Mr Leica Man

Sorted!

2012-01-03T20:07:00.000Z

In the course of an average day in my [new] business, I can be found repairing all sorts of machinery, from chainsaws to brushcutters and hedge trimmers to cement mixers. Today, however, during my quest to 'burn' a roll of Polypan-F at 800asa - just out of curiosity, I became ever so aware of the fact that the little Elmar lens on my beloved Leica II was getting extremely stiff. I momentarily put this down to the fact that the temperature in the workshop was hovering around the zero degrees celsius mark. But wait a minute I thought. This is a Leica and things should be mechanically sweet. Without further ado (and me being me) I hoisted it onto the workbench & wrestled with it for a few minutes, with the assistance of a few 'precision' tools from my box. Hey presto! who needs the experts at Solms and an expensive CLA. This baby is now as smooth as a - well, you know what.

Precision Toolkit

Thank goodness for 3-in-1 oil!

If anyone can offer advice on souping my Polypan-F experimental film then I'd be much obliged to hear from you. My initial thoughts are Rodinal 1+100 for a few hours, or maybe a day or two?

New Year - Same Old Leica

2012-01-02T12:53:00.000Z

The New Shop

It's time once again for resolutions to be made and soon it'll be time for resolutions to be broken. That's why I never bother making any in the first place. I had considered shooting a film-a-week for a year, using a different film camera every week until I discovered someone had already done that on flickr. Then I considered taking a picture of my breakfast every morning for a year. Unfortunately I'd eaten it yesterday before I remembered - so that one is a non-runner too. Then I heard of another project where the sunset was being shot every day (or rather the sky was being shot at sunset time every day), so that lost it's appeal.

Maybe I'll just make an attempt to use my trusty old Leica II a bit more this year. After all, I do have a few bulk rolls of film chilling nicely waiting to be exposed.

Let's just do it & have fun at the same time.

The trouble is...

2011-09-01T19:49:00.000+01:00

The trouble with having film in so many different cameras at the same time is that you never seem to get to the end of a roll. Having been kindly loaned a Pentax K1000 with 75-300 zoom ages ago I thought I'd better quickly zap through it as the film had been in longer than I can remember. Here are a few results. Tri-X 400 @ 800 developed in Rodinal 1+100 for 60 mins. Agitating (inverting) for the first minute then 5 slow ones after 30 mins.

How comes the halo round things?? I dunno. Some mistakes look artistic. These just look like mistakes :-(

Boats at Cuddy Point

Radisseur


Mobile Library, Carloway

Pentland Road

Constructive comments greatly appreciated.

Luskentyre

2011-08-30T07:31:00.002+01:00

Luskentyre, a photo by CollyMac on Flickr.

Whilst searching for some bacon in the fridge the other day I realised that my supply of roll film was not diminishing very fast. To remedy this I pressed the old Box Brownie back into service. This was the track leading down to Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris.

Film used was Kodak Tri-X 400, developed in T-Max Developer 1+4 for 6 minutes.

A Tasty Snack

2011-08-28T21:59:00.000+01:00

On a recent trip to the little settlement of Bosta on Bernera with my Bessa R4M we came across these tasty looking beasts. My mouth was watering as I imagined the amount of steak pies which one could fill from even a little one.

Living Steaks

Yesterday we headed down to Harris with Martin & KT (our friends & wedding photographers from Oxford) who are visiting the island for a few days. They are both very "up" on all the latest digital technology and I don't think they were altogether impressed when I pulled the Box Brownie from my bag as we strolled along Luskentyre beach. "But you can't see what you've just shot" exclaimed KT. I tried extolling the joys of film to them but clearly it wasn't having any impression. Before we reached the other end of the beach the same voice, in slightly despondent tones, remarked that she'd filled her memory card already and didn't have a spare. Oh dear I thought as I produced a handfull of film from my pocket "don't suppose these will be of any use to you then?"

Anyway, they are wonderful people and here is one of KT's pictures of me catching a falling Danny-boy.

Strange thing falling from the sky

F Art?

2011-08-22T21:26:00.000+01:00

Jason the F Artist

Today I popped along to An Lanntair for a coffee and met with Ms Boxes & Bellows who had a nice Chicken Kiev of a camera which she was giving a trial to see if it worked. I deduce from her blog that it kind of does. The computing genius called Jason was amongst our company too and he had a dubious looking Tee-shirt on. He also had with him an array of gadgetry for doing computery things with.

After spending the afternoon strimming I headed home to find my two new Specialized "All conditions" tyres had arrived in the post. They are to replace the bald (slik) ones fitted to my bike. I wisely purchased two new inner tubes too as one of the originals had several patches on it and I fancied a spare too. Pity I didn't know about extra long valve stems when I ordered them. Never mind - they just manage to fit into the pump. I thought I was going mad (der) though as I couldn't get the thing to blow up no matter how many times I removed then replaced the pump and tried again. After about 20 minutes it dawned on me that the tube might be punctured (yes it was a brand new one). A quick examination confirmed it and before anyone thinks it no I didn't use tyre levers to put the tyre back onto the rim. I now have a nice wee patch on my brand new tube.

Next up was some adjustment to the gears. A few minutes with an Allen key and screwdriver and hey presta - it's now ready for a trial run. Unfortunately though I'm being held responsible for the well-being of young Daniel who is snoozing in his cot at present so I'd better stay put for now.

Here's a shot of Danny driving the landy the other day.

Young Danny driving the Landy

Both pics taken on the iPhone (surprise surprise).

Not for me, thanks

2011-08-20T21:00:00.001+01:00

Coffee, a photo by CollyMac on Flickr.

Today was the official yearly mindless tearing up of the Castle Ground's tracks, wrecking of carefully constructed timber barriers intended for the purpose of stopping pedestrians falling into the wilderness, macho testosterone & immature displays of who could drive around Stornoway's streets the fastest & with the loudest exhaust system and an altogether negative influence on the local 'boy racers' who normally treat our roads like a racetrack at the best of times. Yes, today was the annual Hebrides Rally so Ruth, Daniel & I took off to Harris for a spin to enjoy some nice scenery & escape the roaring of exhausts which had gone on quite late last night too, despite the rally not officially starting until this morning. Funny, when my exhaust starts to sound like that it usually means a trip to Marybank Garage is necessary. Some folk must think it's cool to have such a din coming from their motor. Anyway, I think (hope) it's over now for another year.

In Harris we took the advice of Mr Windy and headed for the First Fruits Tearoom in Tarbert where I ordered the Americano. Wow! That really is a wonderful caffeine kick and, as described, with a jug of boiling water to 'dilute to taste'!

Pic from iPhone 4, edited in PS Express.

Out with the Old...

2011-08-18T20:38:00.000+01:00

A fresh start indeed. The birth of a brand new blog and also the arrival of my new bicycle. The old blog was given the heave-ho after some of my comments touched a raw nerve and hopefully the new bike saddle won't be doing the same :^O

The old bike

The old bike was (well still is, actually) a Peugeot MTB. Probably quite a bottom of the range machine for tootling around the Castle Grounds at a relaxed pace.

The new bike

The new bike is (by my standards) a top of the range flying machine with tyres as smooth as a proverbial you know what. I'm hoping to eat up the miles on this machine and attempt to get myself back into some sort of physical fitness. Back? Yes, I once could ride 100 miles a day no probs, fully loaded with front & rear panniers but then things rapidly went downhill cycling-wise after getting my driving licence (a long time ago). Hopefully I can share my travels here and grab a few pictures on the way.

ps. for any super-observant cyclistists out there I will flip the stem over once I've broken myself in a bit ;^)

pps. I was treated to a nice cup of coffee today by Ms Boxes & Bellows. So kind.

First pic taken with Rollei 35S, Tri-X 400 @ 800, in T-Max developer 1+4 for 6 mins.
Second with Leica paperweight (M8) and Nokton 35mm 1.4 lens. (well, I was desperate to get an instant pic to get this blog going).