but to me, it seems like the results with Pancro400 gets better the longer you develop. This process in Adox Atomal 49 1+1 took 23 minutes.
Fix for more than the double time of what you would normally do. As in the previous point. Time is gold with this film. I fixed this one in fresh fixer for 12 minutes, double the time recommended by Bergger, and that seems to give clean negatives. Anything gives harsher grain due to remaining emulsion I guess?
Use it for its potential of making moody and gloomy shots. This is not an «everyday happy snappy film». You have to work with its strengths.

The remains of Biri Bruk – Hasselblad 500C w 80mm Planar f2,8 -Bergger Pancro 400 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

From my research online, I find that the sawmill was active until the early eighties. I cannot guarantee my accuracy here, but it was defunct before the nineties. In 1994, Lillehammer hosted the Winter Olympics, and the old sawmill was being restored, the goal being it becoming a restaurant. Situated along the road between two venue-towns, Lillehammer and Gjøvik, the location was ideal.

During its restoration, something happened and the old sawmill house caught fire and burned to the ground on Friday the fourth of June 1993. The fire started in the old chip-silo and quickly spread resulting in devastating damage with fire-fighters unable to over-win the fire. Today, only the foundation walls are left, and is what you can see photographed in some of these images.

Ruins of Biri Bruk – Hasselblad 500C w 80mm Planar f2,8 -Bergger Pancro 400 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

For me, this location has some personal value. My grandfather used to work in this place as a lorry-driver for many years, and when walking around, I can still hear his voice takling about all the interesting and struggle some days they had at work in this old sawmill. What was important for me in this outing, was to capture the mood of the place in regards to its history and how it is a symbol of a very decentralized way of structuring agriculture. And maybe most important, how we still have some remains of a very active workplace in a very smack little settlement.

Remains from the Log-driving on Mjøsa by Biri Bruk – Hasselblad 500C w 80mm Planar f2,8 -Bergger Pancro 400 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

I hope you enjoyed reading this entry, and that you can catch the mood I am trying to convey through them. I would also love hearing your thoughts about Bergger Pancro400 and if you have different or supporting experiences.

Out walking with Fuji C200

A little while back, I bought some rolls of Fujifilm C200 colour negative film. A consumer film I remember very well to have used as a photo-interested teenager. Back then I had a Nikon F60, a camera that sadly has stopped working and that is too expensive to have repaired. I upgraded it with a Nikon F80 after it died. When I tried C200 again, I was excited to see how well this film actually performs, even today in 2021. On my first tryout I shot it at 160 just to be sure that I biased towards over-exposure and not under-exposure. I realized that I lost some shadows at 200, and I decided to go out once again the other day, but this time, I shot it at ISO 100. One stop over-exposure. I was a bit nervous about this tactic as I don’t know the films characteristics that well. I was afraid I would get the very «washed out» colours you get when you over-expose Fuji-films too much, but I needn’t worry.

My chosen camera for this outing, was the Canon T70. A camera that I find to have a very good light-meter and aperture-priority setting. Since I was out walking and scouting for possible locations, I shot it using aperture-priority. The camera is manual focus and you can set your aperture, so this program gives med decent control over my exposures even if I am not controlling the shutter-speeds myself.

An iPhone snap of the Canon T70. When this image was taken it was on frame 24.

Over-exposing colour negative film is normally not an issue. The dynamic range is made to deal well with over-exposure and you get more details in the shadows. Exactly what I wanted for this outing. My location this time is Steinsodden, a little islet that is accessible by foot in spring-time when the water in the lake is low. Once the snow-melt in the mountains pick up and reach the big lakes, this islet is inaccessible without either using a boat or getting wet. The name of the Islet is «Steinsholmen» or «Steinsborga» as the locals say. It is home to the ruins of a medieval castle that you can read more about if you google «Mjøskastellet». The ruins are protected, and when I was there id didn’t see any reasons to photograph it, as some moron has figured out that putting up barrier-tape around was a marvelous idea. It is just ugly and dis-respectful to the historic site and I guess the medieval king who got it built will haunt this moron forever! (At least I hope)

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But.. No-one reads this blog for my thoughts about barrier-tape in nature, you want to see my images:

The path – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8. f8 – Fujifilm C200@100 Tetenal C41

The first image I am going to show here, is this lovely image of the path leading towards the islet. I just love all the leading lines giving this image the depth it has, and I also love seeing that I have retained so much shadow-detail with my process of over-exposing. I was a bit concerned as the day was very sunny, but not even the sky in the background is completely «blown out». Also, with my Epson v600 scanner, this film is very easy to scan. I am having trouble getting good scans of 35mm Ektar, but the C200 really is a star.

Some nice rocks – Canon T70 w 50mm Canon f1,8 – Fujifilm C200@100 – Tetenal C41

I really love the way this image turned out. I cannot remember whether this image was taken at f4 or f5,6, but it gives a very nice focus area, and a very smooth and sift background. It is so nice that the snow is melting and that I once again can take these nature-detail images that I love looking for. I have not corrected this image for sharpness or haze, but I have tinted the colours slightly, as they were a tad too green for my liking.

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The last one that I will show in this post, is a shot at your famous f11. The main setting of the landscape photographer. It is an early afternoon view over the lake and the weather was indeed very sunny and harsh. Even so, I see that the film coped very well with the over-exposure and I am very pleased with how it turned out.

The view – Canon T70 w50mm Canon f1,8. -Fujifilm C200@100 – Tetenal C41

I am actually surprised how well this film works and considering its price, it is quite good value for money. I might very well be shooting it again soon.

Old Wood

One of my favorite subjects for my photography is driftwood and other types of old wood, such as dry tree-roots or fallen branches that has been lying around for a while and gotten touched and greyed by the elements. To me, this represents a strength and a a token of persistence shown by nature. Yesterday, I was out very early in the morning, before sunrise with just the colours trying to capture them with my Hasselblad. Once my roll of KODAK Ektar was filled, I broke out my Olympus OM-1 with its incredible 50mm Zuiko lens and a roll of Kodak Tri-X in search of some driftwood.

Just a little sneak-in from the Hasselblad because I absolutely love this image – Hasselblad 500C – Planar 80mm f2,8 – KODAK Ektar

My location for the morning was Husodden in Søndre Land. A secluded little headland in the lake Randsfjorden, home to amazing sunrise-light and a wide selection of birds and forest colours in the summer. It is also the home of a little air-strip used by the local flying enthusiasts. I didn’t meet any of them this morning, but I made sure not to be in their way if they were coming.

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After sunrise, but when the light was still rather bleak, I got soft and nice contrasts, but seeing the conditions become more and more contrasty, I decided to shoot tie Tri-X at 200 instead of 400. The only filter on the lens was a Hoya UV-filter, that I find to be helpful on this lens. Although it is supposed to be Multi-coated, I have found it to react somewhat with haze if used without. (Could be anything else as well, I am no lens expert)

Details in the old bark – Olympus OM-1 – 50mm Zuiko f1,8 – Kodak Tri-X @ 200 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

It never ceases to fascinate me how incredibly nice the textures in old wood can be. The image above here was taken of a very small detail on a bigger log, but really shows the worn details in that old bark and how incredibly beautiful that is if you isolate it like this. I also thin that pulling the film a stop was the correct choice for this occasion, as it gave me the opportunities to shoot wider apertures such as this f2,8 with the shutter speed 1/250th. I don’t trust the Olympus at 1/1000th after having some uneven exposures with that shutter-speed. Also, I do appreciate the extra shadow detail, but I don’t think that would have been an issue with Tri-X at this shot anyway.

For development, I chose to go with Adox Atomal 49. A developer I have used a lot the last months. I bought it after having some «bad» experiences with my usual Kodak X-tol where it didn’t mix properly (two batches) and I was curious about trying something new. Ive found Atomal to be a brilliant match with many of the films I use, especially Tri-X and FP4 plus, but also HP5 plus and Fomapan 100. It gives me very fine grain and seems to give very nice grey-tones and full film speed. Trouble is, it is somewhat cumbersome to mix and consists of three bags of powder rather than two. It has also «coloured» my 5L-container red and I will have to get a new jug for the next batch.

This old log – Olympus OM-1 – 50mm Zuiko f1,8 – Kodak Tri-X @ 200 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

The image above is taken at f 5,6 and shutter speed 1/125. I just love the lines and how it almost seems charred in the dark-area to the right bottom. The balance in this image is very soothing I find, and it really shows why I find the Olympus to be my favorite 35mm Camera.

Since I was at an airfield – Olympus OM-1 – 50mm Zuiko f1,8 – Kodak Tri-X @ 200 – Adox Atomal 49 1+1

I shot 36 images of drift-wood in different ways and I only included my top-picks here. However, on my way back to the car, I spotted the wind-indicatorthingie (whatever it is called) and decided that I would attempt a 37th frame. I find that the «last image» don’t always come out, but I figured it was worth giving it a shot. I think this was f8, but it did not take any notes about this shot.

Scouting a location and shooting slow film

Today I was out and about with one of my lovely analog cameras again looking for locations for some early-morning sunrise photo trips. I came across this lovely location called «Husodden» not too far away from where I live. Being sensible and staying local is an important part of the world we currently live in. While I was walking around Husodden to shout for possible locations, I did some photographs with the Olympus OM-1 and a roll of Rollei RPX25. I metered it at around ISO 18 (My light meter goes to ISO25, so I opened the aperture slightly more) and shot with an orange filter to get the popping effect in the sky and boost the contrasts a bit.

Randsfjorden, the lake, was still frozen and it became a white carpet in many of my images, and gave some extra contrast as well.

Sky-pop over Randsfjorden – Olympus OM-1 Rollei RPX25@18 Kodak HC110 Dil-B

I tried to use the remainders of the snow as a lead-in line in many of my images, and I aimed for a very large separation between snow and sky. In retrospect, some of these images would have benefited more from being shot with a graduated filter rather than a fill orange one.

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I decided to develop the film with «an old friend». Kodak HC110. I have not used this developer for a very long time, but there was something about the shots I took today, that made me bring out the golden syrup and mix Dilution B. HC110 used to be my favorite developer and, it is very economical and gives really nice greys. Also, there is something about it that I just like. I don’t really know what it is, but there is something about using that thick concentrate and stirring it properly that really wakes the «geek» in me.

A quick and pleasant day out for me today, and I am really looking forward to visiting this location again at some point in the near future. Both for woodland detail work and for early morning sunrise-shots.

Eight frames of Retro 400s

On a foggy, snowy day a short while ago, I shot about half a roll of Rollei Retro 400s with my Olympus OM-1, aiming at capturing the hard contrasts of the really nasty weathered day. I cut the outing short because it got very difficult and nasty to work in the wet and snowy gale. I cut the film out of the camera, and saved the rest for another day. That day came, and I put it into my Canon T70 and went to a local church that I find very interesting to shoot.

Because of the conditions on this particular day, I chose to overexpose the film by one stop to 200, and shave off 20% of the development time. Basically a one stop pull. This would give me more shadow-detail and give me more to play on with the apertures on a bright afternoon in the snow. I never got to use that last point, as it turned out that the total number of frames left on the film was EIGHT.

Aas church on a bright afternoon – Canon T70 – Rollei Retro 400s – Foma Fomadon Excel 1+0 7m30s

My negatives were more contrasty than I thought they would be, so I am very happy that I pulled the film one stop for this shoot. I mainly shot at f11 and f8 for this outing, and I have to say that I think the little 50mm Canon Lens performs rather well. For a standard kit-lens it is decently sharp and helps me capture the moods I want. I have, however, seen some diffraction on f22, and I avoid that aperture when using this camera.

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The aperture-priority setting on the Canon seems to work very well. Even on these shots, where the sky was very bright, I managed to retain decent detail in the sky, showing the cloud-formations etc, without using any filters.

A naked graveyard tree – Canon T70 – Rollei Retro 400s – Foma Fomadon Excel 1+0 7m30s

I also have a hard time walking past an interesting looking trees, and I saw one at this grave yard by the fence by some graves. Because of the deep snow, I was not able to study the tree and identify what type of tree it was, but it made for a really lovely composition. I shot it from two different distances because I was uncertain which one that would be the most efficient. I will include both here.

The same tree further away – Canon T70 – Rollei Retro 400s – Foma Fomadon Excel 1+0 7m30s

I also attempted a cool shot of the entry area of the church, but I am not very pleased with how it turned out. I find that it is a rather «bland» composition and that it does not either emphasis the contrast nor the shapes of the church in the way I imagined it would. This would probably have worked better if shot at box-speed.

Not very pleased with this one – Canon T70 – Rollei Retro 400s – Foma Fomadon Excel 1+0 7m30s

Playing with muted colours

And somewhat exhausted C41 chemistry

A few days ago, the weather and conditions were perfect for a little afternoon outing, and really worked set itself up for some lovely muted colours. Since I had some C41 chemistry and a few rolls of different colour films, I decided to go for Kodak ProImage 100 and the Canon T70.

I wanted to shoot hand-held, and I wanted a film that is gentle with the colours, but not either over, nor under-saturated. As it later turned out, my C41 chemistry is probably shot. The scans I got had a severe cyan-green cast, and since the C41 mix is three months old, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a dying blix.

I chose to drive up to an old outdoor-museum, a museum with an old, lovely yellow farm-buildingand some old houses. The area is accessible for everyone at any time, and walking around there is very relaxing, since there rarely are too many people around.

The break point of a fallen branch – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1.8 FD – Kodak ProImage100 (somewhat colour corrected)

Outside the main farm building, there was evidence of a snowy winter with heavy and mild snow. Big branches had broken off the tree outside the main building and I took the chance of photographing them, as they are likely to soon be removed when the snow melts. The broken branches made for some nice compositions in themselves, but they also «framed» some other nice elements, such as wilted autumn leaves, that have been buried by the snow over a long winter.

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A wilted maple leaf – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1.8 FD – Kodak ProImage100 (somewhat colour corrected)

This time with the Canon, I went for images demanding wider apertures. The last time I used the camera was a very bright day, and I mainly shot f11 and occasionally f8. This time, my narrowest aperture was f4, and in most cases, the lens seems to perform very well: The images have a sharp and defined focus, and creates a soft bokeh that is very pleasant to the eye. There are no evidence of any vignetting or other issues with the lens at these apertures. But I have found it to have some diffraction when used at f22 (not in this outing obviously), and I will avoid that in the future.

Muted colours – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1.8 FD – Kodak ProImage100 (somewhat colour corrected)

Capturing snow and fog

Yet again, the persistent winter of 2021 struck back at us with all its wreath. After a few weeks of impeccable weather and a really pleasant spring mood, we were once again confronted with the face of King Winter. When I went out yesterday, it was blowing a gale and the snow flew thick in the air. Thicker than horse-flies at a swamp in the summer. The weather was bland and uninspiring and being out there was nasty and uncomfortable. Yet, I had something in mind.

I wanted to capture the foggy and snowy day with a gritty and grainy mood. I chose to go for a BW film. The Rollei Retro 400s, which is a film I have used a bit before and that I find to suit my way of shooting very well. My thinking was that the 400 ISO film would give me just the right amount of grain and contrast, as well as giving me the opportunity to shoot hand-held, which is very handy in windy conditions, where camera-shake due to wind is a real danger, even with a sturdy tripod.

A fallen branch – Olympus OM-1 w 50mm Zuiko f1,8 – Rollei Retro 400s – Rodinal 1+100

I shot about half a roll of film, focussing on making quick compositions around branches that, over the winter with heavy snow, has broken off bigger trees. The foggy and snowy conditions makes these branches stand out as interesting shapes, and shows them for the beauty they are. WIth the added grain from the film and the additional grain and contrast from the use of Rodinal 1+100 Semi-Stand gave that somewhat “raw” look I was going for.

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The camera I chose to use, was my brilliant Olympus OM-1. This is a camera I trust at all shutter-speeds and that I know will work regardless of conditions. However, I noticed two issues on this particular outing. first and foremost, there was a little piece of dust that obstructed my view through the viewfinder. I used it as it was when out shooting, because I did not want to take the lens off in the middle of the show-storm. When I took the lens off, there was a little piece of dust on the focussing glass. How this ended up there is unknown to me, I have not taken the lens off this camera for months, and it has not been there before.

It also seems to give uneven exposures at the highest shutter-speed 1/1000th, I even got a blank frame that I know was shot with this shutter-speed. This has also never happened to me before, and I will keep an eye on this in better conditions.

All in all, I got the images I wanted, and all in the matter of around 15 minutes in the snowy gale. Thank you for following and reading, I hope you enjoy my images.

*Olympus OM-1 w 50mm Zuiko f1,8 – Rollei Retro 400s – Rodinal 1+100*

The scent of spring

Nothing fills me with such joy and happiness as the day when I for the first time see grass being liberated from the firm fist of the winter-snow. Today was that day, and I immediately decided to go shooting. I loaded the Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex with a roll of Ilford FP4 plus, and went down to Kråkvika by Hov. A location where spring is often present early. And sure enough, there were a lot of spots and spaces where the snow was melted away, leaving the lifeless brownish colour of grass that has been buried for a while under the snowy carpet. The colours weren’t really spectacular, hence the choice of black and white-film.

To me, the Ikoflex is maybe one of the cameras that inspires me the most. There is something about the sensation of using something so brilliantly engineered and with a lens that sharp in a very light and beautiful box that appeals to me. I haven’t used it for a while because the winter was exceptionally cold this year, and I don’t think the Ikoflex would be too fond of the cold weather. Also, my Ikoflex has developed misfiring on lower shutter speeds, so I tend to keep it at 1/100th or 1/300th, which could be too short shutter speeds for winter-time. Whether I will have it repaired remains to be decided, but for my current use, the Ikoflex works well.

Spring landscape with melting snow – Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex – Ilford FP4plus – Adox Atomal 49

I find that filling the roll and finding the right compositions, is a very easy task with the Ikoflex. The inspiration comes naturally when using it, unlike the Zeiss Ikon Nettar, which I find that I can get bored when using. I have heard a lot said in negative ways about the Ikoflex and it being like an «over protective mother» or «insanely difficult and complicated to load», but I cannot understand how any of these can be true. If you read the manual, which I know is a very uncommon thing for people to do today, you will very easily understand that the advance wheel will turn freely when it reaches frame nr 12, and that you have to manually reset it for frame 1. Not at all difficult. I have a video on Youtube showing how it is done.

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*I am a rock – Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex – Ilford FP4plus – Adox Atomal 49*

Walking around on a day where the snow is melting and the landscape comes back into sight, makes you notice objects or shapes that would normally either be removed or invisible in the greens and lush landscapes. There is something «rough and contrasty» about these snow-melting days that really appeals to my way of composing.

*An object – Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex – Ilford FP4plus – Adox Atomal 49*

All in all, I had a very joyful little day out in the sun and I enjoyed every minute of shooting with the Ikoflex again. It is such an amazing little camera and the images really speak for themselves.

*Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex – Ilford FP4plus – Adox Atomal 49*

Going Panoramic in the fog

I have never worked with any kind of panoramic equipment before. I have held a Hasselblad X-pan in my hand at one point, but I never tried shooting it. Even so, panorama photography is interesting, and I have wanted to give it a proper try. Not that I will really try it properly in this entry, but I recently bought some very cheap 3D-printed (I guess) plastic parts off eBay. Specifically, the small plastic parts that you use for using 35mm film in your medium format cameras. To be honest, I didn’t really expect much results from this. My anticipation was the following:

The film will not be kept dark enough after exposure and will be fogged.
The film might not be kept flat enough in the camera.
Composing the image will be difficult not having a proper viewfinder for it.
Unknown amount of images pr film and difficult to know how far to wind.

The plastic-stuff and a canister of film. Not the one I used for this test.

I decided to give it a try in my Zeiss Ikon Nettar. This because it is the only MF camera I have where the film is inserted in the horisontal direction, allowing me to easily shoot landscape without turning my camera into portrait. I decided to go for a roll of Ilford Delta 400 and go for a little walk while the fog was lifting over the lake. I was looking for wide compositions, which was a new experience for me, and I felt that I often reverted back to looking for squares or normal rectangles rather than the super wide compositions that this line-up would allow for.

Didn’t quite nail it with this one. See the light leaks that I got for most of the shots on the roll. Luckily not too bad in this shot.

First of all, I can confirm the first part of my assumption. Using this system, with the 3D-printed parts, will give you severe light leaks between the shots. I know for a fact that it is not the light seals acting up, because I used black tape to ensure no light-leaks would come from that area.

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For the most part, I think that the film stayed flat in the camera, and that the adapter kept it reasonably well aligned throughout the roll. I did; however, notice that the film was not as «in the middle» of the viewfinder as I had thought, and I shot a few of the frames «too high» losing parts of my intended compositions.

Over the rocks – Zeiss Ikon Nettar, Ilford Delta 400 Adox Atomal 49 Stock

Even though I like some of these images and the way they look and how they turned out, I am not certain I would use this adaptor system a lot. I will very likely do some more experiments with it and try it out at different occasions, and maybe I am luckier with my next rounds and avoid some light leaks. I find the system to be functional for shooting only one frame at a time. This would mean a lot of «cutting the film out of the camera» and «developing fragments of a roll». Not that I mind doing that, but it is a hassle.

*Lifting fog – Zeiss Ikon Nettar, Ilford Delta 400 Adox Atomal 49 Stock*

Church photography and Fujifilm C200

One of my preferred subjects for winter photography is churches. I find them to be inspiring and they always spark some kind of interest in my photographic work. I will elaborate this somewhat in this entry.

On a recent outing, I visited two very beautiful and different churches along with my new acquisition, the Canon T70 and a roll of Fujifilm C200. This film is a consumer level colour film that I tended to prefer using back in the day, around 2004 when I was given my first SLR camera, an Nikon F60. This combination, the F60 and the Fujifilm C200 (or its equivalent at the time) was what sparked my interest in photography. Sadly, out of pure vanity and neglectance, I haven’t used this for a very long time, but when I saw a three-pack of C200 at a discontinuation sale at a “everything shop”, I bought it and suddenly remembered why I loved using this film. It really has some “zing” to it that I really like.

The most spectacular of the churches I visited on this outing, was Skute kirke, near Hov in Søndre Land. Finished in 1915, it sought to be a “modern” take on the Norwegian Stave churches, and the architect Ole Stein was clearly both inspired by Art Nouveau and Stave churches when drawing this church. It was named after one of the neighbouring farmers, Peder Skute, who gave land for the construction under two conditions. All locals should be given the right to a free burial, and the graves should never be removed. This promise has been kept alive until this day.

Side door at Skute church – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8 FD lens. Fujifilm C200@160

To me, Skute is one of the locations I always return to for church photography. It is such a beautiful and special building that I find to inspire my photography because of its beautiful lobster red colour and its colourful details in doors and ornaments. This is the first time I have been here in winter time, and if possible, the snow made it even more striking.

Their prominence and “standing out” of the environment is one of the reasons I like shooting churches. They are built to be proper landmarks and people tend to be very proud of their church and something they talk proudly of when asked. Often, when I am working around churches with my cameras, I get to speak to locals and employees and am often granted access to the inside as well. Sadly, I didn’t meet anyone at this trip to Skute, and was not able to photograph the incredible Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau inspired interior, but I met a local lighting a candle on a grave, who welcomed me and was very happy to see someone photographing the church he was so proud of.

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Another reason why I tend to shoot churches in winter time is accessibility. In the Norwegian winter, the amount of snow makes your options for locations limited to where it is in some way prepared for people to move about. The area around a church is always plowed and there are always some paths around the graveyards to walk on while taking your photos. Churches also provide some contrast and colour in an otherwise quite uninspiring and monochromatic winter landscape. Making them ideal for photography.

*Scenes from Skute church – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8 FD lens. Fujifilm C200@160*

Earlier on the day I visited the much older and more traditional Fluberg Kirke. About 25 minutes away from Skute, this is another church that I tend to revisit. Working around Fluberg is great for detail shots and the lovely aerial view over the lake Randsfjorden with its closest settlements Fluberg and Odnes. This is also just a few minutes walk from Meierilandet, where I did my Expired roll of Mitsubishi MX-III 400, and to get to Skute, you cross the bridge you see in that entry,

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Fluberg Kirke was built consecrated in 1703, but its wind flag says 1699 indicating the year it the land was consecrated. At its time, Fluberg was built to be the main church of its are, and hence in the most exquisite way imaginably at the time including three galleries seating in total 450 people for a sermon.

*Main gate from Fluberg church – Canon T70 w Canon 50mm f1,8 FD lens. Fujifilm C200@160*

On this outing, I looked at shooting details around the church rather than aerial shots of a white church in white snow, and I must say that I am becoming very fond of the Canon T70 camera. This is definitely a camera I will be using more in the future. I will probably extend my collection of lenses suiting it to contain a wide-angle and a short tele-foto lens in addition to the 50mm.

Also, using the C200 again was a fun experience. This time I chose to set the camera light meter to ISO160, on third of a stop over exposure, to make sure the camera would bias that way if hesitating. I find that this works very well for what I wanted to achieve with this shoot. Even though there are better, sharper, finer grained and in general more flexible, but for its price, C200 is a very good choice and alternative.