Apple on gate

Close by Harcourt Hill campus in Oxford lies a very pleasant nature walk (North Hinksey) and it was perfect for a stretch of the legs after the 3-hour drive from Birkenhead the day before.  Someone (not me) had placed this fallen apple on top of a gate:

I did think about how I wanted this scene to be represented - although it might not seem that way ;)
In the end, I left the foreground dark, with just a hint of detail showing.  Too much detail and it would detract from the apple. 
So this is it. I briefly flirted with the idea of doing an exaggerated dodge around the apple - a bit like Ralph Gibson’s hand on doorknob shot, but I didn’t this time around. If I’m ever bored enough to print it again I might try it.
OM4ti/35mm/HP5+/Ilfotec HC/Foma 133 paper.

I just looked at Ralph Gibson’s shot again and it’s more subtle than I remembered. The hand is dark, so it looks like he dodged the area behind it before printing the hand. And then the shadow of the hand appears on the opposite wall, so it’s a very cleverly constructed (and executed) image.

Teacher and child

This statue sits in the grounds of the Harcourt Hill campus of Oxford Brookes - we've walked past it a few times en route to the bus from Missy's Room.  There's a quote from the bible on the plinth (Proverbs: Train up the child in the way he should go - the statue is Christ and the Child) but I took it more as Teacher-Learner kind of thing.  It's a big 'un - stands around 30 feet tall.

The scan doesn't do the print justice, unfortunately - the figures appear darker and the sky lighter in the scan.  I haven't the PS skills to make the necessary adjustments.
OM4ti, 35mm f/2.8 Zuiko.  HP5+ rated at 800, developed in Ilfotec HC 1:31 for 9m30s, printed on Foma 133 paper.

I thought it was made from concrete - it looks like concrete - but I read that the Uni commissioned a fibreglass replacement of the original, which had deteriorated since it's construction in 1958.  So I'm not sure.  If I'd touched it I might have been able to figure it out, but I didn't.

Close-up of the lower part:

Lovely mid-tones with HP5+ - well, in the print there are, if not the scan.

It was bittersweet getting our daughter re-installed in her room for another year.   Great that she was looking forward to it but sad to be saying Goodbye.  We made it a quick farewell, so as not to prolong the agony.  She'll be fine once she re-connects with her friends and her course gets underway.  My wife and I will be fine too, once we get used to the empty nest again.  Anyway, my brother and his daughter arrive in 4 days time, so it'll not be empty for another couple of weeks.  At the moment we've no time to think about anything other than getting beds made and giving the place a bit of a clean in preparation. 

Nettlefold Countersunk Screws

Here they are, or the boxes at least:

FP4+ via the 'Blad and probably an extension tube and Softar filter as well.  One taken a couple of years ago but printed last weekend, on Foma 133 paper.

As you read this I'm not here.  I'm ‘across the water’, taking Missy back to start her second year at Uni.  (Across the water is a good old Northern Irish saying, which means I’ve crossed the Irish Sea and am somewhere on the mainland. The Mainland is another one, of course). 

Unfortunately our planned trip to Rathlin Island before we left home didn't materialise - substituted instead for a trip to Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast to get her hip scanned, as she's been having some pain in it recently.  They think it's bursitis and with some exercises it should go away.  Still, I wish it hadn't appeared in the first place, especially just before a long car journey and then the start of a busy year for Miss.  Fingers crossed it'll settle quickly.

This trip will almost end a summer of monumental busyness in my life. It’s been non-stop since we dropped The Wee One off in Wales for her field trip at the end of May, before driving to Oxford to clear her room for the summer.  Heck she had a lot of stuff! The end of June saw my stepson’s wedding, closely followed by his Best Man’s wedding in July. Then Missy dropped the bombshell that she was breaking up with her boyfriend of over two years. That required a lot of us siting talking it out and supporting her through a difficult time. He didn’t take it well and things were starting to get a little troubling at one stage, but it all seems to have settled now. In the middle of that my mother had a new central heating system installed (and a couple of new windows) and we had major groundworks around the house, including the felling of about a dozen big trees. There was a lot of mess and since we opted to keep the wood felled to burn, the place still looks like a bomb site. As a result, - as you have probably noticed - the number of times I’ve been out with a camera has been very few.

The end is almost in sight. Almost, but not quite as a week after we get back from England my brother and his eldest daughter arrive from Chicago. We used to see each other every year, either in Ireland or in Illinois but because of Covid it’s been about 3 years since we last saw each other. I’m looking forward to it immensely, but I know there will be work involved.  

Fast forward to November and my wife and I are planning a much-needed holiday - just the two of us, a few books and a chance to do very little. It takes a lot to prise me away from home these days but this time around I’m ready for it. That’s assuming Easyjet don’t screw us up, of course. 

PS I’m unable to reply to comments while I’m away - Google isn’t letting me sign in.  Could be a browser permissions thing. Anyway, I’ll get to them on my return home later this week. 

Just there

As I wandered around the Palm House in Belfast's Botanic Gardens the other week (sheltering from the showers, as you do in August in Ireland), I couldn't see much to photograph with the Nikon F2 I had with me.  (My F2 has a metered DP-11 Head (which makes it an F2A, I think, but I’m not really on top of the myriad of F2-Head combinations that exist). I really wish it had the simpler, non-metered, DE-1 head instead.  That would save a little weight, which would be good and I don’t use the meter in the Nikon anyway. It’s hard to see and I'm used to metering with an external meter (usually the little Sekonic L-308 unless I'm feeling all creative & Zone Systemy in which case I take the larger Sekonic L-508 spot meter).  I’ve looked at acquiring a DE-1 head, but it would probably be cheaper to buy a complete F2 with that head rather than the DE-1 head alone. No, I can’t quite figure that out myself either). 

Anyway, as I peered a little more closely at the plants in the Palm House I noticed a figure sat among them.  It was roughly carved but it was kind of just right the way it was, playing silent music for the Palm House flora and fauna:

Palm House Musician.  HP5+ on Foma 133 paper.

I found a second figure, in stone this time:

At peace in the forest of the Palm House, Botanic Gardens, Belfast. Not entirely sure about the ‘at peace’, though - the figure looks rather sad and maybe a little defensive posed as it is.

Breaking Wave

 At Dunseverick, from a while back:

I'm not quite sure what happened to this print - it looks like someone has scrawled all over the sky with a pencil. It’s not on the neg. 
HP5+ via the 'Blad and some lens.

I see that William Klein has died, at the age of 96. Seems to be a popular age to go these days. What a body of work he has left behind, eh? Wiki has him as ‘25th on the Professional Photographers 100 most Influential Photographers’. He’s not on my go-to list of people for inspiration but when I searched online for his work I was surprised how many photographs I recognised & how much I liked his work, so perhaps he should be. He certainly got up close and personal to his subjects. Is that do-able today, I wonder? 

Taunton, 1987

Back in 1987 I was working and living in Taunton, Somerset.  Looking back, it was pretty idyllic.  Taunton was then a lovely small market town, the people were typical West Country (very friendly) and the surrounding countryside was stunning.  The country pubs were pretty amazing, too.  I was in my first job after graduating, teaching at the Richard Huish Sixth Form College and the kids were all in the 16+ age bracket, full of life.  They were the most pleasant students to work with and I was only a few years older than some of them, which made for some interesting times.  It was all good though.  Well, apart from my health, which was beginning to impinge on my enjoyment of the situation.  By the end of my first year teaching I was called in for my second hip replacement and so I found myself in Musgrove Park Hospital, first for surgery and then for physiotherapy.  I'm getting to the point of this story soon, I promise.

On my elbow crutches, so not long after surgery in 1987.  I don't have too many shots from this era, as when you are starting off teaching you hardly have time to draw breath, let alone take photographs.  On Kodachrome, via OM-1.

Whilst in and out for physio, it was announced that a new wing of the hospital was to be opened - and a very important person, or people, were to cut the ribbon.  The new wing was to be known as the Queen's Building.  Ah-ha, now you see where I'm going with this.

For some reason I was invited to be part of the day - and all I had to do was lie on my bed and pretend to be doing my exercises when HRH passed by.   Sure what else would I be doing, I though to myself - might as well.  A week or so before the Queen and Duke were due to arrive the whole place went into lockdown - police were everywhere.  The route they would be coming was swept and manhole covers were sealed.   Inside the hospital was thoroughly searched and uniformed officers were posted at all the entrances and on the wards.  I didn't have a badge or pass or anything but I guess I looked sick enough to be genuine as I don't remember ever being stopped and asked the purpose for me being there.  Though I did remember thinking 'Did no-one here ever watch the film, The Day of the Jackal'?  Remember how the character played by Edward Fox smuggled a rifle through the lines of police when trying to assassinate de Gaulle?  I was able to walk through all the police that morning in Taunton on my crutches, without once being stopped and searched.  Had I been stopped, things might been interesting, what with my Northern Irish accent.  But I wasn't and I ended up on my hospital bed as planned, as we all waited for the arrival of you-know-who.

Suddenly the door to the ward opened and in they came.  The Duke immediately went over to chat up a young lady in the bed opposite to me and next thing I knew the Queen was standing at the foot of my bed while the Director of Nursing explained why I was there and what I was doing.  My physio put me through my usual leg strengthening exercises as the Queen looked on.  'It looks jolly hard work' she said to me and then she gave me her trademark smile, which was, I have to say, rather beautiful.  

So that was my story about meeting Queen Elizabeth II.  I'm sure countless others have stories too, for she certainly got out and about over the what, 70 years and 214 days of her reign.  That was a heck of an innings.

As I thought about it later that evening there was only one thing I wish I had done differently.  Given that the exercise I was doing when HRH was at the foot of my bed was working on my leg adductors and abductors (moving my leg in and out to the side), I wish I'd worn a slightly longer pair of shorts. 

Farming Life

One thing that stood out in the Ballymoney Agricultural Show was the engagement of young people - there were a lot of teenage boys and girls wanting to show off their farm animals. 

Young fellow with Belted Galloway bull.  I assume the bull is young but I don't think these boys grow as big as other breeds.  I like this shot, not just for the subjects centre stage but for what's going on in the background.
M6/Canon 50mm ltm lens, HP5+ on Foma 133.

Life on a farm is pretty busy and while the young 'uns at the Show were clearly enjoying the day I wonder how many will end up in the business.  Our neighbour DC has recently sold off his dairy herd, which was a bit of a shock.  Understandable, though, since he's not getting any younger and neither of his children were going to carry on the business.  It's sad as this looks like the end of the road for full-time farming in that particular family - DC took over the farm from his father, who is now in his late 80s and not in good health.  But DC senior still rolls out of bed at 4am most days and heads down to the farm to help, in whatever way he can - milking was at 5am and on a clear still morning we could hear the faint hum of the milking machines.  Same again at 5pm.  Some evenings DC is out until midnight on his tractor, maybe cutting silage or turning it. My mother would be complaining to me the next morning she couldn't get to sleep for the noise.  I'm guessing DC has no trouble sleeping, when his head finally hits the pillow.

Decay

You might recall we've been doing some tree-felling around home recently, on account of a number of big old trees that were diseased.  Ash die-back is going through our country like a dose of salts at the minute - I don't know that many, or any, will survive and that's going to have a real impact on our landscape.  We also had a couple of big sycamore trees that had fungi growing on them and apparently that's a sign that all is not well.  Eventually, the tree will rot and usually from the inside, so you probably won't even notice - and that's a tad worrying when the trees are too close to the house for comfort.  Here's another shot of one of the cut logs and you can see the beginnings of decay in the middle (eventually there'll just be a big hole through the middle of the trunk, as shown in an earlier post):

Via the 'Blad/150mm Zeiss Sonnar, FP4+ on Foma 133 paper.

The Student

 Here she is again, that student person:

Miss, in a pleasant amount of soft focus.  i.e., blurry, since I was hand-holding the 'Blad at some ridiculous speed on account of the fact I had FP4+ loaded and we were indoors.  Silly me. On Foma 133 paper.  Actually this isn't the shot I wanted to print but it was first thing this morning (print is still in the tray, as you can see) and I wasn't quite thinking straight.  

This summer has gone in a flash.  It's hard to believe in a couple of weeks we'll be taking her back across the water for the start of her second year at Uni.  In the meantime we've so much to do - including an overnight in Rathlin Island, which I'm very much looking forward to.  We tried to go earlier in the summer but what few places there are on the island were fully booked.  Unfortunately the puffins and other sea-birds have left the island so when the last boat leaves late afternoon it'll be just Miss and I, what locals live on the island and a few visitors.  And the seals, of course.  Can't wait.