Category Archives: Uncategorized

A while back I wrote about my mini Olympus collection of compacts. I’ve put a roll through all of them now. The test roll I put through the XA2 was very out of date, and although I was pleased with the sharpness, and lack of light leak, the results were average. I thought it deservedContinue reading “Exercising the XA2”

It is much more obvious to choose colour film for making photographs in the garden. It’s full of colour, but then so is the world at large. I have seen some wonderful photographs made by Paul Strand. He and his wife Hazel, brought a house in France, north west of Paris in 1955. They remainedContinue reading “Black and White in the Garden”

Considering this National Trust house near Bristol was largely paid for from proceeds of Peruvian Guano, perhaps not the best title I could have given this post. I should be more creative! That aside, I used a roll of Kodak Colour Plus, while wandering around the outside and the gardens. When the time came proceedContinue reading “Textures of Tyntesfield”

Back in the 1970’s, as a family, we usually had a summer holiday. We weren’t a wealthy family, although that’s a subjective point of view, but my parents, managed it somehow! For three or four of these, we came to Burnham-on-sea. There was a caravan holiday park there, in those days – known as Holimarine!Continue reading “Burnham-on-Sea”

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, one of the cameras I chose to take on my recent holiday to Somerset, was my Rolleicord Va. This performed near perfectly in Cheddar Gorge. However, a day or so later in Wells Cathedral, I had trouble. It seems that the slower speeds are starting to stick. I’m notContinue reading “More from the Rolleicord”

A while ago I was given a old bellows 120 camera, a Zeiss Ikon Nettar 517/16 to be precise. I tested the bellows in the tried and tested manner, cleaned it up and all seemed ok. I ran a roll of old, out of date, 35mm colour through it to test it for light leaks.Continue reading “Full test of the Zeiss”

Recently I made a visit to Tyntesfield. It’s a National Trust property not too far from Bristol. Of course I toured the house and so on, and will no doubt do a post about that before too long. This little story however is about the kindness that someone took, that made it a memorable day.Continue reading “In the Potting Shed”

On the drive back home from my recent Somerset break, it was a beautiful day, and the weather perfect, so I decided to stop off at Lytes Cary Manor. It’s a National Trust property in the south of the county and one that I had not been to before. I loaded up a roll ofContinue reading “Lytes Cary Manor”

For people my age (52) we’ve only ever known the Queen as the Monarch. Apparently she was pronounced Queen on 6th February 1952, on the death of her father – she was 25. The coronation took place on 2nd June 1953, and it’s this we celebrate today! 69 Years to the day (!!?) I can’tContinue reading “Happy 70th!”