as the year draws to a close, and what a year its been, our thoughts turn to what the new year will bring.

now, at this point, there are 2 ways in which our thinking will head, depending on what kind of people we inherently are -- we either look forward optimistically to all the positive things that may happen, or we start whingeing about whether we'll survive another year....!

here's where i put up my hands and admit that i do like a good moan now and then, and my wife always reins me in from going too far into the abyss of whingeing! there is a limit to how far to take our complaining, as if we push it too far, as i have done sometimes, it can lead to an immense feeling of utter desolation and depression!

so, in a nutshell, i will say here and now, that yes, for sure, i'll have a moan or 3, but thats about it...after that, i'll be my usual cheerful self!

and whats this all got to do with film photography, i hear you all say? well, a lot actually...you see, when i go around with my camera taking pot shots here and there, i always get funny looks from everyone, probably thinking what a fool he is for using silly old cameras, but i just smile back in my self-assured smugness!

for i know, come what may, i will carry on using film, as long as there's a sun in the sky....and digital? well, yes, i have one of those too, but when i want to be creative in the proper sense of the word, out comes my roll of 400TX and my olympus trip camera...!

here's wishing all my readers a very healthy, wealthy and peaceful new year!

see you in the new year!

every now and then, we all get fed up taking shots with our cameras, whether they be film or digital.

call it information-overload or some-such, it pays sometimes to get away from all that stuff and try something at grass-roots level. and what could that be?

well, pinhole cameras, of course! i have made many, many types of pinhole camera, all of them using simple items found in any home.

and the photos i got were so unique that i was inundated with requests from friends, and foes, to either make them one,or else show them how.

so what i did was get together everything that i used, and how i did it, and put it all together in a little e-book form.

ok, if you have always wanted to try pinhole cameras, why not make your own? just message me via twitter here and i'll send you the plans 100% FREE of charge!

remember the olympus pen f? yes, the one that gave you 72 photos from each and every 35mm roll of film?

and it was so unique, that it had absolutely no competition at all! and the quality of results it gave was so astonishing, even hardened leica users purchased it in droves!

well, i have one of them for sale, complete with it's original macro bellows. check it out here >> http://www.atomicmall.com/retrostuff999 or http://www.cqout.com/list.asp?seller=allsales

i was just having a rummage in my odds n ends box, and found all these films (shown above)!

some of them are unused, whereas others are obvioisly exposed and ready to process, although when, is another question!

mind you, most of these films came out of vintage cameras i have bought over the years, so there may well be a surprise when i do go and get them developed!!

who knows whose photos will appear....!

the mellow mornings of autumn are now with us (yes, yes, intermixed with gallons of rain as well..!!)and this is one of the best times of year i enjoy the most.

im one of those guys who tends to try and get his daily "stuff" done as early as possible, leaving plenty of time in the day free for other things. so what i do every morning is get my 18 month old alsation simba, out for his daily walk.

we are blessed as there is a large park just 10mins walk away where we live, so soon as we reach it, i let simba off his leash and he bounds away after the squirrels, which he has never managed to catch!

the morning walk takes place around 8am, so at that time, there's hardly anyone around.
and we do this in any weather -- rains, snow or shine!

on today's walk, i noticed that some of the trees in the park had developed dramatic colours in their leaves, and in the muted light of early morning looked so bright and cheeful.

so i collected some of the fallen ones, brought them home and took a few photos for you all to see -- i hope you like the one above!

yes...you guessed it!

i just wanted to talk a little about the rollei 35 camera -- what a beauty!

and its not just looks either, as many of you may know already. its almost unbelievable how the engineers managed to squeeze so much into such a tiny little space!
i have have the top model--the 35S with the schneider lens, although i also had another one with the tessar lens too and there's very little between them both.

but the photos i took with it have been enlarged to 12" by 12" and would you believe it, theyre so good!

i was chatting to a friend of mine who repairs cameras for a living (itself a dying trade!) and he was saying that if the rollei was manufactured today, the cost would be over $2000, or even more!

so if you have a rollei, or are thinking of getting one, bide your time till you can get the 35S or 35SE -- you may pay a little more but by golly will you have a fantastic little performer!

welcome news for polaroid enthusiasts at last!!

yes, yes, i know....you've got that familiar itchy feeling and want to try out your artistic talents once again using that old polaroid camera that aunt agatha gave you 10 000 years ago!! but you cant get any film for it!

or can you? whats that...CAN you get film for these cameras? the answer is YES, YES, YES!

the polaroid company collapsed way back in 2008 but some wise enthusiasts have succeeded in bringing it back to life again!

i can now supply polaroid film for almost all of the camera range, the sx70, 600, etc etc.

check them all out here

i have often read about the so-called alternative processes in photography, such as gum bichromate, lith printing, cyanotype etc, but have never had the time to try it out.

and having seen the results obtainable, i certainly did want to try my hand at it.

i purchased a job lot of kits that allow you to try your hand at these processes, and was thoroughly pleased at what you can achieve.

i will be posting my results on this blog soon, so please keep looking in regularly.

and if you too want to try these processes, drop me an email via this blog or tweet me via my twitter link here and i will let you know what kits i have in stock and prices etc.

over the past few weeks, the weather has been really, really oppressive.
you know the kind of weather -- humid, hot as if in a small over-worked kitchen, no air or breeze at all, sweat pouring off your body the moment you get up to do something....

well, yesterday evening it all changed! breeze appeared as if from nowhere, skies darkened and all became very much fresher.

so i decided to take a walk around my local neighbourhood, which led me to a church i often pass when walking my dog.

but instead of passing it by, i decided to walk into the grounds, and around the back, a part i had never seen in all the 45 years i have lived here!

and immediately noticed really great shots of the old stained glass windows, huge wooden doors and window shutters, ancient locks and gigantic bolts, all crying out to be photographed.

apparently, the church has been around since 1100 AD, so it is no everyday building!
i will be posting some of the shots i took there very soon here, so please try and bookmark this site and drop in when you can......

remember the old russian cameras from zenit?

made to withstand any nuclear attack from the west or, at best, used to knock a mugger out when thrown at his head, these cameras were indeed heavy duty engineered!

the best one in my mind was the one above -- the zenit e.

it was given to me as a birthday present when i was a teenager back in the glorious 70s, and i still have it with me today, still solidly chugging away as the first day i used it.

ok, its not a very quiet camera ( a bit agricultural really!), but who cares, if it is able to give excellent results day in day out.

my favourite times are those when i use my medium format cameras.

and the fab one i like using is the yashica twin lens reflex, which i used to see my dad using when i was just a wee bairn (for those who dont understand scottish terminology, bairn means child!!).

funnily enough, that was probably what started the love of cameras in me, as i remember always wanting to use it but was never allowed to until i was about 14 years old!

i can understand that, as cameras in those days were very expensive indeed, and wages were only around £16 a week (thats around $25 a week!!), so money was short.

my dada used to fill one of those shopping trolley for a whole £3, i recall -- try doing that now!

anyway, when i first started using the yashica all those years agom b&w film was cheapest, and so i stuck to using that, and only later on did i realise the beautiful efects you get using mono. the rest is history!

sudden change in weather today in london!

dark, black clouds, plenty of wind and of course, on and off rain!

took some really moody shots today though, using my vintage voigtlander vitessa camera and some monochrome film.

cant wait to see how they come out...!

well...a wet, miserable day in london! been raining all night and all morning, with a few short breaks in between.

but plenty of potential for rainy day shots, especially tonight.
i always think the streets at night after rain are so atmospheric, and always try and capture the images if i can -- lost count of how many ive taken over the years! must be hundreds!

so i ll be prowling the streets in my neighbourhood tonight in search of my pics!

2 of my favourite cameras! the yashica twin lens reflex that first caught my attention when i was around 5 years old!

and the olympus trip 35 -- one of the worlds most under rated cameras! this one has been fully refurbished by myself and has a unique maroon snakeskin leather fascia.

i have other olympus trips on offer for sale -- some with lizard skin effects. leave a message here if you would like one...!

ive always been a strong lover of street photos, especially in thestyle of that great hero of monochrome street pics, brassai.

well, i found some very good, more recent ones just recently, which actually capture the essence of street photography.

view the collection here

just keep wondering though... how was he able to take these shots in public without anyone seeing? i know if you tried it in london these days, you ll have the cops on you for contravening the public privacy laws or something!!

as you will find out in due course, i have a sizeable number of vintage cameras in my collection, and as a result of warnings from my good wife about impending marital proceedings, i have been forced to offer some of them for sale!

all of them have been tested and used by myself, so you know you are looking at a working item, that will surely appreciate in time as well.

pop over to my items on offer here or here

and of course, advice is always free to anyone! try me....

well, here i am again this morning!

now, as we were saying yesterday, imho film is THE place to be.

firstly, and as many of you enthusiasts out there will agree, there's nothing on this good earth that compares to the magic of taking a photo, and then processing your own film -- that magical moment when your shot mysteriously appears on your paper in that plastic tray is incomparable!

and if you have heard the "horror" stories about colour processing, getting the temperature right etc etc, well, you dont have to go for colour -- just stick to monochrome, which is far easier.

thats how is started and carry on to this day!

all you need to start is a film camera of course, a changing bag and a few other items, to get you developing your very first film.

then, if you want to go a step further, you can carry on into printing your own photos too.

more on this later.....

well folks...here it is!
i'm finally kickstarting this blog at long last, after opening an account over 2 years ago!

yes, you may be wondering why it took me so long--well, it IS a long story, and one i dont wanna go into just yet, being as this is, my first excursion (or should that be incursion...?) into blogging.

but never mind...you may well be treated to some of my history and experiences pretty soon, so try and keep a note of me if you can.

as the name suggests, this is where i will be talking to you about one, just one, of the many love affairs i have in my life...but wait...dont expect anything sexual or suchlike here!

i know, i know, you are all saying that film is dead or dying--well, i dont agree with that, so there!

why do i say that? we'll talk about that tomorrow! keep it here, same time, same channel...