Ritual Landscape

Good morning to you!

Whizz, Thrub, Boing Boing - better get those Cormthrusters adjusted, because Ye Olde Sheephouse Time Machine is in operation again.

Oh yes, none of this modern stuff - we're heading back to a time when peat-smoke and rush-lights were all the rage.
When life hung by a thread.
When magic was real and something as mundane as a small wood could bring you out in cold sweats of awe.
Got yourself buckled in yet?
Good.
Off we go!

I've battled with myself about publishing this, because, whilst the place is relatively well-known, it also isn't, and to be honest I'd rather keep it that way.

So all I can say is if you do recognise it, keep it to yourself; and if you don't well, you can find similar - dig deep into your local topology; study maps and stuff - as my recent find of what I believe to be two unmarked (on maps) Neolithic (? - certainly incredibly old) way markers proves (well, it does to me) if you open your eyes and start to strip away 'modernity', you'll open up your Inner Ancient.
The world is littered with sites waiting to be found - pre-history stretches back further than the imagination.

They're out there, possibly waiting to be photographed - or (more likely in this world of Trip Advisor Recommended Mass Tourism) wanting to be appreciated quietly - always ask permission - that's what I did here.

Once again I am also in debt to a camera - the Hasselblad SWC/M and also to the lady called Florence who assembled them back in the '80's.

I can't define what it is, but to my eyes, photographic magic happens within it.

That's not me saying there's anything special about the photos I've taken with it either; it is more that in every film I process from it, light can be transformed into something both true and ethereal all at the same time.

Oh, and I'm also indebted to Ilford's FP4.
After years of trying this and trying that, I keep coming back to it. Whilst it isn't always ideal in Scotland - especially in the Winter - if you're using a tripod you should be fine.

There's just something about it - a balance, that I can't define, however HP5+ and Delta do look very different (when they're printed) as does all the Kodak etc etc stuff.

So, FP4 it was.

I felt I had something special to my eyes when I was taking them.

Reviewing and prepping this blog a few weeks later, I am going to go all wishy-washy on you and dedicate these photographs to the memory of my old mentor Joseph McKenzie.

Way back, and before Big Stoppers were ever even dreamed of, he encouraged me to make longer exposures of rocks n'stuff - I am not sure they were ever really successful tho'. 

They were inspired by the 'new' stuff I was seeing by John Blakemore! Gosh 40-odd years ago! I'll dedicate this to John too - he was groundbreaking and every landscape photographer, whether they know it or not, is indebted to him,
And not only to John, but also (someone I believe to have been an influence on him) Wynn Bullock who deliberately exacerbated the time/motion of long exposures and is about the first I can find who did it deliberately.
So this is dedicated to Wynn too!

Anyway, back to the main drag.
There I was (son dropped off for a very early shift) whizzing through the early-dawn, quiet lanes, with hope in my heart and a smattering of (steady . . .) excitement.
It's a weird feeling, because (and I don't know about you, but it happens to me all the time) when you get to where you're going, you almost feel like turning around and heading home. Numerous doubts creep in - the biggest for me, is does it feel right?
It doesn't have to just be about the environment - though that can influence things a lot.
It's more:

Is my heart in this? 

AM I UP FOR IT?

Without a doubt, it is self-doubt.
I could whine on about the confidence-sapping of a tiny fat-boy, by a few teachers (it's a big thing!).
I could tell you that I've doubted every single creative thing I have ever done.
It is real, and a total pain in the arse.
However, sometimes you just have to have a stern word with yourself, muster the energies and get moving.
And that's what I did. I got myself out of the car, donned super-chunkers (for muddy conditions), cleared my mind, and appreciated that I was on the edge of a place that oozed something.

It was around dawn and the cut where I was, was still smothered in a deep gloam - Mother Nature's Big Stopper as it were.

It was really pushing the abilities of the Gossen Lunasix 3S - a supremely capable low-light meter . . Some of these readings were heading to minus 2 EV.
Hardly the most ideal of situations, especially with a film as slow as I was using.

Film #66/74

FP4+ EI 80

1. 2 --> 4 Seconds f16 ZIII - Hyperfocal

2. 4 --> 7 Seconds f16 ZIII - Hyperfocal

3. 4 --> 10 Seconds f16 ZIII - Hyperfocal

4. 30 Seconds --> 2 Minutes 25 Seconds f16 ZIII 

5. 8 --> 20 Seconds f11 ZIII

6. 15 --> 55 Seconds f11 ZIII - Votive

7. 15 --> 55 Seconds f11 ZIII

8. 1 Minute --> 6 Minutes f11 ZIII !!

9. 6 --> 10 Seconds f16 ZIII

10. 4 --> 8 Seconds f8 ZIII

11. 4 --> 10 Seconds f8 ZIII 

12. 5 --> 16 Seconds f16 ZIII River

Developed in Pyrocat-HD 5+5+500ml 22℃ - Usual Agitation to 15 minutes - Stand to 18 Minutes and 30 Seconds.

As you can see from the above exposure record, these were really long times, and as such you have to reduce every single movement to nil.

How D'ya Do Zat Zen?

Well, it's actually really hard - I've no idea how Michael Kenna does some of his night exposure stuff, because wind always comes into play. 

The camera will always move no matter how tightly constrained. 

Don't believe me? 

Put your camera on a tripod and just watch it - it can be very alarming.

So with that a factor, you really need to cinch things down tight.

I use a very small (4 inch) Kaiser locking cable release, as it doesn't blow around too much if it is windy, and you can actually lock the end of it into the SW's body with the crank. 

The tripod was my beloved CF Gitzo series 3 (GT3530S).

The head is an OTT Arca B1 PMF - it was really reasonably priced when I bought it and locks like a bulldog on a postman's leg.

I've an Arca plate (though solid the screw for attaching to the camera isn't really recommended!) and this is attached to a Hasselblad QR plate. It means I can swap the two 'Blads around quite simply. The Hasselblad QR system is mechanically simple and effective.

And that's it - sounds a bit over the top I agree, but it is as solid as I can get things.

In case you are wondering, the ZIII mentioned above, is in reality a bit of a borrow from The Zone System, however these aren't true Zone System-based photographs, but I believe I can operate like this in my own way. 

Basically I get the lowest shadow reading I can get from my light meter, and then reduce the exposure by 2 stops - so say I have measured 1 second at f8, I am turning that into ¼ of a second at f8 - this gives some cause a effect to the shadows. Were I to leave it at 1 second at f8 the shadows would be rendered mid-grey. 

But this is like teaching your Grandmother to suck eggs - you know all this stuff already!

I also don't shoot at box speed - with FP4 rather than EI/ISO 125 I'll use EI 80 - effectively almost adding another stop of extra exposure too - this is something I got from a Barry Thornton book, and I just blithely accepted it - now I begin to wonder why. 

I do think maybe, what with Barry using his BT 2 bath (a good developer, but ultimately lacking in contrast - that's been the case for me and Bruce from The Online Darkroom) whether he was compensating for that to get a bit of guts in the negatives. 

I'll try some stuff at box speed and see what happens!

Exposures of these times, unless you're operating a Zone System expansion and contraction methodology with regard to exposure and development, can be rendered fairly useless by blanket development with a standard developer over a whole roll of film. 

There's just way too much variation. 

Thankfully, Pyrocat-HD has been a total boon - it smooths out any highlight burn-out, but still brings substance to the shadows. 

Whilst I should mix my own, I don't and have been using the premix from Wet Plate Supplies - you can find it here - it isn't cheap, but it really does last very well and you'll get roughly 20 rolls of 120 developed per 100ml kit.

And the beauty of it, is that you can standardise your development time for all the films you use - for me I can develop FP4+, HP5+, SFX, Delta's 100 and 400, Kodak films (though they've priced themselves into a corner these days) and anything else I can think of with a standard regime.

Here it is.

21 or 22 ℃; constant agitation (gentle) for the first 30 seconds; then 4 inversions (or twiddles with the Patterson twiddler) every minute; to usually 14 minutes; one last agitation; then leave till 18 minutes.

I wouldn't recommend it with tray processing for sheet film (they'd just find a skeleton hunched over the trays) but I think my times seem to be around the average ballpark of other users.

Give it a go and tell them I sent you.

It gives me a negative that is a cinch to print.

Back to the main drag - I was so excited when I saw the developed negatives that the next day I actually printed the whole roll. 

I have never done that in my life.

Paper was the 5x7" Agfa MCC fibre-based paper I mentioned recently. 

Some of the prints seem to be slightly out of focus - this could be the effect of the PVD on my eyes vs. the grain focusers - it's really hard work! 

Hopefully it'll improve soon and apologies to all you sharpness nuts - please bear in mind the actual image size is only a tiddler - around 4½ inches square, so it isn't actually covering the side of a building - and the effect on small paper is fine and pleasantly viewable.

Anyway, get your druid gowns or woad or full body-tatts on.

Please don't go all Celtic-brother on me though - this is a Pictish site.

As you can see, remarkably, after millenia of use, it still means something to people.

I find that heartening.

Thankfully there were no dirty campers, dogs, camp fires or beer . . 

It was just me, the Mother and a dawn-light that made me want to cry.

But there was none of that namby-pamby stuff going on - the Time Machine was only there for the briefest of windows . . . I had work to do!

Ritual Landscape 1

Ritual Landscape 2

Ritual Landscape 3

Ritual Landscape 4

Ritual Landscape 5

Ritual Landscape 6

Ritual Landscape 7

Ritual Landscape 8

Ritual Landscape 9

Ritual Landscape 10

Ritual Landscape 11

Ritual Landscape 12

Well, that's it. I know there's a couple of them that don't cut the mustard but on the whole as an exploration I feel they work.

My favourite is without a doubt Frame 12, however the print this is scanned from isn't entirely sharp and neither is the negative, though it is sharper than the print.
I'll put it down to my gorilla-like grip on the cable release - I didn't lock it, just gripped and prayed, giving the tiniest of movements to the camera . .  . amplify that by 16 seconds and you get the drift.

Despite that, to me the overall impression is one of light and I dunno, hope and peace too.
I think that carries it through any technical deficiencies. 

The print looks lovely by the way.

As before, these were developed in an ancient but fresh mixing of Kodak Polymax (still got loads left too) stopped in Kodak stop and fixed in First Call's soft-pack fixer - which I believe to be based on a Agfa formula - it's a very sensible bit of packaging for those of us who aren't printing every day. They were lightly toned (1-2 minutes) in a weakish solution of Kodak Selenium and air-dried (with clothes pegs holding them) from an ancient retractable caravan clothes line (which I inherited along with the house).

I still find myself muttering (as I carry a tray full of prints and water out of the darkroom and into the bathroom):

"I'll bet Ansel never had to wash his prints in a bath"

Ah the delights of a guerilla darkroom!

And that's it for this time.

I also have to say that I am going to have a wee break from writing this, as, apart from a bit of colour exploration, I am completely up-to-date in detailing everything. 
But aside from that, the PVD is really getting to me and rendering everything quite difficult, from taking photos (it's really hard to see aperture markings!), to printing, to even writing this. 

So, give it a few weeks or so and I'll see how I go - it's amazing how something so seemingly inconsequential (and commonplace - the optician's own words) can have such a large effect on one's life, but it is doing so.

Anyway, until the next time, go on, get some paper maps out along with a nice mug of beer and have an explore in your head, and then go and find some parts of this ancient landscape we're all surrounded by and record them - you never know, the Earth Spirit might just be kind to you.

Beam me up Scotchman.

Homeless

I pondered about this one, because, despite the title it isn't technically about being Homeless - please read on though - hopefully I'll be able to explain myself better.

There's a gulch near my house - I guess round these parts you'd call it a glen, albeit a really really small one. It is steep and contains a well-maintained public footpath.
It's been there for a long time as far as I can tell.
There's a wall alongside it that I would say dates back to at least the mid-1800's by the look of it, however it is probably likely that the course of the path runs much further back in time.
The wall is certainly on the 1847 Charles Edwards Survey Map.
In my experience boundaries of all kinds are usually far older than they seem.

Prior to the railways arriving, the Firth of Tay was boundaried in this part of town by a cliff before it hit the docks of the city centre. This gulch runs down through what is still there of the cliff.
There is vegetation everywhere - dense old trees, ramsons, ground ivy, bramble, gorse. 

It is (unusually, for public land) completely wild; the council haven't attacked it with weed killer or strimmers.

There are what appear to be animal trackways - they could well belong to deer or foxes or just the humble coney. They're well used, but there's no spraints of any animal variety, just human and then not very often, but it doesn't half give you a surprise!

In amongst this wildness, this lost parcel of land, someone has, at some point in recent time, chosen to take refuge.

I'll pause there, because immediately to my mind the word desperation makes itself felt.

Well. you'll see what I mean when you see the photographs. 

I can sort of understand it though. 

The area is relatively secluded, well, actually, it is very secluded, yet you're within a ten minute walk of food shops and so on.

And yet, despite their invisibility, the sites (there are/were two of them) are despoiled.

Vandals?

Madness?

Who knows?

The site in these photographs contains a (not very obvious) sleeping bag kicked into the dirt and the remnants of a campsite - old buckets, plastic, bottles and tins.
The refuse is actually quite well hidden in the undergrowth, like they wanted it to be secret.

Slowly nature is reclaiming this brief intrusion, as she will always.

The other site contains the same detritus, plus the wreckage of a tarp shelter; a traffic cone; more buckets; some tins and, perhaps shockingly to these modern sensibilities, some sad, lone bits of excrement.
It's a weird thing - everybody does it, few talk about it, but when you discover such a thing, when you nearly plant your foot in it, it becomes a matter of outrage.
You feel really unclean.
I came home and sanitized my tripod legs and shoes

With regards to our depositor of surprises, where has this person gone? 

That's what I'd like to know.

In the past year of so, this is the fourth destroyed campsite I've seen, and not just in my area, but in various bits of the town - the Docks and Seabraes.
Is it the same person?
If it is, to just abandon everything like your sleeping bag, tarp, tent etc., why?

Anyway, I'll leave the unponderables.

Maybe you have a similar thing going on where you live.
It's always worth lifting those bushes and checking - if someone wants to take themselves out of society, well, though not easy, it can be done.

I'm actually reminded of a brilliant book by William Boyd, called Ordinary Thunderstorms, about a scientist, who, through no fault of his own, is thrust into the world of invisibility and starts sleeping rough.

It's a rip-snorter of a plot and highly recommended.

Anyway, enough - on with the photos, though as usual you get the notes too!

Film #66/72

1. 4 second reading to 10 seconds - f8 ZIII - Garage

2. 4 second reading to 10 seconds - f22 ZIII - 21cm Focus - Parallax - Gargh!

3. 1 second reading to 3 seconds - f16 ZIII

4. 1 second - f11 ZIII  - Homeless

5. 2 second reading to 5 seconds - f22 ZIII - Tape Measure 48cm

6. 2 second reading to 5 seconds - f16 ZIII - Tape Measure 52cm - Ivy

7. 1 second - f16 - ZIII

8. 1/2 second - f22 - ZIII

9. 2 second reading to 5 seconds - f11 ZIII - Homeless

10. 2 second reading to 5 seconds - f16 ZIII - Ivy + Tripod Leg

11. 8 second reading to 19 seconds - f22 ZIII - Tape Measure 50cm to 150cm Focus

12. 8 second reading to 19 seconds - f22 ZIII - Quick Release Plate Came Loose

Used a small tape measure a lot - worked well, be sure to use it in the future.

5+5+500ml PHD 22℃ - agit to 14 mins, stand to 18 mins.

The detail on every leaf is extraordinary   - it's like they are etched - very pleasing to my eyes especially considering the blurriness from the PVD which is ongoing and very flarey

Homeless I

Homeless II

Homeless III

Homeless IV

Homeless V

Homeless VI

Homeless VII

Homeless VIII

I know, I can hear you saying it to yourself:

"But where's the filfth? Where's the grinding poverty? Where the Don McCullin man?"

Well, you know, they're/it's not there and that's the sort of semi-surreal thing about it, and I guess that why I am most pleased with Homeless VIII.

The 19 second exposure has given movement to the tree's branches, which in turn has added an air of unreality and dream to it. 

Well it has to my eyes.

Don't worry - I don't think I'll be going all Lee Big Stopper on you yet - that whole branch of modern photography is rather sad. If you want to see what it can truly do, please search out John Blakemore - he was innovating (after a manner with the baton from Wynn Bullock) decades ago.
If you've never looked at either photographer's works, please search them out.

Kudos must be paid to Pyrocat-HD as a developer - without a staining developer there's no way in heck the highlights would have had a chance of being printed.

I know I am lucky too in having the SWC/M to rely on - every single piece of veining on leaves shows up - the Biogon is without a doubt the greatest lens I have ever used.
Not the easiest, no, but certainly the one that renders foliage in a most extraordinary way.
The closest I can get to it is by saying that you can count every leaf and blade, which you really can't with a lot of lenses.

I used my handy Ilford Reciprocity tables - basically, apart from SFX, most Ilford film under time pressure exhibits the same reciprocity failure, so I knocked up a sheet (along with Kodak) affixed it to some card, and laminated it with cellotape - works great!

These are all 800 dpi scans off of the original prints. 

They're all made by me, on my knees (!) in my guerilla darkroom - I guess where there's a will there's a way.

Paper is my current easy go-to paper - Ilford MGRC and they're all on Grade 3, except the contact which was Grade 2. I suppose if I was using a condenser head on the DeVere I'd be Grade 2 for the prints, but no, it's a colour head, so  Grade 3.

I will say, that with my current PVD affecting my eyes, it was damn hard using the grain focuser - they both seemed to be disagreeing (I have two - a Paterson and a Micromega) but in reality it was my eyes at work - very difficult . . but I got there.

Weirdly and cosmically, there's a denouement to all this:

Last night me and t'missus settled down to watch the physicist Brian Cox in his Wonders Of The Universe series - she had some wine and I enjoyed a couple of fine glasses of Ardmore whisky.
Old Coxy boy was explaining atoms and elements; you know the 'We're All Made Of Star Stuff' stuff, and it hit me, that this homeless person and their soon-to-be-returned-to-its-natural-state camp; all the detritus; my camera and film; tripod; the time measured with my Gossen meter and its handy Zone wheel; clothes; me; chemicals; paper; Ardmore; the missus; Coxy; my TV; the tide running deep and wild out in the estuary; my CD player (and Mike Oldfield as I type this); keyboard; ICs in the Mac; phone cables; satellites; you . . .

We're all from the same gaff.

From the same complex, vast in both time and complexity, mishmash of cosmic mashiness.

Like the best bubble and squeak you've ever had, where everything works together, or should work together.

Humans, we have to get there.

There's no going forward nowadays without tolerance, kindness and co-operation.
We're at a point in time where it could soar or go utterly shit-shaped.
For human-kind to progress and lift itself above the sad, petty madness, people have to change.
It is probably unlikely, because there's nothing humans like more than regularity and confirmity and the certainty of the known, but I think you have to move out of that comfort zone sometimes.
Change is good.
It's why we're here.

Maybe homeless person has changed or change has happened to them?
Maybe they 'got lucky' and are driving around in one of the countless bloody Audis you see coming up fast in your rear-view.
Or maybe they copped it and are hidden deep within some Lost Council Wildness waiting for some unfortunate photographer to discover them . . .
Maybe they're still out there, sheltering under some forgotten hedgerow, waiting for time to be kinder to them . . .
Who knows.

That's all there is to it.

For myself I've resolved to think even more on things and try to be less persnickety and pernickety.
Sometimes you have to force yourself to approach things differently.
To quote my hero, Rambling Syd Rumpo from the Sussex Whirdling Song:

"So there he is, a-plighting his troth ...

A troth, by the way, is a small furry creature with fins. It's a cross between a trout and a sloth or slow-th, and it's a curious match. I often wonder what they saw in each other in the first place, though I suppose the sloth, hanging upside down, tends to have a different slant on things."

There, something that makes me laugh, with language distilled from that most disliked of humans (next to the immigrant) the Romany.

It's what everyone needs though - a different slant on things - celebrate your inner sloth.

Weird eh, and sorry for expounding when all you wanted to do was read about film and stuff . . but that's what you get from getting up at 5 AM and drinking too much tea (Hi Mike!!)

Anyway, that's shallot.

I am relatively up-to-date photographically now, so it could be a while before I post anything new.

I did think I could do some more SFX stuff, but the spectre of wrong Nm hit me - it was ghastly and might well be a tale further down the line . . .

Oh and things might change on the next FB simply because Google have decided to change the way you use it to write - I've tried it already and it was more for phone-users and not keyboard heroes . . . 

Over and out - watch out for that trout.

Told you so.

Hang 'Em High (The Tinsel And Baubles That Is)

Morning Folks - in the words of me old mate Noddy,

"It's KERRISSSSSTMAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!"

and the time is ripe for the peculiarly Antipodean Ritual of . . . Mulled Beer!

Actually that's just paraphrasing Pete and Dud from a Private Eye magazine flexidisc from the 1960's:

". . and the wife plunged a red hot poker into my ice cold jug of beer . ."

So, sit yourself down, get that poker in the coals and crack open a bottle of the finest Winter Ale in the world - Broughton Brewery's Old Jock, and away we go!

Well, to a man and woman the epic strain that is T' Festive Season is upon us again and the big question everyone is asking is where the hell did that year go? 

It's been quite a year actually, not just for me and mine, but for the world in general. 

Chaos, madness, intolerance, bigotry . . and that's just the journey into work on the bus in the morning! 

A wise man once said that there was enough good stuff in the world to outweigh the bad stuff or something like that, and there sort of is. But then again is there?

Well, I'll follow the wise man's advice and hold my bile in a special Chrimbo Bile Bag (available from Amazon Reseller Gǒu shǐ huò) and keep my fingers crossed that what seems to be a gradual re-awakening (with regard to political machinations and especially the environment) continues.

Hope springs eternal - that's what my old Mum used to say, and God bless her soul for it.

Anyway, enough o' t'guff, because the round robin (that is starting to flesh itself out): 

Ye Annual Olde Sheephouse Yuletide Newsletter 

has creaked its way off the digital presses and is ready to be stuffed through letterboxes - please feel free to read it, tear it up, set fire to it, feed it to the chimp or whatever . . but it is here and it is now. 

Strangely we had a convo at work recently about 'round-robin' Christmas things and the general concensus was that they were overwhelmingly crap, narcissistic and all about Me Me ME!

Well, that is true, but, in my defence, The OSYN is also a way of getting a lot of stuff that hasn't been written about during the year up there, so stick that where the sun don't shine (and a Merry Christmas to you too 😆).

You came here for photography didn't you? 

Well, by jingo, that's what you'll get . . . but not nearly enough!

However, ahem, despite the lack of output that hasn't stopped me thinking about it and indeed writing about it.

JANUARY

The year started off with a bang, not a real one, but the intent of doing MORE this year, so, 3rd of January, there I was with t'Asselblad, round t'back o' t'Art College, taking (ahem) Vintage Sheephousian photos in dark dull weather . . 
I really wish I hadn't bothered actually, because the results weren't great. 
I did discover though that with a decent shoulder bag, it is quite feasible to rest the Hasselblad on it, lock the mirror up and take a 1/2 or 1 second photo though, so I suppose something was learned.

FIlm was ancient TMY 400 at EI 200 in Pyrocat

Weird Afternoon
Hasselblad 500 C/M, 60mm Distagon, TMY 400, Pyrocat HD

Did You Book Us For Your Kids Birfday Party?
Hasselblad 500 C/M, 60mm Distagon, TMY 400, Pyrocat HD

FEBRUARY

Ah yes, February wasn't as cold as previous years and the prospect of longer days made me feel optimistic about photographing lots and printing lots and maybe start gearing myself to thinking about doing an exhibition . . . but it was not to be. One can only dream!

I discovered a weird haze in the finder on the Summaron, so knew I had to get it sorted, but such things require thinking - I had to mull it over first.

Anyway, amazingly, in examining the M2, I discovered I still had a forgotten, half-finished 35mm film from September 2016, which I duly processed. 

The film was FP4 at roughly EI 50

I tweaked the development in Pyrocat and wasn't really chuffed with the results - to be honest they were droppings - not the development, but the photos - a more insipid and uninspired bunch you could not find!
Should have opened the bottom of the camera and exposed the lot.

The Caged Birds
Leica M2, 35mm F3.5 Summaron, Ilford FP4+, Pyrocat HD

MARCH

The Summaron finder - not a job for the faint hearted - beware - there are two lenses in the finder - one normal convex and the other a weird bridge-like convex arching over the other one. When you've broken your way into the rather precisely machined 'holder', taken the screws out, and been astonished at the use of shellac, you come across two lenses, held in a holder, fixed together at the edges by shellac!
Triple gulp. 
Clean (I used residual oil cleaner and some stuff designed for telescopes) and reassemble, but don't assume that when you've put them back together they'll be fine. It took several goes involving a tripod and a tape measure!

Close up focus was spot on, but from about 50ft to infinity, it seemed out again on the lens scales - and I wonder if this is a 'thing' of wides? Obviously you don't need to be too spot-on at greater distances with a wide because of the inherent DOF . . just a thought.

Anyway, I had to test it out, so parked up and did my Blinshall Street Triangle blog photos - it was a fun session, blazing through a whole 36 exposures in about an hour and a half and the chaps standing around outside , smoking, waiting for news, were relieved to hear that everything was fine.

4 year outdated TMX 100, EI 50 in Pyrocat again.

Anyone For A Solero?
Leica M2, 35mm F3.5 Summaron, TMX 100, Pyrocat HD

Mysterons Attack Phone Box
Leica M2, 35mm F3.5 Summaron, TMX 100, Pyrocat HD

At the end of the month, I went mad, smashed the piggy bank and bought myself something I have been promising myself for YEARS. A decent Carbon Fibre tripod - a Gitzo GT3530S. As new condition with a tripod bag from Ffordes for a small amount of money. I was chuffed as hell and celebrated with more Blinshall Triangle photos. 

If you've never held a CF tripod - try and do so. Having lugged large and small metal ones for a long time, being able to feel your fingers and not ending up looking like a soldier crab makes a massive difference. Oh and fixing the Arca ballhead atop it, not only made me feel rather special (??!!) But the two of them went together like cheese and pickles . . . made for each other and solid as a rock.

4 year old TMX 100 - EI 50, Pyrocat.

The Area Is Really Coming Up These Days - Dundee 2017
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 60mm Distagon 

APRIL

Ah season of mists and mellow fruitlessness - yes it's April, beloved of fools and me. 
Had a bloody good hillwalk, lugging MF gear. 
It was peasy-pie with the CF tripod, the easiest fully laden hillwalk I have ever had and I documented it HERE
A really wonderful day out.
I managed to take 2 films, both fresh Delta 400, shot at EI 200 and once again developed in Pyrocat.

Contact Sheet 1

Contact Sheet 2

Abandoned Caravan
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 60mm Distagon, Delta 400, Pyrocat HD

One thing the hillwalk did point out to me, was the need for a backpack dedicated to a format!

"Oh you BIG BABY", I can hear you saying, but, in my defence, when you have optimally configured your backpack for your camera (and in the case of my 5x4 Tamrak backpack, that included camera, lenses and film holders, loupe, spare outdoor gear, dark cloth . . och you know the list goes on) anyway, to accomodate the Hasselblad I had to rip the inserts out and redesign! 
NEVER AGAIN.
If you ever find yourself in this position, take a picture of your optimal set-up. It is never easy to repeat. Failing that, save time, and buy another one - it's going to take you three days at least to get it back to normal.

Anyway, not long after the Araldite had set on the piggy bank, I smashed it again, bought a Kata HB 305 backpack and whilst I was at it and because they had one in stock with a 1 year guarantee, a 150mm Sonnar CF.

The Kata was designed for video and broadcast professionals - it has a great, comfortable harness, proper good protection where it needs it and, after a good bit of rejigging, fits the Hasselblad kit very well.

The Sonnar - well what can you say - the 'bokeh' on this lens is like nothing else through the VF - you can stand and look at it all day. I detailed the lens HERE

At the end of the month, me and t'missus had a short weekend break in my most favourite of places. We ate like kings, visited the usual spots and shook our fists at the weather, which was OK, but not great. It was darn cold actually. 
I took 2 MF cameras and shot 4 films - the whole thing was detailed (extensively!) HERE

Abandoned Van
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 150mm Sonnar, Ilford Delta 400, Pyrocat HD

MAY

Major DIY started and as with all DIY it takes far longer than you ever expected it would.
No photography done, but plenty of thinking about DIY. I did discover though that the nicest, easiest to use house paint I've ever used is manufactured right here in Scotland, by the esteemable (and very long established) company of Craig and Rose in Dunfermline. 
B&Q used to stock it, but never promoted it, so now (pending a Homebase contract) they sell directly. Postage is reasonable. 
The paint could be considered expensive, it isn't as much as Farrow and Ball, but it is more than Dulux or Crown. This is more than compensated for by a superior finish in the acrylics. Goes on like a dream and highly recommended. 
Their website is HERE

I have no connection, just like the paint!

JUNE

Ah, June, loveliest of months - not too hot, not too cold, just right. Well, June saw us accompanying my parents-in-law to the wonderful city of Dubrovnik. If you've never been, you should, if only to get utterly exhausted and suffer heat-stroke from walking the City Walls. Seriously, start as early in the day as possible. That way, when you get to the end and are gasping for a pint, you can marvel at the hardy souls who are just starting out.

We had a marvellous time and whilst I chickened out and only took the Sony A6000 with a 35mm Nikkor-O, I took plenty of photographs, some of which I actually liked.

The Pavement Cat
Sony A6000, Nikkor-O 35mm f2

Weird Museum In Montenegro
Sony A6000, Nikkor-O 35mm f2

Peace For A While
Sony A6000, Nikkor-O 35mm f2

Rush Hour
Sony A6000, Nikkor-O 35mm f2

The Defences
Sony A6000, Nikkor-O 35mm f2

Small Stitched Sony A6000 Landscape
Sony A6000, Nikkor-O 35mm f2

Beautiful Evening In Croatia
Pie Phone 4S

We flew back through incredible thunderstorms over Germany - absolutely astonishing and completely beautiful. The power of Nature firmly cemented my respect for her.

JULY

Coo - disappointed by the POV of the 35mm lens on the A6000, I hunted around and found an incredible 1971 24mm F2.8 Nikkor-N - it's single coated and bloody marvellous. Nikon's first lens with Close Range Correction and quite an optical marvel for the time. It also takes a really nice photo.

24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor and appropriate Nikon F
Yes, I know that's a pen lid supporting the camera

Sadly for us this month our trusty old Honda Jazz (or Fit as it is known in the rest of the world) came to the end of its life. It had been starting to rust (not from itself but as a result of some poor accident repair work courtesy of a well-known Scottish car retailer) and there were a few things starting to get the better of it. We were about to head off on a long journey, I checked the levels as you do and discovered that there was no coolant, nor was there a puddle in the garage, or anywhere I had seen it, so can only assume we'd lost it in the month or so since I'd last checked it! So, driving around in traffic, with no coolant at all and the engine was as smooth as a baby's bum. Not only that, but in 11 years of ownership the only mechanical fail was one wheel bearing. He had 120,000 miles on the clock, 98,000 of those driven by us. Remarkable. Oh and he was called Chaz.
This is the only photo I have of him from 2009 . . .

Chaz The Jazz And Us

AUGUST

August is one big blank in my notebooks, so, referring to a calendar I realise that I spent the whole of my weekend spare time decorating!

SEPTEMBER

You know when you overcompensate for a lack of something - well, the month of September was mad camera overkill whilst on holiday.

I packed a 2 lens Hasselblad outfit, a Rollei T, a Nikon F with a 24mm, two tripods, 2 cable releases and a dreaded digicam - the old Panasonic (which I realised this morning is surprisingly about 10 years old). I took about 12 rolls of 120 and 5 rolls of 35mm . . . for a seven day trip!  Oh and backpack, large shoulder bag and a small one too . . . 

Every day had a photographic element and I ended up exposing 4 120's (2 in the same epic session) and 3 rolls of 36 exp - this all despite the fact that it rained fairly solidly (no exaggeration) for pretty much the whole week. 

I also utilised an ancient PiePhone and made some more videos (you might need to be sitting for these).

A Pie-Phone Video Is Worth A Thousand Words . . . . Or Something Like That

I had a number of adventures in the rain at dusk-ish, which I thoroughly enjoyed - the simplicity of navigating to somewhere you've not really been, having an explore and getting back home (albeit in the near dark) is something I would thoroughly recommend (though obviously, be judicious!). Oh and because of the nature of t'PiePhone's auto-exposure thing, I know that the videos above look like they were taken in bright light . . .they weren't.
I was pleased with the results from the holiday though, especially the two 120 's shot over an epic 2 hour session on a waterlogged, abandoned railway line - it was great to be 'in the zone' as it were. The railway wasn't a Beeching-abandoned one, but had been running up and into the 1970's. It is incredible what 40 years of wild growth can do, transforming a neat little cut of about a mile long into an abandoned portal, overgrown with trees and redolent with the overwhelming smell of fallen crab-apples. IT WAS HEAVEN!

Sadly though, apart from contacts, none of the frames have been printed . . remember that DIY stuff? Yep . . me too.

The images you'll see below, are direct scans off the contact sheets (resin coated paper too, so none too exceptional on the fine details) - I've isolated each frame and scanned them individually at 3200 dpi. 

Normal printing will be resumed as soon as possible, but given I am under the self-imposed cosh to get this done for Yuletide, then scans it'll have to be. 

A modicum of very light light adjustment and retouching dusty bits has been done with Apple's Photo.

Flooded Abandoned Railway Cutting 1
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 60mm Distagon,  Pyrocat HD

Flooded Abandoned Railway Cutting 2
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 60mm Distagon,  Pyrocat HD

Flooded Abandoned Railway Cutting 3
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 150mm Sonnar, Pyrocat HD

Where Walls Collide
Hasselblad 500 C/M, Hasselblad 150mm Sonnar, Pyrocat HD

And the 35mm ones - all Nikon F and 24mm f2.8 Nikkor - a right nice early 1970's combo! I actually reckon with a slight tweak in film, ie. not FP4, but something more gritty like Tri-X, I could get that lovely late '60's/early '70's photojournalist look. What a great lens, and especially for a tad under £100 . . .well, try buying a Leitz or a modern plastic wonder for that price . . . .

Oh and the heft of the old F really makes a difference in light conditions like I had that week - most of these were on a 1/15th. I did utilize the Leica TTT as a body brace.

Eagle-Eyed Readers Might Recognize This Boat Shed
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

The Most Other-Wordly Place In Scotland
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

That's A Rowing Boat, In The Middle Of A Vegetable Garden
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

A Chambered Cairn With A View Of Heaven On A Dreich Day 1
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

A Chambered Cairn With A View Of Heaven On A Dreich Day 2
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

Bridge Reflection On A Dark And Rainy Afternoon
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

OCTOBER

Well, I finished off a roll of FP4 which had been in the Nikon with the 24mm, and realised that in the 24mm I had a bloody fantastic lens!

Visceral Phonebox 0
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

Verdant Works
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

Posh And Peeling Phonebox 1
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

Posh And Peeling Phonebox 2
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

Visceral Phonebox 0.1
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

Visceral Phonebox 0.2
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

The Chinese Are Coming
Nikon F, 24mm f2.8 Pre-Ai Nikkor, Ilford FP4, Pyrocat HD

The results were developed in December in my usual Pyrocat, 1+1+100, 21 Centigrade and 22 Minutes (standing from 17 minutes).
It has seriously made me wonder why I've bothered to invest so much in a Leica system when a lens that cost 10 quid shy of £100 (with postage) can deliver such stunning (to me) results.

Anyway, after I finished the film in the F I thought about it, and realised I hadn't used the M2 in a while, so took advantage of some bargain Tri-X (£4/roll!) and loaded it and fitted the old Canon LTM 28mm with Finder. 
It's a compact little package, and I had a good tootle around with it in St Andrews and Perth, didn't finish the film and like I say, time being time . . . .

NOVEMBER

The Tri-X was STILL in the M2 (on about frame 25) but time being time I had no time to finish it - the push was on, like the Battle Of The Bulge, but in DIY terms. I had to throw everything I had at it.

I was however heartened by the fact that the BBC's Blue Planet II has made people start thinking and talking about ocean-borne plastic pollution - thank goodness - wrote about it HERE FIVE long years ago.

DECEMBER

Well, that's now isn't it!

I finished off the roll of Tri-X I had left in the M2 . . . and had something happen to me that has never happened before - you know that cold snap we had? I'd rewound the film, taken it out of the camera and was putting it into a canister with the end bent over (I do this to distinguish that I have actually exposed that roll) and . . the leader snapped! I was really surprised - imagine if it had been colder and that had happened mid-roll. I've read about it happening with sprockets tearing through film like it was nothing, but, like I say, it was new to me.
Anyway, here's the pics - usual developer . . .

I'm Sure I Widdled Here Recently
Leica M2, Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Pyrocat HD

Visceral Phonebox 1
Leica M2, Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Pyrocat HD

Visceral Phonebox 2
Leica M2, Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Pyrocat HD

Mennies On A Cold Morning
Leica M2, Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Pyrocat HD

Some Bloke And His Dug
Leica M2, Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Pyrocat HD

St.Josephs RC Primary Dundee - R.I.P.
Leica M2, Canon Rangefinder 28mm f3.5, Kodak Tri-X, Pyrocat HD

The results weren't too bad - quite like the Visceral Phonebox ones actually, but how much of that is Tri-X at work?
When I started using the M2 again, I also discovered that the vertical alignment of the rangefinder is a bit out . . so . . a trip to the doctors methinks . . or else sell it. But then again, the tactile experience you get from using a camera like a Leica . . well it goes a bit beyond the bounds of pounds and pence doesn't it? 
Doesn't it??
The money tied up in that camera and all the lenses I have for it, could buy me a Rollei 2.8F. 
Hmmmm - (mad) thoughts for the New Year.

Oh, and before I go, I've discovered there's one word I truly find objectionable in photography . . .
Ready?
WORK!

"His work is great!"
"If only I could organize my work better."
"Can you justify spending so much money on your work?"
"You have to be careful with juxtapositions within your work; you don't want it to seem too linked to the past, and yet getting your own work confused with someone else's work is all part of the nascent regeneration necessary in any art construction . . ."

You know what I mean?
Unless you really are scraping a living or earning mega-bucks from it, it isn't work, it's a hobby, it's FUN; it is enjoyable. 
It's not work - the connotations of that word are so tied up to me with doing the do:

9-5
Digging holes in roads
Shifting dustbins
Wiping bums
Sitting at a PC for 8 hours
Working on a till
Welding
Feeding cattle
Brick laying 

 . . . you know WORK, not tripping a fecking shutter (fer goodness sake) and then organizing your photographs into some semblance of pleasing order!
Work indeed, he said, muttering and cursing . . . 

Anyway on a final note I will leave the final words as something we should all strive for as photographers, not just the making of images, but the making of images that can alter perception, that can live with you and make you think and feel. 
For myself, with my deep love of the natural world, my viewing of this image turned my thinking on its head. It is so quietly powerful in ways I can't even being to understand.

Del Monte Forest, 1969
© Wynn Bullock Estate

And a statement from its creator and discoverer, Wynn Bullock:

"The work of the last two years is more archetypal than my previous work. I think that it comes from a source that I feel deeply, that I myself can't rationalize and have no particular urge to rationalize. I just feel it. I'm still exercising the disciplines that I've given myself in terms of how I spatially arrange events, use tones, and so on. Therefore I can let myself go in this new way. I feel that I'm getting nearer to some of the things that I never [have fully] understood about myself and the world about me. Many of those…relate symbolically to some of the deepest [realities] of life: birth, death, order - the universals. These are Everyman's - not just the way in which I see them personally, but perceivable by all of us."

And that's it folks - thank you for reading!

As a New Year approaches will it be chaos and doubt, fear, hate and mistrust? Or will it be, as a wise man once said, time for change, time for truth, time for love and time for action.

Only you can decide, but remember, Many a Mickle Maks a Muckle, even one small, positive step in the right direction by anyone can lead to a better place.

To all regular (and irregular) readers, friends, commenters and general odd-bods (well you must be if you read this tripe!) TTFN, have the most peaceful and wonderful Festive Season and remember to keep eating your peas.