You Never Know What You Might Find…

We are antiquers, my wife and I.  Mostly in the fall and winter, and we’ll drive a bit to get to a good one.  Late this past winter we took a 90 minute drive to Woodstock, Ontario, the home of a massive antiques mall.  You never know what you might find in a good location.  My wife comes across all manner of goods – household, decorative items, jewelry, even the odd item of clothing.  Me, I come home mostly empty handed.  There’s something in the thrill of the hunt for me.  I do sometimes come across an old film camera or an ancient roll of film.  But as of late I hunt for something else.  Interesting photo opportunities.

Winters here in Southern Ontario Canada are growing milder every year.  It’s cold, damp and snow is coming much less frequently.  Finding interesting subject matter – at least out doors, is challenging.

Antiquing gives me photographic opportunities when the outdoors fails to inspire me.  I’ve taken to packing a 35mm SLR when we venture out.  The shots I took on this trip were with a Nikon FA loaded with Ilford HP5+ and pushed to ISO 3200 because of the dim interior lighting. HP5 is such a versatile film, particularly amenable to pushing with only marginal increase in grain and with some – welcome in this case, increased contrast.  Although the lighting was fairly dim inside the mall, the potential subjects and compositions were plentiful.

My lens choice that day was a Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5.  The lens came to me attached to a rather rough conditioned Nikon FE purchased a few years ago on Kijiji (something like Facebook Marketplace) for something less than $100. What a find that was!  The FE is long gone but the lens is surely a keeper.

Enjoy the photographs.  Enjoy your hobbies.  Maybe even combine photography and your other pastimes.  You never know.

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