"...how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!"
Hamlet said that, and the quote sort of leapt into my mind when I saw a marble bust of the Duke of Wellington at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The way the spotlight fell across his face, the cold marble nobility - there was something of the paragon, the angel about him. Sounds a bit like guff I know, there was nothing angelic about Wellington despite his cunning, his heroism and his amazing quipping powers. But still I thought it was a pretty amazing sculpture. Not bad for a guy who popularised a pair of rubber boots. Or something.
So I swung out my Yashica MAT 124G camera and started taking pictures. Of the twelve I shot six came out to my satisfaction. They looked rather epic and I was pleased to hear that the developer at the photo-lab was rather freaked out by them. They gave him the creeps. I guess they do rather look like creatures from Doctor Who, at that.
The last one in particular I can imagine little kids running past, screaming. All shots were taken on Fujifilm Velvia 100, wide open at f/3.5 and at between 1/8 and 1/15. Seems to work well handheld with spotlit subjects. What amazes me is how stunningly sharp the humble Yashica is wide-open. Some great engineering there.
