St Pancras

Built in 1866, the very impressive front of the station is a major landmark as you head down the A40 towards The City. I pass it several times a month and it never fails to move me.

Walk in the park

I had an early finish from work today which meant I could collect Lily from the childminders. As it was a sunny afternoon I decided we should walk home with Lily on her reins. Along for the walk was my new DianaF+. I rattled off about 25 photos. The joys of film mean I have no idea how its going to work out yet so the photo for today will have to wait until I've finished the 36 roll of film and got it processed. Exciting times!

Edit: Well I got the roll processed. A tiny bit disappointed if I'm honest. Firstly nobody seemed to be able to develop the photos with the sprocket holes in place. Boots claimed they could be failed and I got a set of photos stretched to fit the 6x4 paper. I have a set of negatives that have the image all the way to the edge so I'm going to try and get them redone somewhere. But secondly they haven't come out as I was expecting, the colours on the ones that worked (it really doesn't like low light at all, even in what I thought was bright sunlight is dark and grainy. Some setting adjustment is required I feel!) and there is none of the crazy lomo effects I've seen elsewhere. I'm not deterred and have rattled off most of a second roll today in better light, standing further back and will get it developed at a lomolab.

Anyway, this was one of the better shots from the roll. Taken on our walk home.

Formula one spy shots

I was passing Blackbushe airport on the way home from London and decided to try and find the film set for the new Niki Lauda film, Rush. Its on the far side of the complex on an old runway and has a complete pitlane, grid and grandstand replicating 1976 Fuji Grand Prix. I snuck across the common and got fairly close where I could see the set and hear the cars being fired up so I got a sneaky photo of the McLaren race transporter that James Hunts M23 was unloaded from.



*somebody has been far less sneaky and a lot more brazen than me and seemingly walked straight on the set to take photos

Cheeky Monkey

We popped out to see some friends at the local VW meet, despite the snow and rain there were a few people there but all hidden in the cafe. Lily found herself a comfy chair to rest in and make silly faces at people!

Back to basics

I'm quite happy pottering around with my Canon 400D, I'd like a 550D at some point when the funds allow as its a massive step up from mine, but for the time being I'll make do. With ever advancing technology in digital photography its nice to go back to the simple life which is what I've done courtesy of a birthday present from Kim & Lily. A DianaF+, its an uber budget medium format camera. A replica of the plastic bodied cameras of the 1960s. The pictures are characterised by the slightly out of focus, vivid colours and dark borders. All of which are due to the very basic design and poor fit of the parts. Its meant as a toy camera and is popular with art students but I've fancied one for ages and its a chance to enjoy just snapping and then waiting for Boots to see what develops. I fully expect to get a lot of rubbish but who knows where it will lead. I am cheating a bit and running a 35mm conversion backplate as the 120 film it runs can be tricky to find and develop.

Splish splash

Due to work I rarely get to watch Lily during her weekly Waterbabies lessons. Each friday I get a debrief over dinner as to what they've been up to and how it all went. With a few days off for my birthday I was able to get poolside again. She is now in the toddler classes and the progress is amazing, she is happy splashing around, chasing the toys and diving under and kicking along.

St Davids Day

1st of March, St Davids Day and my birthday. My 35th birthday to be precise. As a treat we all went to Beaulieu today. Home of the National Motor Museum and some fantastic grounds to walk through. During the day I rattled off 300+ photos of cars inside. The new Bond in Motion exhibition was brilliant and the collection as good as ever with several new cars and lots of reshuffling. I could have picked one of dozens of car photos I took or even one of the many photos of Lily and Kim wandering round. But instead I chose this. Its from the grounds near the house, the sun was out, it was almost 20°c and t-shirt weather and as a family we wandered round relaxed and enjoying ourselves. This sums up my day.