A Farewell to the Month of May, Bluebells and my Rolleiflex by Ibraar Hussain

August 21, 2015 film, Medium Format, memories, Rolleiflex 8

A Farewell to the Month of May, Bluebells and my Rolleiflex

By Ibraar Hussain

Hi Steve and Brandon,

Thought I’d share a few pictures with you which I took in May – a month I always love and look forward to as it’s when the weather is fantastic,  The tree’s have young leaves and everything is so bright and airy, and it’s a time when in some woods at home the English bluebells are in bloom.

I love this time of year and try to capture the Bluebells in all their glory as they carpet the clearings and patches of woodland bringing magic with them. They’re only fleeting though and after a couple of weeks they’re gone, not appearing again until the following Spring. I visited a few woods around Epping Forest, but the most amazing carpet was to be found in Wanstead park in East London which is a part of the Epping Forest. The Best time to capture these is at dawn or sunset when the sun is low and warm and illuminates these magnificent flowers and fills them with light, magic and drama.

I took my Rolleiflex 3.5F and a Rolleinar I and II close up lenses with a roll of Fuji NPH 400 Negative Film which has a wide Latitude/Dynamic range.
The Rolleinars are tricky as my eye sight isn’t the best at close up (need to get my eyes tested) and using a Waist level Finder while kneeling in bracken, brambles and stuff isn’t fun – But they’re great for portraits and head shots and give massive amounts of shallow depth in the photos when shot wide open.

I have just bought a Fuji TX-2 aka Hasselblad X-Pan II – a format I’ve been wanting to try for years, so my lovely Rolleiflex 3.5F complete with everything is having to be up for Sale to fund the purchase, and I think this was a fitting adieu to this legendary camera which I have used extensively the last few years and which has been with me to the Mountains of the Hindu kush, Karakoram and Himalaya.

One day I shall buy myself another, and for the time being my favourite Square Format photography will be performed with my Rolleiflex SLX II which I still have.

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8 Comments

  2. Hi guys
    The rolleiflex is now sold thanks to Steve’s buy and sell forum here!

    Thanks Huss!

    Dirk – do you have a link to your bluebell photos? Would love to see them!

    For 6×6 I still have my Rolleiflex SLX II Which has a nice Zeiss HFT Planar and I’ve a Polaroid back with it too!

    Looking forward to using the Fuji TX-2 – my only issue is with the TX-2/XPan viewfinder – yes it’s long and bright with bright frame lines but the lens and hood protrudes and occludes the view and is irritating – along with that annoying small black tab slap bang in the bottom centre of the frame – if I can get over this I may enjoy it as it’s very Contax G2 like – though i do prefer AF in a Rangefinder such as on G2 and Hexar AF and Fuji GA645 – rangefinder Manual focussing is irritating.

  3. Hi, Ibraar!

    I have a Mamiya C330 (6×6 format twin lens reflex)) with all seven lenses from 55mm to 250mm. I shot the same flowers in Belgium in the Hallerbos, at sunset, with also very beautiful results.

    I’ve got a Hasselblad Xpan and it’s, together with my Mamiya 7, my most fun camera.

    My personal opinion: If you’re not desperate for money, don’t sell the Rolleiflex. It and the Xpan are very different camera’s. 6×6 is beautiful. Also, I think, you won’t get much money for it.

    Dirk.

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