the village brown bits

 

We have not got village green here. Grass is reluctant to grow well up here; Just ask the green keepers at the bowling club. Actually, just ask the Crofter who has to buy copious amounts of grassy allsorts for his many animals to feed on.

This above here is a croft just over the road from The Crofter's place. It doesn't have animals on it very often. And that is an island lamppost. We have them all over the shop.  I think they are there so we have to traipse down to Garry beach to see the Northern Lights properly.

a 20mm stroll

 It's the end of Feb already. At least the light is coming back after a few months of dullness. It was bitingly cold despite the sunshine but my stroll was lovely. Eve was having her toes tickled at the time - apparently it is a health thing. 

The lens is a bit glarey into the sun but still quite good. I was up near the main fank where I have not been for a while and as you can see twas still a bit damp. 

Is this a fair rendering of ther neg? No idea but that's the one you are getting.

Brutal

 

Designed by some geezer in the council some decades back I'm fairly reliably told these bus stops could withstand a nuclear winter. Maybe when we humans have made the earth totally unlivable for ourselves as we seem to be doing, this will be one of the few things left standing . The building higher up is one of the two brutalist and well used church buildings in the village.

The 20mm lens does have its uses.

20mm

 

Not sure I use the 20mm lens very well. It's a canon on a AE-1 that was gifted to me. It all performs well it's just that I don't work too well with it. This was from a morning stroll in the village and snapped on Fomapan 400 @ 200 sloshed in Rodinal [1;39]. 

Fun and games

 

Ah yes, the highland games events at the Gala day. looks like it might have been at Carloway show. All sorts of goings on at these occasions - as well as the veg growing, the baking and the animal [cow, sheeps] show there various flinging events. this was probably for the flinging of the hay bale of some such.

 My fav was the all comers high jump. Sadly covid saw many of these dwinding galas off.

This was a holga image.

just william

 

You may well have seen this before but since I like the snap so much it gets another showing.

Of course it is my pal William from a few years back. It's a paper darkroom print from a paper neg. I used an old soviet fkd camera - all gaffer tape and elastic bands - with a shutter which consisted of an air activated [i blew into a rubber tube] barn-door type thing that barely missed Bill's nose as it opened. Great fun. The shallow depth of field was caused by the close-up lens I'd taped in the camera without any other lens in front of it. Don't know why I didn't do this more often!

glass

 

I still have a pile of glass plates in odd sizes and a few decades out of date, I used to use them occasionally even though they are a right pain to use. 

This is an old snap on a very old glass plate of a local monument. It worked albeit poorly.

There are people still manufacturing glass plates for photography. I shan't be buying any.

yes I did this.

 

Back when I had a one old Voigtlander 6x9 rangefinder camera as my only medium format i snapped this in Bridlington. I was impressed by these sort of snaps back then.

not the best but lovely

 

Not the worlds best shot but a lovely snap of Eve racing a criterium with our great friend Vic Posse who is a tad unwell at the moment. We wish him all the very best for his recovery.

Back in the the day the racing club we ran promoted quite a few tandem races both on the track and on road circuits like here. Great fun but I did rather have my fingers crossed at time - tandem crashes are not fun. Having said that we never had one during all the promotions thank goodness.

Bowls

 

Did I tell you we play bowls? That's lawn bowls only at this time of year the lawns up here are less than ideal at this time of year so we play indoors. Here at the clubhouse where there are short mats top play on. I might add the bit of vinyl across the mats is taken off before we play.

Eve played here on Saturday and did well by all accounts - and Wednesday coming plays in the triples champs. I meanwhile will support Eve from the dentists chair,

There are bigger mats at the sports centre and elsewhere but they all have different "characteristics" [ie the floors are not all flat].

Eve [Evie, Evelyn, Mush etc]

 

Just an update. Eve is still very much here even if she doesn't appear on the blog very often. I do have to get permission to use the snaps.

As I write Eve is in the shed on her bike on the turbo [static bike thing] so i can quickly post this one.

Now, I have found this snap below taken with the wonderful but fragile KOWA 6 camera I used for a few years. From a trip to Belgium a few years back.

footie

 

Neither Toots or I are interested in football. However, the gates of Stormoway club are rather nice so we stopped to snap them up. Toots and I use d*g*tal for these strolls but I did have a this Minolta 505si / foma 400 with me as well.

I might even go to watch the football here or at Back football ground one day - the season starts in April I am told by the kind man who offered to show me around the above place the other day.

I have only been to football matches a few times. Bristol Rovers, Man City [free ticket] and some game in Chile. The spectators are great but get bored with the game - mainly consisting of falling over in the men's game it seems.

Toots

 

I've been going out for photo 'walks' recently with Toots my pal from the island. When I say walk, I mean stroll as neither of us are butchers dogs these days. And somehow we always seem to end up in a cafe - this time the wonderful Hub in Stormoway where Toots had a calorie free cake. I managed to leave without paying - but I can now inform you that has been rectified.

sorry about that

 got carried away finding those old snaps yesterday. Brought back a few memories I ca tell.

Back to the present or at least a week ago  when the snow layed hereabouts or at least wass just melting and Keith wanted a walkies.

I was using Fomapan400 with Rodinal 1:25 because people says one shouldn't.

not here please

 

Pinochet in Chile back in the day. Had a lovely trip apart from a few bit of shooting, military lock downs and curfews and this b*****d in his car on Avenue O'Higgins. Someone had tried to kill him hence the goons around his car. Maybe this is where Sunak got his idea from.

people on film

 

Young Chris Hoy before he was knighted, before he had won many medals. At Manchester Velodrome back in the day.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Guscott from my home town was at the velodrome to ride this here old bike for a tv programme - I can't remember which one. Anyway, Mr Guscott, who is a most delightful chap like Sir Chris, took the bike onto the velodrome car-park to have more room to ride.

I took a lot of snaps during my time working at the velodrome in between the cycling, the TV stuff that happened there and the cups of tea. I might add here that I do have a Blue Peter badge from this time as Sir Chris has !

forgive me for I have sinned

 

Yes it is a digi image.

Just this time

Minolta

 

I rather like minolta cameras. The A3 I used to snap up this architectural masterpiece is from 1955. It is a simple rangefinder camera with a half decent lens and it is rather nice to use - albeit tis a bit weighty.

In past years Minolta 505si has been my Minolta of choice since they work, are cheap and light, have all the bells and whistles one needs and a selection of cheapish lenses to use on it. But I like trying to use a proper old camera where one has to meter the light and focus the focussing bit.

Mill

 

Meanwhile back in my then home of Mossley a quick mooch around in the woods found this relic of days past.

oh

 

I seem to have snapped up a nun in a shoppe - although for the life of me I cannot remember the occasion. Maybe it was on the mainland when we went over to collect the red car. Maybe in the inevitable cafe.

velodrome

 

The Ensign FulYue I had at one time was a nice little camera. 

Took it to work one day and snapped up the walls and bike racks. It's not like this now as the place has been enlarged with offices and a BMX track. looks like the sun shone down there from time to time.

Played and everything

 

 We played bowls.

My team won - no thanks to my efforts.

Developed some polapan-f film that I had shot in the Minolta A3 too. This is one of them and I like it

colour in a Brownie

 

Veripan film or something like that in a Brownie camera.

Oh yes, we lived near manc you see back then. Worked there too. Me in the Velodrome as cycle cooach and whathaveyou and Eve in the blood service. Such sophistication in those days including this outdoor skating rink. I seem to recall spending time and money at Jem Kline's Real Camera Co. too.

Lancs

 

Before were saved from the ravages of English life we lived in a smallish town in Lancs. The studio where artist Chris Cyprus produces his work was near this old railway line, now path that ran along the valley - along with a canal and river.

I rather liked living just there in that old mill town. The house we had was old with thick stone walls and stone slate roof. The hills round about were rather steep so here was a nice place for an evening stroll or car-free pedal.

At the time I was fascinated by really old cameras in cluding an old Brownie 2a which incidentally I still have. Loaded with modern film the camera is surprisingly good. I really don't know why i bothered with anything else.

wide, slim and dirty

 A quick a rubbish scan of a snap taken in the village with the Viv UW&S.

I have not forsaken you

 

Forgive me.

The weather has gotten the better of me. 

High winds and warm air is weird up here and has weirded me out. As a result my cameras have stayed inside with me. Having said that we have been to bowls indoors at the sports centre and to to our fav cafe to see some pals so all is not lost.

Not sure either Keith or Hungry are keen on the winds 

two trailers

 

Don't tell me I don't show you highlights of this windy island round the village. Here a still-life set up by croftperson Murray.

All gone

 

The snow has all gone. Went overnight a few days ago as temperatures rose some ten degrees.

I'd had a few strolls in the snow mind, with a camera too so you'll be seeing one or two of those till i manage to finish another film with something else on.  Here's one I took with the same Minolta 505si camera looking over the top eend of the village on a less than perfect day.

We did stroll out elsewhere the other day over by the Iolaire memorial but I merely had a pixel-catcher with me so nothing to show you here.

following on

 

Further to my earlier posts about the delights of Stormoway, here's a recent snap showing part of the pedestrianised area. It's an area that always has parked vehicles on.

I might add the snow has gone and now the rain is persistent.

obvs

 Our part of the village. When I say 'our' i mean that we live at this end. just behind where I was standing when I snapped this up. Nearly there anyway.

and the car was stuck in snow

 

We miscalculated the snow on the way home from indoor lawn bowls the other day and cold not drive the car into it's usual place on our miniscule drive on account of the hard packed snow residing there. However, it's melted now so it might be ok soon to move the car onto it's space later. I might add the new to us car is red so it should have been ok in snow, shouldn't it?

Cat on a cold road

 

Keith doesn't seem to mind a quick stroll down the road in the snow. at least the sun was shining at the time.

Minolta 505si /50mm / Kentmere 400/rodinal 1.25.

Snow

 

It's been snowing. And no I have no snaps as yet.

We don't get snow too much over here on Lewis. Just every so often and then it all goes haywire as we can't really cope. Rain and high winds we are used to but snow, not so so much.

Here's Eve out the other day in lovely winter sunshine looking for ,,, for something.

More nice Ice

 

And the HP5 was rated @ 800 and developed in Rodinal - just in case anyone wants to know

That place again

 

Ooof, another fine snap from the UW&S camera around Stormoway.

Don't worry I do have another film from a different camera to look at soon.

N[ice]

 

Of course I was just wanting to finish the film of HP5 in the OM1n so I would have something to develop. The night had been cold and the water had gone hard in places on the peat tracks. So, I snapped them up before they went soft again.

I must say I love the patterns.

Views of Stormoway

 

Bringing you the best bits of Stormoway [yes, I know it's Stornoway but prefer my version].

Again the same roll of cheap film that came out of the UW&S recently.

It's all downhill from here on

 

Out with my 50p camera again.

Cropped so you can see the edge vignetting - on one side.

Anyway, a fine image for the early days of the year - taken with the old Vivitar UW&S [with the broken rewind handle]

Happy 13th January BTW.

IR 2

 

Another d*g*ta; IR snap and no, I am not making this a 'thing'.

A sunny winters evening

IR

 

When some kind fellow loans you an Infrared ready camera, albeit old and whatehaveyou, one has to give it a whirl.

The camera in question is an Olympus Camedia c2020 with requisite filter. Not sure if I like it yet but here's the test snap.

oh

 

Wheels

 

Maybe I might invest in some Lith chemicals since I do have some suitable paper.

I might even have some more suitable negs.

family into 2024

 

Here we are into 2024 a few days late but enjoying this  days sun and shot with the crappy P&S camera and even worse film overrated and over developed in PQ.

sometimes you do, sometimes you don't

 

cheapskate

 

Nothing quite like taking a cheap as chips point and shoot camera out with polypan-f [asa50] rated at 400 out. Just as well the sun came out - albeit very low in the sky.