Premier Vintage

John Hooton

Premier Vintage

The second Nikon I owned with a trusty roll of Tri-X that I always used when shooting B/W. In 1971, much of the work with this camera went to The Evening Argus, the daily regional paper of Sussex, England. I used to shoot “space fillers” – anything of interest with a bit of a story summed up in a 50 word caption which I also wrote. The film was stuffed into a special orange ‘Press’ envelope and put on the next train to Brighton after I phoned the picture editor. I’ve still got quite a few of the old press cuttings but unfortunately none of the negatives.

Technical Details:

Camera: Nikon D3
Lens: Nikkor 85mm PC f/2.8D
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/250 sec at f/43
Flash: Nikon SB800, SB-R200×2
Flash Mode: TTL
Post Processing: Lightroom 2, Photoshop CS3

Main flash through opaque perspex sheet, and the other two either side of a Dome Studio Light Tent.

© 2008 John Hooton Photography

Premier Vintage belongs to the following groups:

Blast from the Past, Film Photography, Former DPF Members and Nostalgic Art and Photography Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters
Premier Vintage by John Hooton
Premier Vintage by John Hooton
  • LjMaxx

    LjMaxx

    Very cool John.. I do that now part tme.. About 10 round ups a month.. Only digital.. Great shot and an interesting tidbit shared.

  • John Hooton replied

    Good for you LJ, is that in colour or B/W? Thanks for commenting, it’s nice to know that it is working for you. ;-))

  • barkeypf

    barkeypf

    Nicely lit John. Sorry I could not help myself. I have never owned 3 flashes yet alone know how to set them up. This photo shure shows you know how to use them properly.

  • John Hooton replied

    Thanks Paul, I am usually a single umbrella man, but I thought I would try some table top lighting using Nikon’s wireless flash synchronisation. I like the colour balance, it is straight out of the camera.

  • midzing

    midzing

    fantastic shot,,, well done

  • John Hooton replied

    Thanks Wendy. It’s nice to remind oneself how we used to manage!

  • Nic Relton

    Nic Relton

    Camera porn! Very nice… I have one of these on my shelf. Dads old work horse.

  • John Hooton replied

    Cheers Nic – It may be porn to you but I was married to this one!

  • Hans Kawitzki

    Hans Kawitzki

    Great shot and great old camera

  • John Hooton replied

    Thanks Hans. The real test of all good things including photographs is time.

  • DonDavisUK

    DonDavisUK

    Great pic of an old camera and a stiring story to go with it. Perhaps you could get hold of the negatives in the Argus archives? Thanks for sharing. Don.

  • John Hooton replied

    Thank you neighbour. If they are there in the archives Don, I’ll leave them there – they are probably safer!

  • tayforth

    tayforth

    Nice shot. I like the contrast between the subject and the amazing technology Nikon now give us which you used to take it (CLS etc)

    Domhnall

  • John Hooton replied

    Thank you for an interesting comment Tayforth, you have made a very significant point there that I did not think of.

  • C J Hummel - Foxfire Gallery

    C J Hummel - ...

    Great shot, would not expect anything less from you.

    Evening Argus still exists, style and quality of editorial has changed, sadly not for the better.

  • John Hooton replied

    Thank you CJ. I was wondering if the Evening Argus was still around, I had a vague feeling it had closed. Thanks for putting me straight.

  • Kaimarie

    Kaimarie

    excellent shot, that looks like such a cool camera =)

  • John Hooton replied

    Thank you Kai-Marie. Although mechanical (except for the meter on this one), they were totally reliable. Always worked come rain or shine and never let me down.

  • Christian Hartung

    Christian Hartung

    good old nikon yeah the best going round

  • John Hooton replied

    Yep, tough, reliable and fast. That advance lever sat just right.

  • Shelly Hiebert

    Shelly Hiebert

    Thanks for always including the technical details John. This is an awesome shot and it is great to know how you set it up :)

  • John Hooton

    John Hooton

    Thanks Shelly. Nikon refer to ‘CLS’ or the rather grand title ‘Creative Lighting System’ meaning a few flash heads working together. The title is a slight stretch of the imagination, but they work well enough and being Nikon flash heads working with a Nikon camera, the colour balance is spot on. The two R200 I used are from a R1C1 outfit I bought on Ebay, with the intention of using it for macro next year.

  • Denis Molodkin

    Denis Molodkin

    Nice shot

  • John Hooton replied

    Thanks Denis, a classic photographers tool, that care of the props department, is probably appearing in an old movie near you!

  • Joanne Bradley

    Joanne Bradley

    Very cool shot and very interesting story to go with it!

  • John Hooton replied

    Thank you Joanne. I have just realised that I am the same vintage as the camera which is not very reassuring… oh well!

  • Jeannette Sheehy

    Jeannette Sheehy

    The Evening Argus! I used to live in Haywards Heath around 84-96 and that was my paper! I’ve probably seen your stuff?? Love this photo :)

  • John Hooton replied

    Thank you for your rallying comment Jeanette. My Argus days were a bit before then, 71-72, then I got married in ‘75 and had to get a ‘proper job’ so was outside photography by the 80’s. Now I am retired I am back!

  • Phillip Weyers

    Phillip Weyers

    Ahh… those were the days, beautiful stuff the Nikon F a true classic.

  • John Hooton replied

    Looks like you are holding a classic there yourself Phillip. What I started with aged 9, a 620 Kodak ‘Brownie’ if I’m right?

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