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.

Weekly Competition - Year Two, Week 38

The Gate, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

One of the things I try to do when I have film processed in time, or a suitable digital shot to hand, is enter the DVD Forums' weekly photography competition. One of the great things about this is the motivation it gives to pick up the camera and go out looking for things to photograph, although with 3 or 4 films still to scan, that motivation doesn't seem to be lacking here at the moment.

This week's entry is the shot above, "The Gate". Over the week that this picture has been voted on, I've warmed to it somewhat. I submitted this because I'd not processed the roll of HP5+ with the shots I had in mind as my first choices on it, my Elitechrome 100 was still at the lab and this was the strongest digital contender.

Whilst the shot has some elements usually to be found in the stuff I shoot (the idea of a landscape, but with things that are not conventionally beautiful in it, and the use of a wide angle to accentuate perspective), when I decided to submit it, this picture was very much a second choice. Perhaps with that in mind, I gave it a bit of a clichéd treatment, with a moody B&W conversion, and even a frame (something I never, ever do).

At the time, and probably blinded by the fact that my first choices were still undeveloped), I saw it as a rather predictable, crowd pleasing picture, although it did end up garnering a third place.

I have to confess that I still don't like it as much as "Pegs or "Path" (or for that matter, other entries that have sunk without trace in the voting, which probably says as much about my eye for a shot as anything else) but I don't actually dislike it anymore.

The picture was taken in Carrog on the other side of the Carrog Bridge. Walking back from the viewpoint you see in the shot, there's a large field that's ideal for sitting by the river and letting the world go by.

My children and neices spent a happy hour skimming stones instead though.

At the Grange

At the Grange, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I'm slowly working my way through various film and digital shots I've taken in April. Of the ones recently flickrated, this caught my eye.

I can't help thinking that there's something fundamentally British about the way the benches are positioned, so that different groups of people aren't tempted to overcome their natural reserve and converse with each other...

There'll be more from Biddulph Grange at some point, as I found it a very inspiring location.

Meaning

Mothers' Day, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

One of the themes I'm fascinated by in photography is the idea that one can impart knowledge without showing the obvious representations of the idea being communicated.

I took this shot in March, and it's of a simple planter that my daughter made for my wife. They have always been close, but my wife's illness last year seems to have cemented the bond between them in a new way, and invariably the bulk of Katie's creative output is dedicated to her mother.

If this shot conveys anything, I hope it's something of that bond between mother and daughter.

Martin Parr Interview

26th July 2006, taken with Nikon D70, Nikkor 18-70mm

I first encountered Martin Parr through a comment Guy made on this picture, and I've tried self-conciously to incorporate part of his aesthetic to my work with varying degrees of success.

I'd like to point you in the direction of this superb interview/discussion with Martin Parr, which I happened across at Jeorg Colberg's Conscientious (who had in turn found it at What's the Jackanory, who also have a couple of good pieces about the show referred to in the discussion). The file is 44mb, and runs for about 1hr 16minutes - it's well worth listening to the entire thing, as Parr is a very engaging speaker indeed, and seems to have a good handle on the issues around citizen journalism and the democratisation of photography in general.

The photo above, by the way, was taken as part of last year's DVD Forums photograph a day project. My work from it is in the set here. It all looks a bit lightweight, compared to the 365 people, but it felt like a tough month at the time :) I can't help thinking that this July is not far away at all....

Breakfast of Champions

Vivitar 35ES, Fuji Superia 100, Lab Processed

Another shot from the Vivitar 35ES rangefinder.

It doesn't look half bad here, tbh.

Maybe it's time for a truce.

The Vivitar 35ES and I

Vivitar 35ES, Fuji Superia 100, Lab Processed

Perhaps two rolls is too short an acquaintance, but try as I might, I simply can't get on with this little compact rangefinder.

It's not that it's shutter priority, because the automation on my current favourite compact camera (the Canonet QL19 GIII) is shutter priority too, as was the Ricoh 500G, another favourite. It's not that the camera is too big, as I've carried 'round the chunkier Minolta Hi-Matic 7s and Canonet QL19.

I'm not sure what it is, but somehow my composition on this camera turns out "baggy", the contrast from the lens is lacking and the colour rendition seems (to me) to be left in the shade by the crisp reproduction of the other rangfinders I've used.

Which is a shame - because in the hand, this is a nice, solid feeling little camera, and one I was excited to be able to get hold of, having heard great things of it. In fact, one of my flickr contacts (Rueno) used one to great effect.

Maybe I need more time with it, although that's time I could be spending with little miss canonet... :)

Canon Canonet QL19 GIII,
Ilford HP5+
Ilford Ilfotec LC29 (1+29), 9mins @ 20°c, 4 inversions each minute