Walk From Chipping Norton #1

16-8-18

An old Buddy of mine called and asked if I fancied a walk with the lads, Chipping Norton to the Rollright Stones in the Cotswold hills. Yes please I said, it’s been quite a while since I visited that lovely part of the world. We set off from Chipping Norton following the footpath across the fields and hills. I took my Sigma DP1 digital, and a Konica Lexio film camera with me, together with Tuna and Tomato Sandwiches, a Banana and some fruit juice. The weather was good for walking, partly sunny and not too hot.

Footpath To The Stones

Ready For Harvest

Harvested

Caught My Eye

Fallen

The footpath took us through a youngish wood. I really like walking through woodland, think it must be something to do with the Northern European half of my DNA.

According to a notice at the start of the path through the wood, all the trimmings and and off cuts are left in the wood for natural recycling and wildlife, some being arranged quite artistically.

It was quite dark in the wood so I converted the images to Black & White using Silver Efx plugin in Lightroom.

 

Advertisements

Olympus OM2sp – Rollei Superpan #1

9-08-18

Had my Olympus OM2sp serviced at Luton Camera Repair last month as the film wind on was misbehaving. They did a great job with it, replacing all the foam light seals, checking the electronics, and re tensioning the shutter. The camera felt really good so I took with me on a walk to the local arboretum. It was a really hot humid day, but there were some nice clouds about.

Path To The Arboretum 

Most of the images were taken using 24mm Zuiko, and 50mm Zuiko lenses, using a Red or R72 Infrared filter

Trees & Clouds

Through The leaves

Fir

The film has given the Fir a bit of a surreal look.

Step Up

I’ll post some more shots from this roll over the next few days.

Places I’ll Never Forget #7*

06-08-18

Yosemite

I visited Yosemite in July 1993 on a road trip to California. I asked to upgrade the hire car from a Subaru 1.6 to a 2 litre but all they had was a Chrysler Eagle, a 3.4 Litre V6 I think. Well that was fine by me, it had a great stereo and plenty of power.

What surprised me was the amount of snow still around in mid July, a spectacular sight, in some parts it was 14 feet high.

What surprised me even more was altitude sickness, I had a job to get out of the car. It doesn’t take long in a car to reach some serious altitude on the Tioga Pass. Starting from the Lee Vining entrance which is 6,000 ft above sea level to 9000 ft at the top of the pass.

The scenery was beautiful, with alpine meadows contrasting with really rugged terrain.

*Anybody Know where this is ?

I have forgotten where this is !!! It was in the same slide box as the above images, my best guess is the start of the Tioga Pass, or Mono Lake vista point on US-395.

Olympus OM2n, Zuiko 24mm f2.8 lens, Slide Film.

Reel Trouble #2

29-07-18

Managed to tidy up a few more images from the walk to the Arboretum on the 4th July. They are still a bit scratchy in places but it’s the best I could do without testing my patience to the limit.

Growth Rings

Pagan

Healthy

Used the almost opaque R72 filter for this one.

Cross

Standing Stones

Creeper

Sharp

Bark

Even though this film is difficult handle (for me) when processing I really like the images it gives. I have some more shots to post from the bike ride last week.

Bike Ride Addendum

26-7-18

Here are a few more images from my bike ride taken with an Olympus OM2sp which has just been serviced. I loaded it with Rollei Superpan film and used a 24mm Zuiko lens with a Red filter to get a bit of an infrared look.

Marin At Rest

Gaulby Church

My New Friends

They were a really friendly pair, the bigger one got so close that she steamed up my lens filter.

Bike Ride

25-07-18

Inspired by the heroic efforts of the riders in the “Tour de France” I thought It would be good to go out on the bike again. The weather forecast said it would be cooler and slightly cloudy today (78 deg F  – 26 deg C ) What I hadn’t reckoned with was the two visits to my garden during the night by foxes, the cat door went both times so I got up to check my cats were OK, they were. This left me a bit sleepy this morning but determined to get out on the bike as it was the 13th of June when I last took to the saddle.

Aerodrome

The countryside was really dry and a golden yellow colour, there were birds of prey gliding high up on the thermal currents. It reminded me of California.

Kings Norton Church

King Norton is a lovely little village and a good place to take a rest.

Chestnut Tree by the Church

Chestnuts

Last time I went out I managed 8.8 miles (14 Km) thought I would go a bit further this time and cycled on to the village of Gaulby. While taking a photo of Gaulby church two lovely horses came up to the fence for a bit of fuss. The round trip was 15 miles (24 km) and according to the cycle app an altitude gain of just over a 550 feet (167 m) and best of all the burning off of nearly 900 calories. These images were taken on my phone but I also took a film camera with me and hope to develop the film in the next couple of days.

 

Too Hot For A Fur Coat

23-07-18

30 deg C today, the cats are not enjoying it, not really the weather for a fur coat.

Mimi eating some grass, she’s moulting like mad, and I’m having to brush her everyday, she’s not too sure if she likes being brushed.

Fleur, Mimi’s mum trying to keep cool, her coat is finer and not so thick as her daughters.

Now the Bee’s on my Lavender don’t seem to mind having a fur coat.

Midnight Visitor

He comes in almost everyday now for breakfast and late night supper. Such a lovely gentle cat, and he chatters away while he’s waiting for his meal.