On a recent evening walk along the East River waterfront, I spotted a colorful group of sea kayakers beating their way back upstream from an outing in New York Harbor. I had a Nikon FE with me, acquired recently with a fast prime lens for about $240, loaded with Fujicolor 400. Although wishing that I’d also packed the excellent Nikkor H 85mm f1.8 telephoto ($145 more), I made do with the wider perspective of the 50mm f/1.4, firing off a number of frames as the group passed by. As the line of kayaks stretched in front of the towers of lower Manhattan, gilded by the sunset, I felt grateful for the camera and for the comfort of the FE’s aperture-priority autoexposure.
As regular readers of this forum will know, I’ve spent much of the current year shooting black and white film in medium and large format cameras, toiling in the darkroom to wrestle just the right palette of grays from the negatives they produced. Compared to those effortful prints, making this photograph was simplicity itself: almost sinful in its ease.
At the very least, this picture reminds me to not always take things so seriously: to shoot color film in addition to black and white; to allow a pro lab to develop and scan the negatives from time to time; to make room for the simple and the pretty. As for the FE—a camera I’ve been using recently with a growing set of vintage lenses—I look forward to making it part of my regular rotation as summer winds down, perhaps returning here for a fuller review in the future.
Thanks for having a look.
FEATURED IMAGE: Kayaks on the East River, August 2026. Nikon FE, Nikkor 50 mm f/1.4, Fujicolor 400 rated at 200, professionally developed and scanned at Photo Life, Brooklyn.
You can see more of my photos at leica1933.com
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Walter Reumkens on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
A really lovely shot; I like the colours of the Fujicolor 400 too. The overexposure does make the colours look a bit pastel-like. Is the Fujicolor 400 now the same as the Kodak Ultramax 400? Does the packet say ‘Made in the USA’ or ‘Made in Japan’?
Thanks for the article, and all the best, David!
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Gary Smith on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Nice color David. I should put some film in the FE...
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Geoff Chaplin on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Your shot reminded me I had a interview in one of those buildings many years ago (failed).
Comment posted: 21/09/2026
Scott Ferguson on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 22/09/2026
I love this shot -- the energy and sense of motion of the colorful boats with a bit of chop on the East River, and the lovely light reflecting off the water and the buildings of Manhattan. It's fun and free, and I think it's great how that mirrors the shooting experience for you as contrasted with your more rigorous styles of shooting on different formats and doing the lab work and printing at home. I'll be very interest to hear your thoughts on the more modestly price glass that goes with the FE. I recently picked up a 1950's Canon 50mm 1.4 that was quite reasonable for a quality 1.4 lens, because I wanted a fast LTM lens to go with my recently acquired Leica ii. I haven't gotten anything back from the lab yet, but I'll be excited to see.
Thanks for sharing!
s
Comment posted: 22/09/2026
André Leite Coelho on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 25/09/2026
The composition of your photograph strikes me as very symmetrical yet dynamic. The sea, as a horizontal line just below the middle of the frame, is confronted by the many brief diagonals of the kayakers. Their saturated colors create a nice contrast with the rest of the image, which is pastel, like the work of Luigi Ghirri. Congratulations on the image, and thanks for sharing it!
Comment posted: 25/09/2026
Omar Tibi on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 27/09/2026
There's something to be said about found photography. Looking at my own archives, I'd say a lot of my favorite shots are ones that I stumbled upon, in the right place at the right time, as opposed to shots that I had been planning out ahead of time. Ultimately it comes down to being there, to quote Wegee!
Also, I want to echo what you said about not taking it too seriously. Photography is art and art is for our self expression, in whatever way we wish to do so. I've been stressing out lately about whether my photos have enough "meaning" to them, but perhaps it doesn't really matter, so as long as I enjoy it.
Always great to see your work David and looking forward to seeing more!
Comment posted: 27/09/2026
Ricardo Yamamoto on Just a Simple Picture: A One Shot Story
Comment posted: 02/10/2026
Comment posted: 02/10/2026