Author Topic: Let's Talk About The Weather (and corruption...and ND filters) (Read 11106 times)

Ed Wenn · « **on:** July 28, 2006, 11:40:27 AM »

Guys, we're in the grip of an extended heatwave here in Blighty (i.e. the UK) and in London where the conditions are the worst, the local water company is threatening to impose a drought order. We already have restrictions in place like a hosepipe ban, but a drought order is will be pretty serious.

SO, it's no small irony that we had flooding in parts of the nation's capital yesterday. Check this photo from the BBC website:

In related news there were power cuts (blackouts) in London yesterday too. The power company, EDF a French outfit (...and don't get me started on our deregulated utlilities sector!!), claims it's because people are using their a/c too much during the hot weather. Hmmm. Enron anyone?

Right, this board's supposed to be about photography...yeah, OK. Well, the hot weather is affecting my photography in two ways:

It's too hot to go across town to the lab I use to pick up the negs I dropped off there on Monday.
The bright sun is too much for my modified/homemade lenses which generally get stuck open at about f2.8 - even with 0ASA film and a wad of ND filters I still need a shutter speed of 12 millionths of a second.

al · « **Reply #1 on:** July 28, 2006, 11:57:24 AM »

Too right. This nice sunny weather's not all it's cracked up to be. I like the winter, you can fill your deep winter coat pockets will all manner of gagetry, carry a bag full of the stuff and still not get puffed out. There's always people getting in the way in the summer too. Damn people! If I'd wanted to take your portrait I'd have asked, now get the hell out of my shot!

I've managed to smuggle a totally unreasonable amount of camera gear in with the kids beach stuff etc for our hols next week though, so regardless of the weather, I'll be out there!

FrankB · « **Reply #2 on:** July 28, 2006, 01:21:26 PM »

Our office hasn't been below 28.5C for the about last three weeks (including when I first get in around 07:30!). It has been up to 31.5C and a normal midday temp is 29.5C Luckily my boss doesn't like it any more than I do, so he's all in favour of us working from home if there's nothing in our calendars.

Affecting my photography? Well, my darkroom is now a sauna, which has put a major crimp on the printing I was planning to do for several print exchanges. I did manage to get a shoot done around Tarn How in the Lake District a couple of Sundays ago, but yomping up hill and down dale with a Mamiya C330, three lenses, a spotmeter and a Manfrotto 055 ProB sweated pounds off me. (It didn't help that my friend was only carrying a Canonet QL19 and rubbing the weight differential in more than slightly!

)

Drought warnings? If the companies concerned concentrated on maintaining their pipe networks instead of just lining their shareholders' pockets there wouldn't be a problem. Ditto energy shortages. <grumble> <strop> <pontificate>

#IF I RULED THE WORLD...!#

[/i]

Ahem, sorry... Time for my medication again...

LT · « **Reply #3 on:** July 28, 2006, 01:44:12 PM »

funny isnt it - drought conditions, whilst record amounts of water is lost daily through leaking pipes and last year the water companies annouced record profits. It truly is a travesty of the highest order. How can they be allowed to get away with it?

the heat has been pretty awful in the rural areas too - but nothing compared to the rest of europe and america .... some severe heat problems are going on around the northern hemisphere. frightening, but in 35 years time, this will be the norm. Older people in inner city ground floor accommodation are too scared to leave windows open because of the their percieved risks of burglary and assualt (made buoyant by the trash medias catastrophisation of such events), but instead, they are cooking to death in their own homes - litterally. The Gaurdian reckon the record temps in july/aug 2003 caused the biggest Human natural disaster in Europe, causing the deaths of many people - especially older people in top floor accommodation in residential care/ nursing homes with no air con or blinds on windows etc. very worrying with temps set to beat the 03 wave this year.

Photography wise, my darkroom is unusable at the moment - it has been typically 27 in the mornings and soars to about 33 once the sun hits the flat roof which last from about 1 pm through to 8 - and my lack of sleep through the heat has meant I am too groggy to do any night printing.. I dont really wat to be developing film and prints with the water siuation as it is, but for film, using the ilford fill and dump methid for film washing goes some way to help (fill and invert 5 times, dump. fill and invert 10 times, dump. Fill and invert 20 times, dump. Fill and invert 40 times, dump, fill and invert 20 times. dump. Hang to dry - this is my slightly altered version, but it's much the same thing) Using a washaid and following ilfords recommended 5 min wash, 10 min washaid, 5 min wash will aslo help with prints, and I see ilford are recommending water temps of "above 5 degrees C" now, so water heating costs arent an issue either most of the time.

Today has brought the 1st cool breeze I've felt for about 5 weeks- and it is very welcome!

david b · « **Reply #4 on:** July 28, 2006, 01:53:46 PM »

On the plus side, the water is usually really cold around here, but at the moment it's coming out of the tap at exactly the right temp for mixing my developer etc..!

In general I suppose the current UK temps aren't as bad as most of Europe, and certainly the US, but it's just that it happens so rarely here that we're not prepared for it - public transport and many offices have just been ridiculously unpleasant the last few weeks...

al · « **Reply #5 on:** July 28, 2006, 02:03:38 PM »

Quote from: david b on July 28, 2006, 01:53:46 PM

On the plus side, the water is usually really cold around here, but at the moment it's coming out of the tap at exactly the right temp for mixing my developer etc..!

In general I suppose the current UK temps aren't as bad as most of Europe, and certainly the US, but it's just that it happens so rarely here that we're not prepared for it - public transport and many offices have just been ridiculously unpleasant the last few weeks...

For a nation that loves to talk about the weather so much, we always seem to be gloriously unprepared!

I did some developing the other night and needed a couple of icecubes to get the developer down to 20C. There were some great shots on flickr of a guy setting up his C41 dev kit outside next to his garden thermometer which was reading a very handy 37C :-)

FrankB · « **Reply #6 on:** July 28, 2006, 02:21:41 PM »

'Great' Britain cannot cope with any kind of weather other than grey and damp.

Two sunny days in a row? Drought/water shortages/hosepipe ban!
Two rainy days in a row? Floods/catastrophe/canoeing on the high street!
A bit windy? Fallen branches on the road/roofs coming off left, right and centre!
One flake of snow falls from the sky? The entire motorway network shuts down for a fortnight!

...and don't get me started about a two-hundred ton train being brought to a shuddering halt by...

...a leaf!

Susan B. · « **Reply #7 on:** July 28, 2006, 05:53:02 PM »

11 days of 100 degrees or more here in So Cal. I live in hell.

Had to keep ice packs on my dog to keep her cool--even at night.
Finally a break today! Phew.

It was too hot to shoot for fun during that time, but did try to develop film. Couldn't get my water temp lower than 80 degrees--I used ice cubes to get it to a proper temp!

Ed-- playing in those flood waters looks fun. Reminds me of my days in Chicago when we'd race out in the rains to swim in our ditch of a street. Ah, the good old days when dirty water was fun, rather than infested with garbage and disease.

Tammy · « **Reply #8 on:** July 28, 2006, 06:40:10 PM »

I've been complaining about heat and lack of rain all summer as well. In the SE part of the US humidity will cause glasses to fog when you go outside, so shooting is hard as well (unless you're going lenless). And geesh. The haze. The air sucks. I see nothing but haze and haze and haze.

I do develop film and I have to use ice cubes to get my water temps right, but I haven't tried printing anything all summer either. Lucky at home I have some air conditioning, but my compressor has sprung a leak, and my coolant must be leaving in the heat, because I can't get my house less than 78, with my energy bill going straight up my roof....

I'm from ND originally, and my mother still lives there. I asked her how she was doing yesterday and she just said that she's "hot stuff!"

(81 yrs old

). My brother finally installed a window air unit in her house 4 yrs ago. Luckily. They've also been over 100F for several days. She told me it had been over a week since she'd wandered away from the house.

And, my office conditions and lab conditions at work aren't much better. Today I'm seeing 80F, and I have to wear labcoat and gloves and big boots. phewy.

david b · « **Reply #9 on:** July 28, 2006, 07:44:04 PM »

Poor Blue! You know something's wrong with the weather when you're refridgerating your pets...

Francois · « **Reply #10 on:** July 28, 2006, 09:16:21 PM »

Wow! I didn't know complaining about the weather wasn't only Canada's national pasttime

Pretty weird weather over the pond... but here, it's just plain crappy.

This year (like most years), it's the humidity that makes it bad.
Today, we're lucky, it's only 27C. But factor in the humidity and it goes well over 33C!
We already had a severe heat warning... it got up to 43C... unbearable.
And the UV index goes off the charts daily.
When you got very light skin like I do, the only way to avoid sunburn is to stay inside.

But the worse thing this summer, is that ever second day is rainy or stormy.
We've even have had extreme weather: 2cm hail; a tornado a few kilometers away; if it can fall out of the sky, we had it.

So when you go out to take pictures, you only have 2 choices: hot and sticky or soaking wet. None of them are very pleasant.

Even through that, I'm not looking forward to our classic Canadian winters...

moominsean · « **Reply #11 on:** July 28, 2006, 09:25:34 PM »

118 last week here in phoenix. hottest temp in 10 years. This week it's much better, at around 90, with scattered rain from the monsoon. very nice in the morning. I defnly take more photos in the winter, with temps around 75. My developer sits at about 86 degrees in the summer. I use ice water to cool my d-76. impossible to use at full strength. the diafine works well at room temp, though.

Susan B. · « **Reply #12 on:** July 29, 2006, 06:42:10 AM »

Quote from: david b on July 28, 2006, 07:44:04 PM

Poor Blue! You know something's wrong with the weather when you're refridgerating your pets...

David--
Blue said "thanks"
She's feeling much better today, as it only made it up to about 90.

...Oh, and Blue asked me to say hi to your feet.

dave miller · « **Reply #13 on:** July 29, 2006, 07:08:07 AM »

Quote from: FrankB on July 28, 2006, 02:21:41 PM

'Great' Britain cannot cope with any kind of weather other than grey and damp.

Two sunny days in a row? Drought/water shortages/hosepipe ban!
Two rainy days in a row? Floods/catastrophe/canoeing on the high street!
A bit windy? Fallen branches on the road/roofs coming off left, right and centre!
One flake of snow falls from the sky? The entire motorway network shuts down for a fortnight!

...and don't get me started about a two-hundred ton train being brought to a shuddering halt by...

...a leaf!

Intimidating things, leaves; my train is terrified of them.

Skorj · « **Reply #14 on:** July 30, 2006, 01:28:21 AM »

Try as I could, I come up clean... Infrastructure is one thing we have lots of. Roads to nowwhere are quite popular. I feel for you guys though.

Tokyo used to flood, but they built a big-ass drain under it to stop that, Tokyo used to have power problems, but they built 1000 reactors to stop that, and I set my watch by the trains.

Don't like earthquakes though, and please don't start me on yakuza and corruption here...

-

G-Cans - The World's Largest Drain (and Canonet just to keep the FW angle going):

[attachment deleted by admin]

HolgaJen · « **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2006, 05:16:55 PM »

Quote from: Agent Orange on July 28, 2006, 09:16:21 PM

Wow! I didn't know complaining about the weather wasn't only Canada's national pasttime
Pretty weird weather over the pond... but here, it's just plain crappy.

This year (like most years), it's the humidity that makes it bad.
Today, we're lucky, it's only 27C. But factor in the humidity and it goes well over 33C!
We already had a severe heat warning... it got up to 43C... unbearable.
And the UV index goes off the charts daily.
When you got very light skin like I do, the only way to avoid sunburn is to stay inside.

But the worse thing this summer, is that ever second day is rainy or stormy.
We've even have had extreme weather: 2cm hail; a tornado a few kilometers away; if it can fall out of the sky, we had it.

So when you go out to take pictures, you only have 2 choices: hot and sticky or soaking wet. None of them are very pleasant.

Even through that, I'm not looking forward to our classic Canadian winters...

Hey Agent, what part of canada? I'm assuming ontario by your humidity descriptions.... We had some BASEBALL sized hail here just south of Calgary a few weeks ago! gotta love our weather!

on the subject though it hasn't really affected me taking pics at all here, just stay inside when the baseballs are falling.

Francois · « **Reply #16 on:** July 30, 2006, 08:37:29 PM »

Hi Jen!

Ontario... close but not quite. Québec exactly.
I live just south of Montréal.
When I heard we had a twister warning, I was the only one outside in gale force winds (120km/h) with my camera.
I really wanted to see a funnel cloud (I know it sounds sick but love extreme weather, it's so un-boring). But I saw nothing, it landed around 60km from my home. Lets just say it did bring a bit of fresh air

One thing we do have this year is mosquitoes by the thousands. And they're pretty big. Some even say that they're so big that two can hold you down while the third one beats you up.

Woods and after sunset are best avoided if you don't want to look like you came out from some horror movie

I don't know how it is insect wise in Calgary. I know a friend once told me you get every imaginable type of biting fly at summer time. I don't know either if it is humid... All I know about Alberta weather is that when the Chinook comes, it's very warm.

LT · « **Reply #17 on:** July 30, 2006, 10:12:41 PM »

talking of biting flies - the midges and mossies are murder over here this year too. I got bitten by a horsefly on the edge of my nose last weeked, by sunday morning, the whole saide of my face had swollen and my eye had closed up .... I looked like I'd gone 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. It took 4 days to go down - I had to wear my sunnies all the time, even indoors - people were starting to call me Bono (the greatest insult I can imagine)

HolgaJen · « **Reply #18 on:** July 31, 2006, 12:41:26 AM »

Agent,

Ohh Montreal, yeah I've heard its been hot over there too. I have some friends there, and will be moving to Ontario myself in a few months (at least I will skip this summer). It is not humid here, but the weather can be pretty crazy. I havent seen any bad flies other than the damn mosquitos, which I think are bad everywhere this year! I think a holga and a twister would go quite well together, I'd do the same thing

Leon, did you make up a really cool story about being in a fight, or saving an old lady from being hit by a bus or something?

FrankB · « **Reply #19 on:** July 31, 2006, 08:23:53 AM »

Quote from: jenv101 on July 31, 2006, 12:41:26 AM

Leon, did you make up a really cool story about being in a fight, or saving an old lady from being hit by a bus or something?

Jenv - Nah... He claimed he was hugging a rock and misjudged the distance!

Leon - Ouch. That sounds very nasty indeed. (Although it still wasn't quite enough to stop me taking the mickey!

) Hope you're okay now, mate.

Skorj - My God, what a location!

I could have some serious fun with a camera there!

HolgaJen · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2006, 04:28:14 PM »

Quote from: FrankB on July 31, 2006, 08:23:53 AM

Jenv - Nah... He claimed he was hugging a rock and misjudged the distance!

Francois · « **Reply #21 on:** August 01, 2006, 04:27:37 PM »

Hi Jen!

What part of Ontario are you moving to?
If you move to the Georgia Bay region, they have rattlesnakes (called Massasaugas). They're the only snake in Canada and get spooked pretty easily. They live only in the woods.

Here, since I live in a big suburb (takes me 45 minutes to drive out of town... only to get to another town that's usually just as boring), all the wildlife we get are raccoons, skunks, squirrels, hares, rats and mice, the occasional grass snake and frog, ravens, red robins, blue jays, and so on...

Oh, yeah! just to talk about the weather, this morning, when I woke up, it was 44C with the humidity

BTW, Leon... Are Horse flys the same as Deer fly over here? (the ones that fly away with the chunk of flesh as they go)

moominsean · « **Reply #22 on:** August 01, 2006, 07:36:14 PM »

Horse flies and deer flies are different... at least technicially. There may be regional names for the same thing. Deer flies have been eradicated here because they were damaging livestock. I guess cows would have maggots crawling all over their heads, etc. Horse flies are just biting bastards. As a kid in Indiana, I used to have to run into the lake to get away from them because they never give up. Hell, I'm going to Zion tommorrow, I forgot there are horseflies there. I got a few nasty bites last time...

Speaking of Canada... Black Flies! Used to go camping in Algonquin and would get all bit up.

sean

Francois · « **Reply #23 on:** August 01, 2006, 08:08:13 PM »

Yes... black flies are nasty.
Tiny, almost invisible. The come out by the thousands. They don't sting, they bite a chunk out and fly away with it.
Were lucky... we don't get them very often at my place. But drive 1 hour north and you've entered their hunting territory

Luckily, we only get them in June.

HolgaJen · « **Reply #24 on:** August 02, 2006, 02:47:11 AM »

Quote from: Agent Orange on August 01, 2006, 04:27:37 PM

Hi Jen!

What part of Ontario are you moving to?
If you move to the Georgia Bay region, they have rattlesnakes (called Massasaugas). They're the only snake in Canada and get spooked pretty easily. They live only in the woods.

Here, since I live in a big suburb (takes me 45 minutes to drive out of town... only to get to another town that's usually just as boring), all the wildlife we get are raccoons, skunks, squirrels, hares, rats and mice, the occasional grass snake and frog, ravens, red robins, blue jays, and so on...

Oh, yeah! just to talk about the weather, this morning, when I woke up, it was 44C with the humidity

BTW, Leon... Are Horse flys the same as Deer fly over here? (the ones that fly away with the chunk of flesh as they go)

I know there are rattlesnakes in BC, I've seen em! I dont know where the Georgia Bay region is but I'm moving to London. Do you know that area?

44C ugh... in the MORNING??

Francois · « **Reply #25 on:** August 02, 2006, 07:22:18 PM »

I don't know exactly where Georgia bay is... All I know is that it's cottage country.
London... never been there. The furthest I've ever ventured in Ontario is to Toronto (once) and Ottawa (once). And it was a very long time ago (while I was still a kid).

Yesterday's 44C was capped off last night by a severe thunderstorm (always happens with such steamy weather... it felt like moving in a pot of soup all day)

Just imagine the sight: Lots of lightning, rain, gusts that ripped some trees out in the country, a reported twister across the lake of Two Mountains (what good is a twister at night, you can't even take a picture of the cloud

) and a massive power failure (over 400,000 subscribers without power).

Here, the power has just been restored 20 minutes ago. Lets just say that breakfast was pretty boring.

FrankB · « **Reply #26 on:** August 02, 2006, 08:20:46 PM »

I first (and last, thankfully!) encountered black flies on a trip to Florida a few years back. We'd rented a house with a pool surrounded by a mozzie cage. Thus reassured we went out on our first night to have a few drinks by the pool. I felt something land on my hand, looked and saw a tiny black spec, easily small enough to have passed in through the mesh of the cage. I thought nothing more about it until a few seconds later when I casually remarked, "OW! Bastard! Shit!!!"

Closer inspection showed that the tiny black spec consisted of a large set of teeth with a very small insect attached to the back of them. My comment was shortly echoed by the rest of the party as all the tiny black spec's friends and family (and all their friends and family!) decided that we were an al fresco buffet and proceeded to attack us in much the same way that Dave Miller attacks a cheesecake.

Evening drinks were consumed inside for the remainder of the holiday.

Francois · « **Reply #27 on:** August 03, 2006, 03:48:08 PM »

Quote from: FrankB on August 02, 2006, 08:20:46 PM

Closer inspection showed that the tiny black spec consisted of a large set of teeth with a very small insect attached to the back of them.

Just imagine having thousands of them surrounding you...
And they all think you're the open buffet

HolgaJen · « **Reply #28 on:** August 03, 2006, 04:21:32 PM »

One of the names for them is No-see-ums... I think it may have been from an indian term. Very appropriate!

http://www.griffin.uga.edu/ga/cobb/Horticulture/Factsheets/noseeums/noseeums.htm

chricela · « **Reply #29 on:** August 04, 2006, 05:45:11 AM »

The heat is just miserable!!!!
I've been living in Texas for about 9 years now. It 's always a furnace. Though I can't say I miss New york's humidity.
It seems, at this time, that 95% of state of Texas has a Burn Band

No rain

But this is common, here..even if it sucks!
I don't do too much shooting outdoors this time of year (which can last 10 months out of the year). I keep my developer in the fridge, & use refridgerated water to get the temperature right , when needed. & thank god , (or whoever invented it!!!!!!) for A/C

Ed Wenn · « **Reply #30 on:** August 05, 2006, 12:29:38 AM »

Great thread...there's been way too much chat about photography here recently anyway. Glad we can talk about important things too like the weather, horseflies and Canada.

Go Filmwasters!!

Francois · « **Reply #31 on:** August 05, 2006, 02:58:05 PM »

You're right Ed... it does make for a nice change of pace. It's vacation time isn't it

Thing is, here in the land of beavers and pristine forest, the ever changing weather is a big part of photography. I can assure you that this thread might come back to life next winter (read: ice, snow, cold, ice storms, having snow up to your knees, icy roads, starting to find the British winters very warm and inviting

...).