A West Wales New Year with a Panasonic GF1 and 20mm.

So it was way out west for New Year through the spray of rain on the M4 to Cardigan. It was the first time we had turned left when we hit the M4 in a very long time and it coincided with the anniversary of Gillian’s broken ankle – see earlier blog for details. We stayed with our good friends the Williams’ whose home has all the accoutrements of a boutique hotel without the charges.

I took my Bessa R2a with HP5+ set to 1600 and after 5 shots the shutter started firing as I wound on the film with no input from me.  A weird kind of fault which I’m hoping will magically go away on the next roll of film – otherwise it’s off to the camera fairies with it.  I fell back on the trusty Panasonic GF-1 which is to me one of those rare things a classic digital camera.

It was a grey Welsh weekend full of rain and mood so we ventured forth briefly to Poppit for that cure for all ills ‘fresh air’. Dogs who hang their heads out of car windows know exactly what I’m talking about.  The beach was sodden with rain and had something of the tone of Echo & the Bunnymen’s ‘Heaven Up Here’ cover without the purple just the grey.

It was, as you’d expect not hugely busy except for the hardened dog walkers and other families with children who also understood the mystical properties of shuffling about in the wind and rain. Meanwhile offshore a man balanced on a surf board and punted up and down the shoreline. He failed to entertain us by falling in at any point. After a bit of rock pooling in the rain we headed back for soup and the prospect of seeing the New Year in fine style.

A booze and curry evening followed and, with additional guests added to the party, all was set fair.  The kids partied on sugar and the Muppets while the adults tucked into a magnificent korma prepared by the host. The wine flowed somewhat faster than might be considered advisable given the countdown to 2012 was several hours in the future. It would be improper of me to name names but some paced themselves and some did not.

With 6 Music and Craig Charles providing a soundtrack of Northern Soul the merriment was unconfined and many a drunken conversation ensued.  Ask me not how the RAF faced the threat of the Russian Bear by playing cards and learning guitar or how students might have got caught up in the Operation Julie raid, for my lips are sealed on the matter. Of course we’re all older and wiser now and young people today are far more sensible.

The children and adults gathered for the countdown to 2012, the kids buzzy and the grown ups fuzzy. With one last charge of our glasses then, for me at least, a crash into bed and slumber.  Those who had paced themselves sensibly emerged with cheery bonhomie the next morning while those who did not appeared as if practicing for a part as an extra in Shaun of the Dead. It was a great weekend and I’m sure it will be a fine year.

Not many photos but the GF-1 performed fine in the rain with its 20mm Pancake. Tweaked in Lightroom and grudging approval obtained from the models. Gillian claims I’ve made her look like a Russian peasant but nobody tell Vogue or they’ll rip me off in the next edition.

Winter Sun with a Bessa R2a and Rollei Retro 100.

I was back to my only haunt for photography these days West Sussex at the weekend. It was a bright day which was fortunate as my Bessa R2a was loaded with Rollei Retro 100 film. I’d brought my Canon LTM 50mm f1.4 being the fastest lens I can muster for my rangefinders.It has proved a fine lens and at a fraction of the cost of the Leica version. Its only draw back for me is the close focus distance which is measured in feet.

I finished off a roll  I’d started in Jersey( using a Leica 35mm F2 ASPH) and shot a second roll as the day wore on. I processed in Adox Adonal 1+50 at 21 degrees for 11 minutes, then scanned them with an Epson V700. The usual dust problems spoil the whole process and increase my fondness for digital. Of the 72, here are the 8 that I favoured but nothing to get very excited about. The portrait and seaweed are with the 35mm ASPH while the others  with the 50mm – I wonder if anyone can tell.  I then gave them a Antique Light tint in Lightroom.

A Mamiya NC1000 in the Garden

I’ve been going through my pile of old cameras and bits with a view to having a clear out when I came across this old thing from 1978. It’s a Mamiya NC1000 which I bought for under a tenner in a previous burst of camera buying.  I suspect it’s not even worth that now. It is armed with  your standard 50mm lens as done by Mamiya-Sekor.

I was never very sure how to operate it manually as the meter only seems to function when it is in AE mode. The manual is here if you want to check it out.  It had a film in so I’d decided to shoot the rest of the roll and see what I had.  I set it to its AE mode which   is shutter priority and let it do its thing .  Its quite a well made camera if a bit of an oddity.

It turned out I had Ilford FP4 on the roll which I processed in my new Adonal(just Rodinal under another name). Nothing very exciting but the camera performed fine. I Selenium toned the shots in Lightroom and here they are below.

On Jersey with Panasonic GF-1 and 20mm.

With the dark of Autumn upon us the family escaped to Jersey for half term. A plane with old fashioned propellers struggled through high winds to deposit us on the tax haven.  We decamped to the excellent L’Horizon with views over the magnificent St Brelades Bay.

The only problem then was to find things to do between eating. Each day started with that most dangerous of things, the all you can eat hotel breakfast. Thankfully by the second day we realised lunch could be dropped in favour of cake and coffee.  Though this admirable restraint led to more greed in the evening as our appetites returned with some force. The scales wisely hid on our return and frankly I don’t much want to see them either.

The tide came in the tide went out while  dogs walkers promenaded on the beach and armed with my Panasonic GF-1 and 20mm I snapped away.  The sea and the sky should have their own TV show with a guest appearance by light and you have a winner.

We revisited old haunts like La Hogue Bie a neolithic tomb with  a medieval church built upon it. Everywhere on Jersey evidence of the German visitors of the 1940s abound even on this site. Here there is an underground command bunker with the faces and stories of those unfortunate enough to be brought to the island as slave labour.  James found it quite upsetting, the youngest victims being 16 year olds from Eastern Europe. Horrible history of a different kind was on offer here.

We  walked the beaches in the teeth of a gale sometimes but in the main the weather was kind. A fab break and here are the pictures to prove it.

Processed in Lightroom to give them a vintage look which appears to mean a lot of yellow.

West Sussex Again with a Fuji GSW690II

This burst of blogging continues much as if someone has unblocked a dam somewhere and so my fourth post in as many days presents itself. I’m being somewhat repetitious as a trip to the in laws means that West Sussex is again the main feature.

We travelled down on the Friday evening and for once we escaped the 100^th repetition of a Henry VIII Horrible History CD and kept the dial locked on Radio 4.  We found ourselves listening to what I quickly realised was the concluding episode of Ripley Underground by Patricia Highsmith. I wasn’t sure if it would be age appropriate for a 12 year old and initially James concluded it was boring but as the air of menace and fear rose he became fascinated.

I’m not a follower of Highsmith’s work but it was clear pretty quickly there was no safe division of good and evil on offer here. I found myself explaining the concept of an anti hero and, as so often happens to a parent, being forced to see the world through much younger eyes. Still the family unified in rooting for the talented Mr Ripley who of course in one bound was free with the unfortunate death of some other folk. This is the closest we get to that pre TV world when the family gathered round the wireless.

This was followed by Wilf Self’s dissecting of political party memberships as ‘donkeys led by donkeys’. James recognised its tone and asked if Mr Self was ‘insulting us’. I was able to report he was not but it is a sign of our son’s journey towards the edges of the grown up world that he was intrigued enough to want to hear more. Sometimes I wish I could explain this crazy world better to him but the reality is I’m left as puzzled as he is much of the time.

I took my Fuji GSW690II which has a 65mm Fujinon lens. It is the biggest negative I can produce on a carry round camera and 8 shots on a roll forces a degree of discipline. I found the bag full of Ilford FP4+ so went with that as the film. The big family lunch was bracketed by the traditional trip to Emsworth followed by a walk around Chidam’s hinterland. A harsh midday sun in Emsworth was followed by sinking sun in Chidam.

I lived in Emsworth as a kid for a brief period, probably in about 1965. I only thing I really remember about the town is the giant humbugs they sold at the station. The idea of which proved more exciting than the actuality. Damn, those things went on forever. I bought my first Airfix kit, a Spitfire,  from the town’s toyshop which I built with the same ham-fisted skill I have brought to all my creative pursuits since. On this trip it was not loading the film quite correctly in to the Fuji, thus resulting in only 14 shots instead of 16…ho hum.

I was eager to process on Sunday when we returned and went for 11 mins instead of the 15mins suggested for Rodinal 1+50 @20 degrees. They turned out perfect and after figuring out how to get an Epson V700 to scan 6×9, looked good on the computer screen especially with an Antique Light tone. And yes, I know the picture of Gillian and James is out of focus – drat and double drat.

In West Sussex with a Rolleiflex 3.5F

The final roll from my attempt to get up to date with my processing, although I still have  two 35mm rolls that remain a mystery. This is Ilford Hp5 + shot on a Rolleiflex TLR 3.5F while in West Sussex at some point this year. It is a beautiful camera but the idea of using it sometimes surpasses the actual experience. Trying to hold it level and still are my usual crimes but I didn’t do too badly on this occasion.  I shot just the one roll while wandering around Chidam and Emsworth over a weekend. I clearly wasn’t expecting much from the roll as I left it unprocessed for several months.

It benefited somewhat from the over developmentof the previous 35mm as I’d learned to reduce the time to 9 mins from the recommended 11 mins @ 20 degrees. I have found I much prefer taking about 20%  of most of the times I find on the Massive Dev chart. In this case I could have gone further as the negatives are still a touch dark for scanning with a tad more grain than I’d have expected.  The truth is despite it being frustrating at times I  enjoy the random success and failures that are part of the analogue experience.

Scanned with Epson V700 and toned sepia in Lightroom 3.5

The Beauty of Surprise from a Ricoh GR1

Finally got round to processing  more odd rolls I have scattered around the darkroom. I’m sure this is how everyone works – isn’t it?

I delayed this gratifiction so long I had no idea what was on this roll of HP5+.  It is only by looking at the shots that I worked out the camera I’d used. It was from a Ricoh GR1 which I have the habit of carrying with me  everywhere and then forget to use. It’s a cracking little pocket  camera with a great fixed 28mm lens. On this occasion I remembered to fire off a few shots of Ian Marchant, Bob Machin and Paul Williams as we attended Todd Rungren’s  A Wizard, a True Star gig in Hammersmith Apollo in Feb 2010. The digital shots were up the next day but these have fermented like fine wine to produce some arthouse shots of a few old boys on a night out.

Processed in Rodinal 1+50 for 10mins which turned out to be too long and so a bit over processed. On this occasion the grainy look seems to work. I gave them a cream tone in Lightroom because these cats deserve it.

Large Format – Wista VX with Nikon 120mm Macro

It’s time to keep the blog ticking over which has been rather over taken by photos on Facebook and music on Soundcloud. I was tidying up today with a view to doing some more large format stuff when I came across a couple of dark slides that I reckoned contained some film, so with the sun shinning I thought I’d use them up.

I lugged all the 5×4 gear downstairs and gathered together  the things you need to make large format happen. ……Wista VX, Nikon 120mm Macro, meter, magnifying glass, the darkslides and big cloth to stick my head under. Two dark slides means only four shots so I shot a what I think may be a weed, the leaves of the apple tree before I stumbled on the spiders web. I haven’t done this for a while but slowly the steps came back as I went along. After half hour I could contemplate the four large negatives I might be seeing shortly.

Into the darkroom to set up three trays to develop and then turn off all the lights for 8 minutes.  I take the film from the slides by hand and then put gloves on to shuffle them in the chemical trays.  I’d forgotten how unsettling being plunged into such absence of light can be. With the water gurgling it is like being in the belly of the beast and it’s best to keep the monsters of the id well under control.  After what seemed like an age I was able to turn the lights on at the fix stage and see I had four successful snaps.

Only putting three up and I find I am plagued by the dust demons again. I wanted to see if I could make the pictures bigger as someone had the temerity to complain about their size in the previous blog. The charmless have found a real home on the internet. Anyway it adds a couple of steps but it seems I can increase the size. If anything they seem too big now so more experiments are required.

Here they are below scanned with the Epson V700. Processed in Rodinal 1+50 for 7 mins @ 22 degrees. I gave them a sepia tone to which I am addicted.

The Red Carpet Riders with an Leica M3 and Canon 50mm f1.4

It is the time of year for festivals and, while the lure of Glastonbury had not claimed me  I was lucky enough to be invited to Harrifest  in West Wales to see the Red Carpet Riders. So ignoring the risk of  Cynocephali, I set off for the Welsh hills.

The singer with ‘The Riders’ is Harry Rogers who puts on a mini festival in his garden/field and invites friends to party, play music and eat curry.  A stage is constructed and decorated while the like minded souls who attend create a warm convivial atmosphere. Mostly it’s of a folky nature while the Red Carpet Riders represent a more muscular heritage.

I came to see two former Airtight Garage members perform in the Riders line up and I intended to take a few snaps. I couldn’t decide between digital and film so naturally I took both.  Perverse really because you end up taking the same images with both.  The digital thing was easy on my Panasonic GF-1 and I’d posted them online by the following day.  For the film I decided to shoot Rollei 400s at 1600 and use my Leica M3 with a Canon 50mm f1.4 because it was evening and it would be dark.  Wrong on that count as it’s the middle of the summer and was still pretty light by the time I had to motor back to civilisation in Cardiff.  Leaving early I missed a few photo opportunities so if I get to come next year I may have to invest in a tent.

I saw some really good performances and felt the odd twinge to get up and have a go myself.  The Riders themselves thundered it out from a trombone assisted ‘Passenger’ to a scorching ‘Gloria’ with some fine punk classics in between.  The assembled company roared their approval.

So all day I swopped cameras, mostly favouring digital, but I was determined to get through two rolls of film if I could.  Photographing the bands was something of a problem as you couldn’t get near the stage without spoiling the whole thing, so I contented myself with shots from the back.  This produced the rather dull set of images below and I have to say that on this occasion I prefer the digital stuff by far. Still the fun of this was going to be how I developed the film and the lovely smell of fixer.

I had a dim recollection I’d shot this film at 1600 before but couldn’t really remember how I’d done it.  This is where the blog did well because, when Google seemed to be giving me a dead end, I checked my blog and low the instructions were on hand.  Last time I’d clearly found stand development times and used those again.  So in Rodinal 1+100 for 70 minutes  @ 20 degrees with a minute’s agitation to start and 10 secs half way through.  My rather inconsistent attitude to exposure meant I had a fine collection of thin and thick negs when they came out of the drum but at least I had something.  I still remember the time I processed a tank with no actual film in it.  A mistake I’m sure anyone could make …well, OK, just me I expect.

I’m not sure there’s anything I’m hugely drawn to actually print but I had a bit of fun tweaking in Lightroom.

On the Algarve with a Panasonic GF-1 and 14mm

It is May and time for the annual expanding of our carbon footprint with a flight to the Algarve. Our adventuring days are well behind us, if indeed we ever had any, so returning to the familiar south west tip of Portugal is always a pleasure.  In recent years we’ve taken this a step further by staying in a villa with a pool and only leaving them to restock with stuff your doctor would advise you against eating.  With Gillian’s ankle still recovering, doing nothing was really the only sensible option.  To offer some balance to this, I took Tim Butcher’s ‘Chasing the Devil’ about him trekking though West Africa and was with him every step of the way from the safety of my poolside lounger.

Photo opportunities are bit limited under these conditions so I only used my Panasonic GF-1 with the stock lens and a recently acquired 14mm. The 14mm acts like a 28mm so I took a finder to avoid the problem of LCD glare.  I had ordered a Panasonic DMW-LVF1E finder from the amazingly cheap but utterly useless Simply Electronics, weeks before the trip, but despite their website saying numbers in stock and two days to ship, they were unable to deliver in the three weeks I allowed them.  Seduced by the price it was only after I ordered did I Google their name to discover whole websites devoted to their appalling customer service and incompetence.  You have been warned; do not touch with a barge pole.

If the Irish in me gets the credit for my poetry, it can also share the blame for my indolence, if that isn’t politically incorrect, for Casa Luar was a tranquil spot well suited to the family inclined to do almost nothing.  I practised my barbecue skills and drank rough Portuguese wine and by the end of the week I’d stopped burning stuff and we’d actually found a wine that was smooth. Tim Butcher would have been proud of us.

James and I did venture out once for a walk down to the coast but while I communed on the beauty of the evening, he played the barrister explaining why the age rating system for computer games was a monumental injustice.  I think my explanation of “because I say so” helped him see things more clearly.  I’m sure he will treasure these moments when he’s older.

With the Wi Fi , the satellite TV and games console, it’s safe to say we’re not really entering the spirit of ‘getting away from it all’.  We did, though, get to see The European Cup Final, Corrie and the now traditional spring holiday family viewing of Britain’s Got Talent. Really, where’s the harm?  - and fear not, money is set aside for the therapy sessions that James will require in the future.

Anyway, here are the snaps, most with the 14mm but a few with the stock lens.  If you can tell which is which, you’re a better man or woman than me.  I may need to up my game considerably for the Cardiff Photomarathon on the 11th June.