In a strange place

Understandably, we're all a bit of out sorts at the the minute.  Everyone's feeling very drained, physically and emotionally...gradually coming to terms with the situation.  The way things panned out, it was a bit of a blessing that Nanny didn't linger too long - once your health deteriorates beyond a certain point you want a quick, painless and dignified end, and that is what happened.  For the rest of us, life goes on - photographs and memories are there to remind us of what was.

I haven't picked up a camera in the last week or so and therefore I'm posting scans of prints that were made a couple of weeks ago.  This was taken in full afternoon sun, which wasn't the greatest of ideas, but I was excited to try out a new-to-me 16mm extension tube for the Hasselblad.  This was taken on the 150mm lens:

Old watering can and flower, FP4+ in R09 1:25 on Barclay fixed grade paper.

The Hasselblad has its quirks - and if you forget them, it can get expensive.  The main thing to remember is that the lens and body can only be attached and detached when both are in a cocked state.  So, the golden rule is always advance the film (which automatically cocks the shutter in the lens) after taking a shot and especially before removing the lens. For safety, I also try to remember to insert the darkslide before removing a lens, to prevent accidentally tripping the shutter release button on the camera body when the lens is off. With extension tubes, extra care is required.  The tube must be mounted on the body first, then lens to tube.  Removal is the opposite - remove lens from tube first, then tube from body.  It's the removal when problems are likely to occur, I think, since by that stage it's easy to forget you have the extension tube fitted and just unmount tube and lens together.   Pretty much every other aspect of the Hasselblad system I love, but that is something that sooner or later, in the heat of the moment I can see myself forgetting.   If you are brave, you can fix a jammed 'Blad yourself, but it involves inserting a long screwdriver through the back of the camera body to manually cock the shutter in the lens via a screw.  Not a problem in itself, but you are using a sharp metal screwdriver in close proximity to a very expensive Zeiss lens back element.  One slip is all it takes...

The watering can was another find from my mum's shed.  It was from before the days of plastic everything and boy is it heavy, even empty.  It takes a nice photograph, though, so I'll try it again on a less contrasty light.