Jonathan Gazeley Photography

31/01/2024

Lake Lucerne, and the Alps in the distance

10/10/2023

Just in case anyone is wondering what I’ve got in the camera cabinet these days. It’s getting a bit cosy in there!

12/08/2023

I’ve just finished making this monorail camera from reclaimed wood and brass. It’s based on some freely available plans by Jon Grepstad and has taken me a couple of months in spare time here and there.

The wood is meranti (aka Indonesian mahogany) and was salvaged from some sash window frames that were being discarded. I bought the brass in sheets and made the parts myself - my first time doing any metalwork. I ordered the bellows to be custom made because I don’t have the patience for pleating leather, and the lens was taken from a broken camera. It’s a Bausch & Lomb Rapid Rectilinear in a Kodak shutter, dated 1897. I finished the wood with Danish oil but I think it could do with an extra polish with some beeswax to bring out the sheen.

The camera has a full set of movements/adjustments for changing the focal plane and/or perspective, which is particularly useful for architectural photography. It’s a 5x4” large format camera with a spring back which takes regular sheet film holders.

There will be some photos from the camera soon, but no sooner had I set the camera up for these photos, the heavens opened and it poured with rain, so I quickly packed the camera away again!

29/06/2023

It’s taken me a month to process the film I shot at the Enfield Pageant of Motoring, but here are my favourites. They’re all Jaguar saloons (begrudgingly, with some wearing the Daimler badge 😉)

16/06/2022

I’m just filling in Ilford’s survey. Think they need more options for how many film cameras I own! 🤭

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2022film

04/06/2022

I’ve fancied a FED/ФЭД camera for ages, but I never saw one for a price I wanted to pay. These were made in Kharkiv, modern day Ukraine 🇺🇦 between 1964-1980, and with Ukraine being on everyone’s mind for obvious reasons, I renewed my search.

This week I found these two FED-4 cameras (identical except for the lettering) and an earlier FED-2. All appear to be in working order, albeit dirty.

The FED-4 is a more advanced camera with a selenium light meter, but is also larger and heavier.

Hopefully soon I’ll get enough time to clean these up and get the pretty FED-2 loaded with film 🎞

20/03/2022

22/02/2022

And the award for best-named in goes to…

16/02/2022

Out making negatives with the baby Mamiya in the Alps

24/12/2021

Midnight mass in a very foggy Crediton

14/09/2021

As part of our bicentenary celebrations this weekend, the Choir posed for a photo in the style of the photos going back a century, which were on display in the church. Here's to the next 200 years!

05/09/2021