Curve

Curve, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

We begin today's page of self justification with this, a shot taken of the (recently) disused car-park on Princess Street, just by the University's John Garside Building.

It's a pretty good location for the aspiring minimalist, with some interesting lines and texture, and I've been back a couple of times since.

The film in use here is expired Kodak T-Max 400, from a bulk roll that I wanted to test - the Electro had proved itself with an earlier roll of HP5+, and as I didn't want to carry another SLR that week, it got the 10 shot test roll. The film seems to be ok, and has pretty much the tone pallette I'd expected from T-Max.

Aberystwyth #1, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This shot is the last from a roll of HP5+, developed in DD-X...

Aberystwyth #2, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

...and this is Adox CHS50, in Rodinal. I prefer the tones of the latter, and it shows the figures and details up very well, although the HP5+ is nicely contrasty, as you'd expect. Both frames were shot with the Nikon FE and Vivitar 28-90 f/2.8-3.5 Series One, hence the vignetting in the corners, particularly extreme at 28mm in the first shot.

Aberaeron, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

One day I will take this view under blazing sun and a clear blue sky, I swear it. As it is, it shows the bridge and some of the colourful houses in the town, even if it does look (and undeservedly) a bit like the setting for a Morrisey song here.

Poppy, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Obviously, we trendy flickr types frown upon flower close ups[1], but I love the translucency of petals and foliage against the light, and wanted to try and capture some of that in this shot. The flower itself is in the garden of Brynifor Cottage, where we were staying in Ceredigion.

Both the last two pictures are Digital, shot with the D70 and Nikkor 18-70 AF-S G DX and Tamron 28-300 Xr Di LD Macro respectively, a veritable alphabet soup of lenses.

[1]Apparently.

Mushroom Detail #2

Mushroom Detail #2, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the roll of PanF that these mushroom shots represent the last hurrah of.

The tonality lacks the assertive contrast of HP5+ and Adox CHS50 (which is lovely in its own way) but I'd argue that it has its place, particularly in portraiture;



Where the combination of wide aperture and PanF's tones produce a really pleasing result.



My new favourite developer, Ilfotec DD-X seems to like the film too, if I'm any judge.

If any one's wondering about the titles of the "woody" pics (or indeed this post), they're detail shots of a large carved mushroom that Mrs. Monkey bought from the Market on the Fringe in Llangollen some time ago. It makes a nice lens testing target, I think, and hopefully there's something to enjoy in the texture for the viewer.

The last shot is one that I walked past once, and couldn't get out of my mind. I'm glad I returned to commit it to film, rather than consigning it to the list of if onlys that some days seems far to long.

Signs

Signs, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This assemblage of trackside stuff (sorry, I don't know the correct terminology) caught my eye on the way out of the workshops, and I thought it worthy of a photo.

I like the tones, and the shapes very much, and although the colours were nicely rusty, I think the B&W treatment via Ilford HP5+ suits it (good job too, as this is the only shot I took). This shot also marks a return to metered exposure, as it was taken after the shot of 6880's cab (below).


6880, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This shot shows the cab of 6880, Betton Grange. This is an unusual project, as so far as I understand, this loco never existed. None of the Great Western "Grange" class locomotives escaped the cutters torch. So the 6880 society is building this Grange class engine as a new build - you can find more information here. (Note that their website is undergoing some work, so not all linked content exists - their "About Us" page, which I've linked to here, does though).


Pro Patria, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded of a simple thing's virtue - this was shot with the 50mm f/1.8 AF-N. Not bad for £60 worth of second hand lens.

Llangollen seems to be popular with riders of scooters and motorcycles alike, and this patriotically decorated Lambretta caught my eye.


Museum, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly, here's something from along the canal towpath, another view of the Llangollen Motor Museum's fuel tank, advertising their presence to the traveller.

More Context

They Shall Not Cross, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

The shot above is taken from Carrog Station, looking down the track towards Berwyn, and beyond there Llangollen itself.

A little while after this was taken, Foxcote Manor arrived, and I comprehensively muffed the picture I was going to take of it, which irked me no end.


Cylinder, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This shot is another from the shed, and shows 5532's cylinders - I'm not sure it's a particularly good shot (although personally, I do like all the lines and tones). I took it largely so I could write that the cylinder linings were recently replaced. These have to fit so tightly that the volunteers freeze them with liquid nitrogen (so the metal contracts) before inserting them (these guys are hardcore). I believe the linings are quite hard to remove after that ;).


Signs, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly, I want to share this with you - a detail of 80072, owned by the Llangollen Standard Four Trust. You can read this engine's history here. I'm not sure what the calculations on the side are, but I thought they made for an arresting image.

The volunteers hope that 80072 will be restored and in steam in 2008.

As ever, you can see larger versions of the pictures, and development information by clicking the pictures themselves.

These were taken on the shareholders open day for 5532, (see this post) my thanks once again to the volunteers of the Llangollen Railway Society, and to my Dad for inviting me to the open day.

Some Context

The Notice

There is something of a story behind this set of shots, so rather than write it in the descriptions on flickr, I thought I'd offer it here. I have an uneasy relationship with context in photography (which I'll hopefully expand on at some point on these very pages) and won't force you to see the shots with back story if you don't want to.

Some time ago, my Father purchased shares issued by the Llangollen Great Western Railway Group in the resoration of a steam locomotive.


5532

This very locomotive, in fact, No. 5532. It's currently in the process of restoration, and one of the things the Railway Society does from time to time is hold an open day for shareholders to see the progress so far. These are guided by the volunteers carrying out the work. Dad was kind enough to invite me along to this one, and I had the chance to take some pictures as we were shown the engine and workshop.

The workshop itself was tremendously impressive, as was the dedication and hard work put in by the volunteers.

The light was less so, with my meter indicating speeds of between 1/15s and (rarely) 1/125s, this with my Vivitar Series One lens wide open at f/2.8! (I'd chosen to use a zoom because some places in the workshop are dangerous, so the old prime + shoeleather zoom technique would have been inadvisable).

I put my faith in the exposure latitude of HP5+ and shot at a constant 1/125s to try and ensure sharpness. In development, I gave the film a one stop push to 800 in Ilfotec DD-X, hoping it wouldn't affect the stuff shot on meter for 400ISO too badly, and would lift the underexposed shots sufficiently to make them usable. It seems to have worked out pretty well.


The Workshop

In closing, I should thank my Dad for inviting me along, the volunteers at Llangollen for their hard work and perhaps Ilford for HP5+ :)

Larger versions of the shots, and development information can be found by clicking the images.