Some time well spent at the office today

It's Saturday, and not too much happening over here in Nigg, Scotland. Not even workwise, as you might already know I've been a bit on the sick side the last few days. I'm better now, so I'll survive this one as well.
But with energy on the lower side I have used the day well. At least I think so myself.
I have been checking out a few photographers and what they are able to get out of a roll of Ilford PAN400 should they ever feel like pushing the thing a couple of steps. Besides a lot of visible grain and tons of contrasts there's a few of them getting a whole bunch of other good stuff out of them as well, which could be good for me as that's what I'm doing in my 365@50 project these days.
I'm on day 35 now, and had to swap to a fresh film for tomorrows snap as some hickup obviously happened during the loading of the film on new years eve. Don't ask, please...

Oh, and why did I point my camera in this direction, you may ask? Well, it's just what you do sometimes when you have just loaded a new film and need to get to the start of the thing. Especially valid for the Nikon F3, as it's a container of one of the most stupid inventions ever, the light meter that refuses to take a measurement until the first frame has been reached. Anyway, when I'm outside I don't care too much, because I know my Shady 4 rule well enough to use my eyes and make a decent enough exposure without the light meter. It's a bit worse inside the cabin in the evening on board the ship. And nope, these looks nothing like Clare's shoes at all. It's because they're mine.
Nikon F3, Ilford PAN400@1600

Anyway, I've been all over the interweb thing during the day to do some checks, and at one point I stumbled upon Verda Sigura, a photographer from Istanbul of all places. I don't think these are done on film at all, but I still like the snaps for some reason. At least I like a lot of them, and that's something to take on board anyway. If nothing else it's great to feel something again when looking at something that hits you in some kind of way.
I think it's something about the simplicified rendering of the complexity of the human being, the more or less total lack of tones and the quite strong and a bit overdone contrasts that kind of does the trick. And then there's the fact that they are quite strong and well done snaps as well. I would say that's about just as important.

Snapped one day during the yard stay just before Christmas. One of the workers from the yard making up a bunch of new hydraulic hoses for the ship. Lifeboat david's need that sort of things renewed every now and then, as some of us will know. I was walking around inspecting things and brought the old F3 just in case something popped up, so I sort of leaned towards a railing or something and snapped this one. Ilford PAN400@1600

So, I'm filling myself with some sort of inspiration again, which is a great feeling. Nothing less. We probably need some kind of reset from time to time.
I also had a look at a few blogs, as usual, and have been waiting a few days for a couple of great examples of contact sheets from over at Michaels place in the North East Liberties, of Northern Ireland. Those great examples really makes me want to haul some paper out whenever I get home from here, and start producing some contact sheets myself as well. I think he's on the right track here, the good Michael from the other side of the fjord, even though we should know that from way back in time if it was not for our old age, or something. It's actually been said and gospeled all the time that we should make a contact sheet out of our films before we start wasting paper. I know, I know... 
Still it somehow feels like some sort of waste of time, in some way. Because you don't actually produce anything for anyone to see, other than for yourself to study hard with your glasses on and what have we all. They're like some sort of thumbnails you will not be able to enlarge, no matter how badly you like to. Still, it's a wise thing to do, so I might just as well use the next few weeks to get used to the thought of it. 

Tomorrow I'm off for a walk if the weather is on the dry(ish) side. Been quite dreich today, to tell you the truth. I'd rather stay dry for the next few days as I don't like to catch that bloody cold again. Fever and stuff is no good to any man, and I should know that well enough by now. 
I might even tell you all about everything some time tomorrow, if the health still is good and all that.

Plans, and roughly what they seem to be worth

I went home from work just before New Year, as you might remember. Was scheduled to stay at home for nine weeks because of the hard times in the business and things like that. And the charterer of the ship had decided to move the scheduled crew change with one week, making it nine weeks at home for me, this time. 
At least that was the plan, but as we all know very well, plans are not always something worth thinking too much about. So here I am, suddenly back on board the ship again. The other guy had to call in sick, so what else can one do than just step in when needed. 
It's great to be able to step in when needed, believe me, but it usually comes with a pretty obvious backside as well in a job where "stepping in" means you are going to be away for at least two weeks, or most likely 4 weeks. OK, we are used to stay away for 4 weeks at a time, so that's really not an issue either. Plans, would be the biggest issue, I think. 
Things you planned to do when at home, and things and work you had started to do but just have to drop dead and run away for four weeks. That's an issue, actually.
I had a bathroom going on, as you might remember. Lucky is the wife who will be forced to stay for a few more weeks at the cottage instead of going home!
And what's going to happen further through the year? Is it even any point in making plans at all, anymore? 

Another one from around Christmas time. Containers, rubbish and the superstructure of the Subsea Viking. All duly snapped up on that roll of Kodak T-max 100 I had to play with this day. Seemed like a nice enough idea to waste film on this frame at the time, even though I'm not absolutely sure when I see it now. Still, it's done and posted and nothing to think back on. I would really love to walk around a place like this in the company of a great photographer one day, just to see how a pro would solve something like this, or maybe just skip the whole idea of snapping the frame at all, and why. I might need to find a nice little workshop or something to join, at some point. Or just go out and practice on my own would probably make a great starting point.

And then there's the films. You know the collection of exposed 120 films, and the couple of 135 sized things awaiting to feel the bite of some old Rodinal or maybe even something a bit more fancy on a good day.  Well, I would not hold my breath to see the results from them if I were you guys. Just saying...

Oh... and I found a few lines again. Strickt lines, contrasts, bits and pieces and what have we all. It's nothing to print for the wall and such, though. I realize that...

And just to really top it all off I got really sick on my trip inside the car from Aberdeen to Nigg in Cromarty Firth, Scotland today. I got a suspicion why I got sick, though.
You see I went to do some babysitting the other day. Tuesday I think (my feverish brain trying to figure things out here...). He was sick, the little lad, and the mother had to go to school to get a couple of very important things done, and I thought it would be great to be able to help her out. And it very much was, as we had a great few hours spent together, me and the grandson. We spent most of the time taking a very close look at a couple of nice cameras, as he found them a bit more interesting than all the other toys spread around the house. The F3 was on top of the list, obviously, as there's bits to press and push all over that camera body. And then there was the lenses and everything. Focus rings on the 35 and 50mm thing were easy enough to operate to give them full score, at least that's what I think he meant... I spent a conciderable ammount of time to clean the front elements of those things after I got home, but it was very much worth it,
But I think I degress a bit. OK, point is that he was sick, and now I'm sick. I think I'm a lot sicker than he was. I feel no good at all, to be honest.

I don't even know why I grabbed this one, and in three slightly different versions as well just to really top it off. Probably the angle of that slope of rocks and that tree against the sky, or maybe it was the sum of everything, but I'm not sure anymore. I doubt I noticed that little poodle, because that could have been used to do something maybe. Still it's a bit late for that now, as I hopefully never will see this place again, ever. Again it's something originating out of american T-max 100 film snapped using a japaneese camera.

That could also be the reason why there's not too much signs of positive stuff inside this post.
I might come back in a few days with some flowers and sunshine. At least I really hope I do.
But OK, since you ask I can say a couple of great things going through my brain as I discovered where the ship was laid up this time, as I've seen the place from the sea a lot of times and always wanted to go here but never have had the opportunity. 
I hope to get out of the secured area around this harbour one of the few next days, as we are scheduled to stay here for 10-12 days or something like that. 
Another good thing (I hope) is that I brought film, and cameras.
As you would when you have a nice little 365@50 project going on. First film is getting close to finished folks, so will be among the ones getting a bath when I get home, at some point.

Exposed films, old buildings

Another weekend done, and I have managed to finally produce a nice bunch of exposed films either you believe it or not. Still I realize you can have millions of them and they would be worth nothing in the form they are at the moment. Developing is quite an important part of it all, as we know. I still hope to get them all done within a few days.

I went over to the old wool factory yesterday. I have spoken about it before in a post dating back to November 2015, but as this area is not actually very big you will have to speak about things more than once. Revisiting stuff is a big part of our lives over here. 
If you didn't bother to click the link to see the original post I'll fresh up your memory a bit and show you the snap below, as this is the actual building I have been looking at every time I visit this place. 

I just love this part of the factory, because of the texture of the old walls, the nice old windows, the grass growing out of the gutters and generally simply because of the rustic appearance of the building itself. 

I went over to the other side of the island to take a few more photos of this place during this weekend, and found the old thing all covered up in scaffolding and barrier tape and all sorts of stuff indicating major work in progress. 

That could be good, but it may also be bad. 

The good thing of course is that someone finally have decided to try save this part of the factory as well, just the way they saved most of the other parts of it. The bad thing is that it will probably look quite a bit different the next time I'll get the chance to stand in the same place to snap it up. That would mean that this probably is the last snap of the building looking like this, done on film anyway. 

Depending on the results of the refurbishing of the place I might consider printing it up big and go there one dark night to put it up on the wall right there, for everyone to see how it used to be not too long ago. 

And I am not painting things black here, because I have been very aware of the chance that this actually was going to happen at some point, and that it's necessary to do something about the building if they are going to put it into some good use. I just hope they do it with some kind of well meant thought and respect of the looks the building have gained during it's lifetime. I am not holding my breath, though.

Another hope and wish I have for this particular building is that they decide to make it contain something a bit different than the rest of the area. You see there's (in my opinion, anyway) too many shops and outlets inside the old factory premises already, so I hope someone have other plans for this place. 

As the adjacent building is actually (against all odds) housing a glass artist and a blacksmiths workshop, I hope this place might contain some kind of other arts or crafts center when it's finished. 

Thinking about it, it's usually only a question of who dares to do what. 

I am in absolutely no doubt it would be a great place for any full time photographer to set up some kind of gallery making a tiny little business out of it. I am also in no doubt at all that quite a few different artists could live happily inside this place and get loads of inspiration from each others work. If they ever get the chance, that is. 

There's most likely no way that is going to happen, I'm sorry to say. The rent will probably not make it possible to make any of them survive in a place like this, as most of the visitors will only be doing just that. Visiting, watch and like, before they go to leave their cash inside one of the outlets instead, buying jackets and clothes they got more than enough of back home inside their overfilled closets. 

Again it's most likely a question about who dares, and who don't. 
I got an idea of what I would have done, if I dared, but I don't.
Besides, when would I ever have the time to write anything more on this blog if I started my own darkroom and shop kind of thing? And when would I ever get the chance to go see places and take more photos if I had something like that to take care of in addition to everything else?
Nah, stop getting bright ideas would be the best idea so far this morning.

No one will ever even think about putting this building back into it's original state a hundred years from now. That's what I think, anyway. 

At least I went over there and snapped a few frames this weekend. Daytime and night, as it happens. On 120 film with a couple of Mamiya RZ cameras and everything. Lets find out in a few days if I got the exposures somewhat right, or if I'm getting real rusty or something. 
After all, you never know until development is done and the films have been dried and ready to be translated into some nice paper copies. After all it's another one of those old crafts, with a fair mix of both coincidence and randomness involved.

How to make you feel like an alien

Catching a tiny glimpse of something reminding me about inspiration or something, I went off yesterday with a few cameras loaded into the back of the Landy to see if anything good could be around somewhere to be tracked down. 
I went back to the same old house I found last winter just to check if it was still kind of standing, and it was. So I snapped a few frames on some 120 size film over there just for documentation or something, but could not find the right stuff or the edge of it, if you know what I mean. 
Took off heading for the center of town to see if anything was happening in that area. Nothing much, as I expected, but driving along a couple of to me very unfamiliar streets I suddenly see this fantastic concrete wall built to keep people from falling off the street and a long way down to the area far below. At the end of this wall there was this great gable end of a big storehouse or something, also made out of very rough concrete stuff with a lot of old steel sticking out of it in a very random style and fashion. In addition to it all the sun was shining onto all of it from an angle giving me a lot of nice shadows. 
Hey, what more can you ask for really? 

Things likely to be found around a sand blasting company in the middle of nowhere at Fitjar. No one around to disturb me while snapping the things up either, which is a good thing after all. Done on the Kodak T-Max 100 film I had loaded inside the Nikon FM2 this day. Looks like something I might have used the old 24mm lens for. 

So I hit what's left of the brakes on the old thing and put it to rest in some weird way along the afore mentioned wall, went into the back and picked out one of the Mamiya cameras and tried to find the best angle to snap the scene up in. 
Two snaps, and things were suddenly happening just behind me. On this street where no one ever walk I had finally managed to catch the attraction of the cops themselves, pulling up in a brand new police car and everything. 
To their advantage I have to say that they probably were out on some kind of random patrolling, or maybe even looking for something special when they came around this tight corner and saw the car standing there with the big backdoor in an open position with nobody  to see around it. So they stopped to check, while I was standing on the other side of the car in some kind of concentration to get what I wanted.
So they had to ask of course, any question they could come up with to check what this was all about. 
Heck, I thought it was pretty obvious to be honest. I was taking a couple of photographs, of course, so I told them exactly that. Well, the cops wanted a bit more detailed explanation about what exactly I was photographing, so I told them... 
To tell the truth he did not exactly look very enthusiastic about the words spoken about the "nice" concrete walls and their position in relation to each other, the great shadows created by the steel rods sticking out of the wall and the square windows making the whole scene up inside the shadowy part of the frame. Actually at one point I thought ahhh... next thing is he's calling the guys in their white frocks to come find a nice and tight little room for me for the next few years. I mean we've all been to the movies to see what's going to happen when you say stupid things, not?
So I managed to shut my mouth before I went any further, and after giving each other some weird faces in something that seemed like forever they decided I was not what they had been looking for anyway, wished me a nice day and went away. 

A real mess made out of a fence at some point. Probably a creation made by some kind of vehicle in cooperation with the wind up through the years, or something completely else. I got no idea, to be honest. A mess it was, anyway. Nice to snap stuff without getting disturbed by the cops and such, to be honest. No one in sight around here at Christmas time, as we know by now.

By this point I had totally lost the track of what I previously had been looking at with them walls and things, so I need to go back there some day for sure. Maybe there's a few better things to be found if I do some exploring on them lower grounds as well for all we know. 
I tried a couple of other well known places also, but found nothing catchy like those nice couple of concrete walls or anything. Nothing with nice light on them anyway. 
And yes, I'm going back. I'm not going to let the police stop me from taking photographs of houses or walls or anything in town. After all that's just what thousands of tourists is doing all day long just a few hundred yards away inside the center of town. 

The deeds of the day before this one

Sure, because I did do stuff yesterday as well. Nothing much, but still something.
Did a couple of things inside the bathroom again, then got bored to such a degree I just had to get out and about for a while. Packed a few cameras inside the Landy and off I went for something a bit more fun than putting membrane goo onto old tiles and new wall plates. 

They use what they got at hand around Fitjar, to keep  their floating workshops tied to the shore. Looks like that rope has been floating around in the sea for some time anyway.

I drove around and found this twisty road we never use much these days because a better road has been built instead. It twists and turns in all kinds of directions and dimensions, and along the way there's a few things might worth snapping up on a good day. Obviously yesterday was not the best of days, because I came back with nothing much etched onto the rather nice HP5 I got loaded into one of the Nikons right now. 
And I found this old mill saw, or whatever you like to call the thing, somewhere along that twisty road. Belongs to some old farmer who died a few years back, obviously. I happen to know, because just as I tore this fluorescent road stick out of my way to snap my masterpiece in some sort of decent fashion, an oldish bloke showed up out of nowhere. 
He did not mention the stick-thing with a single word, but just wanted to tell me all about the little building and the saw inside it and everything. 
He claimed to be the last person having used the old thing, some 20 odd years back. He once assisted the farmer in some work to make the old saw connected to and driven by his tractor, and that's how he came into touch with the owner of the old finger cutter inside. 
Some time after the last log has gone through it my informant had a call from his son. He had a few logs of birch or something which he wanted to feed through the teeth of them old blades. So they borrowed it and got the job done. That would be the last time it was used, according to this ghost out of nowhere. 
Oh, and I put the marking stick thing back into the very same hole it was standing out of just a few minutes earlier. Just so you know. 
I even wasted a couple of 120 film frames on the old building as well, as I found the Rolleiflex inside the bag in the back of the car. Sometimes a good old camera bag is nice to have, you see.
I did not have the right lenses or anything, so I actually drove back this very morning just to linger around the place to see if I could get something more interesting to stick onto a piece of film. I brought a couple of them Mamiya cameras and went inside under the roof to see if I could get a few more interesting snaps of everything. We shall wait and see, as you know. 
It's been a while since I've been playing with the Mamiyas now, and it was a pleasure to take them out into some fresh air.

Another one of that abandoned cement factory at Fitjar. There were no evidence that this was in use in any way, but who knows really. There were concrete things thrown around everywhere, so maybe they had just been taking a very long Christmas break for all I know. 

Today I will leave the old bathroom alone. The wife is going away to choose the right color of paint, and I will stay very well clear of that. I got something close to a proof that I'm more or less color blind, so I got nothing there to do at all while that is going on. And it's going to take time as well, so no thank you. I'll do the boring paint work, but don't listen to any of my advice about colors or anything like that. I put on what I'm told, and that's it. 

Oh, and the weather has been absolutely fantastic by the way. Mild and no rain, and that's something I like a lot. 
Every day without snow or rain is just fine, if you ask me. 
And we are actually starting to get some good old daylight again. Nothing on the extreme side, but still noticeable more of it than we had a month back. I might even take some advantage of just that someday soon. 

Snaps from Christmas...

So, I've been doing stuff all weekend, more or less.
Working on the bathroom, a bit. Nothing much, but at least we went off to pick up the tiles and a few bits and pieces yesterday. I also did some work, but there will be more done tomorrow.
I finally had my "new" old Land Rover picked up Friday afternoon, which mean I can go around to pick up heavy things. Like a truckload of tiles, and stuff like that. It's great fun, just saying.

It was snapped on the quayside at Fitjar, this one. I guess you remember all about the place from around Christmas, as this was were the ship was tied up those days towards the end of last year. Not the most happily looking spot on earth, I know. We went for a stroll, me and the Captain. I wanted to climb the ladder to the top of that cement container thing there, but the boss told me I could not. He sounded quite certain about it as well, so I left the thought there and then. A couple of days later the thought came back, but then I had too much to do in the engine room and thereabouts, so I never got up there. Might be just as well thinking about it in retrospect. 

Today we had a few visitors coming over to the cottage. The son and the daughters, the grandson and the sister. Oh, and the son's girlfriend as well. A whole bunch they were, but everything went very well. We were outside most of the time as the weather actually was on the mild side and the wind was elsewhere for a few hours. Even the rain was staying on the other side of the fjord, most of the time. We had a few small showers coming, but nothing like the last few days. Been very wet lately, you see.
And when the bonfire had burned to the ground and all the guest gone home, we went off to the stepdaughter for some celebration for a short while. She's 20 today, and needed some cake and coffee. The wife made the cake yesterday evening, and it was delicious believe it or not.

This far, but no further. Oh, and by this day I had switched from Delta 400 over to T-Max 100. Never tried this thing before either, but it seemed to work sort of. The light was not very great these days, as we are talking about the darkest days of the year. Nikon FM2 on both snaps. 24mm lens on the last one, maybe the 50mm on the top one. 

Oh, and I have remembered to snap the daily snaps every day. I am also snapping away on a couple of other films, so we will see some other day if they come out on the nice side, or if it's just the usual rubbish.
Hope to get the chance to get some developing done some day soon, but then there's a pile of other stuff to get done as well. I got them right here, though, the exposed films ready to get wet. There's even a couple of 120 sized ones. Ilford HP5+ and everything. Let's just hope they contain something useable.

At least the snow are gone. For now, anyway.

Cats and Crows

Enough about the weather, because it's shite anyway...

It's early in the morning, and The Cat just went upstairs again. She always try to do just that, even though she knows well enough that's a no-no area to any cat. But then again she sometimes seems to forget even simple things like rank and such, which is probably a healthy sign after all. If nothing else it's at least the way The Cat works. 
Oh, and of course I just called her back down. She will rather reluctantly return down the stairs if you use the right kind of loudish voice, but that's just because she knows what happens if she keeps on going upwards. Out in the wet weather again is no option when she's just come inside, because she hates it badly.
I'm not sure exactly why, because she's always dry as the sand in Sahara when she returns back in after a trip outside, no matter how bad the weather have been. It's a good old cat-trick, I guess. Like another law of nature. 
I must say I have been wondering quite a bit about how it's even possible to keep that fur so perfectly dry despite the weather we have in these parts, but I don't think I will ever find a plausible explanation to it. 
Needless to say maybe, but I'm no big fan of cats. I like four legged animals who understand the way rank works a bit better. Still I must say I'm fascinated by these creatures, and we sort of find some kind of way living together despite these issues. I let her in from the cold, provide her with food and keeps her satisfied to some degree. In return she keeps the area clean. 
That's good enough to me. 

Crow on Crane. Don't really know if this is something that say anything at all to you, but at least there's lines in here. All sorts of them, actually. The Cat were nowhere close as this was snapped the same day as the previous posts. I might have something new to show in a day or two. Delta 400 film, still.

We are going outside the house (or cottage, to be precise) next weekend, to see a play set up by the students at a theater school in town. It's nothing we usually do, but this time it's a bit interesting to do just that. You see this year we know two of the students acting in the play, and it does not stop there. You might remember my cousin, Mette the writer and author and what is there not to say. She's been back and forth from Oslo this autumn to guide the students through the play, in addition to do quite a bit of writing of course. I hope to get the chance to go see her for lunch or dinner some day too, and also to take her home to the cottage for dinner or something. Hope to get the chance to snap her face onto some good old film, to be honest. It's been a while since someone did just that, and I think it's about time to get it done again. She used to be a good photographer and printer back in the days, and used her fathers old darkroom a lot. A bit later she started to wright for a couple of newspapers, and also did a bit of photography to go along with all them words. 
She's only doing digital these days, and nothing commercial anymore to my knowledge, but I might manage to lead her back on track when I show up with a real camera?
It's going to be great to see her again. Far too long between that happens these days.

Crow at Quay. Some light, and some shadow. Same film, same camera. Probably the same bird as well, even though it's a bit hard to tell.

Other than that there's nothing much happening over here. I'm off to get some materials for the bathroom a bit later today. Need to get the work done back home to put everything back in something like good order again. Should be easy enough, but will take a few days of work I guess. 
And I'm still waiting for my "new" car to be able to move around a bit easier. Hope to find some inspiration for a couple of good snaps somewhere, someday. 
Nothing planned, though.