Video Library

Photographing the Vintners Velo Team on their NC500 Scottish Cycling Tour, June 2023. Cycling the North Coast 500 in Scotland is an incredible adventure that takes you through some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. The NC500 is a scenic route that covers approximately 500 miles (800 km) around the northern coastline of Scotland, starting and ending in Inverness.  Scotland is renowned for its stunning landscapes, and the NC500 showcases the best of them. From the dramatic cliffs and golden beaches of the North Coast to the majestic mountains of the Highlands, surrounded by natural beauty throughout the journey. The NC500 takes you through diverse terrains and breathtaking scenery, including stunning coastlines, rugged mountains, rolling hills, and charming villages.  The highlight for me was the Bealach na Bà mountain pass, rising from sea level to 2,054 ft (626m) in about 3.7miles (6km), the greatest ascent of any road climb in the UK. I set out to capture the Cyclist "in the landscape", giving a sense of scale and grandeur of this fabulous part of the world.

Photographing with a Leica Q2 on the Ventners Velo NC500 Cycle Tour in Scotland. Photographing the Vintners Velo Team on their NC500 Scottish Cycling Tour, June 2023. Along with my Hasselblad X1DII, Nikon 850 and 35mm Film Cameras I also brought with me for the first time my new Leica Q2. I want to try this out as a quick spontaneous stills shooting camera along with putting its video capabilities to use. All in all it lived up to the part, fast and easy to use with some great results. I did not feel that limited by its fixed 28mm lens (which is lovely), mind you I have plenty of other cameras and lenses to fall back on if needed. Picture quality is great, not quite as good or has the dynamic range of the Hasselblad, but that's a little unfair to compare it against Medium Formate. Although I don't claim to be a Videographer I did enjoy using it to take 4K clips, however a bit disappointed with the stabilisation, not as good as I thought it may be. Next time I will use a gimbal attachment to get cleaner and more stable result. For me the Leica Q2 fits in well with my mixed family of cameras, its compact, light weight and with its fixed lens you work with what you have, rather having a bag full of other lenses you may or not use. I think this will become the camera that I have hanging around my neck day to day, and I think it will make me take more photo, which is a good thing! However, if I want to do something a bit special then the Hasselblad would still be my go to camera.

A new arrival on the wall. A Black & White Fine Art Framed Photo Print shot on 35mm b&w film with a 44 year old Nikon FM2 and with a new 58mm Voigtlander lens attached. See more Photographic Art at - www.openphoto-studio.com

Chris Page takes three Vintage 35mm Film Cameras out to the Marshlands of Kent for a black & white film shoot. He’s using a 1969 Cosmic 35 and an early 70’s Zenit B and Zenit E. Look out for results in a follow-up post and for other videos in this series. These will be featuring not only cameras, but also film processing and digitising of negatives for on-screen editing.

Photographer Chris Page photographing Beachy Head Lighthouse. See more at www.openphoto-studio.com

Photographer Chris Page photographing the Outer Banks, North Carolina. See more at www.openphoto-studio.com

Photographer Chris Page photographing the North West of Scotland. See more at www.openphoto-studio.com

Photographer Chris Page photographing the Linville Falls in the Blue Ridge Mounts, North Carolina. See more at www.openphoto-studio.com