Apologies

Found Mr Toots, tears in his eyes, apologising to his favorite door after the thing was finally person-handled into a place where it didn't rub on the floor and bang on the door frame.
Oaths had been heard previously.
The new glass, remodeled from an Orkney church window acquired years before, looks lovelee.

I snapped it up with a Pentax P30 I have. Yes, it works. Sort of. On Foma 200 film - which I also have and I really really like.

another stroll image

This is the way I went, that day. Down this lovely road by the loch under the mountains. The sun was warming my back which somewhat offset the ache of my shoulder from carrying the Kiev60.  The lens of this heavy beast of a camera is excellent so it's worth lugging it along sometimes. It's already been in the water when I fell in the river near home sometime back. It doesn't seem to have made much difference to the thing.

I stroll

The weather is good and I feel like taking a stroll like I did the other day down in the middle of the island. Lovely. The Faclan literary festival has been on too and we, Eve and I have listened to Doug Scott, Adam Nicholson and the very lovely and talented Ragnar Axelsonn among others and seen some fantastic images. Oh, aren't we lucky to live here?

Ok, just one day

I'd planned on leaving the snaps behind for a few days but the darkroom called me and I got out a couple of Lith prints on some lovely Slavich Unibrom I have. Using Rollei Creative lith straight with no 'old brown' I got lovely stark images. Only small, but I like them small.

I must say I do like lith printing - especially on this lovely but difficult to get Russian paper.
Just a phone snap of the prints on the table mind.

Shall I have a few days off?

I might have to have a few days off posting soon. I am running a bit thin/low/tired or something. The spirit is lacking a tad despite the nice weather and wonderful Eve.

Apologies if I do, but please look back in a few days to see what I am doing

Dad Crofter

Dad Crofter and foma200 film is a fine combination. They were made for each other. That's why I snap him up from time to time - but usually featured here.

I have found that Foma200 and Rodinal work well together too. But don't slosh the Foma400 in the stuff otherwise you'll overdose on grain.

Duende

I heard it on t'radio the other morning listening to Radio 3 - Late Junction with Robert Wyatt. Duende is the perfect title for this me thinks.

The sun was shining as I write this and the darkroom calls as I have a little something to produce before the mentee calls again.

Oof, this image does it for me. Right hits the spot only, the neg is a tad dense so if I expose it onto paper it will take hours. I may have to you use ink for this :-(

ET in Asturias

Not sure if it was visiting or living there but was at the bike race that's for sure.

Lucrecia

Lucrecia eh?
That's Flynn to you. You may have read the name once or twice but can't seem to find too many snaps of her here. Typical photographist she is, has a lovelee portfolio but doesn't appear in front of the lens too much. Now, I insist you go and look at her images [not snaps] and then come back here.

Right, you did come back then? Lovlee images aren't they? I think Lucrecia may have a future doing such things. She an awfully good cook, is a qualified ski instructor too. I hate her!

I don't hate her at all as it happens, just a bit envious of her talents. And age.

Their home is where the Hunters are

The Hunter family. Well Harrison the rower who in this snap in their lounge readying himself for a bike ride to the cafe [where else?] and Ellen herself O.B.E multi world champion and the like - formerly that is. Just keeps herself active these days. Fairly active.

Still, we stayed with them the other week in their current gaff in Cheshire. Just a couple of days to make sure our mutual friend Jon Norfolk leaves the country to work with Aus cycling after working with British Cycling for years. We'll miss him.

We won't miss Ellen, Paul, Harrison and Lucrecia as they will be in the UK for the moment.

Cheshire don't you know

Oh I say. Mr Paul Hunter doing his best while earning a crust for his own company. And it is going well since you ask.

I, on the other hand was playing with Bergger Pancro 400 in the OM1n but doused it in Rodinal 1;50 which wasn't the best idea. Still, the light was nice. The portraits by HCB inform my style :-)

Tuesday; must be donkey day

An Asturian donkey and Eve make friends
 Don't fret, I'm back home after a quick trip to Engerland.

Well, the old Holga still does it

Ooof, I nearly like this snap!

Tell me you don't like this

I mean look at that eh?
Polypan goodness obviously.
I shall be ready to answer the phone as a myriad of calls from agents are bound to be coming . Don't expect me to find time to make you a cuppa if you come round today as I'm sure to be busy.

What do you mean, what is it?
I don't know. How should I, I only took the snap!

Of course they do

Dustbinscapes in Spainland?
Of course they do have them, this is not Catalonia.

You know it is

Spainland

Nam

60% sale.

Not sure if that was 60% off or 60% on sale.
I didn't go in.

I don't know

I don't know !

Spainland, yes that's it!

Stopped there one day, parked the hire car and had a coffee in a dodgy cafe nearby.

Then took a snap. I had to. It's a compulsion.

That place

This I hasten to add is the/an entrance to a small football stadium in a coal mining town in Northern Spain. Just if you were wondering and all that.

It was an interesting place although not so interesting at this point in life to schedule another visit.

Not finished yet

Ooof, don't dismiss me quite yet. My 'portfolio' might just include a few more of these masterpieces. I just have to mine down the back of the settee in the Summer Parlour to find the negs.

This was there too

Don't mind me. I just wander around aimlessly - if I have the energy - and snap up random things with my camera and present them here - as if the images matter. They do to me but as to whether I have earned my beret I dont know.

And when I say 'there' I mean, 'at this place' and does not necessarily relate to the previous post. That's cleared that up then.

Mieres

We wuz there too. Big into coal mining and football it seemed.

It was lovely

The Vuelta this year in Asturias where we followed it a bit. took us to some right lovely spots. And all I had was some lousy slide film

Sliding

Snap on slide film.
Vuelta 2017.

Yasumitsu-Schlapp

There they are, the lovely Steve Glennon - a key Yasumitsu-Schlapp sprint rider back in the day and his lovely [brain surgeon ] wife Mia.

Called into the island to have a look see and didn't forget to look me up. Was so great to see them both again after a few years ! So, I snapped them up.

Hope they visit again.

*

Florence

This is Florence and I met her in An Lanntair. She's a French photographist living in Spain. How lovely is that.

She is coming back to the island again with her cameras - and she doesn't do stonescapes or landscapes .
Excellent.

Faux Crewsden

Ok it's not a B&W Geofrey Crewsden, not shot on large format camera and I might add, is not very good but it did seem like a busy although static day in Stormoway. I didn't ask them all to pose either.

You know, I often wonder why i ever have taken the snap in the first place. maybe it's be I feel compelled to waste film !

Films

I'm a tart.
A film tart anyway.
Love different types of films and have used loads - all badly.

Now, I can hear you asking what are my favourites. Eh?

Well, I loved Era100 - a Chinese film available at one time very cheaply yet it was wonderful. It's all gone.

And I love Polypan-f - a cine copy film from goodness knows where. Love it for longer exposure images - developed in PQ print developer. No longer made. Sorry. Luckily I have a few hundred metres of the stuff awaiting my attention. I shot it in Spain at the Vuelta - like this shot of a Bianchist 

Shanghai GP3 used to be good and very cheap 120 Chinese film. Then it went awful and now no longer made thank goodness!


Fomapan films. Love them and are my go-to films since they are reasonably priced and, igood quality. My fav is foma200 but foma 400@200 is pretty decent too. And foma100 when I use it is superb.

Ilford. All excellent films but generally I can't justify the cost :-(

Kodak, only really got on with Tmax 400.
Adox. I'll use them.

Colour; rarely.

Basically, if it's a film and it works- after a fashion, I'll use it.