Downhill Beach

As I was about to take this shot I noticed the clouds above the rock formation.  A couple of steps to the left and they aligned perfectly:

FP4+ via Pentax Spotmatic/28mm.  On Foma 133.

The Headington Shark

Down an very ordinary side street in Headington, Oxford, resides what is perhaps the second most famous shark in the world:

Pentax Spotmatic, 28mm Takumar; FP4+ on Foma 133 paper.

The correct name for this protest art sculpture is Untitled 1986 and it was created in response to the bombing of Libya by American planes who took off from a nearby military airfield in Upper Heyford, the shark being used as a metaphor for falling bombs.  Originally Oxford City Council tried to have it taken down (firstly on grounds of safety and then as planning permission wasn't sought) but I read last year that now it wants to make the sculpture a heritage site for its 'special contribution' to the community. Quite right, too - although the house owner pointed out that 'using the planning apparatus to preserve a historical symbol of planning law defiance is absurd'.  

Sharks aside, summer is drawing to a close and our guests have all returned from whence they came, so I was actually able to get into the darkroom the other day.  I was rusty, but it was enjoyable to see the images appear on the paper again - the old magic is hard to beat.

From the Archives

Another one from the archives today, although there is a faint light at the end of the tunnel in terms of things on my to-do list.  We're just back from a planned trip to Oxford to see the wee one.  Well, she's 20 now so not that wee any more I guess.  She elected to stay there for the summer and to be honest I think she made the right decision.  I can't blame her - at 20 I didn't want to be here either.

Missy from a few years ago, probably doing homework or reading a book. 
I wish I'd taken more shots like this back then.

Still life and Triumph motorcycles

I've nothing new to show so am re-visiting some oldies that caught my eye as I looked through my prints from the last few years.  This was a still life you might recall - either on the Sinar or the 'Blad, though most likely the 'Blad as it's square.  Some old artefacts I discovered in the shed of our old house:

Natural light coming from the right of the shot. 
I think I had a reflector set up just out of shot on the left.

I recall working hard to the get a balanced composition, as well as trying to fill the frame.  If you look closely, you'll see the date on the calendar is 1943.  Who knows why the calendar was stuffed in a drawer and kept all those years, but I'm really glad it was.  The empty packet of Woodbine I rescued from an old fishing bag of my grandfathers - he was the Woodbine smoker, not my father.  I think he kept some fishing flies in it, same as the tin of tobacco.  The rest of the stuff on the table were bits and pieces my father had, presumably to service his motorbike.  He had a lovely old Triumph 500C with a coal-scuttle fairing.  I have a shot of it somewhere...hang on, I'll see if I can find it.

Here we go:

My father and his beloved Triumph, sometime in the 1970s
My Dawes bicycle in the background.

Bann Rowing Club, 1942

I'm snowed under with projects right now, so this place is getting ignored for the moment.  Aside from looking after my mum after her recent fall the garden is taking up a lot of my time right now.  We had a big clear-out last year, when a dozen or so old and diseased trees got felled.  That required a major clear-up and a large part of the garden had been neglected until recently, when I finally got round to sorting it out.  So for the last month or so I've been cutting, strimming, raking, bagging up weeds and dead grass and taking everything to the Council facility for recycling/composting, which fortunately isn't far away.  

The other thing requiring my attention right now is the pending visit of a relative from the East Coast of the US, which is happening in a couple of weeks.  She's a descendent of my grandfather's brother and I told the story of her father some time ago in this post. It took me quite a few years to find her, after many hours on genealogy websites and a lot of good fortune.  Her father spent his teenage years here in Coleraine and my relative is keen to see the area and learn more about his upbringing.  One of the things I did a while back is visit the microfiche records of the local paper in the library and I found his name mentioned in connection with the local Rowing Club.  The Bann Rowing Club is well-known across the UK and Ireland - although it's small, it has had phenomenal success over the years and has trained several Olympic rowers, including Alan Campbell who won bronze in the single sculls in London 2012.  

Anyway, I made contact with the current Club Captain and after a bit of searching he came across this photograph, taken in the Club's Centenary Year in 1942:

Unfortunately it sustained some water damage over the years but I was able to borrow it and after a high-res scan and a bit of Photoshopping it looks a little better:

The importance of this photograph is that my relative's father is in it - he's the Cox, seated front row centre.   He'd have been about 17 years old then. The year after (1943) he enlisted in the US Army and after the war returned to his native Philadelphia.  Mind you, given how slightly built he was I can't imagine him in full Army fatigues carrying heavy backpacks and military equipment but I guess in 1943 anyone who showed up was welcomed with open arms.

So the plan is to get this photograph printed, mounted and framed and then ask the Club Captain to present it to my relative on her visit.  I think that will be a memorable day for her.