By the sea

 A bit further round the Cliff Walk in Portstewart from last week's pic:

Ilford Delta 3200@1600, on Ilford MG Classic paper

When I was a lad, there were no barriers here.  Just a bit further up the path (behind me, from where this shot was taken) and you've a 100-foot drop to the rocks and sea.  It focused the mind, I seem to recall, walking along there with nothing between you and oblivion.  Nowadays there's the barriers you can see here.  To be honest, in this age of 'ealth and safety, I'm surprised they aren't a little more solid, given that a child could easily squeeze through the rails.

The show must go on

Obviously I'm not out and about this week, nor maybe next week either, so this week's prints are ones I made last week, from a wintery walk around the Cliff Path in Portstewart.

On the 'Blad, Delta 3200 rated at 1600.  Ilford MG Classic paper.
Donegal (Inishowen peninsula) just visible in the distance.

Recovery has been going OK, although understandably I've been very tired since Monday.  Monday itself was fine, immediately after surgery I was feeling good, but I guess that's a result of the anesthesia and when that wears off then there's a slump.  I'm usually on the go all the time, so this is a bit weird for me, but I try to listen to my body as much as possible and I know that right now, rest is required.  It's a good time to catch up on my reading.

Tree, on pinhole (updated)

 

Via the Walker 4x5 pinhole camera
On Foma 200, which I rated at a lowly 25 and developed in Ilfotec HC at 1:63 for 7m40s, if anyone is interested in such things.

I’m posting this a bit earlier than usual. Reason being, the day has finally arrived to have my cochlear implant surgery, which is scheduled for Monday morning. I'm gradually being re-built, it would appear, what with my titanium & ceramic hips and now this.  I'm just thankful that I'm living when I do, when all this is possible - and living where I do as well, of course.  Hopefully in a week or so's time I return to the hospital to get the other part (which resides outside my skull, over the ear) connected and then I'm very much looking forward to starting this new part of my life, when hopefully I can hear speech a lot clearer than I currently do.  I'm nervous about the op, of course, but keeping positive for a good outcome.  I shall update in due time.

Update: All went well with the surgery and I was able to come home Monday evening.  Pretty tired right now, probably as a result of the anaesthesia and the precautionary antibiotics.  Have to lie low for a while, let my body recover.  No sneezing, no blowing of nose, no popping of ears, no carrying anything heavier than a carton of milk for the next wee while.  I guess the wire part of the implant needs to bed into the cochlear space. Follow up review next week by video (saves a two-hour round trip to Belfast) and then the big switch-on in four weeks, a little later than I thought.  Still, having had poor hearing for about 17 odd years I think I can wait a few weeks more.  

Mis

Have I said how miserable the weather is right now?  Well, the last few weeks, over Christmas and the New Year were particularly horrible, as evidenced by this shot looking out over Portstewart Bay towards Donegal:

Via the 'Blad, Delta 3200 film rated at 1600; on Ilford MG Classic paper, with a bit of a burn-in on the sky

This week we have snow and ice, which pretty much leaves me housebound as falling when you have a fused neck and spine (on account of my ankylosing spondylitis) is never a good idea.  I have no shock absorption, so things tend to snap rather than bend...with potentially life-changing consequences.  So I err on the side of caution and stay indoors as much as possible when it's slippy outside.

Birds

 Just some seagulls flying around, against a fairly typical January sky:

Ilford Delta 3200 Pro at 1600 developed in Ilfotec HC and printed on Ilford MG Classic paper.  

Eternity ? Ye...

That space between Eternity and ? gets my attention.  I've photographed this graffiti before, as you might recall (here) and you can't really ignore it if approaching Portstewart Prom from the Cliff Walk.  It got a fresh lick of paint recently and that was the subject of some debate at the Council Chambers, since it is on Council-owned (i.e., public) property.  In the end there were enough votes to let it stay and be re-painted.  I wouldn't have voted for it.  My view is that Public Spaces should be as neutral as possible.  We have enough trouble with flags, songs and emblems in this neck of the woods as it is.  If you want, put a sticker on your car, or in your window, but let's have our towns and villages welcoming to all.

It reminds me of the notices you would see pinned to telegraph poles some years ago when out for a Sunday drive in the country.  'Eternity Where?' was always one of my favourites.  That was it...no answer, no explanation, just 'Eternity Where?'  As a kid it tickled me.

I hope the graffiti isn't indicative of a more vocal approach to issues-of-the-day, but I fear it could be.  Recently there's been a spate of protest groups outside our local hospital, with big, in your face Anti-abortion banners.  You can imagine the sort of thing...'Babies are murdered in this hospital' etc.  Sometimes there's one or two lone Pro-Choice people and the best placard I saw from that side was one which read 'Don't listen to these idiots' with a big arrow pointing at the other group.  This type of protesting is very new for this part of the world - the traditional Northern Irish way is to keep your head down and say nothing. I find it all rather depressing.  Or maybe it's just the January weather getting to me - it's been incredibly miserable of late.  Can't wait for Spring and some decent light...and please, if you're listening up there, less rain, big man, less rain.

I gave this one a bit of a wash in thiourea toner, to lighten the mood a little, as it was a bleak old scene the day we were out.  'Blad, Ilford Delta 3200 @ 1600, on Adox MCC paper.

I like the one, lonely gull turning over in the sky, which I spotted through the viewfinder and hoped to catch in a way that made it visible.  My lucky charm was standing beside me so I couldn't fail, really.

January Walk (updated)

The cliff walk in Portstewart, on a very dark dismal afternoon in January.  Dominican College (Convent, some years ago) is prominent.  My daughter and I were getting the heads blown off us at the time, by the way - I could hardly see to focus as my eyes were watering so much.

Hasselblad, 60mm CB lens; Ilford 3200 Pro at 1600 in Ilfotec HC 1:31 for 9.5 minutes, if anyone cares about such things.  On Adox MCC fibre paper.

I messed in up the darkroom and the main print got a bit more than I wanted.  The sky got a bit of a burn-in.  I liked the sky as it turned out here and while I might be able to get a bit more detail in the wall I decided to settle for it as it was.  

Addendum: I meant to say, as we were walking along my daughter grabbed my arm and said This would be a good shot.  She has a good eye for photography, she does (like here, and here).  I shouted a reply over the wind to the effect that Yes, I'd taken it a few times but never anything good came out of it.  Perhaps today she brought me Good Luck. I keep telling her to take more photographs.  I wish I had, when I was her age...and kept at it.

Annual Review 2022 (close seconds)

A few shots that almost made the (very high, naturellement) bar for the Annual Review, but not quite:

Still Life

Taken at home on an OM-1.  I can't get my eyes past those damn goblets, which annoy me every time.  They're not necessary and don't add anything.  Less is more, I need to remember.

Churchill, County Donegal

I like this shot but I think it's lacking something. Don't know what, mind you.
The church in my last post lies just to the right of this scene - you can see the shadow of the bell tower on the grass in this shot.

Botanic Gardens, Belfast. 

A lot to be said for this one and I thought long and hard about promoting it into the Made-It Group. 
Do I need to be closer to the action (or lack of it, on this hot summer's day) - namely, the people? 

Wedding, Portstewart

I think this one would have made it into the Final Review if I'd stopped down the lens a bit and got the church and throng outside a little more in focus.  As it stands the focus is mildly distracting, to my eyes.
The top of the bell tower is on the negative, but for some reason I missed it off during printing.

Churchill, again

I thought I'd start the year 2023 off with a proper print, rather than the promised 'Nearly made it' set from 2022, which I'll get to later.  You might recall seeing this shot before (here) but this is the lith version, which I like very much:

Churchill, County Donegal.  Hasselblad, Ilford PanF 50 film, on Foma 131 paper (Moersch Easylith developer)

We didn't stay up to welcome in the New Year but elected to retire early to bed, partly but not wholly on account of the fact that Missy wasn't well.  She'd had a bout of Scarlet Fever about a month ago while over in Oxford.  Eventually, after some persuading, her GP over there gave her antibiotics which seemed to do the trick.  Or so we thought.  But they'd only given her 3 day's worth and clearly it didn't clear up the bug completely, so back it came with a vengeance just before the New Year.  She got some more antibiotics and spent about 3 days sleeping it off.  She's back on her feet now and hopefully this time around the infection will be properly blitzed.

Another factor in our early-to-bed decision was that we no longer watch live TV.  We never watched a lot of TV but in the long winter nights you need something to look at it.  Over the last while we found ourselves watching less and less live TV and streaming more content over the likes of Netflix.  BBC have all but given up on decent content, it seems - and the prime time offerings from the independent stations never really held much interest for us, truth be told - I can't abide all those reality shows (un-reality shows, surely).   In previous New Year's Eves we would have tuned into Jools Holland's music extravaganza but (spoiler alert) we found out that it was recorded in July, so that ruined the whole authenticity of the programme for us.  When you know the whole countdown-to-midnight thing is fake it somehow renders the rest of it rather false too.  Or at least it did for us.  First-world problems, eh?  Anyway, if you are reading this, Thank you! and I hope you have a healthy and creative 2023!