Edinburgh

Some cool dude, dude-ing in the street

Life is fast in the city

Some more snaps from the Minolta 505 and some apx400 from last weekend in Edinburgh. I just love the buildings in this city as they give the place a real air of civility or something. Was so pleased to be home back on the island on Monday though.

A visit

We had a fine two days in Edinburgh prior to me having to sit through a horrible working meeting. Still, Had a lovely time at various museums including this one - I forget which one it was - but it had a lovely stairway. Taken on the old Ikonta 645 [1936] with Adox25/Rodinal

Late evening work

Springtime lunch

2nd coming

Peats and all that I mean; its our second year at it.
The weather is fantastic again - the same as last year at this time and already we have been out on the peat bank to take off the turf ready for cutting. I notice that some people's banks are already cut and thrown. However, since we are both working and, we like to have some fun as well, our peats aren't quite sorted. But they will be.
Tis a fine place to spend a meditative hour or back-breaking two. Right between two lochens up behind the village. A nice stroll along the peat track to get there and a winding down stroll back.

Tolsta Man. A real man.

Waiting

Aonghas

Aonghas takes pictures with a lovely Lubitel camera. Lovely dreamy stuff that art students make. and I love it - and wif proper film too. He's learning up the photography lark at some posh Uni somewhere. In the meantime he's earning a crust serving fine soups and the like at the Anchorage cafe in Leverburgh on the Ilse of Harris. Fine fare at the cafe and great service from lovely people.

I still love my Zorki

Rubh' an Teampaill

We start the stroll

It was worth it!

Mr Wilson enjoys the balmy weather.

From time to time, I get a period when one camera gets precedence over the others. Mind you, the little Zorki 6 usually stays in my bag loaded with some 100asa B&W film. Until I get a feeling that another camera deserves an outing. I do sually return to my small Soviet friend that came originally from BosseB in Sweden. This last weekend I went out for a strollette down Northton way and Zorki was with me. here's a couple of images from this with FP4 in Rodinal 1:25.
The walk out to the old temple is lovely and well worth the effort.

People

Anchorage cafe; Isle of Harris

Finlay; we are working on the Census together

I got the chance to shoot a few people - something I really like doing but have neglected a bit of late. So, armed with the Kiev Klunker and the Kowa6 I shot someone I work with and, some people I met while out and about.

First of the year

A tent on the local beach that is. Twas lovely and sunny this afternoon - despite the weather forecast but this evening, the soul who is lying under canvas is getting a bit if a battering with the wind. Hopefully, it wont rain as well!

A really old snap from a grass track meet in Richmond. Tis my pal Victor winning a handicap sprint race.

Going 5x7

That's the neg size for my FKD Soviet wooden beast camera- developed in print developer and printed as vandyke. Its a self-portrait using the poker as an aid to lift the cloth that acts as a shutter :-) 1 pixel. :-)

Hide and seek

Exclusive pictures of a local crofter playing hide and seek with one his coows. Reminds me of the local pharmacist who was seen telling her pet lambs a bed-time story :-) !

French boat

Was down at Brevig harbour the other day - the day the sun came out. For a bit that is. Came across these fellow-me-lads mucking about with great hulk of a boat thing that has been seemingly and slowly eroding away for a while.
Turns out its a French built boat from Brittany that Mr Man [whoever his name is; He did tell me but I'm old and I forgot] is making good again - taking off the rusting superstructure, replacing the keel [I think] and putting up a mast with a gaff rig. Anyway, really nice people and it will be interesting to see the thing afloat - eventually.Ragamuffin??

Capt'n Snails eye view

Wee boatee

Fank pod-ded

I was talking on t'internet the other day for filmwasters and this week it got aired. You can hear it here . Wus talking about my snaps and what have you and I must say, having had a listen myself, I sound rather eccentric - which I suppose is no bad thing. I even talked about Fanks for the memories!

Meanwhile I have been continuing snapping-up little fank collection and I here present a sevral more - taken with the old 35mm rangefinder camera.

Croft life

My pal Paul runs a fine croft just down t'road and supplies us with fantastic eggs fresh from the.... well, wherever eggs comes from. Chickens and ducks I am reliably told. Anyway, Paul also has a couple of fine coows trompting round the place, eating up his veg patch when they escape and making his lawn look like the fields after the battle of the Somme at the same time. I'm not too keen on getting close to these beasts but since Paul has made a fine shed thing for them to play in when the weather is bad, I can get close-ish without to much fear of sullying my designer clothes. :-)
From time to time I get to take a snap of the beasts and now I have one I like. Those eyes!

Rab

Rab is retiring soon. He's having new abode put up just down t'road which is nice and I do hope he and Mrs Rab wll be happy there. Not sure how Rab will be spending his time once his garage has been handed over to the new owners but so far he has suggested; he will emigrate; go long-distance driving; buy and sell cars and save the world with that Obama fellow. Actually, I made the last one up but it should be true. I'd like it to be true. I wish he'd give up his fags too.

I might add that Barrack Obama has seemed to have made a big impression over here in the British Isles. The Queen likes him, so does Gord and the policeman guarding No.10 the day El Presidenti arrived. And I like him too. Well, I like him much better than the other shambles that have been in that position in recent decades anyway. The chap seems civil enough, extremely intelligent and a great speaker. His politics comes from the right sentiments but, and here I differ somewhat, I think he and the other high-level servants of the people [ or do I mean 'corporations' ] have missed a trick. The whole flawed, unsustainable consumer capitalist game has just tried to be re-financed rather than using the opportunity to look at something more sustainable and equitable. Perhaps a re-ordering of the way we look at success or failure away from the hegemony of money towards something more realistic. And have I missed the point but I fail to see how such a meeting and agreement does anything for the major problem facing the world at present - that of climate change. And that even if we ignore the waste of energy used getting all those bodies in from all over the world for a little chat. Have they not heard of video conferencing?
I might add, some of those G2 protesters had a few good points - although I do not condone the violence at all.

Anyway, I wish Rab a very happy retirement. Eh!


BTW: there is a great thread over on Flickr with Islanders from these isles showing there snaps in the stylee of Lewis Hine. Worth a look.
On another note; Filmwasters.com have a podcast interview with me on their site. I have not heard it but bound to be rubbish.