Portstewart Strand on pinhole

We've just had our first storm of the year (Arwen) and it was a biggie.  We had a ton of branches down around our house and a whole shed-load of detritus spread over the yard.  Thankfully no structural damage.  Hopefully we won't see too many more like that.  

A couple of days before it hit I ventured down to Portstewart Strand for a dander with the Walker 4x5 pinhole.   It was very windy, but safe enough as the tide was well out.  Anyway, I hiked all of, oh, 30 metres up the dunes and set up the tripod beside a big cactus-like plant that was, like me, getting blown about something serious.  Two sheets of film and twenty-four seconds later and I was done - camera and tripod went back in the car and I took myself down the beach for a walk.  It was bracing...but nice all the same.  Well, the hailstones weren't that nice truth be told but with the wind so strong the shower was soon over.  A rare moment of common sense came upon me shortly after and I turned for home and the relative safety and tranquility of the darkroom:

Up on the dunes of Portstewart Strand with some Foma 200 rated at 50.  Developed in HC-110, printed on Foma 133 paper.  I've the second sheet still to develop as I'm not too sure about times with HC-110 and the Uniroller yet.  This one I gave 6m 40s, with 1:50 dilution and I'm going to give the second sheet a tad longer to see if a bit more detail comes out in the foreground.  1:50 is not a normal dilution for HC-110 but it sure is easy to work out the relative quantities...6ml for 300ml in this case.  But I have a problem.  What used to be a small leak on the drum has turned into a major leak - I got about 50ml back in the measuring jug afterwards - I was surprised there was no streaking on the negative.  There are actually two gaskets in the Uniroller - a weird plastic affair which fits under the raised portion of the lid and a deeper set rubber o-ring.  I'm still trying to make sense of the various articles on 'Uniroller gasket repair' on the various forums - everyone has their own solution, it appears.  Mostly they say that over time (we're talking a tad over 40 years in this case) the plastic ring hardens and no longer does its job.  I've used a smear of petroleum jelly and up to now that's been OK but clearly there's been a fundamental change in the situation and further action is required.  I know there are many ways to develop 4x5 sheets and if I can't get the seal issue sorted then I'll have to look into what's out there.  I've tried tray processing and it's a bit painful - I'd prefer a daylight solution.

The pinhole did a decent job of capturing the movement of the grasses and shrub.  I wonder what the Hasselblad would have made of it.  Worth a return visit to find out, I reckon.  
  

Holiday Cottage, Ballintoy

Years ago I used to think this little cottage at Ballintoy was the perfect place - relatively hidden away in a place of outstanding natural beauty.  Not now, though - whether through fame via Game of Thrones or just word of mouth, Ballintoy is one very busy little place these days. There's a very windy road down to the harbour itself...almost single track in places and some 180 degree bends. There's a sign on the main road indicating its unsuitability for large coaches and motorhomes.  Of course there's always someone who doesn't think that applies to them - last time I was there a guy had managed to manoeuver a huge motorhome down to the harbour.   I've no idea how he managed that...if he met any traffic at all on the way down or back it would be chaos.  Motorhomes seem to divide opinion - unless you own one most people seem to loathe them.  I don't know whether it's pandemic related but this last couple of years we are seeing way more than usual on the roads around The Liberties.  And bigger than usual.  I don't envy them driving around some of our more scenic routes.  Portrush has a dedicated motorhome park within walking distance of the beach & town which seems like a good idea.  Then when they come to Portstewart they try to park on the Prom and take up about 3 car spaces in an already congested area.  I'm sure things like that go a long way to explaining why some people aren't very keen on them (or their owners).

Ballintoy on the 'Blad, probably 50mm lens.  PanF 50 in ID-11, on Foma 133 paper. A bit of burn-in on the sky, otherwise a straight print.  The walking path passes just in front of the cottages so there's not much privacy, in spite of the remoteness of the location.

If you click on the image and zoom in on the sky you'll see it looks like I've cleaned the negative by rubbing it over the floor.  I suspect that's due to this being developed in one of my last batches of ID-11, where some of the powder was undissolved, or had become separated from the solution.  That happened a couple of times to me and that's the reason I've now switched to HC-110.  

More is Different

We had some art on display in The Liberties a while back...at Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart (here, in an earlier post).  Entitled More is Different, these larch sculptures by Sara Cunningham-Bell explored form in relation to one another, how they enhance one another and how they are inter-dependent.  I wasn't sure what to expect but I thought they might make an interesting photoshoot.  When I saw their shapes, I knew I was in for a challenge...they were very tall and narrow, not what I was expecting at all.  Anyway, armed with an Olympus OM4ti and a Zuiko 85mm and with the help of some HP5+ I channeled my inner Fred Picker and this is what came out:

More is Different sculptures at Flowerfield, September 2021.  On Foma 133 paper.

I'm pretty sure were he still alive Fred P would be taking me to the cleaners with these efforts.  It took a fair bit of wandering around trying to visualise different angles and viewpoints...looking at the sculptures themselves and trying not to get intrusive backgrounds etc.  I guess normally I would focus on the near object and let the far object fade into out-of-focus but I reckoned if I did that here, the far sculpture would just fade into obscurity, so as you can see I did the opposite and focussed on the far one.

I must admit I enjoyed the challenge, even if the end result was a little underwhelming.  If anything it reminded me to look at the options, whatever is in front of me.

Oil Cans

These old oil cans have sat untouched on the windowsill of one of our outhouses for at least 40 years:

Oil cans, on HP5+ via the M6 and possibly the Canon 50mm f/1.4 ltm.  On Ilford MGV paper with a cupric sulphate bleach/sepia tone.

The place to be seen

Walking around the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford for the second time this year and it was obvious that for students, the place to be seen is lounging on one of the eight recessed niches of the ground floor of this fabulous building.  Every niche was taken up with bodies of some description.  I wonder if originally there may have been statues on the plinths but I can't see any evidence of that from an online search:

Student days - nothing to do and all day to do it.  Lounging around the Radcliffe Camera in 2021.  OM4ti/85mm, HP5, HC-110 on Foma 133.

On the other side of the coin, even Oxford isn't immune from homeless people, although I didn't see as many in the centre than I've seen in other cities.  Perhaps they are 'moved on', as it doesn't sit well next next to the obvious wealth and heritage of the Colleges.  This guy had an unusual hand-written card:

Wealth vs poverty.  Living in Oxford ain't cheap - it's one of the most expensive cities in the UK in which to live.  I don't usually take shots of people in vulnerable situations but this guy's hand-written sign caught my eye, as well as the obvious difference in circumstances to the students lounging around the Radcliffe Camera (which is just about 50m up the passageway you see here).

In the couple of minutes we were there I saw one guy hand him a sandwich and a drink.  While the sign might be good for getting attention, I reckon it probably isn't long before he has a dozen sandwiches & coffees reached to him, as I think people prefer giving food and drinks rather than hard cash.  I guess because people are worried they might spent the cash on - shock, horror - alcohol or drugs.  Although I think if I were living on the streets I'd be tempted to dull out the reality as much as possible with whatever I could lay my hands on. 

Sometimes I'll give money - but not as often as I should.  When I used to frequent the Rheumatics Hospital in Bath there was ample opportunity to go out and walk around the town and in recent years it seemed you couldn't walk ten yards without being asked for money...usually in the form of 'Big Issue' sellers.  Big Issue, if you don't know, is a Foundation which started 30 years ago, creating a magazine which homeless people, long-term unemployed and anyone in need of extra cash to avoid falling into debt can buy and then re-sell on the streets for a small profit - they describe their model as a 'hand up', not a 'hand out'.  It's been enormously successful.

Update: I’ve just re-read this post and I’m not very comfortable with it, so I edited it. I think the words I used weren’t appropriate. 

River Roe on Pinhole

For the second visit to the Roe Valley Park last week I ditched the 'Blad for the 4x5 pinhole, so things were considerably lighter.  That was good, as it's a bit of a hike (for me) from the car park to the part where we can get down to the water's edge, by Sir Thomas Philip weir.  If anything the water was even higher than a couple of days earlier...even standing on the path - with a stone wall between me and the water - was a little daunting.  The negatives didn't come out great, due, I suspect, to my unfamiliarity with using HC-110 to develop Fomapan 200 sheet film.  This is taken from pretty much the same spot as the last shot - the main difference being the much wider angle of view of the pinhole (and the longer exposure - a couple of minutes in this case).  I like how the water came out - the long exposure really captured the essence of the fast flow:

Fast-flowing waters of the River Roe.  Walker pinhole, Fomapan 200 on Ilford Classic fibre paper.

The water was in a terrible hurry to get to the sea that day.

River Monster

Another shot of the turbulent waters of the Roe Valley Park:

River Monster, baring its teeth.  Roe Valley Park, via FP4+ & HC-110 on MG Classic Fibre paper.

This was tricky to print...difficult to retain detail in the dark areas while trying to get some texture showing in the lighter parts.  I can't say I totally succeeded with the latter, in spite of a mega-long burn-in.  I thin there's a little more detail in the negative which could be teased out but this was the last sheet of MG Classic paper I had, so I left it there.  

I added a yellow-green filter for this shot, which lightened the foliage and at the same time darkened the water.  It looks more like a cinder path than a fast-flowing river:

I wonder how many years it took the river to channel through the rock.  It's a fair walk down from the main path to the river's edge - and a tad muddy at the minute, compounded by the fallen leaves. FP4+ on Foma 133 paper

Roe Valley Park

The Roe Valley Park was always a favourite of ours to go for a country walk and last week I ended up there twice, once with my fellow film shooter David and a few days later with some Club Members.  It's about half an hour drive from home...and I really should go there more often.  It's very good for the soul, although less good when you've a Hasselblad, two lenses, spare back, a bunch of filters and a tripod with you.  On my second visit I took the pinhole.

After all the recent rain there was quite the flood on, as my grandfather would have said.  He loved the Roe and as I've written before we spent many an hour there when I was a teenager, trying to entice some fish onto the end of our lines (with very limited success, it has to be said). The River Roe wends its way from the Sperrin mountains in Country Tyrone and empties in the Atlantic just under the table-top mountain of Binevenagh.  (Note: at about 1200 feet I'm not sure it really qualifies as a mountain as in Kilimanjaro meaning of the word but it's a rather lovely bit of rock all the same).  I used the 150mm lens (roughly 100mm equivalent in 35mm parlance) with an ND filter to see what would be captured and this is what revealed itself to me yesterday in the darkroom:

At the Roe Valley Park, late October 2021.  Cropped from the square to 35mm proportions. FP4+ in HC-110, printed on MG Classic fibre paper.

Pumps

I know I'm not the only photographer out there thinking about documenting the demise of petrol stations - particularly those in country areas, which seem to be disappearing rather quickly.  This one is in the village of Moss-side, on the way from Coleraine to Ballycastle and I'm surprised it's still standing, albeit it in the rather dilapidated state it is in.  It's been a few years since anything was pumped here, I reckon - 4 Star petrol, which contained lead, disappeared from the UK over 20 years ago:

Moss-side petrol station, 2021.  On FP4+ in HC-110, printed on MG Classic and thiourea toned.

A quick search informed me that in 2001 there were 270 people living in Moss-side.  It's a rather sad little village right now and there is little reason to stop, except maybe at the newer, larger petrol station which has a small food supermarket inside, and there's nothing particularly unique about that as far as I can tell.  I think that is now the only shop in the village.  I'm not even sure there's a local school any more.  It's hard to see much of a future for villages like Moss-side - there must be few employment opportunities for any young people born in the area, other than agriculture on the various farms round and about...and even there I doubt there are many openings.  The fact that the petrol station above is still there is probably due to the fact that it costs money to tear it down and no-one is queuing up to develop the site, so unless some government money comes in to tidy the place up it will probably be there for another while yet.