Ona, on a gray day last week. Not too much snow out here, as you might notice. Ilford HP5 scan directly from the film. M6 rangefinder with 35mm lens and yellow filter attached.
Just had a short chat with one of my daughters. She's at school teaching to maybe become some kind of arts and crafts teacher at some point. This school used to be the best in Norway in producing great journalists and reporters back in the days, and they still got this great darkroom down in the basement somewhere. She discovered this some time ago, and have finally found the right person to ask about the possibility to get inside and hopefully make a print or two some day. She really had to look into the deep depths and dusty corners of the school to find the one in charge of the dark places, and hopefully we will find things that still works in there at some point. Can't wait to see the place, to be honest, but can't get myself over there until some time early next year.
While I was out there on the island, walking around having nothing else better to do, I found these things a bit interesting as they were scattered all around the place. I loaded the very light and plasticky Diana F+ with some film and snapped them up. Or at least I tried my very best to do so. Not too easy to know exactly what you manage to get stuck on film as the viewfinder on this toy camera is nothing even close to accurate when things are getting close-up. Focusing is clearly an issue as well, but you get what you get and no reason to get too picky when dealing with this kind of photographic equipment anyway.
New Zealand businessman Graeme Hart has bought himself another new toy about to be delivered from the Kleven shipyard not too far away from where I live. We are talking about this little thing here, his 116 meters long brand new super yacht and I think the third in a row from the same shipyard. The last one, the 107 meters long "Ulysses" is now for sale should you fancy something like this.
The reason I'm telling you this is that the new yacht is doing sea trials just outside my front door at the moment. It's a bit hard to avoid noticing, to tell you the truth.
I just keep thinking about quite a few things I would rather like to own if had such a stupid amount of money laying around...
Well, it's not going to be anything even close to a problem I would ever see coming, so that's the end of that thought.
I looked at the Yacht pictures. Amazing what the top 1% can afford. Certainly something I will never have to worry about. I abandoned the Diana and Holga's because of their lack of reliability. I mostly shoot old film cameras that have a better chance of giving me what I want.
SvarSlettThanks a lot for your comment, Robert!
SlettI only use the Diana's for fun every now and then and expect nothing at all coming from them, to be honest. Still there's always something in there I can't get out of anything else I got with a lens on it. Reliability is absolutely non existent, as you say, so it's more just a snap-and-see-what-you-get kind of thing. Sometimes I like the results, most of the time I don't.
Luckily I have other cameras as well :))
I looked at the yacht snaps too and read about Mr Hart a bit. To be fair, the lad has done well, considering he left school at 16 and was a panel beater. He had ambition. But I'm sure he didn't take many prisoners on his way up the greasy pole. It's a funny old world. Last year when we were slumming it in Antibes there were a few Big Yachts out in the bay. It got me thinking about the life they must lead. I guess they must have tons of security problems, worries about children being kidnapped etc. And it must be hell having to eat and drink the finest produce known to mankind every single day. That can't be real, that life. On balance I decided I was happier being able to walk down the street as I am, go where I want without hassle or fuss or damned photographers trying to get a shot of me in a compromising position. Good job, eh? ;)
SvarSlett