Nikon 18-135mm

8.15 am on 16 August 2010. Challenging, but not impossible, to get much improvement of a photograph which was never anything other than a JPEG. I have given it more exposure and reduced the contrast, as well as tackling lens distortion for which the Nikon 18-135mm was notorious. The last few occasions I was here the low parapet had been augmented by a higher chestnut paling fence while official discussions took place about a more permanent safety barrier. I don't know why this step is perceived as necessary; maybe there have been incursions, accidents, or worse. Maybe the train drivers are unnerved by photographers. I wouldn't blame them if they were, though none of them ever gesticulated or sounded their horn at me. However, I always stayed on the safe side of the wall. Others may have trespassed. It's easy enough to vault over. This section of the line was planned for electrification but the project was stopped part way through because of cost overruns. The new trains had therefore to be capable of generating their own electricity from Chippenham to Bristol. That rather defeats the objective of improved efficiency provided by using entirely overhead power. UK infrastructure projects seldom run smoothly and to budget. So now the 125 sets have been allocated elsewhere, I believe they can be seen between South Wales and Cornwall. Their replacements were built abroad. The British were pioneers of railways but less than 200 years later they cannot build their own trains. It is intolerable and a national disgrace.

8.15 am on 16 August 2010.

Michael Forsyth believes that Laura Place is ‘one of the most impressive of all Neoclassical urban set pieces in Britain’. It consists of four blocks of houses around an irregular quadrangle at the end of Pulteney Bridge and was built by Thomas Baldwin and John Eveleigh between 1788 and 1794. The quadrangle is named after Henrietta Laura Pulteney, daughter of Sir William Johnstone Pulteney and Frances Johnstone Pulteney. The fountain at the center of the quadrangle was not part of the original plan; it was added in the late 19th century. After completion of the main street in 1877 local residents petitioned and successfully raised significant funds to build a grand column. However, as construction of the column started, the residents realised that the addition would tower over the area (it would be half as high again than the houses), and so they then petitioned for it to be cancelled. After some negotiations, the column was pulled down and the much smaller fountain added instead.

One summer. Nikon D90 + 18-135mm Nikkor.

AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED on a Nikon D90.

AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens at 26mm on a Nikon D90. That lens is truly sharp. Significant editing in several applications and a massive crop, the latter turning this into a very small file. Yet it has been instructive in several ways, especially in opening up possibilities for future projects.

Funicular railway. Nikon D90 + 18-135mm Nikkor.

Bridgnorth, Severn Valley Railway. Nikon D90 and 18-135mm lens. Cropped square.

Nikon D50 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens.

Nikon D50 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens.

Nikon D50 + AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens.

AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens on a Nikon D50. 95mm (35 mm equivalent: 142mm)

City of Bath, Somerset. There are so many geometric possibilities for people to mimic but sensibly the woman has opted for the simple isosceles triangle. Nikon D50 + AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens. 40mm (35 mm equivalent: 60mm)

I was photographing Pulteney Bridge when this person unexpectedly emerged from the coffee shop, This is a tiny selection from the original photograph rendered in subdued monochrome tones. Photographed in 2010 using a Nikon D50 and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens.

Shot with an AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED on a Nikon D90. 66mm (35 mm equivalent: 99mm)

Nikon D90 + Nikkor 18-135mm lens. 112 mm (35 mm equivalent: 168 mm)

A modest nod to Henri Cartier-Bresson. This is Avebury, England 2010. Not in the same league as Juvisy, France 1938. But worth a try nonetheless. Nikon D90 + Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens. 90mm (35 mm equivalent: 135mm)

Nikon D90 and 18-135mm lens.