Snow

Exploring with Ilford Delta 400 and the Nikon F6

For this roll, I loaded Ilford Delta 400 into my Nikon F6 and carried it across several locations in Chesapeake and Norfolk between December 28, 2024 and February 14, 2025. Delta 400 is one of my favorite black-and-white films because of its fine grain and wide tonal range, which make it a good fit for different subjects and lighting conditions.

Battlefield Park – Great Bridge

I caputured a couple of images at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens after changing film on my F6. From there I moved to Battlefield Park in Great Bridge, where the film’s tonal range really stood out. The mix of open spaces, tree lines, water and the Great Bridge bridge made for varied scenes, and Delta 400 delivered consistent results across them.

After Winter Storm Kingston came through, I knew it could be an interesting time at the Great Bridge Locks. So once again, I headed out with my Nikon Z9 and brought along the Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.4 VR lens because I wanted a little more reach for the eagles, and I felt I hadn’t used it much since getting it.

There was a lot of ice on the water, along with a lot of dead speckled trout due to the recent cold snap that brought arctic temperatures to our area. It was kind of funny to watch the pelicans come down and try to get the trout that were dead below the ice.

Winter storm Kingston made a visit. Having snow just a week before, we weren’t expecting another snow storm in the Hampton Roads region. We normally get maybe one a year. But Kingston was going to be different. And it turned out to be the biggest storm we had since 2010. When it was over, we had almost 12 inches of snow.

But the crazy thing about it, this snow was gone in a couple of days. The texture of the snow was unlike what we usually see. This snow was dry and light. Almost like what you would find out west. Usually, our snow is wet and heavy. It makes a mess as it thaws and refreezes. Within 48 hours, this snowfall was mostly gone. And it wasn’t even because of the temperatures. It’s like it just evaporated.