Hydrangea and a milestone

We've a couple of Hydrangea shrubs in the garden and a few weeks ago their leaves were turning colour rather splendidly.  I ventured out with a tripod, a Hasselblad and a 150mm lens (I think) with a dark red filter on the front of it.  

Hydrangea leaves in autumn 2020.  HP5+ in ID-11, on MG Classic fibre paper.

The leaves themselves were turning dark red, hence the use of the filter which I knew would lighten things considerably.  It's a shame there's a gaping hole in the foliage lower left, which once you've seen it is very distracting. I didn't notice at the time as I was concentrating on getting the large centre arrangement in the middle of the shot.  Ah well, sure it's only 11 months until I can try again...

Oh yes, the milestone.  Well since this is the 31st December 2020 it marks 4 full years that I've been showing only scans of darkroom prints on this place.  Stopping scanning my negatives was the thing that really helped my darkroom work improve - as well as my ability to read a negative and make suitable adjustments to how I expose and subsequently develop the film.  The negative, of course, is the important bit in the process - screw that up and you're in for a hard time in the darkroom.  Scanning masks poor negatives, in my opinion.  Don't get me wrong, it's amazing what software can do with a poorly exposed/developed negative but that's of no help whatsoever when you take that negative into the darkroom and try to print from it.  Anyway, let's see what 2021 brings.  Have a good New Year everyone, wherever you are. 

Out for a run

Not me, obviously.

Looking out over Castlerock Beach.  Hasselblad, HP5+ on Ilford MG Classic Fibre paper.

The ship is heading to Derry by the look of it - probably with timber or maybe coal.  A fair few of us Irish still have coal fires - mostly using smokeless coal behind glass-fronted stoves nowadays but you still see older houses with open fires in use during the Winter.  And Autumn and Spring.  Sometimes even late summer - you know, those late August evenings when it can get a bit damp and chilly.  

It was the mid 70s before my parents had central heating installed - before that we relied on convector heaters to warm our bedrooms in the morning and a coal fire in the living room.  The fire took on something of a ritual - cleaning it, setting it, lighting it and fuelling it.  Fuel was proper big old lumps of coal and then what we called 'slack' was used to top the fire (slack being smaller, gravel-sized bits of combustible coal-like material).  Often the slack would get water poured on it to dampen the whole fire down, form a crust and make the coal last a bit longer.  There was a 'damper' just above the fire which could be manually pulled out or in to increase or decrease the draw/draught but when that didn't do the trick a sheet of newspaper would be held over the front of the fire.  This was, not surprisingly, just as dangerous as it sounds - if you weren't careful the newspaper caught fire and would have to be rather quickly removed and the fire extinguished.  At times there would be a tremendous drown-draught and an burst of soot and smoke would come down the chimney into the room.  It was a dirty old business, keeping an open fire going.  The cast iron stoves we have now are better in terms of fuel efficiency and little or no smoke or soot comes into the room but they still require regular cleaning.  To be honest we could easily not bother with them at all and rely on our oil-fired central heating but old habits die hard and having a proper fire in the room gives it a real homely feel, especially at this time of year what with the long dark nights and what have you.  We don't set them every night of the week - mostly just weekends and holiday times.  Plus we give them up on the 1st of May (or thereabouts) each year...and try to hold off until the 1st October (or thereabouts) until they get lit again.  That's the theory, anyway.

Bann Estuary

The Bann rises in the Mountains of Mourne in the South East of Northern Ireland and empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the western end of Portstewart Strand.  By this time it's a pretty big, wide river - this is what it looked like yesterday, less than a mile from the Atlantic.  A late night printing session in the darkroom was required, since today (Christmas Eve) and tomorrow are going to be a bit busy...

The Bann Estuary as it flows towards the Atlantic.  Inishowen Peninsula is in the background.  Via the Hasselblad and 150mm lens, HP5+ in ID-11 printed on Ilford MG Classic fibre paper.

Although this is a pretty stunning location within walking distance of where I live I rarely venture down there since to get this requires standing by a riverside restaurant/cafe.  It seemed to be all closed up yesterday but the owner came out to see what I was up to.  He was very pleasant but wanted me to park a little way down from where I was.  At least I think that's what he wanted - unfortunately my poor hearing means I'm unable to get more than a rather vague notion of what is being said to me.  It has made me shun conversation - particularly with someone I don't know and who isn't aware of my difficulties.  

This shot is looking West, maybe slightly North-West, I would say.  By the time summer comes the sun is setting directly over Inishowen in the centre of this photograph and what with our clouds we do get some spectacular sunsets.  But I leave the sunsets to the digi shooters since they seem to like all that colour and what have you.

Anyway, a very Merry Christmas to all my readers, wherever you are.  Stay safe.

Life, on a rock

I liked this rock - and the plants growing on it.  It's out Ballintoy way - that's Sheep Island in the background, Rathlin Island is lost in the mist somewhere beyond.  You get a sense of the tremendous forces which the rock has been subjected to over the years - all those layers and cracks.  I'm guessing it's limestone - most rocks here are either limestone (almost white) or basalt (almost black).  The plants have established themselves on the sheltered side of the rock and they seem to be doing OK, stretching their stems up above the parapet.

Life, on a rock, 2020. Ilford Delta 3200 in DD-X, on MGV paper. The scan has produced strange bands which aren't visible on the print - or certainly not as noticeable as appear here.  

Taken on the 'Blad and probably 150mm lens but I can't be 100% sure on that. I do know it was on Delta 3200 which I rather naively rated at box speed before developing in DD-X.  It's not something I'll be repeating, as the negatives were awful - very low in contrast.  Again, MGV came to the rescue.  From what I read, Delta 3200 is probably best rated around 1600.

School Runs

The 'old' bridge across the Bann, with the Clothworkers Building just behind.   The bridge was re-built as you see it here in 1843, replacing an older wooden one which dated from 1713, although there has been a bridge there on and off since the middle of the 13th Century.  In the 1970s a new bridge was built to the South which provides a more direct route for traffic going to and from Derry/Londonderry and Coleraine.  

Bridge across the Bann at Coleraine, 2020.  Nikon F2 and 85mm Nikkor lens.  Ilford HP5+/ID-11; lith print on Foma 133 paper.

I have driven (and been driven) over this bridge many thousands of times, as the secondary school I went to (and now Missy attends) lies on the West side of the Bann whereas we live on the East.  I will not miss that school run come summer of 2021, when Missy will finish school and continue her education elsewhere.  The one-way traffic system in Coleraine means a pretty lengthy (well, relatively speaking, that is) detour to get across the river for us and in the mornings it can be a bit slow due to the school run traffic.  Are there no school buses, I hear you ask?  Yes, there are, but it's a strange old system they have here.  For instance, those living within 3 miles of a school are not eligible for a free bus.  That was the same when I was going to school and my parents tried hard to convince the Education Board that we did, in fact, live more than 3 miles away.  We did, on the way to school (one-way system, remember?) but the way home is shorter and so the Board said No.  Not that I fancied walking down to the end of our road and then standing waiting for a bus in the middle of a downpour on a dark and cold December morning - either for me all those years ago or Missy now.  So I do what a lot of other parents do - suck it up and drive our little darlin' to school.  It makes little sense, I know, but we have no viable option.  Bicycle?  Perhaps, but you'd be mad to send your child to school on a bicycle given the state of our roads, weather, traffic and drivers...simply too dangerous.  Almost no-one cycles to school - and that's a pretty sad state of affairs. 

I complain, but Coleraine is really quite a small town (population about 50,000, perhaps double that in the immediate locality) and in reality there is little to moan about compared to life in a big city.  But it's what you're used to, isn't it?  I mean, you have to complain about something, right?

Photographer

Nicola is one of our Club Members and very talented she is, too.  About a year ago we had a rare Social Night in our one-and-only local bowling alley and had a lot of fun trying to hit those pins.  I had, if I remember correctly, the auto-everything Nikon N90 loaded with some decades-old Tri-X that was inside a bulk loader I was given.  It didn't come out great at all in ID-11 - horrible negs, very low in contrast.  

I was thinking about the new MGV paper that came out recently (well done Ilford for continuing to advance their paper emulsions in this day and age) and wondered how it might handle the situation.  It seems to print about a grade higher than the older MGIV so it might be worth a try, I thought.  This was the result, printed yesterday morning:

Nicola, Club Bowling Night 2019

It won't win any awards but given the negative I was surprised anything came out of it at all.  

The Club is having a trying year, obviously.  Everything is taking place over Zoom, which while less than ideal is at least allowing much more variety in our speakers, since they no longer have to be local.  I can see Zoom presentations being part of the new norm even when face-to-face meetings resume (whenever that might be).  Up to now I haven't joined in any Zoom calls since my experience of automatic speech recognition systems hasn't been very good.  Well, that plus the fact that all of our speakers are digital photographers and most of the talks are of no interest to me, since they (a) deal in colour and (b) rely heavily on post processing in software.  I know, I know, it's me. I need to get out more...

A Wedding

Not mine, you understand.  Just a wedding ceremony we happen'd upon the other week when were out for a walk.  The Daffodil Garden, as it's affectionally known in these parts, is a little gem hidden away in the Southern Extremities of the University Campus.   The same University I used to work in - and in fact, my office was none too far from the Daffodil Garden.  I say was, as the whole of South Building was obliterated from the face of the Earth not long after I left.  Rather sad, as it was the first building of the New University of Ulster in the late '60s...the place I went to my first gig (The Stranglers) and home to Mandela Hall.  I wonder how many Universities had a 'Mandela Hall'?  Quite a few, I suspect... 

Still, The Daffodil Garden remains, even if Mandela Hall doesn't.  To the amusement of the locals, one of the first PhDs awarded in the New University of Ulster was on the subject of daffodils.  I'm not sure what the townspeople were expecting - perhaps research into sub-atomic particles or such-like but what they got was daffodils.  But to their credit, 50 years later The Daffodil Garden has become a place of pride amongst Coleraine folk.  It is a rather lovely place to walk around - and a favourite stop-off point for wedding photographs.   It was a beautiful autumn afternoon when we took a stroll, so sadly there weren't too many of the yellow things on show.  The walk was marred only by the fact we had to pass the pop-up drop-in COVID Testing Centre which has set up in the University...but I'm not dwelling on that bit of misery.

They wheeled - or perhaps drove, I'm not sure - the old Mini into place and then a small wedding party appeared.  From where I was standing the shot was contra-jour and the light was really rather nice.  It was, as they say, a moment in time - a few seconds later yer man had jumped off the bench and the party disappeared to the next thing on their busy schedule.   

Wedding Photographs in the Daffodil Garden, 2020.  Printed on Ilford MGV with a delicate cupric sulphate bleach and light sepia tone.

You'll need to click on it to see what the folk are up to.  This was taken with the 50mm Canon LTM lens on the M6 and although I printed it almost full-frame I did think about the composition, believe it or not.  I wanted that strong tree on the right to hold it all in and I also wanted to show as much of the gardens as possible...and then this little group of people doing their thing in one part of it.  The photographer standing on the bench makes it, I think.  I don't quite know what the bride and groom are supposed to be doing but we all need a bit of mystery in our photographs, right?

Big Prints from Long Ago

In my last post I mentioned how even little old 35mm negs can be enlarged to quite decent sizes - I was reminded of a few prints from the late '70s that I came across recently in my mum's house.  I was pleasantly surprised that they were still in good shape, given that they were made about 42 years ago, give or take.  Granted they probably haven't seen much light since then but still, it shows that we must have been doing something right back in the day, The Brother and me - long before we knew about 2-bath fixes and 'archival' processing.  

Since we went to see a lot of bands back then it's no surprise that they featured heavily in our 'big print' series.  Round about 1978 Stiff Records did what they called a package tour and brought quite a few artists to Portrush to share the one night - Jona Lewie was one and Rachel Sweet was another.  For some reason, Ms Sweet caught my attention more than Mr Lewie - can't think why that would be the case for a 15 year old boy...

Rachel Sweet back in '78.  I placed the OM-1 on the print to show the scale.  The shot was taken on an OM-1, although not this particular camera.  Not sure what film - probably Ilford.  I'll update this when I find the negatives.

Andy Partridge from XTC

Last up we have the great Thin Lizzy - taken, I'm pretty sure, by The Brother in either the Ulster Hall or Antrim Forum.  Thin Lizzy were too big to come all the way to Portrush, alas. 

Phil Lynott centre stage, Brian Robertson (I think) on the left and Scott Gorham on the right.  Brian Downey on the drums, as always.

Flowerfield

For some reason I seem to be drawn to photographing this building in winter light (see here, for example).  I stopped by last Saturday morning when I was out with the 4x5 TiTAN pinhole camera.  I liked the way the trees were framing the house and that morning winter light was casting lovely spooky shadows on the front.

Flowerfield, home of Northern Ireland's first ever dedicated Arts Centre way back in 1980.  I remember our Photographic Club meeting there just before I left to go to Uni in that God-forsaken land known as England.  Sure all's well and good now I'm back in the homeland - even if half of England seem to have followed me here...  Fompan 200 rated at 50iso, tray developed in ID-11 1+2 (11 mins) on MGV, if you care about such things.

It got a bit of a crop from 4x5 in the darkroom, to 6x12 proportions.  I've always fancied a 6x12 camera but to be honest I've too many cameras as it is and I doubt one more is going to make me a better photographer.  So I'll stick to cropping from 4x5 or 6x6 when the want is there.  When I see those formats written here I'm thinking it's so misleading, as we're talking 4x5 inches versus 6x6 centimeters.  Not exactly helpful, is it?  The Europeans have a slightly different equivalent to 4x5 - namely 9x12 which is metric cm.  But, as I found to my cost when I was starting out in LF photography a few years ago, 9x12 is not the same as 4x5.  Yes, I found that out the hard way when my 4x5 film didn't fit snugly in my newly acquired 9x12 film holder.  

But back to discussing the relative sizes of 4x5 inches versus 6x6 centimetres versus 35mm.  Since two of those formats are metric lets roll with that.  So compared to 35mm (with frame size 36mm x 24mm), a frame of 6x6 film occupies roughly 3.6 times the area.  (I say roughly since not all 120 cameras produce negatives of exactly 6cm x 6xm - Hasselblad, for example, is closer to 5.6 x 5.6 but let's put that aside for the moment).  Anyway, I measured one of my 4x5 negatives and the actual frame size came out at 12.2cm x 9.5cm, about 3.6 times the area of a 120 Hasselblad negative.  

In conclusion - and I apologise for all the nerdy numbers here but that's the mathematician in me coming out - a frame of 4x5 film is roughly 3.6 times the area of a 120 negative which is roughly 3.6 times the area of a 35mm negative.  So a fairly uniform progression as you go from 35mm to 120 to 4x5.  Are we any the wiser after all that?  All I can say is that when you look at the three sizes in your hand, or in the darkroom, a 4x5 negative is HUGE and a 35mm negative is TINY.  And it's really amazing how much you can enlarge a good 35mm negative - I've 20"x16" prints made a very long time ago from 35mm negs which look absolutely great.  

No peace

Saturday was bright and crisp - a nice late Autumn morning.  I ventured down to Portstewart with the TiTAN 4x5 pinhole and this was one of the shots that offered itself up to me, via Fomapan 200 film (rated at 50) and dev'd in ID-11 1+2 for 11mins.  Cropped in the darkroom and printed on MGV paper.  Exposure was about 5 seconds.

Looking out towards Portstewart Strand and the headland of Downhill.  Not quite sure what this little area is called, but it's close to Low Rock Castle, Portstewart.  Low Rock Castle is famous as being the birthplace of Field Marshall Sir George White, VC, defender of Ladysmith (Boer War).  It was originally a rather beautiful seaside villa dating from the early 19th Century but was demolished sometime in the early 2000s to make way for apartments.   As often in these parts it was pulled down illegally and the Department for Environment's Planning Service debated for several years about bringing a prosecution against the then owner.  In the end it did nothing, but it was too late anyway to prevent another bit of this area's rich heritage being lost for the sake of few coins.     

I was surprised by the number of people out and about - not surprised 'cos of COVID, as most were outside enjoying the air or queuing (and masked) for their coffee and pastry takeaways, but surprised as it's late November and usually the place is dead at this time of year.  When I looked closer, there was a lot of expensive cars on show - Jaguars, Range Rovers and BMWs (which seem to be around every corner these days).  It must, I concluded, be second-home owners, down from the Big Smoke (Belfast) for the weekend.  Ach is there no peace to be had anymore?

The Temple

You can see why photographers are drawn to Mussenden Temple, perched as it is on top of the cliff at Downhill.  On the shots you see on this place it's mostly in the distance and from the other side (as in this one), but last week my wife I went for a dander along Downhill Beach.  I had the F2 and 85mm with me that day and this was the last shot of the film.  It was a terribly low-contrast day so I gave it the lith treatment in the darkroom to try to lift it somewhat - not terribly successfully, but here it is anyway:

Mussenden Temple from Downhill Beach, 2020.  Lith, on Foma 133 paper.

This part of Downhill Beach is short but very spectacular.  The rocks up where the lady on the horse is need care, though, as the tide can come in pretty quickly and you could find yourself in a spot of bother.  My wife took her shoes off and had a paddle on the way back - the water is probably at it's warmest around this time of year, as it's had all summer to heat up.  She said it wasn't too cold.  I took her word for it. 

Music Tree

Once a week after school Missy goes to her music teacher for singing lessons.  It's a half-hour long and just outside town, so it's always a toss-up to stay put or drive back into town and pick up some groceries.  These days I'm trying to avoid shops as much as possible and anyway, most times I feel I've driven enough and just stay put.  If the weather's clement enough I'll have a dander about, though it's on a working farm and they seem to have an inordinate amount of heavy machinery in use, so care is required...I don't venture too far from the car. 

Anyway, this tree has caught my eye several times but I never seemed to find the right shot.  Until, that is, I had the F2 with an 85mm Nikkor attached.  I developed the print in lith, on Foma 133 paper.  Not all papers respond to lith but a lot of Foma's offerings do - and very nicely too, I might add.  Prints on 133 come out not quite as warm as the other varieties from this wonderful Czech company, like their Classic 131 and that means it suits certain subjects quite nicely:

Tree. Early November 2020. Fotospeed lith print, Foma 133 paper.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago - by now it's almost dark when we get to Music so there'll be nothing much to photograph.  Which means I'll be sitting in the car catching up on online stuff and watching the clock.  Bored, in other words.  

The Clothworkers

The building you see here is known as the Clothworkers Building, on the West Bank of the River Bann in Coleraine.  The Clothworkers was one of the wealthy London Guilds charged with improving the town of Coleraine in the early 17th Century - which was a good fit as Coleraine had a long association with the clothworking industry, from wool to linen and cotton.  Many of my mother's family worked in the mills which stood not very far from this building.  It was hard, dirty, noisy work - many workers went prematurely deaf.  The average life-span of the mill worker was anything from mid-forties to mid-fifties and the mill owners didn't fare much better - copious amounts of dust, dye and fluff and other undesirables to damage health. Tough times - and in those days of course there was no Health & Safety or unions to help the workers.

The Clothworkers Guild was awarded a large swathe of land stretching from the West Bank to the town of Limavady some 20 miles to the West.  They re-built the bridge across the Bann (which runs alongside the one you see here, a modern pedestrian and cycle bridge), built many new houses and helped found my old school, Coleraine Academical Institution (there's a still a Clothworkers' Prize awarded every year).  They also commissioned construction of this building, which reportedly cost £2000 in 1844 - it was on, or close to the site of an old, dilapidated castle from medieval times.  Initially it served as a hotel but I'm not sure what, if anything, it is used for today.   At one stage there were retail outlets on the ground floor and I think I recall seeing something about serviced units being available for small businesses to rent but I don't know if that ever came to fruition.  

The Clothworkers' Company is still alive and well today.  If you're interested in finding out more about the history of the Guild, click here (it's well worth visiting, by the way). 

The Clothworkers Building, 2020.  Ilford MGV paper, sepia tone.  Via the F2 and 85mm Nikkor, on HP5+/ID-11.

It was a very pleasant morning when I snapped this up, but it wasn't the easiest negative to print as the bridge was in deep shadow while the sun on the building was as bright as bright can be.  The print wasn't great but a good soak in bleach put a little life back in the foreground and then a gentle sepia tone added some much-needed warmth.  MGV seems to take sepia a little better than I recall MGIV ever doing, which can only ever be a good thing.  

Pumpkin Head

 Last weekend (or was it two weekends ago - I forget & time seems to be moving faster than ever these days) we all sat down and carved our pumpkins.  Of course the first thing everyone does is reach for the their phones to Google Pumpkin Head Designs.  Needless to say, some turn out better than others.  It's a messy affair, but we had a fun couple of hours, carving them, then putting tea-lights inside and finally judging them.  My wife is better at these sorts of things than I am - she had chocolate bars for the winner, runner-up and last place...so pretty much everyone under the age of 50 got something. I stuck the little Voigtlander 21mm on the M6 and propped it up on the table - shutter speeds were on the low side.  It was a risky thing to do, with bits of pumpkin flying about and sharp knives lying around but cameras are for using.  This was the best of the bunch:

Messy, but a whole lot of fun.  Pumpkin Carving in 2020.  On MGV RC paper.

Progress

Progress of sorts, I guess.  We're about to see our local Technical School Building demolished.  It's quite a Big Thing in Coleraine, as it taught a whole lot of folks who found work in the area - generations of the same family, probably.  Hairdressers, welders, brickies, electricians, plumbers, mechanics...any trade you could mention, I reckon. The original, red-brick building dates from 1930 and is architecturally interesting but there's an adjoining 1960s high-rise block which has no real aesthetic qualities at all and won't I suspect, be missed.  I took a walk around it the other day and I was glad I did, as there were one or two (only, mind you) parts that caught my eye.  Like this one, for example

A bit of Coleraine Technical College, 2020.  On Ilford MGV paper.  The jury is still out with MGV - I'm not sure I'm really warming to this paper.  It's not very subtle, from my initial experience of it.  

Strictly speaking this doorway wasn't part of the original College, but an adjoining Church Hall which was acquired by the College quite recently.  However, it is all, I am led to believe, about to be demolished and a new build started on the site.  It will certainly be a talking point in Coleraine for some time, as it occupies a pretty central location and one which most people drive past every day - sometimes several times a day if like me, you are doing school runs.   The School Run is a funny thing - I've only about 6 more months to do - and maybe less if Missy passes her driving test in the meantime.  I wonder if I'll miss it when I am no longer called to do it.  I doubt I will - there will be other aspects to home life that I'll miss more when that time comes...

Minor Miracle

Well the minor miracle is that I finally got to the end of the film in a couple of cameras. It’s good to be back in the game but I did feel decidedly rusty in the darkroom this morning (Sunday, as I write this).  This one I took when ‘up the town’ last week one early-ish morning, when the light was rather soft & lovely. I poked the F2 and 85mm lens through the railings of St Patrick’s Church and this was the result, on Foma 133 paper:

St Patrick's Churchyard, Coleraine, November 2020

I quite like the 85mm focal length - it's about the longest I use these days for general photography.  The 105mm Nikkor has the better reputation, but it's a longer, bigger lens - the 85mm isn't much different in size to the 50mm.  I think I'd even prefer something even shorter, if they made it - something around the 75mm focal length.  I can always use the Vivitar variable focussing 35-85mm but it's a bit of a beast of a thing and besides, I'm not a great fan of zoom lenses - it takes away from the spontaneity of the thing, I find.  I like to walk about with one prime lens and after a while I find that I 'get my eye' in for that focal length.  

The Fringe

 Not the TV series (which I thought was pretty watchable until the whole double-universe thing started, which just tipped over the edge of believability for me), but this fringe here, on you-know-who:

On Ilford MGV paper.  Cropped from the square, as it seemed to work best like that.

As you can see, I was breaking the rules here by taking Missy's shot as she squinted directly into the sun.  It's super-contrasty - and I find that MGV is a much more contrasty paper than its predecessor, which I'm not always in the mood for.  Anyway, I like the shadows of her curls falling across her face.  The fringe comes and goes as the notion takes her - I guess most teenage girls experiment a fair bit with 'their look' before they settle.  As for me, I'm still experimenting with my look - although not with the hair, since I lost most of that a good while ago...

Plant Sprayer

I'm a bit behind with my printing at the minute - there are several half-finished films inside various cameras which, no doubt, contain many, many masterpieces.  If only I could get my finger out and finish said films then I could share them.  For the moment, though, I give you one from earlier in the year when I was in 'Still Life' mode.  The thing, I think, is for spraying plants.  From the Sinar, cropped to square, if I remember correctly:

FP4+ Delta, on Foma 133 paper.

The original scan you see here - from my old Epson flat-bed - wasn’t particularly good, so I scanned it again at higher resolution and cropped it, just to see how the texture detail was resolved.   On my hard drive this comes in at just over 11Mb (I'm not sure if/how Blogger re-jigs images, though):

Higher resolution scan of the same print

 

It’s not the most interesting objet d’art but on close inspection the metal/chrome bits look pretty good I think.

Life is slowly returning to some sort of normality.  School starts again tomorrow, after an extended 2-week half-term break.  I might have to set the alarm for the morning, given the fact that we put our clocks back last weekend.  I'm usually awake much earlier than I need to be, but of course when you need to get up earlier than usual that's guaranteed to be the one morning you sleep in.  Then it's a horrible mad rush to the start of the day, which I'd rather avoid.  

Rainy days

This time of year in The Liberties can be challenging...you need to be prepared for water falling from the heavens at any time of the day (and probably night too but I’m not usually in a position to verify that). We get the odd day when it seems to rain non-stop, but most days it comes and goes and you can generally wait it out.  It can be heavy at times...I took this shot after a downpour from the safety of our front porch, using the Nikon F2 and 180mm lens (I think):

Raindrops keep falling on my car, on Ilford MGV paper.

It's not going to win any awards, this one, but I quite liked the lines and the dark bits and the light bits and isn’t that what it’s all about?

This weekend we emerge from our quarantine...very gingerly, though.  The news out there is all doom and gloom.  The infection numbers are falling slightly but our hospitals are really struggling with the number of seriously ill patients with COVID.  Yesterday we heard that Northern Irish hospitals are beyond capacity - occupancy at 103% across the region.  I read this morning that our local hospital may need to ration oxygen if things continue - now that's something I wasn't expecting to hear in 2020.  It's easy to be wise after the event but we've been hearing for months about a 'second wave' and I'm surprised there seems to have been very little planning for that.  I guess no-one expected the second wave to be as bad as it is turning out to be.  So while we will officially be no longer required to quarantine I doubt I'll be hitting the shops anytime soon - but it will be good to get out for a walk somewhere other than around the garden.  And maybe even take a photograph or three.

East is east

 That Ballintoy place, with the TiTAN 4x5 pinhole.  Looking East:

Fomapan 200 in ID-11, on Ilford MGV RC paper

So that's Sheep Island in the centre-left of the shot.  Behind that you've the most southerly point of Rathlin, Rue Point (where the smallest of Rathlin's three lighthouses resides, as you might remember from this shot a few years ago).  Behind that, you've got the faintest view of Kintyre, some 20 or so miles away.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's amazing the detail captured on this thing, without the benefit of a lens.  Moving rightwards across the horizon from there, again there's the faintest impression of the sharp pointy headland of Fair Head way in the distance.  

The figures on the rocks were a couple of fishermen, braving the elements.  Rather them than me, I thought - it was cold, very cold with the wind chill.  I know they've all the gear but still, at least with a camera (even one on a tripod, like here) you get to move between shots.  

We're still all OK, by the way, on our COVID quarantining.  We're a week in now, so halfway there. The advice is to stay at home and that's what we're doing.  Well, I tell a little lie - I did go for a walk down the road the other day.  Living where we do, there was zero chance of bumping into anyone so I figured it was safe enough.  Apart from that, I'm keeping busy with gardening duties, before it gets too cold to do anything much outdoors.  I seem to want to be outside all the time at the minute - it feels healthier than sitting indoors.

Is he taking my photograph?

 One from my walkabout on Portstewart Prom a couple of weeks ago:

Portstewart, 2020.  On Ilford MGV RC paper.

The guy on the left has spotted me (hard not to, with me pointing a great big Hasselblad at him).  He didn't say anything as he passed, though I made sure not to make eye contact.  We're outside Morelli's Ice Cream shop - the group of young 'uns on the right all have cones, I think, or are waiting to order.  Not many masks in sight on that day - I would hope that would have changed if I returned today.  

Northern Ireland escaped relatively lightly in the first wave of COVID-19 but right now we're in the middle of a big surge in cases.  The closest big hospital to us (in Derry) was described as 'a war zone' the other day.  I think it was bound to happen - the whole North Coast was flooded with people all summer - I've never seen it so busy.  And almost no-one was masking, it seemed.  We did what we could to isolate, given the health issues in our house - groceries were ordered online and everything was wiped before it was put away.  Door handles and light switches were bleached regularly.  We didn't eat out and we stayed away from people as much as we could - my dander down Portstewart with the camera was probably the one exception in the last 9 months.  Even so, our household has just been advised to quarantine for 14 days, since one of us has been close proximity with someone who tested positive.  You aren't informed of the details but School, I think, has been the weak link for us - there were quite a few 'positives' just before it closed for an extended half-term.  So we're playing the waiting game at the moment - we should know by the weekend if we're in the clear or not.  The whole house has been bleached from top to bottom and we have the windows open as much as possible but there isn't really much else one can do.  So far no-one has symptoms and I sincerely hope it stays that way. 

Twelve Months

A year ago to the day (well, almost) we were in the Italian City of Bergamo.  Seems a bit unreal now, looking back - it wasn't long afterwards that the city was badly hit in the first wave of Covid-19.  For weeks we saw dreadful images coming from the hospitals as they were overwhelmed with patients.  We don't hear much about it nowadays, which, I was going to write, was probably a good thing but a quick search would indicate that the Bergamo story isn't over yet. The whole COVID-19 thing is going to run&run, it would appear.

I printed a lot from that short trip after I got back but there were one or two negatives lurking in the files that didn't get the full treatment and here's a couple for you today.  Both taken in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiori - handheld at some stupidly slow shutter speed on the M6 with, if I remember correctly, a 90mm lens.  It printed OK on 9.5"x7" paper but I'm not sure it would scale up without issues.

I cropped this slightly, but I wanted to get some of the people in to show the sense of scale in this building.  The craftsmanship of the stonemasons and ornamental plasterers is rather impressive - that lovely soft Italian light coming through the windows is just perfect for showing off the subtlety of the whole thing.

You really need a view camera with a lot of negative real estate to do justice in these sorts of environments.  I'm not sure tripods were allowed in the Basilica, but even if they were it was a busy old place and I wouldn't feel too comfortable using one.  Plus it is, after all, a place of worship and not just there to be photographed.

A far cry from a Presbyterian dissenter's Church in Northern Ireland. While I can look in wonder at the design and skill involved it's not for me.  Give me a wee country Church with plain white-washed walls and not much else.  It's what you're used to, I guess. Both on HP5+ printed on MGV RC paper.

Fomapan 200 in the TiTAN pinhole camera

I was out with the TiTAN pinhole camera again.  Can't stop myself - the thing is so light and portable and easy to use it's really quite addictive.  There's a couple of things I wish it had, though.  One would be a built-in framing device, or at least one you could slide onto the cold shoe and get a rough idea of the composition.  Up to now I've been winging it, with mixed results.  I like the 4x5 format so it's a shame to crop it, as I've needed to do a couple of times so far.  Like in this shot, for example, where I simply got too much foreground in.  I ended up cropping to 6x12 (1:2) format.

Ballintoy, looking out to Sheep Island.  Rathlin Island is clearly visible behind and there's even the faintest bit of Bonny Scotland visible to the right. Fomapan 200 on Ilford MGV paper.

As I was saying the other day, the price of Ilford sheet film is about twice that of Foma's offerings, so I bought a couple of boxes of Fomapan 200 to play with.  It's the first time I've used this film, so it was all a bit of an experiment.  As usual, I did no research before I went out.  Given the f/206 aperture of the pinhole I was down around 15 second for this shot.  Now, if I'd been sensible and read up about Fomapan 200 first, I would have been advised to increase this by a factor of 9 (nine!), so 135 seconds or just over two minutes (or open up 3 stops, if you prefer).  Now that is serious reciprocity failure compensation.  But I didn't know that, so I just exposed for the 15 seconds.  I had metered for 100 iso, so one full stop less than box speed.  Either way, once I got home and read up on it I knew I was in a bit of a pickle.

I'd also read that Fompan 200 and ID-11 was an OK combination, so I went for that.  1+2 dilution and instead of the suggested 10 minutes I gave it a an extra 2 minutes which I hoped would go some way to recovering the exposure situation.  I opted not to do my usual rotary drum process but went for tray processing instead...so total darkness.  I didn't have high hopes but I was delighted with the negative when it finally emerged from the fix and I could switch the light on.  4x5 negs are so big they are pretty easy to read and I could see detail in the light bits (corresponding to the ground and rocks) and, more importantly, the dark bits (corresponding to the sky).  Result!

When printing, as I said I cropped out the foreground as there wasn't much of interest there.  The sky got a bit extra to bring out the cloud detail and the ground and rock on the right got a bit less - there is more detail than came out in this print but I wasn't unhappy with the result as it stands.  

So, getting back to the camera itself there are a couple of options for a viewfinder.  One would be use a shoe-mounted external finder - I've a 21mm Voigtlander finder for the rangefinder which would come pretty close to the 20mm equivalent focal length of the pinhole but that finder has framelines for 35mm (i.e., 2:3) and not 4x5, so I'm not sure how useful that would be.  Maybe it would be OK - the formats aren't massively different and with a bit of practice it might be fine.  But it's a nice bit of glass which would be easily scratched...the TiTAN camera is ABS and you can chuck it around without worrying too much about it so I'm not sure these two would really be a good match for each other.  Something like a fold flat finder that mounts on the cold shoe might be better, I think - MPP make one, as do Linhof, I understand.  They have a wire frame and a simple viewing sight but while they're not massively expensive they're not pocket-money either.  The other option is to use a phone app, of which there are a few available (some free, some for a couple of pounds).   Not quite sure what I'll end up doing but as I already have the Voigtlander finder I think I'll try that first and maybe see how it compares to one of the free Apps.  

I mentioned there was a couple of things about the camera.  Apart from the viewfinder issue, the use of the pinhole/lens cap to effectively 'open the shutter' is something I'm not yet comfortable with.  The normal method is to first remove the dark slide and then when you're ready to shoot, take the cap off.  It's quite a tight fit (as I'd imagine it would need to be) so there's I always feel like I'm slightly moving the camera as I take it off.  Now given the shutter speeds are always pretty long that's probably not a massive issue but still, it just doesn't feel right.  It is possible to wiggle the cap so that it's nearly off (but hopefully still light-tight) and then it's just a case of gently removing it to expose the film and perhaps that's what needs to be done.   More practice is required!

  

Running man (and dog)

Around the Spring and Autumn equinoxes we can get pretty big tides on Portstewart Strand.  I've been caught out a couple of times in the past, the result of which are very damp and soggy feet until I get home.   This guy and his dog had the right idea - keep away from the water's edge and keep moving:

Man and Dog, Portstewart Strand.  HP5+ on Ilford MGV paper.  The sun was out.  See? - we do get the sun from time to time.  Not usually for very long, of course...

As you can see, I wasn't taking any chances that day, since I was up on the dunes with the 'Blad when I snapped them up.  From being on the Strand pretty much every day for a few years (walking with The Hound) I rarely go now, which is not a good thing.  Apart from the exercise, a morning walk on the beach is pretty good soul food - a chance to get the cobwebs blown away and clear the head a bit from the chaos that's happening all around. I need to get back down there more often. The Hound had it right, of course - live in the moment.  

Strawberry leaves

I snapped up the strawberry leaves from our planter just as they started to turn, a couple of weeks ago.  Came out rather nice on MGV RC paper, I thought:

Strawberry leaves, 2020.  Nikon F3 and a 28mm or maybe 24mm lens, if you care about such things. HP5+ in ID-11.

It's rather satisfying when you take the camera for a walk around the garden - a place you've walked around thousands of times - and find something new worth snapping up.  It doesn't always happen, mind you.  I guess that's the challenge we all face - to see familiar places with fresh eyes, since you can't always be going to new places.  It's not all about the light, although there's no doubt that's the dominant entity in this whole process.  It's about form and shape and lines and pattern as well as shadow and that other thing.    

Man waiting

Man waiting to cross the road, Chicago.  What a snappy title, eh?  It was a dreary wet morning here in The Liberties yesterday (Sunday) so I did the only sensible thing and retreated to the darkroom, where amongst others I printed this shot from downtown Chicago from a couple of years ago.  It's rather sad to think about when I might be there again.  The Brother and I video-call every Sunday but there's no substitute for the real thing.  Having said that, I'm not inclined to go again in mid-summer (too hot) or Thanksgiving (too cold) so that only leaves Spring and Autumn, which usually coincides with The Brother's busy time at work.  We'll see.  Who knows what 2021 might bring - on current form, it would be a brave person who would predict anything.

Somewhere downtown Chicago, 2018. Ilford MGV RC paper.

It appears that Ilford is raising its prices again.  Coming just after May's increases this seems a tad worrisome.  The headline increase in May was 15% but that was only for certain products (chemistry, I think - paper was increased by a more modest 3% and sheet film hardly at all).  Now the word on the street is that Ilford are talking about a 6% increase in October for all film and paper.  Will it drive people away from film photography?  For established film and darkroom users I doubt it.  Most of us are only too delighted to still be able to use film and paper at all in 2020.  It might mean that more people do a mix of film and digital photography.  Perhaps it will deter newcomers from dipping their toes in the world of film.  There are alternative suppliers of film and darkroom paper, of course - Foma perhaps being the most obvious.  I was going to write how much cheaper Foma film is to Ilford's but after checking online I realise that's not always the case.  I looked at one UK supplier that I've used many times and for 120 film, the price of Fomapan 200 and Ilford FP4+ is almost the same.  For 35mm, 30m of FP4+  comes in at just over £72 and the same for Fomapan 200 is just shy of £50, so a pretty big disparity there.  For interest, 30m of Tri-X 400 is available on special order at the knockdown price of...drum roll...£120!  But for 4x5 sheet film, the difference in price is quite astounding - 100 sheets of Fomapan 200, for example, is about £80...the same quantity of FP4+ is currently £150, or nearly £160 after the increase!  

I'm glad about the 120 film prices, as this is probably the format I use most of these days and for that format I'll be sticking with Ilford for now.  For 4x5 sheet film, though, I doubt I'll be buying Ilford in the future - the price difference is just too great for all the work I do in that format.  I've still a good few sheets of FP4+ Delta and HP5+ in the garage fridge so when that runs low I'll probably try my luck with Fomapan.  The jury is out for the moment for 35mm film.  I do like to support Ilford - as well as making high quality film that I know well, Ilford manufactures in the UK and, perhaps more importantly, it takes me back to my youth.  But I can see myself using 35mm film from other manufacturers from time to time.  

As I say, there are alternatives - this wasn't intended to be an exhaustive 'What films are out there?' sort of post.  I've a mate in Belfast who is into these ultra-low ISO recording films such as Kodak 2238 or Fuji 4791.  These are shot at ISO (20 and lower), so they're not for every situation but they seem to scan well enough from what I can see. Anyway, my mate has bought 1000s of feet of this stuff for not-very-much-money...enough to last him a few decades no matter how extravagant he is, I think.  

Darkroom paper is, of course, another thing entirely and that's where most of the cost of B&W photography lies.  When I started printing seriously again, about 7 years ago, I began with Resin Coated (RC) paper.  Then, as soon as I thought I knew what I was doing and could run with the big boys I switched almost completely to Fibre paper (considerably more expensive but oh so nice).  Now I find myself using more and more RC paper again and only printing on fibre when I think the shot (and the negative) warrants it, which is altogether a much more sensible approach.  Ilford paper is legendary, of course - but Foma make some lovely emulsions too, as do Adox. And then there's Slavich for when you need something completely different.  Like most darkroom printers I must have a dozen or so varieties of paper from all these manufacturers lying about (well, mostly in the freezer, to be precise.  I only keep a few sheets of each in the darkroom for convenience).  It's not so easy to compare prices as every manufacturer's offerings are different but Ilford fibre papers are about 10-20% more expensive than Foma and obviously that price differential is going to stretch a little once Ilford raise their prices.  But variety is the spice of life - especially in the darkroom - so I think I'll continue to buy a range of papers from different manufacturers as the notion takes me. 

When all is said and done I don't really look too closely at the cost of it (probably a good thing!).  It's my only hobby and if I was a member of Portstewart or Portrush Golf Clubs I'm sure I'd be spending a heck of a lot more every year with not so much to show for it - you can't frame and hang a decent drive on the wall, to my knowledge... 

Columbine

Via Fotospeed lith on Foma 133 paper:

Columbine, 2020

The flower was growing in front of my mum's garage, which provided a useful backdrop for the shadows to fall.  

I haven't been out with the camera much lately - my excuse being Missy's University application process, which has just started in earnest.  In the UK a central admissions service (UCAS) handles applications - each student initially makes five choices (Course&University, e.g., Computer Science at Bristol University).  The key thing is their Personal Statement, 4000 characters which they can use to make their application stand out from all the others.  Ideally, around next March-April time they will get five offers back...but that's not guaranteed, it's up to the University Admissions Team, who have to balance their allowed intake with the applications they receive.  (Each course will have a fixed number of students for that year's intake.  That number is determined by the University, who take their allowance as set by the Government and divvy it up between their courses).  An 'offer' specifies the minimum grades an applicant must meet to be accepted on the course - like ABB, or BBC if you're on the traditional route of taking three A Levels.  (Yup, just three subjects - we force our students to specialise very early in the UK.  Far too early if you ask me, as it means that if you're opting for a Science Degree you're likely to be doing Math, Physics, Chemistry or similar.  So no foreign language, no humanities.  You can see the problem...)

Once the student hears back from all five Universities those five initial choices are whittled down to two, a Conditional Firm (CF) and a Conditional Insurance (CI).  The CF is the Uni/Course combination you really want...and the CI is your insurance, so you choose one with a lower grade offer than the CF.  If, come August when the A Level results are published, you meet the conditions of the CF offer then you're in!  If you fall short, hopefully you meet the CI offer, in which case you will be accepted onto that course.  If you fall short on both CF and CI offers then all is not lost but it's not a given that you will get to go to University at all.  There is a 'Clearing' system which opens in mid-August and a mad scramble then ensues where students left 'hanging' try to secure a place on a course and University that still has places.  That's the short version of the UK University application system!  

I know, it's a bit of a crazy system and the craziness stems from the fact that at the start of the application process neither the student nor the University knows what grades the student will get - which seems rather stupid when you sit back and think about it.  The only thing the Universities have to go on are 'predicted' grades (as determined by the school/college at which the student is currently studying) and earlier national exam results such as GCSEs, taken 2 years before University.  The whole thing is much more straightforward in countries such as the US, where the SAT scores are known before the application process begins.  There's talk almost every year in the UK of changing the system but as usual after it gets kicked around a bit nothing happens.  You get the traditionalists moaning about 'standards' and such like.  And that's one word I hate to hear coming out of a so-called educational expert's mouth.

Pinhole tests

I was out with the TiTAN 4x5 pinhole again...it's so light it seems kind of cheating.  Glass is heavy!  Saturday mid-morning and Portstewart Strand was already pretty busy.  If you're wondering, driving your car onto the beach is a Irish thing and has been known to confuse non-natives.  There is a risk involved, of course (see here) but if you're sensible (debatable, given what we're talking about) then usually you're OK.  Some beaches around here are best walked onto, though - the beach at Castlerock is well known for shifting sands and many times people are caught out as they try to leave the beach.  The local farmers make a few quid by towing cars out with their tractors.  

I didn't go down to the beach on Saturday - just stayed up top and got the cobwebs blown away by a strong westerly.  The temperature has dropped about 10 degrees lately but it was bright and sunny so not unpleasant in spite of the cold.  I took one shot - this is it:

Portstewart Strand on the TiTAN pinhole.  Ilford FP4+ Delta on MGV RC paper.  Pretty amazing what you can capture without a lens.

As I think I've said before, with the camera you get a DIY Exposure disc to help calculate what the exposure should be for a 'lens' that is an effective aperture of f/206.  I'm rating FP4+ Delta at 50 and most times the indicated shutter speed is more than a couple of seconds, so a bit of extra is required to compensate for film reciprocity failure.  Up to now I have been going by Ilford's recommendations but I tried cutting back a bit for this shot, as previously I've been losing highlight detail.  The other, probably more significant aspect is of course developing time and here things are a little more complicated as I'm using continuous agitation in an old Unicolor drum with a motorised base.  Up to now I've been cutting back on recommended dev times by 15% but this time I reduced it even further.  The negative came out looking better, with good highlight detail (in the blacks on the negative, of course).  There was still a bit of burning in on the sky required for this one but at least there was something on the negative to work with. 

The Sea, The Sea

 One taken a while back which I printed the other day - Portballintrae East Strand, on Foma 133 in lith developer:

The sea at Portballintrae.  Lith print, Foma 133 paper

The River Bush empties into the sea just behind where I was standing to take this shot.  That would be the River Bush of Bushmills Whiskey fame - the town of Bushmills is only a mile or so upstream from here.   Bushmills Whiskey's claim to fame is that it is the oldest licensed distillery in the world - with the emphasis on licensed, since whiskey, poteen and no doubt countless other spirits have probably been made since man learned to stand on two legs.  But still, 1608 is a fair number of years ago and there ain't many companies who have been trading that long.  It's a big tourist draw (being next door to the Giant's Causeway doesn't hinder, either).  I'm not a whiskey drinker but in my youth I would have taken the odd measure, although mostly in the form of a hot whiskey, which is a popular tipple here in the depths of winter.  My mother liked the odd hot whiskey if we happened to be out and about and I can remember her disappointment when in one hostelry, the barman didn't know how to make it.  Well, what can you expect - we were in England at the time.  Heathens, eh?!  But that didn't deter Mother, as she proceeded to tell the barman how to procced.  The classic version would have cloves in it, whiskey (obviously), perhaps a little sugar (optional) and boiling hot water.  The boiling part means you either need a good strong glass or you put a teaspoon in it to draw the heat and prevent the glass from cracking.  It's a very warming drink and slips down rather nicely, I recall - particularly when it's blowing a hooley outside and you're sitting in front of a roaring fire nicely protected from the elements. 

Witches Hat

 I took the 'Blad for walk along Portstewart Prom a while back - this was one of the better shots.  Yer man in the foreground is helping his friend finish her tub of ice-cream.  As I've said before, I think it's the law that you have ice cream when in Portstewart.  There are a number of sellers, including the famous Morelli's, which has been on the Prom since 1927.   I'm not a huge ice-cream fan and neither is my wife but we're the odd ones out around these parts.

The Crescent at Portstewart, on MGV RC paper

The 'Witches Hat' bandstand is quite the thing, isn't it?  In the summer time you get all sorts happening there - preachers and bands and that sort of thing.  But its main purpose, it would appear, is to provide a handy shelter from the rain when it comes (as it inevitably does).  It can get a bit cosy in there at times!  Well, pre-COVID times, that is.

As you can see, unfortunately I had a rare process fail on this film - doubly annoying when there were one or two half-decent shots on it.  It was the very last bit of a 5l batch of ID-11 developer and by the look of things there must have been some undissolved particles in it, which I failed to notice.  It's the first time that's happened (to me) and if it happens again I'll consider switching to a developer that comes in liquid form.  But I'm used to ID-11 - it's pretty cheap and I like it for HP5+, so I'll stick with it for now.  

Finn McCool shops at Sheila's

Sheila's, on Portstewart Prom, is a bit of an institution.  It's been there for ever, I think, and, unusually, hasn't changed much over the years.  A real traditional sea-side shop selling buckets and spades, fishing nets for kids to see what they can find in rock pools, plastic windmills, plastic footballs, plastic kites, sweets - you name it, if it's seaside-related, Sheila's sell it.

Queuing outside Sheila's on The Prom, 2020 (Ilford MGV paper)

Finn McCool, if you didn't know, is our local giant (him of Giant's Causeway fame).  I doubt very much he does shop at Sheila's - he'd be far too big to get in, for a start.  And can you imagine him with a quarter of Liquorice allsorts?  Sure he'd be needing more than that to keep his strength up...

The signage at Sheila's hasn't changed much over the years either - dulse and yellow man.  Dulse is a reddish sort of seaweed that grows on the rocks around the coast here - it's the sort of thing I remember my grandmother eating and would still be fairly popular with a lot of folk.  You can pick it yourself if you know what you're looking for - I think it can be found around the bottom of rocks at low tide.  It's a while since I've had it but I remember it being very salty.  Full of goodness, apparently - the old minerals and trace elements and what have you.

Yellow man is a kind of chewy homeycomb rock, sold in small cracked bits in paper bags.  It's bright yellow in colour, in case you were wondering...

Due to COVID-19 and social distancing, like a lot of smaller shops Sheila's was limiting the number of people inside at any one time, so there was small queue to get in.  There were a lot of people on the Prom that day, but most were masked up, even outdoors.  I didn't hang around, though - I just snapped a couple of shots on the 'Blad and headed for home.

Portstewart Strand

Not a bad place to find yourself in:

Portstewart Strand.  HP5+ on Ilford FB Classic paper

Not too busy on the Strand these days, as you can see.   This print needed a little work - the sand was dodged quite a bit (it still appears darker in the scan than in the print, for some reason).  The sky was burnt in as well as dodged at the same time - two hands were necessary and the foot switch is also a very handy accessory at times like this. I was holding back the lighter part as otherwise it would have all gone a bit uniformly dark.

I’m not a ‘print by numbers’ guy.  I don’t mark up the first print like some would appear to do.  I just think - a bit lighter here and maybe here...quite a bit darker there...and then I get to it. The one you see here was the third print...first is nearly always just a straight print, or maybe straight plus a very rough dodge/burn. I’m getting better at reading a negative and so have a fair idea what will be needed.  Second print gets closer but is typically too much or not enough. Then hopefully the third print is there, or thereabouts.  At that stage I’ll sit back and think Is this negative really worth any more time and money? Most times the answer is a ‘no’ but occasionally - very occasionally - I’ll work on to get it as best I can. I see this as not just an indulgence but more as a ‘something that I need to do’.  If I never do it, then I won’t build that knowledge & skill.  It's a subtle craft, darkroom work and as I’ve said before, the more time I spend doing it the more intuitive printing becomes. 

Afterwards, I might make a few rough notes on a sticky in the negative file but to be honest that’s rare. If ever I do return to re-print a negative I usually start from scratch again...although I’ve a pretty good memory so maybe scratch++. 

Thirsty morning in Dervock

This one was lurking inside the square-shooter for a while but it finally got to see the light of day.  We were driving through the village of Dervock a while back (July, I reckon, from the flags) and this scene caught my eye:

Thirsty Morning in Dervock.  Ilford MGV RC paper.

The North Irish Horse Inn must be affiliated to the very old yeomany unit of the British Territorial Army in Ireland of the same name - dating back to the Boer War, Wikipedia informs me.  The flags are out, no doubt, to celebrate the Twelfth of July Celebrations - the one on the right is the Ulster Banner, then although it's hard to see I think it must be a regimental flag next and then of course the Union Jack.  And then a plastic Tennents sign...Tennents being a pale lager type drink that is best left well alone if you ask me.

It wasn't the flags that caught my eye, of course - 'twas Yer Man's company car parked up outside the bar.  And as I got out to photograph it the woman sweeping the pavement behind it had to be captured too.  They're clearly very house-proud in Dervock and Why not, eh?  

Most people around here would instantly recognise the tractor as one of the Massey Ferguson stable (for it was the genius that was Harry Ferguson from County Down who invented the modern agricultural tractor, of course - and what a service to land workers everywhere that was.  Not only that - he was, apparently, the first person in Ireland to build&fly his own aeroplane and as if that wasn't enough for one man in one lifetime, he designed and built the first four-wheel-drive Formula One car.  The four-wheel drive system went on to be used in Range Rovers, I read).   I think that's a 135 parked up, but I can't be sure and I'm not country enough to know the numbers by sight - though believe me, there's many that can.  If the Agricultural Shows are on again in 2021 then expect a few more photographs of Massey Fergusons - assuming I'm living and spared, that is, and sure who can take anything for granted in these uncertain times...

Anyway, I hope he enjoyed his pint of the black stuff that morning in Dervock and that it 'set him up for the day', as folk would say around these parts - although I also hope he had a designated driver with him.  Sure there's worse things you could be doing with your time on this Earth than having a mid-morning sup in Dervock...