View allAll Photos Tagged greatwalldf
When his phone rang, the young man placed his book beside his beer, and went outside, leaving a sweet little still life, just for me and the Great Wall.
Bless him.
I can take-or-leave breakfast, here at home, but on holiday I start anticipating the coffee, the croissants, and the fresh fruit as soon as I hear the alarm clock ring.
But I did rather well, actually: just three bicycle images from the four rolls of 220 and six rolls of 120 that I shot on holiday.
However......
Tables&chairs, shutters, and shadows seem to have caught my eye with astounding regularity.
As you will see. :-)
Linda commented recently, concerning the Great Wall: "How well can you see in the viewfinder? Mine's on the murky side."
Oh yes, I thought: mine, too.
And there, I confess, lies my excuse for this crooked horizen: a perfect composition at f3.5 - with a visible image - but the perfect composition thrown awry by the stopping-down to f16.
And f22 might have been even better.
I learn something new every day.
I hadn't really recovered from that flu when I headed to Cambridgeshire at the end of September (truth be told, I'm still not the me-I-was..) and I wondered, for a while, if I was ever going to find the energy and the inspiration to take the kind of images that make me feel happy.
This storefront in Burnham Market was a kind of godsend. It screamed "Great Wall"; the light was perfect; the sign was serendipitous; the yellows made me smile. And I knew that I would go home with at least one picture I could be pleased with. :-)
I know. I do a lot of these. But give me my Great Wall, a fistful of Agfa Optima (sniff), and endless tables set for lunch, and I am the happiest bunny imaginable.
There are more.
Brace.
Great Wall DF
Ilford FP4 Plus 125
Yellow filter
Blackthorn blossom
Swanscombe peninsula
Kent
February 2022
Rain did not make this puddle; early morning street cleaners did. And when I searched that whole Parisian practise of letting public waters flow, I happened, happily, upon hitotoki. I bookmarked it quicksmart, and can't wait to immerse myself.
This image is very cliché. But I like it anyway.
Skegness - our spontaneous destination on the cloudy Sunday - was a surprisingly jolly place.
(Danny nods in agreement.)
The Agfa XRS200 - expired in 1988 - seems a little blue. Or, rather: violet.
:-)
20 years at the back of a cupboard would put me off-colour, too, I s' pose...
I boiled orange pekoe, mint, green, and pomegranate teas, mixed the concoction with vitamin C and washing soda, and used it to develop film. This is what I got. I suspect the black spots come from air bubbles (I did a semi-stand development on it) but I'm not completely sure. Will have to experiment more for best results, but I'd call this tea developer a success.
(Btw, the light leaks on the left side is courtesy my crappy, thrifted changing bag. I seem to have misplaced my good changing bag. :()
Great Wall DF, Fuji Acros 100, 4-Tea-C (I just made up the name, heh)
The excellent Paul Beefs has a set entitled "Dogs I Asked", which made me smile.
He also has a set called "Dogs I Didn't Ask". which made me laugh out loud.
*
This particular pooch was undecided - permission-wise, I mean.
I did warn you. :-)
I knew - well, I knew - that Paris kinda shut down in August, but I never expected to find Caffe Angela in the rue des Écouffes closed. The meal - well, the whole evening - that I had there years ago was totally memorable: Angela, resplendent in fishnet stockings and fuzzy slippers, performed culinary magic in her little open kitchen.
*
We ended up somewhere else. It was a good supper, but it was not a Neapolitan feast.
This is not a result of me suddenly being daring; this is a result of me being devious: the Great Wall looked unassuming on our table, and I could still look well enough through the viewfinder to focus.
We needed bottled water - the tap stuff in the hotel was not recommended for drinking - and we found it.
And I saw this on the way.
We're off to Italy on Friday. I am gripped by the eternal which-cameras-which-films dilemma.
The Great Wall is a certainty, though.
The Agfa Optima too. :-)
Last year on his birthday, our friend Sander was so weakened by his Multiple Myeloma, and the severity of the treatments he was undergoing, that he could manage no more than an hour of quiet participation in his own festivities.
This year on his birthday, following a successful bone marrow transplant and months of therapy, he was radiantly and joyously in the limelight, opening gifts, uncorking wine, conversing..
...and piling his own party pizzas enthusiastically with parmesan and prosciutto, a feat undreamable just 12 months ago.
Rolleiflex 3.5E & Great Wall DF
Ilford HP5 & Ilford FP4
Combination Gelatin Silver Print
Ilford Warmtone Fibre Base Glossy Paper
Vauxhall Bridge
London
January 2023
Camera: Great Wall DF with 90mm lens
Film: Kodak Portra 160NC( expired 2002)
Double exposure
Scanned negative.
London
February 2020
Can't remember what this plant called. Anyway, developed another roll in my 4-Tea-C solution. managed to replicate the dark spot effect. Still have no idea what caused it.
Great Wall DF, Agfa APX 100, 4-Tea-C
I'm sure that this single stiletto-heeled boot in the sand at Skegness has a tale to tell.
I've been wondering for days what it might be.
We ate very well in Italy - homemade pasta in a myriad of shapes and sauces, farinata fresh from the oven, grilled meats and seafood, fabulous cheeses - especially at the tiniest backroad trattorias and osterias.
And we drank very well - "Cinque Terre" white wine is pretty much heaven-on-earth to my way of thinking - too.
Colmar, in the Alsace - where we stopped for the first night of our holiday - has a special place in my heart; I spent a year there, decades ago, as a jeune fille au pair. "My" family lived on this street, in the furthest house on the right. The whole work experience - for various reasons - was not a particularly positive one, but Colmar was beautiful, and I made friends there who will remain firmly nestled in my heart for the rest of my days.
I fly to England tomorrow to cook a happy-birthday dinner for my favourite friend, and to help him blow out his (dozens of) candles. I'll be back on Tuesday.
And - speaking of tables and chairs - please take a look at this.
I sigh every time I see it. So beautiful, Lukasz!
Tx320 Prof. developed in Xtol 1+1, 6.75mins in 20C. I shot this roll thinking it was color negative Portra 160VC.