The end of summer

I know it's only just past mid-August and that title might seem a tad inappropriate but it feels like there's a definite change in the air here in The Liberties this last couple of days.  In the house I've been wondering about putting on an extra layer and 'putting the fire on' in the evening has already been mentioned.  And the real indicator - in the darkroom the ambient temperature of the chemicals has dropped from a perfect 20 degrees to 18.  I'm holding out for another couple of weeks on the fire front, though - and not just because the chimney needs swept.  No, once that game starts it's pretty much a nightly occurrence until May.  I don't mind so much bringing in the fuel (we use smokeless fuel in our multi-fuel stoves) but it's the daily cleaning and the huge amount of dust generated that I'm not so keen on.

Over the weekend we've alternated between torrential downpours to blue sky & sun. September can be a lovely month here in Ireland and it's usually a good time to be out and about with a camera - the light is a little clearer (less haze), clouds are getting more interesting and with a freshening wind the sky changes frequently.  I'm ready for it.

It was a busy old summer, what with GCSEs, short break in Valencia and then hosting family from all parts of the world.  While it's great to have people around for a time it's also nice to get the house back to ourselves.  We've just over a week to get the place ship-shape before the school runs start again and then it's back to that routine for another while. The Brother went back to the States yesterday, armed with several more prints for various walls - some for his home and some for his office.  These you might have seen before, but they're now mounted and finished off - it took a full day to get them prepared.  They just about fitted into Brother's suitcase, wrapped tightly in some mount card for protection, which I'm told worked as intended - they arrived intact.

First off we have my Brother's wife Kim, in pensive mode as she posed in the front porch last August:

Next up a shot from downtown Chicago by the lake - as the light was fading.  I think they were Skyping with their eldest daughter - Kim was impatient to get the phone out of my Brother's hands :)

Liam, on the left, is a good friend and colleague of my Brother.  He's another Irishman - from Cork originally - so they share a lot in common, including liking a small libation after work on occasion:

Finally some more of Brother's work colleagues:

I like this last shot a lot, printed in lith developer.  Sean in the foreground is probably talking to Brother just to my left and Michael in the background looks deep in thought, as befits a Philosopher.

All shots on the Hasselblad & Ilford HP5+ dunked in ID-11 diluted 1:1 for 13 minutes, should you be interested in such matters.  I usually expose HP5 at 250 iso.  My other go-to film, Ilford's FP4+ I expose at 80iso and develop in RO9 1:25 for 9 minutes.  Both these scenarios usually give me negatives that are easy-ish to print in the darkroom, assuming I get the exposure more or less correct.  I've taken to carrying a small Sekonic light meter with me wherever I go (one that fits neatly in my shirt pocket which means I can take an incident light reading without too much pfaffing around). I like this approach, since it means I can ignore any information in the viewfinder of the camera and just concentrate on composition.  Nine times out of 10 this works well, the only caveat being if the subject is back-lit or I'm standing in shadow and then a bit of compensation is required. 

My American Niece

As my brother's visit is entering its last few days, I've been busy mounting a few prints for him to take back to Chicago for his wall.

This is his eldest daughter who I snapped up in their kitchen last year.  The strong summer light was mellowed as it passed through their screen doors.

Ilford HP5+ on the 'Blad, Adox MCC Fibre paper

A girl called Chloe

Chloe is one of Missy's friends.  We had a short break before the madness pleasure of family commitments and Missy wanted her friend to come along, so she did.  We flew from Belfast to Valencia - city of Culture&Arts and wacky architecture.  I didn't really warm to it, though and I haven't quite figured out why - apart from the fact that I thought the food was poor and it was way too hot for me (I know, I know, who'd have thought southern Spain would be hot in the middle of July?  I was out-voted, you see).

I didn't take many photographs and those that I did were spectacularly poor.  My head simply wasn't in the game.

Anyway, this is Chloe on our first night, dining al fresco somewhere in the back streets where the locals were hanging out.  Much preferable to the main drag where - shock, horror -  tourists and paella restaurants abound. I think it was using the 21mm Voigtlander lens on the M6 but it could have been the 35mm f/2.5 Summarit - you know, the "cheap" one that renders so nicely on film (and that I should use more than I do.  In fact, I should really get rid of all my other 35mm cameras and lenses bar the M6 and the Summarit because that's really the perfect combination for 99.9% of the photography I do).  Cropped to square as you can see coz I like the square, particularly for people:

A girl who goes by the name of Chloe, somewhere in Valencia, 2019.  Ilford Warmtone RC paper.

East Tyrone

Well our Japanese guests have departed so the house is feeling a little empty and a little quiet.  You forget how much energy the under-5s have.  We only ever had one to contend (Missy) but with two it's survival mode from 7am until whatever time their batteries run out - at least 12 or 13 hours.  And boy can they move fast...

On the plus side we had fantastic weather so we were able to get out and about a little.  We did a little historical visit to Killowen Church in Coleraine where my cousin found her grandfather's name on the Roll of Honour from WW1, so that in itself was probably worth the trip for her.  Then we spent the afternoon in Portstewart watching the kids run mad around the park before we got the obligatory ice creams.  Looking around, it seemed like everyone - and I mean, everyone - on the Prom had an ice cream that day.  It was warm, though...

Anyway, since I haven't been near the darkroom I'm afraid it's another from the Cycle Sportive for today's print.  Hopefully the last. East Tyrone, by the way, refers to the county of Tyrone, which lies a bit south and a bit west of The Liberties.

Ilford Warmtone RC paper

Tyrone is one of the 6 counties that make up Northern Ireland - the others being Antrim, Down, Fermanagh, Armagh, and Derry/Londonderry.  Population about 1.8 million, in case you were wondering.  A far cry from Japan, with a population of 126 million in a land mass about 27 times larger.

Full House

It's a full house here in The Liberties - brother from Chicago and cousins from Tokyo.  Ah yes, we're an International House here, y'know.  Come to think of it, we must be almost half way between Chicago and Tokyo - not far off, anyway.

So it's a short post today - another from the Cycle Sportive, complete with wonky borders:

Ilford Warmtone RC paper

I'm off now to look after my guests.  As the man said, I'll be back...

Ladies did it too

Rode their bicycles, that is - at the NW200 Cycle Sportive:

Ilford Warmtone RC paper

This probably warranted fill-in flash, as it was somewhat against the light.  But I don't really do flash.  My bad, as they would say.

No return within 2 hours

Another print from Missy's shots on Portstewart Prom the other day.  I don't think either of us noticed the Parking Sign at the time - the place was pretty busy - but it makes a perfect foil for the 3 oldies on the bench, who look like they could be there for some time:

Portstewart Prom, July 2019.  HP5+, Ilford Warmtone RC paper.

As you can see the extreme left hand side of the sign isn't on the negative but I think this is one shot that can be revisited.  On the other hand, perhaps that's not even necessary...I'm reminded of a shot from one of my favourite photographers (Yes I know, the one I'm always harping on about) - Robert Adams.  This one.