Topic: Bloody weather

[gsgary]

I can only get out at the weekends to shoot, too dark when I get home from work and not shot a roll of film for 3 weeks, I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms

[Indofunk]

I understand! My solution of late has been to stay indoors and shoot peoples' gigs, but then I can't do fun stuff like shoot slow slide film at +1EV or shoot redscaled film ... so I empathize

[Sandeha Lynch]

Yup, in the face of Atlantic gales ... and it's not looking good for the coming week.

[Late Developer]

I have been getting very, very cranky at weekends if I've had no opportunity to make plans to get out of the house and make some photos.  Fail to plan = plan to fail.  Wandering aimlessly around London and/or Cambridge trying to spot something worthwhile actually makes things a whole lot worse as I know that when the film's developed, it's going to be a pile of sh!te, at best.

Therefore, I've had words with my other half and we've agreed that we will, forthwith, be planning to sally forth at least one weekend per month and, barring serious ill-health or a natural disaster that blocks our path, we will not be letting a bit of cloud, wind and/or rain get in our way.  As a young man (and that was a fair while ago), I would take my camera out and up various fells and mountains - irrespective of the weather.  In fact, I distinctly recall enjoying it more, the worse the weather got. 

I have allowed myself to be too easily dissuaded from making the most of all weathers and becoming a fair-weather photographer.  As much as I can definitely empathise with the sentiments above, I have to do something about the stifling ennui that falls over me at this time of year.  I was not meant to hibernate.

[jharr]

65F and sunny here in San Diego. Just sayin'... as a native Washingtonian, I miss some weather.

[Francois]

Don't worry, bad weather gets old pretty fast.
So far, I'm good... My winter checklist is almost done. Got the snow tires on, picked-up all that was cluttering the yard, picked up all the leaves (all 10 ultra large trash bags full of them), got the temporary car shelter up, got the rubber carpets in the car, found my shovel and windshield scraper,  begun cleaning the garage to prepare for a long winter.

I still have a film of fall foliage in the camera... still need to fire 15 shots to finish it... stuck in the 'burbs... I need to find a destination close to home to go on a small photo trip, but it's officially the ugly season so I'll have to be extra imaginative.

[KevinAllan]

Same problem here, I was hoping to go to the coast to photograph rock patterns this morning, but instead I've switched on the Nova processor for a darkroom session once the chemicals have warmed up.

[gsgary]

Same problem here, I was hoping to go to the coast to photograph rock patterns this morning, but instead I've switched on the Nova processor for a darkroom session once the chemicals have warmed up.

I don't even have any films that need processing,  I could have a session in the darkroom

[charles binns]

Still lives or portraits.  You don't need to go out doors to photograph them.

[gsgary]

Still lives or portraits.  You don't need to go out doors to photograph them.

The wife doesn't like sitting for me and the dogs are always getting photographed, I would normally be out photographing the  hunt but my wife's horse is not fit after having splint in its leg next one she will be on is the Thornbridge hunt on the 20th

[charles binns]

Still lives then.  My wife doesn't like sitting for me either so I stick to dead roses.

[irv_b]

With all the crappy weather plus being snowed under at work mean I also  haven't taken any meaningful shot for a long time.
 In fact I was talking about this kind of thing with a non photographic work mate the other day and he asked what do I consider a good photographic year?
 1) Is it the amount of ckicks of the shutter?
2) the rolls of film used?
 3) the successful shots?
4) the pics that you are prepared to post for others to see.
 After thinking I said that as I shoot for my own pleasure it was the ones that I would print and put one my wall at home- not that I do.
 How would you answer?

[Aksel]

Same thing on the Norwegian west coast, dark and wet (not in any of the the right ways)
I thought what the heck - I enjoy unsharp and grainy stuff so I loaded the Nikonos with Neopan 1600 and went out in the rain. About 15 minutes later I was flat out in the mud. Nothing else to do than to laugh, washed the camera in sea water and continue the walk. Got some odd looks when I picked up a few points at the local store covered in mud, good times! Note to self - get your ass out whatever the weather.

[Late Developer]

With all the crappy weather plus being snowed under at work mean I also  haven't taken any meaningful shot for a long time.
 In fact I was talking about this kind of thing with a non photographic work mate the other day and he asked what do I consider a good photographic year?
 1) Is it the amount of ckicks of the shutter?
2) the rolls of film used?
 3) the successful shots?
4) the pics that you are prepared to post for others to see.
 After thinking I said that as I shoot for my own pleasure it was the ones that I would print and put one my wall at home- not that I do.
 How would you answer?

For me, it's more about 3) and 4) but also a 5th and 6th:

5) I love to travel and get outdoors (maybe I'm a bit claustrophobic or just have a bit of "wanderlust")
6) I'm really not into still life studies myself - though I do enjoy looking at others' examples

I look at the various photo books I have on the shelf and the vast majority are landscape and travel. The Ragnar Axelsson, Michael Kenna and Pentti Sammallahti one also have a high proportion of photos taken in "challenging" conditions.  I'm not likely to be able to head for a snow-bound Iceland anytime soon but I'll be making efforts not to let British winter get in the way of photo opportunities.

[John Robison]

Not as far North as the OP, just sitting on 47N and the middle of the time zone so latest sunrise is 8:00 and earliest sunset is 4:22 (in about 16 days). Still, I feel the dreary and
wet cutting into shooting also. This is especially true since I'm fooling around with 4X5 on a shoestring budget so I'm using photo paper as negatives. ISO 6 anyone? And of course since it's a cheap project from start to finish the lens comes from a 1929 Kodak 1A and is generally shot at f16 to even out the coverage. One good thing about the cool weather is that I can finally get into the bathroom for some printing without suffocating.

[jharr]

John, x-ray film is cheap and fast. There's a joke in there somewhere. I shoot Kodak Clinic Select Green at iso 80. Okay it's not 'that' fast, but 4 stops will get you some more reasonable shutter speeds. It is ortho like paper, so if you like that look, you are in business. The only 'quirk' I find is that when I cut an 8x10 sheet down to four 4x5 sheets, I have to double check the dimensions (in the dark) because it is just ever so slightly too wide and too long, so I end up trimming a couple mm off of a couple of pieces. Just a thought since I am sitting here scanning some as I type.


Tools by James Harr, on Flickr

[gsgary]

John, x-ray film is cheap and fast. There's a joke in there somewhere. I shoot Kodak Clinic Select Green at iso 80. Okay it's not 'that' fast, but 4 stops will get you some more reasonable shutter speeds. It is ortho like paper, so if you like that look, you are in business. The only 'quirk' I find is that when I cut an 8x10 sheet down to four 4x5 sheets, I have to double check the dimensions (in the dark) because it is just ever so slightly too wide and too long, so I end up trimming a couple mm off of a couple of pieces. Just a thought since I am sitting here scanning some as I type.


Tools by James Harr, on Flickr

Looks like a spokeshave

[jharr]

I honestly don't know what it is, so I'll take your word for it. I inherited a few tools and an old Geha shotgun from my grandfather who likely got them from his father. Since my wife has actual handymen on speed dial and gets her phone ready every time I pick up a tool to "fix" something in the house, these will be relegated to photographic still life subjects. There are two blades on the one with the handles, a straight blade and a curved blade. The other is a caliper. They both need a good cleaning. Anyway, I think the Kodak CSG handled the contrast of the shot pretty well, given its reputation for being 'contrasty'.

[gsgary]

I'm a joiner and it looks like an old version of mine it used to smooth the outer edges of a curve

[Late Developer]

I'm a joiner and it looks like an old version of mine it used to smooth the outer edges of a curve

Yep. My dad was a cabinet maker and the darker of the two tools looks very much like what he referred to as a spoke-shave.

[Francois]

I could be mistaken but I think it's a spoke shave that's designed to make molding. That's why it has a different profile on each side.