Yeah

More snaps from a recent stroll. Eh?

Argh!
Sorry and all that. Selfie attempt with contemporary 'smile'. Why do peeps do that? Please tell me.

Another stroll

I stroll most days as it happens. Most days the rain isn't horizontal anyway. The other morn the sun shone, the wind blew but it was a tad mildish. I found the Pentax P30 lurking on the floor so loaded it with old fogged HP5 film I have and enjoyed the stroll on a village beach [there are 3 here] and snapped happily way.

With crappy old fogged film you can snap at will, this way and that knowing full well it is probably all in vain - but the act of snapping is nice all the same.

Home again I sloshed the film in Bromophen paper developer and you know, it's not too bad although the snaps are kind of boring. Sorry about that.

I enjoyed the stroll though.

A stroll

 Sometimes I go out to play with Mr Toots. He is not always this happy.

This time we strolled past the Woodlands centre - well, into actually. I took some snaps with a camera I had with me - and Polypan film. How good is that?

Barnack

Have I ever told you I actually paid a little bit of money out and traut myself to an old Barnack a while back? No? Well I bought one for a mere trifle really. It's only about 80 years old too - so quite cutting edge I suppose. The twin rangefinder and viewfinder take some getting used to - and the rangefinder is a tad on the dim side. But hey, it is a Barnack :-)

And no, I have no Leica lens but am using either a Jupiter12 of Industar61 I already had. Lovely all the same. I managed to shoot a whole roll of masterpieces with it only to find I hadn't loaded the film right. All lost.

But here is one I made earlier. At the harbour and everything.

Cancelled; The sun was shining

Oh dear

Did I tell you about the birds?

Out there on the saltings, flapping about an all. Only this time they weren't flapping about. They were sat sitting and everything. On a little island in the saltings just oop the road. How dare they!

A fisherman came along - all rubber and gore-tex - waded straight through the water, flicked his string-on-a-pole at swimming fish as he stood in that there wet water. The fishes ignored him. Obviously.

I wandered up. flapped my arms in my best birdy impression so the real birdies flew up into the windy wind stuff. Oh, how I laughed. Laughed till I cried. Or it might have been the wind that made me cry. When I say 'cry' I mean tear-up sort of thing.

I snapped the whole scene up with my stealthy camera - a venerable 6x6.

I blame Toots

I was just following Toots with his 5x7 and merely proferring an orange filter now and again. I used it myself too - hence the snap. What a  lovely afternoon we had wandering here and there, there mostly as it happens. I shouldn't really bother with a proper camera when I go on the beaches since I almost never like the resulting snaps.Oh well, at least I looked the part.

Gunnera

Please tell me how it got here

Are you still there?

Are you?
I am.
I hid in the darkroom for an hour or so and felt better for it. Must be the fumes.

These images are Conceptual. At least I think they are.

This is, probably, the state of my mind.

Excuse me while I try to save the Human race

Please excuse me while I try to save the human race

Toots

Should Kenna come

Know Michael Kenna? Nor I but I know his images. Simple but stunning images made on film round the world. Shot and printed square - just small 6" x 6" prints I'm told. Has a particular style, much copied.

I am trying to channel the fella at the moment because Toots and I have made an 'agreement' to shoot a couple rolls of 120 film in our 6x6 folders while away o our next hols. Toots in Spainland, me on a boat in Scotland. Will be interesting. I shall keep you informed.

I took my self rejuvenated Perkeo out for a jaunt yesterday [ the double exposure prevention had jammed - again] in the wind and dampness - just so I could gauge its possibilities. Not printed yet but this is my Homage to Kenna in Stormoway.

Bikists

There are still a few around at this time of year. Unlike the flocks that abound here in summer, these late callers are often alone or in pairs. The wind and rain doesn't seem to put them off flitting around the place with their world strapped to the back of their wheeled skeleton. Soon though, as the weather becomes more inclement we will see them migrating southish on the ferry leaving only a few hardy souls to see out the winter.

Can often be sen head down on the roads from Tarbert to Stormoway. Plummage is usually bright with flapping bits although some sub-species can be dark with flapping bits.

Occasionally  seen huddled in bus shelters in bad weathers - often with their wheeled skeletons up-side-down.

Be reassured

Whilst I may explore imagery created other than in camera, I will still be posting snaps taken with a lens and old fashioned film.

A kernel of truth

I was reading about these on a blog the other day. Seeing I have a stash of old fogged papers I thought I'd give it go. My resist was peanut butter and honey. Why not?

I'm rather liking this Chemigram process although I am rather glad i have air handling in the darkroom.

So, what do think?

Island Street Life

Why is it that the place that oozes pixels also sports many lovely film cameras in use?

Some people write so well on photography. Make sense and everything. I have for sometime been interested in an alternate view of the world through image making and when I came across http://nonfigurativephoto.blogspot.co.uk/  I knew I'd found plenty to read. I might have to get moving with my own interpretation of being.

In the meantime I shall show you my daily snap. I fell upon an old Ricoh 500g rangefinder in a box the other day. Not sure I have used it before. The rangefinder is dimmer than dim, the lightmeter doesn't work but loaded with Polypan-f it works passably well and looks "well cool" as I hear the young things say [or is it "sick" - I can't keep up].

Since the weather dawned fine - finer than fine actually. Clear skies almost and warm sunshine with a cooling light breeze, I had a short stroll on one of the village beaches. I took the Ricoh along for the ride. As it happens there was a photo-tour thing happening there. Long lens' pointing here and here, pixels flying everywhere. Nice peeps though. I think it might have been this man. No idea if he is any good but he goes to nice places and is very nice to chat too.

Number 2

Gosh I was on a roll that day, the day of Ken & Moni's wedding. I am very surprised they have not been on to me yet ordering countless copies of my snaps of the occasion.

They better hurry up otherwise they'll be in a queue when word gets out about my style for weddings. I reckon I am going to be booked up. Might have to get another back up camera or something.

I always think it's good to have a USB or do I mean USP? Who knows, I've probably got both anyway. I shall have a look in the store cupboard. My old boss was always asking if I had a USP - but he seemed to exist without one !

Oh I do like a nice wedding

And this one was nice. So nice I almost forgot blurry.

Not a print

No, it's not a darkroom print. Was messing with a camera and film to make sure all was well and i wasn't messing up the development. seemed to have got it nailed..

The Chipmeister

There he is. That's the one I was telling you about - Callum the Carryokyist or whatever his bandette is called.  He didn't get out the way of my Kiev clunker 6x6 and I got this.

Yes, he played the event the other evening - and lovely it was too. The band, located in his flaptop were drunk. The lighting put together by Geoff Stear wasn't all that could have been desired but he battled through. So I am told. I caught his first two tunes then had to go to 'work' as I amusingly call it.

Mr Callum first came to my attention whilst he was whistling at his previous day job - down the back of the Coop. Now he's front of house at an Lanntair - and very good with it I might add.

Contemporary Arts in the Hebrides

Sounds fun doesn't it? Now an Lanntair have got something going with lead from photographist Alex Boyd.

Went to an intro thing tonight. Talk from Alex and Artiste Geoff Stear, a nugget from Rodney the chief man and then lovely musical ephemera from Callum the Carryokayist - or whatever he calls himself. What a nice evening.

Sheeps. Resting

Just oop the road. I noticed these sheeps resting on the beach by the saltings at Gress. Lovely I thought and shot them. With the Hasselblad you understand.

Ball play

Bowls

.

No I don't play. Not outdoors on the real grass and whathaveyou in Stornoway or indoors in the winter. But others do so I stopped and took a couple of snaps on the fly the other day.

Village kids

Showing how it should be done - cycle helmets and all, local kids riding brilliantly. Lovely to see and puts me to shame.

A home for someone

Yep.
Take cheap point and shot camera, load it with film, slide the thingy to panorama and shoot.
Here we have that.

This

Otter home

There must have been a home for otters nearby me thinks.

Yes, I enjoyed it but don't tell anyone.

Did I tell you who I work for? No? Good.

They, my erstwhile employers sent me on a wild goose chase again - down to the southern isles where gooses abound. All over the place. eating all the grass and leaving their signature poos behind. I hate going. At least that's what I tell the people who pay me to go to find overly-wild 'gooses'. [Gooses is used here as a loose and poor metaphor. Lets leave it that way] It's best to keep them thinking that then I can seem virtuous or something when I agree to go. I mean, it's at least a hundred miles from here and a lot of that on single track road. It's no easy drive in my little carlette I can tell you. Not with the thing loaded up with cameras and film anyway.

I did the deed I'm paid for. Nice gooses too as it happens. Spent the night in a less than ordinary hotel aided with a small G&T.

The morning dawned and once I'd sawed my way through the toast and drunk a small cup of bitter coffee I set off in search of places. I'm not familiar with this island so well. The roads move around left and right in ways I am not at all used to. The wind blew too - a lot. Though that I am used to. I snook up this little roadette out towards somewhere just past the 'delightful' hotel I knew from the night. Stopped the carlette, turned round quickly taking the road by surprise and camera-ed it up. Nice place eh?

I shall go again and see if the road has forgiven me.

Of course I took a camera

Took two cameras actually. No, no, three.
Anyway, this was taken when I took out the Bronica for a little air on Berneray - the little island that was frequented by Prince Charlie for a while.
Tis a nice place top spend an hour or so and I did as I was a little ahead of schedule coming back from Taigh Chearsahagh arts centre and before that, Benbecula. The Lobster Pot cafe was full up with a coach party from welsh Wales so I made my over over to the machair - an area of the island I rather like.

There were crops of some sort growing over there swaying violently in the strong wind we had been experiencing. I kept the tripod low to the ground and shot a few frames and soon I was ready for the ferry home.