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Misty Morning, without mist

“Always take your camera with you” That’s a phrase that can be read almost on a weekly basis in all those glossy photography magazines. Last Friday I realised what good sense those words really make. I was gazing lazily out of the morning train window at a truly beautiful sight. Through layers of morning mist, cows strolled casually about their field, silhouetted by the morning sunshine in the background. Truly fantastic! Of course my camera was sitting at home. Despite a very short Friday night I jumped out of bed bright and early on Saturday morning and eagerly made my way to the scene. Not a drop of mist in sight and the sun was hiding partly behind a scatter of clouds. I am assuming a moral to this story… If you can’t shoot a fantastic picture, fiddle with a mediocre one πŸ˜‰

Mistless Morning – Pentax K-30; HDR and Developed with GIMP
Mistless Morning – Pentax K-30; HDR and Developed with GIMP
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Bleak and Grainy

Those of us who were brought up on film can surely remember the excitement and indeed trepidation as we left the photo shop clutching an envelope full of freshly developedΒ  photos. What was on that film?Β  Would they all have come out alright? Well, I experienced similar excitement just last week.

I think it was sometime in January 2013 that I plopped a roll of Ilford HP5 into my 30 year old Pentax ME Super.Β  The big question was whether the camera would still work after many years shut away in a cupboard? As it happens the photos were OK, certainly nothing to shout about, but OK. I must confess I had, with few exceptions, completely forgotten what was on the film. It was therefore quite interesting, on hot Saturday afternoon in August, to be sent back in time to cold, bleak landscapes taken six months or so ago.

Compared with images taken on the little Yashica T5, the latest photos proved to be considerably more grainy, which I would expect from a 400ASA film, but most of them were a stop or two underexposed. This may perhaps be partly due to the fact that the film was several months past its ‘develop by’ date, and partly due to exposure errors on my part, It may even be that the old Pentax’s battery needs replacing or the metering system is not as reliable as it once was. Not to worry, The Gimp saved the day.

All the latest film images can be viewed at:
http://www.harding.ch/Gallery21/main.php?g2_itemId=1346

Winter Landscape: Pentax_ME_Super on Ilford HP5
Winter Landscape: Pentax_ME_Super on Ilford HP5
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The Last Week

This last set of images heralds the end of the summer holidays and another completed holiday project. Five weeks of sunshine and lazy days doing very little. Although for me, like so many others, it has been five weeks of work as usual, I have nevertheless enjoyed the freely available empty seats in the train and the balmy summer evenings. It has been mainly during these evenings that I’ve been out and about with the camera. The light is steadily becoming more golden andΒ  shadows longer and longer.

Found in a car park – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Found in a car park – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Landscape – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Landscape – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Evening Landscape – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Evening Landscape – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Evening Landscape 2 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Evening Landscape 2 – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Making hay while the sun shines – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Making hay while the sun shines – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Nightfall – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Nightfall – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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New Camera

Having spent many months, even years, studying, evaluating and comparing the current camera trends I actually reached a decision last week!Β  Last Friday evening I trotted home clutching a shiny new DSLR. You can imagine how I spent this week, the fourth in the five part 5picsaweek project, I’ve been playing with all the buttons and plodding my way eagerly through the maze of settings, but it’ll probably take a while before I feel completely at home with all those features. Here are just five pics taken whilst experimenting in the evening.

After the Thunderstorm – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
After the Thunderstorm – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Fading Summer – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Fading Summer – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Village Crane – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Village Crane – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Evening Sunshine – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Evening Sunshine – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Rain at last – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
Rain at last – Pentax K-30; Developed with GIMP
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Three More

The first week of my 5picsaweek project has already slipped by and I’m delighted to say that I managed to capture 5 images!Β  Admittedly I did have to make a conscious effort not to simply repeat the photo subjects covered by last years ’37 Days’ project, and therefore avoided the half empty train scenes, the commuter scenes and the bustling railway station scenes…… at least for the moment.

Kicking off the project last weekend with a few pipes, I thought it would be nice to round up the week with three images of the great, summery outdoors.

5picsaweek_1_3
Something small and green – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Cornfield with flowers – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Cornfield with flowers – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Cornfield without flowers – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Cornfield without flowers – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Very Yellow

Taking a momentary break from seeing things in Black and White, I noticed that May seems to be a particularly yellow month. Dandelions, buttercups and of course field upon field of rapeseed light up the countryside.

Rapeseed-1 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rapeseed-1 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rapeseed-2 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rapeseed-2 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rapeseed-3 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Rapeseed-3 – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Delusions of Grandeur?

Whether the need for a new, multi-purpose, multi million pound village hall in a village with a population of only 2500 is really justified remains to be seen. I think there are many who are not convinced. But there’s no going back now. The school’s gym and swimming pool has now been demolished to make way for the new village wonder.

Building Site - Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Local art – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Building Site - Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Digger – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Building Site - Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Time for something new – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Building Site - Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Chains – Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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Winter Weekend

Apart from plodding through the snowy countryside, I seem to have spent most of the weekend eating, drinking and taking photographs. I still have the roll of HP5 loading in the old Pentax, but the light was far too bright this weekend, and so I stuck to the Panasonic Lumix.

Snow Drift: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Snow: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Nice light: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Snowy Log: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Blue Sky: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Foot Prints: Pansonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
WinterWeekend_6
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Snowman: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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A bit of colour

Before I throw myself into a new Black & White project using my thirty year old Pentax ME Super loaded with a roll of Ilford HP5 film, I thought I’d take a couple of colourful shots on the Lumix. I took these photos this morning during my Sunday morning dog walk. This afternoon I rummaged through the very old, slightly the worse for wear gadget bag, dusted down the Pentax and loaded the film…. an indescribable feeling of nostalgia. More on the new project later.

Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Fence: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Berries: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Winter Berries: Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
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I watched a flock by day

With Christmas approaching fast, I thought a bit of flock watching would be a very seasonal thing to do. Later on in the day I visited the town’s Christmas Market where people gather to buy all manner of Christmas stuff, eat traditional local delicacies and slurp hot spiced wine.

Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP
Panasonic DMC-LX2; Developed with GIMP