NUMBER ONE

It's not often I can make that claim, but this photograph of mine;

 

Is A WINNER. It's number one in Google searches for "Monkey 6880". Whilst this is undeniably a small category, I shall now claim to be an SEO EXPERT, social marketing guru, and all that other guff people decide they are on (what seems to me to be) slimmer justification than this.

If you're interested in the other pictures from this trip, they're here, along with some explanation of what I was doing in the engine shed.

Posted via email from monkeyphoto's posterous

STUFFE

INFOGRAPHIC
You've seen some of these before, but this is a nice round up of Movie Infographics, from "The Bonus View".

THE HORN

Standing in front of their cars, my brother and I asked them if their truck had the iconic Tour de France car horn. They didn't understand what we were asking. I mimicked the sound, that sound that I hear in my sleep during hot July nights after days of watching the Tour. Over the years, I've developed a Pavlovian response to it. The horn means watching races, it means riding in short sleeves. That sound has been bouncing around in my head since I was seven years old, and I listened to the Tour on the radio for the first time. Once I mimicked the sound, the guys finally understood what I meant. They honked the horn, I recorded it...and now I share it with all of you as my gift.

From the Cycling inquisition blog.

BIKEWAY CENTRAL
Left ponders, Bike Commuters points you to Bikeway Central, which aims to be;

"a clearinghouse for U.S. bike maps and advocacy groups — and he’s asking for your help to add more to his lists. If you know of a good bike map produced by your local/regional/state planning groups or advocacy organizations that deserve some extra recognition, please let him know by using the “Contact Me” buttons on the Bikeway Central site. "

TWITTER DATA BUFFET
Is how Flowing Data aptly describes Infochimps' Twitter data repository. It's an enormous set of data subsets, some of which can be accessed for free, and some of which are paid for.

You'll be pleased to know that "users by background colour" is in the free set.

La Bas

La Bas, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I must apologise for not posting context for my more recent images - I've been a little bit busy, largely repairing my daughter's bike (every time she falls off it, she seems to lose a piece from it).

Most recently, she managed to mess up her front brake (in that one side came off completely - the housing carrying the cable through, I think it's called a brake noodle, had also broken). Using bolts &c supplied by the excellent Bicycle Boutique (in Manchester, just behind the Sugden Centre off Grosvenor Street) I've made them good as new.

Bicycle boutique also supplied the natty new brake hoods I've fitted to my tourer (my main commuting bike). New tape for the bars will be the next treat this bike gets, I think. I rode my hybrid again (the bike to which I was fitting mudguards) yesterday, and was amazed by how sluggish it feels compared to the tourer - the seating position feels somewhat odd too, after riding drop handlebars.

This week will mark the second week of my commute to work on the bike, an experience I've largely enjoyed, despite occasional and momentary bowel loosening terror thanks to my fellow road users. I'm not sure how many car drivers read my blog (or how many people full stop), but in the interest of fostering greater understanding;

1) Yes I do know there's a cycle path. I generally prefer to use them when they aren't so pitted and potholed that bits fall off my bike when I ride through them. I also prefer not to use that one where the camber is so steep that I end up fighting it alll the way just to stay off the kerb. I also don't like using the ones with broken glass strewn liberally across them. Rest assured I do use them when it's safe to.

2) I do have to come away from the side of the road/out of the cycle path to pass parked cars. I try to do this in good time because I don't want to suddenly swerve in front of you. I'm sorry that I'm straying into the bit of road you regard as yours, but I'm not up to jumping vans/cars/lorries in a single bound just yet.

3) Yes I am quite a long way from the kerb. I do this because when I cycle nearer to it, some people (not you, I hasten to add, I'm sure you're very responsible and considerate) take it as an invitation to pass me with barely a cigarette paper's width[1] between me and their vehicle. Cycling where I do also gives me room to manouver out of your way/someone else's way should there be a need to. I might also be keeping out of glass/potholes/grids. I'm not trying to annoy you, I promise, as I'm very aware of the discrepancy between the sizes, weights, and speeds of our vehicles, and an annoyed person + their car is not a combination I'm anxious to deal with.

4) It does help if you don't roll your car into the marked cycle waiting bit at traffic lights. If I can get in there, I can clearly indicate whether I'm going ahead, left or right to you, and I know that you or another driver isn't going to turn left in front of me. Speaking of traffic lights, whizzing past me, nearly sending me flying, just so you can arrive at a red light two seconds before me seems a bit pointless, don't you think[2]?

5) If you're waiting to pass me, please do so by following about a cars length behind, if not more. Sitting just off the right side of my back wheel means that I can't turn right (I may need to), that a pothole might bounce me into you and reduces my capability to give us both room in the event of something happening ahead. Please also pass me giving plenty of room (at least half a car's width is terrific), for the latter two reasons.

6) A huge thank you to the many considerate and patient drivers I've encountered - I try to acknowledge people that wait for me to pass parked vehicles &c where I can - it is much appreciated. Sadly, I only have to encounter one person who isn't like you for something very bad to happen - hence my somewhat defensive style of riding.

[1] This happens particularly often on narrow roads - if you can't pass me where I am, it is not safe to pass me when I'm nearer to the kerb, believe me.

[2]Grey Xsara Picasso, Turves Road, Cheadle last night - I hate people who pass me next to traffic islands - neither of us have enough room in case of emergencies, and the draft from passing so close can quite easily send me into the kerb or another car.

No picture post last night, because I finally got 'round to developing the roll of HP5+ that has the last of my holiday shots, and PaD shots on it. I've decided to go back to my roots with this roll, and dev in 1+29 LC29, which you may remember (or not) was where we came in with this whole homedev lark. I'm not sure how many rolls I've done in total, but there's still something very satisfying about unspooling the negs and leaving them to dry - I guess peering at them trying to figure out what you have is the closest film comes to chimping.

I shall be scanning the cut negs tonight, and then hopefully posting the final days of the PaD challenge.

From Llangrannog to Castell Newydd Emlyn

Icon, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

The rich colour of this building in Newcastle Emlyn (Castell Newydd Emlyn) seemed like a great opportunity to use some Velvia. I'm unsure of what the little paintless space's significance is here, but to me it looked like a little house icon.

It's one of those compositions that I'm quite sure pleases no one but me, but I really like the window, the colour and the "icon" filling out that space in the bottom of frame.

Path and Bench, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is the final shot from my walk along the clifftop path at Llangrannog - this is the bench you see in the earlier black and white shot.

Here, it's shot in the lustrous colour of the D70, using the wide end (18mm) of the Nikkor 18-70 AF-S G DX. The trigger for a lot of these shots was the amazing wispy clouds you see above the foreground here - I like the accent they lend to this composition.

Fishing, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

The final shot from Wales for today is another from Newcatle Emlyn, just along the path by the left of the castle is this wonderful spot. The missus and the nippers are looking in those little pools at some tiny fish that were darting about in there.

By the Seaside

By the Seaside #2, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is probably my favourite thing from my time in Wales, if not my favourite thing so far this year.

I LOVE this shot.

For me this evokes holidays anywhere by the sea in Britain, the neat tablecloths, the HP Sauce ready to enhance a morning fried breakfast, the view over the beach parking to the sea... I like the reflection that hints at this establishment's prime location on the prom. I love the fact that the Adox film has given this a timeless feel.

It could be better of course - had I had the nerve, I'd have sneaked in and rotated the HP Sauce so the label showed, instead of the jarringly modern barcode, and perhaps I could have found the owner of the car in the reflection and asked them to move it.

By the Seaside #1, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Another, more straightforwardly evocative shot of the seaside here. The placement of flags is the result of an incredibly complex game that my son was playing with them. I could not explain how they ended up in the configuration they did, but I'm sure it all makes sense to eight year olds.

Shadow, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

This is a detail of the Gate and gatepost at Brynifor Cottage, where we were staying (in Penbontrhydyfothau). I took lots of versions of this (or lots in terms of film shooting anyway, which equates to three frames). I liked this one best.

Gate, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Of course, midway through shooting the wall and gatepost, my daughter walked back to the house, which made for a far better shot in any case. This is simply scanned in, no pp has been done on it at all. I have to say, the CHS50 looks really good in this, and the other shots from the roll. The vignetting is that present on the original negative from the Vivitar lens.

Door, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Lastly (and correct chronologically too, for once) is this picture of a gently flaking door in Newport (Pembrokeshire). There'll be more from Newport over the next few days, as it's an astonishingly beautiful place.

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.

Us Against the World

Us Against the World, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

I thought I'd start today's page of context with this shot, chronologically after the others, but my favourite of today's uploads. It was taken using Adox CHS50, courtesy of Steve and developed in R09 (Rodinal old formula). It's wonderful stuff, very textural developed this way, and I've a powerful hankering to shoot more, and perhaps develop some in ID11.

The picture is of the beach at Aberystwyth, and shows my nippers messing about in the sea. What better way to while away the afternoon?

There's a huge compositional nod here to the work of an artist called Pippa Darbyshire, whose paintings of the Somme estuary I saw a few years ago. She composes with layers of colour and tone in these pictures, forming horizontal layers that ascend the canvas. I'm conscious quite often of attempting something similar with certain scenes. My being based in Manchester and its suburbs also means that the novelty of having a visible horizon for once has something to do with the desire to make it a major compositional element too.

The feeling I wanted to evoke was something of the awe I feel at times of parental responsibility - there are times when the world seems to be an awfully large place, and my children terribly small.

Pony Express, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

The second, and last film shot for today is this one, of my daughter at the amusements in New Quay (Cei Newydd). Sometimes, you might almost think she doesn't like having her picture taken.

This shot is HP5+ developed in Ilfotec DD-X, a great combination, in my view. Looking at this now, it's evident that a colour film (or digital) would have been way better for this, but moments pass, and sometimes it's more important to get something than to wait for something perfect.

Groynes #1, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.


Groynes #2, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

These two digital shots both show the beach at Aberaeron. I can't help feeling that there are better shots than these in the textures of the pebbles and metal here, and I shot variants on the same theme last year too, and I'm sure I'll still be looking for the perfect take on this many years hence.


Harbour, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

Last, and possibly least is this view of the harbour at Aberaeron. I liked the strong verticals of the poles marking the harbour entrance, and the dramatic sky over the sea.

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.

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.

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.