Birdsong

Aside from the above title being a most excellent war novel by Sebastian Faulks, it is also a truism of the current times we are living through . . . I know, it's really bizarre isn't it!

I don't know about you, so I can only speak for myself - I live in a City next to a busy road. Even at the back of the house, in our garden, the traffic noise is there most of the time, from the low drone, to the boy racer, buses trucks and lorries, to the upper, always there thrum.
Noise is something we never truly get away from unless we hit the wild spaces.
It can be incredibly silent on a mountain top; and especially when the wind dies down. it's an all encompassing quiet, tinted with the movement of air, and the thundering of your heart and the coarse old engines of your lungs; but it is something else too - it's a physical presence.
It's like, with nothing moving around, the air has stilled to its natural state - no thermals to lift it, no massed patterns of weather squashing and twisting.
None of that.
Silence becomes a state of being, and to be alone in that, far from the modern world, well, it's beyond my ken, and I can only say that everyone should be given the opportunity to experience it.

I guess that's why traffic noise gets me.
You really can't escape it - even in quiet, sleepy villages, there's always something whizzing along, cutting up the quiet and disappearing off into the distance.

And yet now, with the enforced shutdown of nearly every aspect of society due to CV, suddenly the traffic has stilled and it is bliss.

The birds have commandered the silence again, re-taking what had been theirs and filling it with a sweet song that says, no matter what, life in all it multifarious forms will go on, with or without us.

I find that wonderful.

So go on, go out on your Govenment-Approved Once A Day Exercise and see if I'm not right. Listen to those little chirpers, going for it like there's no tomorrow and relish it, because the world will revert back to its noisy old self and the silence and trills will seem like a distant memory.

OK, this is FB, so there's some photography going on, like it or not!

I couldn't find any pictures of birds, so instead went for the next best thing - places in the world that I have found peaceful!
Not that we've travelled much, but all the same, I think that, if you are open to it, peace can find you at all times.
Here's some of them:

Petit Sablon Afternoon

OK, this was taken with the Nikon F3 and f2.8 28mm CRC Nikkor - it's a great lens, and takes a lovely photograph. 

It's a detail of a fountain in the Petit Sablon Square in Brussels. 

A small but beautiful area of peace - yes there's traffice noise, but there's also birdsong and the rilling of water - highly recommended if you are ever there.

Petit Sablon Fence

Another detail from Petit Sablon, this time with the Sony A6000 sporting the 35mm f2 Nikkor 'O'. 

It's done a fab job I think, the colours are quite subtle.

De Kattenkabinet   - Spot The Cat

Same camera and lens, but a different place.

Amsterdam is nuts and even more-so these days, well, it was . . . . bet the locals, like those in Venice are relishing every moment just now.

Well, in amongst the bong-hunting, beer-swilling, neighbourhood-annoying youthful hordes, there is this - De Kattenkabinet. 

Basically a museum dedicated to all things feline and quite a delight actually (even if you don't like cats!). 

This is the garden at the back, inhabited by lots of sleepy cats and, incredibly, chickens. The songbirds are pretty fly there too - they keep themselves well above the cats and taunt them with song and flitting.

Hell of a place!

Abandoned Nets

Off the coast of Croatia there is a small archepeligo called the Elaphiti Islands. They're sleepy places, and really rather quaint and peaceful.

The above abandoned fishing net, was taken on Suđurađ, the quietest and sleepiest of the lot. Sony and 35mm Nikkor again . . . .

It is a wonderful island with groves and sleepy farmhouses and strange bits of junk lying about, and, of course, birds. There are some cars there, but mostly, it's the occasional whizz of a scooter that cuts the peace.
I'd love to go back one day.

When In Rome

They Really Do Follow You

When in Rome, do as the Romans do . . . stay off the streets at midday! It can get bloomin' hot, unbearably so actually, and of course, everyone wants to maximise their holiday so they're out and about in extreme temperatures.

So, what to do, when your (under)pants resemble kinked and knotted, skin-chaffing bits of soggy sandpaper? 

Yes, that's right - head to The Cimitero Acattolico, or The Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners in Testaccio, Rome (to give it its full name).

It is the single greatest city space I have ever encountered.

Choc-full of incredible gravestones, some quite recent, it really is an oasis in the busiest City I have ever been in.

Lots of birds, and lots of graves like the above, which scared the bejeesus out of me - it's just there, lurking and staring directly at you no matter the angle you're at. 

Very weird.

The camera was The Ship's Anchor! The Nikon D300S and the 18-70mm f3.5-4.5 G AF-S DX.

Jings it was heavy, however (and despite no longer owning it) it rendered colours pretty well.

Gentrified Glen

When the Nikon went back, I got the Fuji X2-ES and 27mm f2.8. A fine get-up, but for someone raised on Nikon F's and Mamiya C330S's, as light as a gnat's fart. It developed a fault too, so went back and I hung up my digital improvements.

Anyway, this wonderful little place is besides Cambo house just south of St Andrews. It's a small Victorian 'improved' dell, with this wonderful burn running through it and a couple of small ironwork bridges. 

Dead peaceful and lots of birds.

Tribute To Eliot Porter

This was taken besides the Adriatic and is a Pie-Phone (Mk V, meat and potato) pic. There's flare, but somehow it reminds me of early LF colour photographs by a hero of mine Eliot Porter - think it is the format actually. Anyway, this wee walk was beautiful with birds, wild figs and the soft lapping of waves, mixed in with the gentle twanging of mankinis from the German tourists who liked to bathe there. 

Ah the sound of a twanging mankini . . . I'll say no more!

The Pool At The Centre Of The World

I think I've shown you this before - it's a loud little pool at the head of a Glen where you can go no further. 

Not much in the way of birds at such an elevation save the odd grouse and a few eagles, but peace ran out of the rocks and enfolded me. 

Again a heck of a place - and if the government don't restrict all outdoor activities I'll try and get back there whilst there's still some snow on the ground . . .

Camera was a 500C/M and a 150mm Sonnar - bliss.

Loch Tideline

Ah, this is a secret place of mine in the South Of Scotland - every time I have been there, it has felt like my own private playground and as such I intend to preserve its identity!
This was taken after a night of heavy rain and the loch level was starting to drop leaving this line of leaves.
The camera was my favourite 35mm camera  - a plain old Nikon F Photomic, made between August and October 1970. Heavy, clunky, but hand-holdable down to ridiculous speeds because of the weight.
Lens was a '71 or '72, 24mm Pre-Ai Nikkor - just an incredibly good lens.

Rocks, Pre-Rainstorm

Normally I wouildn't show my pants in public, but this is a scan off a contact print and I intend to print it soon. Again, a small walk in the mountains that is a bit off the beaten track.
The light was extraordinary as the heavyweight clouds muscled in from the left.
Camera was a 500 C/M and the lens was my 60mm Distagon.

Keeping The Magic In

Remember that secret place I mentioned with the Nikon? - this is close by. 

It is a (I believe un-noted by archaeologists) small hill fort. It has a spring on the top of the hill, and to my mind, any pre-historical era person would love to have somewhere easily defendable with a nice water-source too.

Not sure why I like this pic, but I do.

It's square and that holds it all together - 500C/M and 150mm Sonnar.

Oh and there's birds, normal small songbirds, and red kites, billions of them. Peace oozes from the ground and it has a real uncanny feel to it. 

The funniest thing to me, is that others must have felt it too - maybe it was a sacred grove? 

There's plenty of ancient trees (which had significant magical interest) all over the place. 

Curiously there's a Motte nearby too - the Norman's really liked to seize the local places of power . . more of that at the bottom.

Oh and it is surrounded by stone dykes and fields, yet has remained un-farmed . . are the walls keeping the magic in?

Fort Imperial Defences

Back to Dubrovnik. You are literally at the top of the City here as this is a section of the defences of Fort Imperial atop the hill of Srđ.

The Fort itself was built by Napoleon, and centuries later it became part of the resistance during the Battle For Dubrovnik.

I took a wee shifty here - don't think you were supposed to climb so high, but the fort was claustrophobic.

Plenty of birds here, their song taken away on the wind. peace was here too (strangely).

Camera: Sony A6000 and 35mm Nikkor. 

Aged Oak

Ah, another Norman-commandered site! 

I played here when I was young. 

It is a named SSI and is chocca with oaks that must be around or over 1000 years old. It is an extraordinary place with an extraordinary feel.

Lots of birds and a disquieted peace. as a family we always felt there was something weird and uncanny about the oaks, and I still can't place it. 

We tried to avoid it at night too.

This is another scan off a contact print   - needs to be properly printed.

Camera: 500 C/M and 150mm Sonnar.

Sunday Morning

I rediscovered this - it was taken with a Nikon F3 and a pre-Ai 28mm f3.5, which, the knowledgable amongst you will know was the lens that McCullin shot Vietnam with.

It is widely ignored these days (everyone want's the f2.8 CRC version because a load of net influencers say that is the one to go for) and as such is a total bargain. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, in fact I would say it takes a great photograph.
The above was morning sun through a hotel bathroom window. it was sunny (for a change) and the birds were out in tough little tweety gangs!
Peace suffused the air and me and the wee one had a wonderful weekend.

And that's it folks.
The end is nigh (if you believe everything you read) and whilst the privations might seem tough, I'll draw your attention to a little known shipwreck of a ship made in Dundee, the RV Strathmore.
You can read extracts from a passengers diary here on this link
Now that was tough.

TTFN, keep taking the pease-pudding and remember to add some carrots in too.

Photography's Not Dead (It Just Smells A Bit Funny)

Morning folks - well, more time away from the keyboard just doing stuff has meant there's been little time for posting, however, some stuff will be posted the noo. 

So hold onto your hard-hats and be intrigued by the title of this.

You see, I really believed in my heart that photography was pretty much dead - I did and I bet you did too!

For all intents and purposes, our style of photography, pretty much is. 

Where are the massed ranks of analogue photographers rushing home to their darkrooms with oodles of film? 

I figure they are out there (the confidence shown by film manufacturers recently certainly says that something is going on) it's just that, be honest, apart from yourself and your mad friends, how many others have you actually seen?

Yer Sheephouse was recently extremely lucky to be invited on holiday by his parents-in-law (along with Mrs Sheephouse of course) to Dubrovnik, in Croatia.

If you've never been, go.

If you have been, you'll maybe know what I am talking about.

It's a stunningly beautiful place, full of some of the most happy and welcoming 'natives' we've ever encountered, but man is it rammed with tourists.

It's as busy as busy can be, and you know what? to a man (and woman) they're all taking photographs.

Billions and billions of them.

Everywhere.

All the time.

If I thought that Amsterdam was indeed the city of a plague of bicycles (which it is - they come at you from all directions) then Dubrovnik, is the city of the selfie-stick toting tourist.

Well, you'll be saying, that's just the modern age innit.

Yes it most certainly is, but amongst all the phone photography (and seriously, the selfie is an extraordinary phenomenon in its own right) I have never seen as many massive-lensed SLRs being carried, anywhere.

They were predominantly Canon, and toted by everyone from bearded/concerned young men, to grannies.

To my eyes, the digital compact is all but dead, having been supplanted by the phone, but for 'serious' stuff . . . well, SLR it is.

There was also a smattering of Sony NEX-style cameras, but these were outnumbered vastly.

So, photography isn't dead.

Indeed, were I to be stuck in a chair and tickled by Ken Dodd (overseas readers, look him up) then I would say, missus, that our lovely hobby is alive and kicking, in spades 

But (and here's the question) how many of these masterpieces ever make it out of their little envelopes of plastic, metal and silicone?.

So, it's alive, but worrabout Film?

Did someone say film?

Well, I've mentioned this before, but there is a curious phenomenon in the world, whereby the only people carrying film cameras in daylight hours are . . . young Asian women.

I believe they're mostly Japanese too (God bless 'em) and my spotting haul was good this time - 5 film cameras!

From memory they were: an Olympus OM1, another later OM (not sure what), a Minolta, a Praktika (!) and a gorgeous Pentax Spotmatic . . .

So what was I doing to hold our side up, film fans?  

What was Mr Sheephouse, proponent of film, film and more film doing?

Cough. 

Err. 

Cough.

No Film camera, cough.

What was that?

Cough.

Err, sorry, no film camera . . . 

OK, I chickened out again about carrying film through security scanners and ended up with the Sony A6000 and 35mm f2 Nikkor-O.

Now the Nikkor is a fine lens and I've taken a lot of photos with it that I actually like, but I dunno, on the Sony, that character it normally oozes is lost in a world of digital flatness. The Sony relates any detail captured in life-like colours and great quality, but the photos below look, to me, as dead as dodos.

Let me know what you think.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I hungered for a film camera!

Honest, I even dreamed about a Leicaflex SL. 

It was total pain (and shame) I was feeling, and I am now more determined than ever to travel with film. I've been thinking that something really really small and discreet like an OLD screw-mount Leica with the Canon 28mm f3.5 lens I have and using Sunny 16, would yield me the sort of photos I'd like to print.

Of course, I have the M2 too, but that is rather a target I believe, sadly. 

The other thing that came to a head with the Sony was it's reaction time.

Excuse me, as I am going to swear:

It was fucking fucking fucking fucking slow.

Nearly 3 seconds to wake up and react to my presence and that stupid fucking electronic viewfinder . . ah jeez. Well, you can tell, I was frustrated as fuck. In fact I would rank the electronic VF (apart from the nice red focus confirmation bits) on the Sony as being WORSE than the faff that is focusing and composing on a screw-mount Leica.

So, is the Sony going to get the boot?

I dunno - potentially.

I think I should replace our 7 year old Panasonic which is getting a bit long in the tooth (and whose screen has started to go) but still takes a decent pic, with something that'll do the job with an optical VF, but that is compact, and for the rest, well, hyperfocal with the Canon on a screw mount Leica - how does that sound?

Or accept the cudgel, get a Sony short focal length zoom for the Sony, use that as the 'general' camera and forget about using Nikkors on it.

Oh and I think solid B&W from now on - none of this colour stuff for me (even though I like it) - so that I can come home with 36 or 64 real negatives that I can easily deal with, and not nearly 500 digital ones, that are so-so and consume hours of time to sort.

So why is photography a bit smelly then Sheepy?

Well, the thing this has all highlighted for me, is that in the total move to digital, we, as photographers, have lost SO much. 

Yes, you get an optical VF with an SLR, but you also get a camera that is huge and has just way too many options that make me personally just say:

"Oh fuck OFF!"

I want something that reacts in the way an M2 or a Nikon F reacts. Quickly and intuitively. That lets the photographer be a photographer and not just a button pushing curator of menus. Yes, I know, there are the likes of the digi-Leicas and Fujis, but they're really expensive. there has to be a cheaper common ground.

I doubt this very much, but

If there is a camera manufacturer out there, who would like me to design a camera that old-time photographers WOULD ACTUALLY LIKE TO USE, then please, send me a message!

I reckon I could design one for you.

There's a huge gap in the market for something as simple and wonderful to use as the old Olympus Trip.

Anyway, without further ado, Dubrovnik . . oh and the wonderful Kotor (in Montenegro). 

I make no pretensions about these photos - I just enjoyed taking them, but the results are so-so to my eyes, they're not 'art' they are '(ph)art' and they're sifted from, as I said, around 500 in total - what a fecking nightmare!

And that's it folks - normal service will be resumed shortly - got a massive backlog of negatives to be printed - I just need some time.
Be good, keep taking the pills and remember that a bird in the hand will more than likely crap in it too.

Working From One End To The Other (And All Points In Between)

Well folks, the festives are upon us again - so he's blocked up the chimley, nailed don't-land-here-bird-pokey-spike-things to every available landing surface and yer Sheephouse has been finally relaxing and imbibing plenty of Woods Old Navy rum and typing - and rather like an avalanche waiting to happen and thinking what the hell will he round things off with, he thought:
'Yes, dammit, heck . . . well, why not? A summary of the year . . . yesh, thash a good idea' (hic).

In much the same way, Basil Rathbone exclaims "My dear Watson, you astound me . . ." in The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (1939) . . . (none of this modern BBC stuff here, oh no, I like my Sherlock in tweed and pipe) so I wonder why I haven't done it before.

Ed's note: Look, I've had to read and re-read this a number of times . . . there's a lot of pictures, and it does come across like one of those yearly round-robbin (as in Look-at-all-the-wonderful-things-we-special-people-got-up-to-this-year) Christmas cards you used to get from folk at your Mum and Dad's church . . . but I don't think he means it like that. It's more of a kick up the pants to himself . . .
The Light waits for no man, and soon, very soon, the last glimpse you get of the world is that coffin lid closing and the flare of gas jets, so let it be more of a salutory, Dickensian-style, "Get Thy Finger Oot Whilst You Still Have Time."

Sub-Ed's note: Look this is supposed to be the Festive Season . . . it's not that bad, so grab a bagel and a cup of Java and let's get on with it!

I suppose the supposition is that the life of a blogger and especially one that writes about oooooo, photography, is an exciting round of gear, gottle-of-gear, adoring followers, Tweets from the WHITE HEAT of Photogblogging, Farcebook posts, more gear and people thinking you are the second coming of Ansel.
Well, I'm sure Bruce at the Online Darkroom would agree with me that it is nothing like that!
Us poor bunch ("poor bunch" being distinct from the whatsisnames and whatsisnames, you know who I mean . . whatsisname) tend to write about The Process rather than Yer Actual Gear.
Who gives a shit about how people actually use tools these days -  it's ALL ABOUT THE TOOL isn't it . . isn't it? Certainly seems that way from where I am standing.

But gear does come into it (to a greater or lesser extent) and I can completely confirm that acquiring new (old) stuff is an addictive and expensive buzz but also enormous fun and an integral part of what we do.
I think I've come to realise that I rather like having a ton of daft old cameras around - it aids the creative process, by giving things a new edge, and with the exception of my almost total neglect of 5x4 this year (and with around 250-300 sheets to use) I think I have explored the fringes of my wee collection quite well.

However, at the end of the day if you've nothing to show for it . . .

Anyway, maybe my idea of a summary isn't so good - yes I've bought a number of photographic aids this year, but if the truth be told I have done precious little photography and almost no printing - a lot of the stuff here is scanned from contacts (gasp!!) - to be honest I have not had the time to have a good darkroom session since around May.
That's appalling, but it has been my reality this year.
Never mind - what you'll get in what follows is periods of stasis and general other stuff, interspersed with intensive bits of creativity.
In fact so polarised is it, that I think my end of year report could read

" . . . Sheephouse . . . shows willing, could do better."

Anyway, here goes, hold onto your hats and watch a semi-creative year unfurl before your very eyes!

JANUARY

I started with optimism. Spent all my Christmas money, and more on an Arca B-1 ballhead, which was a total revelation to use along with the Hasselblad. Yes it was a few years old, and yes it came from the same family of the infamous Arca lockup (google it - plenty of info) however mine is a later model in which the problem has been sorted out (the PMF B-1) - it was boxed and in 'as new' condition from those lovely chaps at Ffordes and it grips heavy loads like a bulldog on your nadgers making using the Hasselblad a total cinch on top of ye anciente Gitzo Reporter.

Having just about survived Storm Gertrude (a neighbour's roof had a whole 3.5 foot by 1.5 foot Victorian chimney pot embed itself into it from about 60 feet up) I marshalled myself at the end of the month with an expired 2010 roll of Neopan 400, and went out on a dreich and overcast afternoon to produce this.

Film 66/18 - Expired 2010 Neopan 400 (EI 200) in 1+50 Rodinal. Hasselblad Panoramic Adapter

FEBRUARY

Took the M2 and Canon 28mm f3.5 to Edinburgh and took some snaps, but didn't develop the film for quite a while.

MARCH

(Almost) not a sausage done.

APRIL

Developed photos from February and a handful from March - to quote my diaries:

 "Total shite - worst photos I have ever taken"

See what you think (these are probably the best!):

Film 35/40 - TMX400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Film 35/40 - TMX400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Seriously thought about binning 35mm altogether.

Took the Hasselblad out and in a brief moment of Dad free-time I had a total blast with the Hasselblad handheld!

Film 66/19 - More Expired 2010 Neopan 400 (EI 200) in Rodinal 1+50

Film 66/19 - More Expired 2010 Neopan 400 (EI 200) in Rodinal 1+50

Had a rethink about 35mm and bought a super-cheap (sub £55) 28mm f3.5 Nikkor and an ancient CCS Gladstone bag (it was really cheap [30-odd quid] and in brilliant condition. It holds all my MF stuff comfortably and was a bargain compared to a new bag (CCS no longer exist, but their bags are stil laround - not made in the Far East, but here in the UK).
So it was that fully loaded and me and the missus off for a short long-weekend to my favourite place. It held the Hasselblad, Leitz Table Top Tripod, Rollei T AND the Nikon F3 with the 28mm Nikkor and a 50mm Nikkor as backup + notebooks, books, film, reading material etc etc - it's like the tardis of bags.

Action Man - of course, I could reveal my location, but then I'd have to kill you.

Film 66/21 -TXP 320 (EI 320) in Pyrocat-HD - eventually developed in May

Film 66/21 -TXP 320 (EI 320) in Pyrocat-HD - eventually developed in May

You can't get an idea of the sheer sharpness (and atmosphere) from these scans, even at 3200 dpi off of the contact sheet - take it from me they're SHARP AND ATMOSPHERIC!

Film 35/41 - Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in 1+50 Rodinal
It never struck me at the time, but these are like two Ents.

Film 35/41 - Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in 1+50 Rodinal

Film 35/41 - Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in 1+50 Rodinal

You know, for all the pixel-peepers say "Oh you've got to get the 28mm f2.8 Nikkor as it is soooo much sharper . . oooh, look at those pixels" the f3.5 is what the likes of Don McCullin and his 60's/70's compadres used and you know what - it is no slouch, especially on film.
A very cheap, solid, but decent performing lens!

There was a very good Scottish Photographers meeting at Alan and Sheila's in Perth at the end of the month - as usual, it was great to be able to talk and talk nothing but photography for an afternoon.

MAY

Bought a Pyrocat-HD kit off of eBay.

Had a fabulous time with the Hasselblad at St Andrews Botanical gardens, photographing their incredible collection of condensation, dried-on plant food marks (seriously!) and weird reflections in the hot-houses. If you're ever in St Andrews just go - one of the nicest Botanical gardens in Britain.
Vic the Hasselblad was handheld again - seriously - a total revelation about how to use a large, non-TLR, MF camera - I can imagine with the standard 80mm it would be even more of a joy to use.

Film 66/22 - TMX 400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Film 66/22 - TMX 400 (EI 320) in 1+50 Rodinal

Tested the newly arrived Pyrocat-HD kit on some sheet film . . hopeless results - operator error:

"What the feck is going on? . . Oh yeah, that's ANOTHER couple of quid down the drain . . . "
TXP 320 (EI 320) in Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100 - way too thin at that speed . . people used to say that about me!

Yeah I know I look like a Granny in the above - the lens was the 90mm Super-Angulon

Processed my MF films from April.

JUNE

Had been thinking about a Leicaflex as I so wanted to get a Summicron and it was the cheapest way, but after a few salutory emails from Ffordes about de-silvering prisms and an email from Bruce about perceived lens quality, I went mad, looked at as many old Leica photographs as I could find and finally bought myself a 35mm Summaron for the M2.
What a lovely lens - detailed in "Stepping Up To The Mark".

I tested the lens with a film I'd started using in the Nikon F back in mid-May, so I counted the exposed frames, rewound it and got back to the same point on the film in the M2.
Film was developed in P-HD. First two pics from Nikon end of roll, third a weird double 28mm Nikkor/35mm Summaron double exposure and fourth all M2/Summaron baby.

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Tri-X 400 (EI 320) developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

Holidays - hurrah!

I love UK-based holidays, because I can settle in to using where we are staying (usually caravans) as a base to explore the surrounding countryside and use my cameras to the point of exhaustion!

I took the Hasselblad and the M2 with the 35mm Summaron and loads of film. I've taken the 5x4 before, but (as detailed last year) using a changing bag is a total PITA, so this time thought, well why not use the Hasselblad for my 'serious' shots, and it worked a dream.

The Summaron shots were detailed in the post "Stepping Up To The Mark" from July and some of the Hasselblad ones are in "4K Burning Moggie" from September.

Here's some I didn't post:

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

You really do have to lose some speed with P-HD - EI 50 seems to suit FP4 well - my times and agitation were:
Constant and Gentle for 30secs
2 inversions per minute
Keep that going till 17mins, then let it stand to 20 mins.
Temperature was 20 degrees

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100
This was taken at twilight, wide open.

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

FP4 (EI 50) - developed in Pyrocat-HD - 1+1+100

I'll nail my trousers to the mast here and say that the 35mm f3.5 Summaron has that vintage look in spades - it's sharp, it's creamy, it's got GREAT (but subtle) contrast and above all it's damn pictorial - there's a pleasing quality that I haven't found with any other lens.
Just wonderful.

JULY

Despite showing the pics from June last month, the holiday ones were processed in July . . carefully!

Went for a 12 mile hillwalk, carrying no camera gear but the Leica M2 and Summaron and Leitz table top tripod - it was a revelation and I rather like the cut of the jib of a Summaron as a landscape lens - a joyous tool to carry and use and as I've said before, want a reliable companion tripod but can't be bothered with a big 'un? get a Leitz table top - brilliant wee things.

Loch Esk
Film 35/46 - TMX 100 (EI 50) - Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100

The Sedge At Loch Esk
Film 35/46 - TMX 100 (EI 50) - Pyrocat-HD 1+1+100

 

Leica M2, Leitz 35mm f3.5 Summaron, Leitz Table Top Tripod

The Mythical Wild Man Of The North (caught in reflective mood)
Film 35/46 - TMX 100(EI 50) - Pyrocat - HD 1+1+100

Film 35/46 - TMX 100 -PHD 1+1+100, EI 50

And this is what Storm Gertrude did to a bridge in a glen back in January - the bridge was solid as a rock, but nature had other ideas!

The flat concrete bit is bolted to a boulder that must weigh a couple of tons, the bridge was bolted to the concrete with concrete piers too. All gone - I kind of wish I'd been there to see it.

Ed and Sub-Ed's note: Non-photographic, essential stuff coming up.

Discovered my chimney was in a state of disrepair . . . basically the flue for the old boiler that was present when we moved into the house, was a steel pipe, dropped down an (unknown to me) chimney. The flaunching (a word I'd never heard till this year) had perished and basically the top of the chimney was wide open to the elements! OK, so it's an old (1888) chimney and has been dealt with in an awful way by intervening generations . . so, me being me, and bouyed-up by last years use of hairy lime putty to bed in my front windows, I started investigating and reading and eventually got some NHL (Non-hydraulic Lime) 5.
This is lime, the stuff they used to use before cement ruled everything - it's a time-consuming but benevolent mortar mix. It is also hydroscopic, so unlike cement (which is utterly waterproof from both sides) lime mortar allows moisture to pass from its interior to its exterior! This was just what I needed considering the fabric of the chimney stack had become damp.

Eek! Slate covers old chimney and flue is below.

So, work was required, and that meant me!

AUGUST

After a quiet statement to myself of "Holy Bungos" I got started and rebuilt the exposed part of the stack with the NHL - I used a premixed version from Conservation lime - it was very nice stuff and really does improve your muscle tone trying to mix it!
The hardest part was stopping it drying out too quickly in the really hot weather we were getting so I was hopping up the ladder three times a day with my plant sprayer and spraying it down and then covering it over.
With lime they recommend you use hessian sacking to cover it with because it stays moist, however I didn't have any so had to make do with painters exterior masking tape (the orange stuff) and those giant blue Ikea bags which are really rather good.
Anyway after 8 days of this regime, I was ready to expose my work. And it seemed to have dried fine, it is however no wonder modern builders rarely use it - it's so time-consuming, and these days no one has the time do they?

Anyway, at the same time of doing this I thought I'd use a roof coating to go over the felt. We have about 18sq metres of flat stuff - and economy was the name of the game; so after HOURS of debate and study I settled on a product by Scotch/3M called Scotchkote. It is a range of coatings, all designed for industrial purposes - they're breathable and come in a range of systems ranking from 5 year before first maintenance right up to 25 year! I was impressed by this and also by some feedback from industrial roofers, so I put my money where my brain was.
I went with the 5 year (Polytech LS 657), because it was the most economical.
But this ties into next month . . so . . and still no photography done . . .

Flue still there, but now upper section is rebuilt with lime.

Oh and I liberated some pensioners of their pocket money, went mad and bought myself a guitar.

SEPTEMBER

Well, what a beautiful month! The weather was something else at the start.

I chickened out at the thought of taking film through an airport, sold the Canon EOS and used the funds to buy a Sony A6000 and a Metabones Nikkor adapter, seeing as I have tons of Nikkors lying around like leaves off a tree . . . 

And guess what . . another holiday!
This time we scraped together all our spare change, robbed a few more pensioners and flew to Amsterdam and then by train to Brussels.

The shots were detailed in "Ogden's Not Gone Flake" published in September, but here's a few more.

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 35mm f2 Nikkor-O

They're two outstanding European cities with different (yet similar) cultures but they are friendly and beautiful places and so very different from the a-typical views people have of them:

Drugs and sex - Amsterdam
Boring - Brussels.

I took a lot of photographs with the non-PC Sony A6000 and a 35mm Nikkor-O.
OK - it's not film-based, but you know what, I was happy to use it and think the results are really excellent, though I've not printed a single one.
The Sony and ancient (1971) Nikkor give a colour quality that pleases the hell out of me - very 1970's but very crisp too.

During our holiday I replaced my blood with Belgian beer and felt better for it. I've been a beer enthusiast since well before the word "craft" came into the language and it pleases me to see so many guys brewing their own and starting micro-breweries. I did my own proper, non-kit home brewing back in the 1990's, but discovered I couldn't even touch the likes of Westmalle and Samuel Smiths, so gave up . . 

Came home and cleaned out the loft - an epic job.

OCTOBER

We got back, and the weather changed to 'orrible and rainy, so I steeled myself, waited for some decent weather (not so easy when all you have is weekends) and then started in earnest on coating the roof.
If you can imagine painting an unwilling, very hairy cat onto a flat surface, then that is what it was like, but it's all about technique and I got there.
It's pretty damn marvellous stuff too - you can apply it in falling rain and down to 0 degrees, though this isn't to be recommended from the applicator point of view -  we did have our first frost in October and kneeling in ice and applying stuff like this is not to be recommended - doesn't half make your joints ache!

It was a heck of a job, two coats and an embedment mesh in places too - got there though - phew!

The bit on the left in grey and white is my work - this was taken from the window of a flat for sale next door.

Near the end of the month an excellent package from Omar Ozenir arrived containing both copies of his self-published photo-journal Gözaltı.
It's great stuff and highly recommended - you can find it here - tell him Sheephouse sent you.

Re-discovered that I really love playing the guitar - it has been a 20 year break, as in nothing done, for 20 years, which, if you know me is highly unusual.
Basically looking at it with the benefit of hindsight, I think I stopped because there was nowhere else to go.

NOVEMBER

No real photography done, just a wee tickle out at dusk around the graveyard with the Sony

Film 00100111001 - Sony A6000 + 50mm f1.8 "K" Series Nikkor

DECEMBER

And the same again.
There's a roll of FP4 in the M2, there's film in the fridge and I just need time.
I am on holiday for Christmas so hopefully there should be some full-on camera usage going on!


And tha-tha-tha-that's all ffolks - I hope you found that interesting and not too dull -despite the lack of vast amounts of stuff, at least I have been trying to do stuff, with only commitments and lack of time getting in my way. Next year I am planning on doing more.

So can I, on behalf of yer Missus Sheephouse and Alex Turnips too, take this opportunity to wish you and yours all a fantastic Christmas and an even better 2017 and for the world, a little peace perhaps, that can't be too hard can it, not if you really want it to happen.

I'll leave my final thought to Bruce Cockburn from 1971's "Sunwheel Dance" and the track "Going Down Slow":

God, damn the hands of glory

That hold the bloody firebrand high

Close the book and end the story

Of how so many men have died

Let the world retain in memory

That mighty tongues tell mighty lies

And if mankind must have an enemy

Let it be his warlike pride

Let it be his warlike pride

Take care, be good and remember to keep eating your peas.