adventure – Foxes Den

20yr old Kodak Gold

How did the old film trial go? Come in and take a peek.

I posted earlier today Well, that was most enjoyable! Regarding popping out for a morning stroll and taking a 48 year old camera with me to shoot a roll of film that had expired 20 years since.

At 20 years old, the roll was an experiment where i exposed at normal settings, +1 stop overexposed and +2 stops overexposed. I obtained 39 exposures, always possible from a 36 exposure roll, I won’t bother you with them all, just 2 from each exposure range with a brief description. Don’t expect fine art here, it was a snap session to test a number of factors and to see how the film has deteriorated over time.

These pictures have not been retouched apart from having a frame put around them. They are as scanned, for authentic representation.

200ASA

The advertised, original roll ASA rating. Very low expectations and it didn’t disappoint.

At 200ASA the shots were certainly under exposed. The pictures have a cast over them and after development there is a lot of curl on the emulsion (Age) and the base of the film also has a darker tone, creating that yellow brown cast.

100ASA (+1 stop overexposed)

The best two exposures represent the first overexposure of one stop from 200ASA to 100ASA.

Again nice exposure and highlights very prominent

At 100ASA everything seems quite acceptable. There is that hue over the film still, and highlights seem quite prominent. Grain is present but not too distracting.

50ASA (+2 stops overexposed)

If you work by the suggested standard of one stop of exposure for every 10 years then this should be the standard. However I’m not so sure.

Nice colour, highlight prominent and quite a bit of a yellow hue, would need adjustment post processing

Could have been taken in the late 70s or early 80s

So with the exposure at 50ASA we have now introduced quite a bit of grain, a yellow hue and quite prominent highlights. I’m sure all of these pictures would post process fine if run through photo shop or light room. But to be quite honest I love that retro look that they have.

For me i’d probably aim at the 100ASA +1 stop of overexposure on the remaining rolls I have, I believe that would be quite enough, however even the 50ASA option is not too bad though you would require a lot of post working and you’d have quite a noticeable size grain.

Horses for courses as they say, but I’m going down the +1 stop overexposure route for the next film.

I found a little local photo store here in Leicestershire called Classic photo supplies, who specialise in all film processing, supply, printing and Sundry items. The owner Brett invited me in and we just chatted classic photography whilst my film was developing. He’s a super guy, and I’m all for supporting small businesses, so this is my new go to lab. The scans were done and over to me by email within an hour, super quick service. I’ll pick the negatives up in the week when I drop off another film to be developed and scanned.

Thanks for passing by. As always I am honoured by your presence.

Thanks. For your time.

Well, that was most enjoyable!

An enjoyable stroll with a 48 year old camera

The wife told me this morning that she was going out shopping with her sister. Nothing sinister in that, in fact it means two things really. One, I’m going to be a bit lighter in pocket and two, I’m going to have to occupy myself for a while. I have work later this afternoon, so with a couple of hours spare what better time to get out for a walk and to take a 48 year old camera with you that needs testing. This one to be precise: Canon AE1 35mm SLR

I dashed down to take a film out of the fridge, left it sitting for an hour and loaded the camera up, stage one achieved and everything as expected.

Now the film I have been given is one of 8 rolls I have been gifted that are all out of date. This one is a mere 20 years out of date expiring in 2005. This roll of film is older than 21.8% of the Uk population according to the office of national statistics 2024. It’s that old.

Today’s film is a Kodak Gold 200ASA film. There is a general rule of thumb out there that for every ten years the film is out of date you should over expose the film by one stop. So on this film, as it is a further 10 years past that, and if I follow that recommendation then I have to over expose this film by 2 stops. This means in theory that this 200ASA film should be exposed at 50ASA that equates to two stops of overexposure.

I’m not going to do that, I’m going to experiment here. I don’t know how this film has been stored over the years, I don’t even know that it will work at all, it could be fogged or just so deteriorated that it just doesn’t work.

It’s a 36 exposure film so here’s the plan. Exposures 1-12 at std setting of 200ASA. Exposures 13-24 at 100ASA setting and finally the last 12 exposures at 50ASA. Here I cover all bases and should hopefully get a reference roll for the other seven that I have in cold storage at present.

Needless to say I’m not going to be too fussy with what I photograph, scenery, shades, over and under exposure and bright colours, everything that can be used as a reference to check saturation, contrast, grain and film deterioration.

Let’s go.

So as stated, I’ve exposed and over exposed equally throughout the roll, so this should cover all bases.

Right from the start I have thoroughly enjoyed this little exercise, I spoke to two elder gents who were quite excited at what I was doing and shared their own experiences with traditional film with me, it was lovely, i was even offered an old camera but i politely declined as the wife wouldn’t have been happy with that. I walked 3 miles, I went through some of the less salubrious areas, but these areas had some of the best subject matter.

When you are using an old camera, you seem to scan the area more intensely, you see stuff you haven’t seen or noticed before, it’s amazing what you pass and ignore. I think you are less selective with phones and digital media, with film, you are limited so have to be picky.

I bloody loved it. I’d forgot just how good it is to get out there and use good old fashioned equipment.

And that camera behaved just beautifully, everything worked as it should, it is as good as it has ever been, I’m so pleased with how it has behaved so far. See the results here: 20yr old Kodak Gold

I guess the proof is in the pudding as they say. Time to get it processed and to check the results. Needless to say I will feed that back on this blog as soon as it becomes available.

Don’t give up on the past, there is a lot of good tunes played on an old fiddle.

Thanks for passing by, always appreciated.

Back to chilly old Blighty

Checking in after a little time away..

Apparently I’ve not posted anything for a few weeks so I’d better, provide a little update of life as it is at the moment.

We’ve just yesterday, arrived back from a lovely 8 days away on the beautiful island of Madeira. I’m not a good flyer, I hate it to be honest, I panic, I sweat and I prepare to meet my maker on every flight, to be honest I’m very hard on myself. To therefore choose to fly to an island, that notoriously has one of the most difficult landing strips on the planet was not probably one of my best decisions. That landing almost finished me, the brakes were on so hard I was almost in the seat ahead of me, how we even had rubber left on the tyres I’ll never know. But the holiday was lovely. Some pics below.

Some pictures of Madeira, there are hundreds more, but I won’t punish you here.

There are two individuals who seem to have had such an impact on the island, that their presence is seen at most places that you visit. Christiano Ronaldo, a son of Madeira and sporting legend owns massive swathes of the island and the locals won’t have a word said against him, rightly so as he is a local lad that has done good. Secondly is Sir Winston Churchill, he only visited the island twice with a fifty year gap in between, but he painted some local pictures and as a result there are statues and areas dedicated to him all around the island.

Then we came home.

A change in temperature drop of about 15 degrees is extremely noticeable, it’s cold at home, winter is starting to wrap its frosty tentacles around the UK.

The house move is stagnant, nothing is occurring at the moment and I suspect the money people are rubbing their hands as the bill increases with the time they are taking. We’ll just have to be patient, I’m still not confident of what will occur, as I’ve stated from the start my confidence is at an all time low and always has been. Incompetence reigns supreme. (Them not us)

So that’s about it, apart from some new health conditions that I won’t bother you with, I’ll save those for another day, just things that I’ve never experienced before, starting to occur on a more regular basis, growing pains if you like.

So I hope you are all well, being kind to whoever you meet, and most of all that you are all happy.

I couldn’t ask for more.

Take care.

A walk in Humberstone park

Today I took the wife to have some dental treatment. Whilst awaiting for her to rise from the chair, I decided to take a walk around the local park and surrounding areas to take some pictures. I only had my iPhone with me, so I snapped away. Whilst back in the surgery waiting for her to exit her temporary “Prison” (Her words, not mine) i was able to do some edits of what I’d seen. A thoroughly enjoyable walk, and a view of the area that on previous walks, has just passed me by.

Have a great day.

Quaint men’s urinals

Now there’s an attention grabbing blog title if ever I saw one. Please don’t turn away nothing unsavoury to see, and I don’t normally take any pictures whilst in the Gents urinal area. Believe me this is a one off and will never again be repeated.

Unless I see better looking set of urinals than these:

Gates garden centre, Cold Overton, Leicestershire

I walked in this toilet and was instantly hit by the wow factor. Yes these beautiful sculptured ceramic flowers are in fact gentleman’s urinals. Apparently according to my wife all the hand sinks in the ladies are just as well sculpted.

I have never stood in front of a urinal before and thought, “Am I going to get told off for peeing in this” it was a conundrum that lasted two seconds as I was busting to go. I did not get in trouble, but what a charming way to equip, probably the most unappealing section of any business. well done to the design team here.

We visited the massive “Gates garden centre” in Cold Overton between Melton Mowbray and Oakham in Leicestershire. A family Member had brought us an afternoon tea for two, and as we had some time spare, what better way to spend a nice relaxing afternoon?

It was a lovely afternoon some fantastic food, and there was so much cake, that we had to take a box home that we’ve passed on to my brother in law and his wife who live nearby. I love my cake, but believe me I was already getting a sugar rush with what I’d already eaten. It made sense to pass this on and not to waste it.

I love days like this, making memories. It’s all that matters.

Have a superb day, thanks for passing by.

Up and away

What are your future travel plans?

We’ve got a few trips planned this year, and are already planning ahead for where we are venturing off to in 2026. This last year 2024/25 we took things slow and stayed at home as our dog Alf was unwell and we knew he wouldn’t be with us a great deal longer, so we decided to forfeit time away to spend quality time with him, and I’m glad we did. Sadly he left us in August of last year and since then the only trip away overseas we have had since, was when we went to Iceland in February of this year.

Alfs last holiday in Devon with us, he could hardly walk

We have had two or three further breaks away, in the UK and thoroughly enjoyed them, and I think the following year will contain a few more trips away such as those, we have a beautiful country here with so much to see that at present is unseen to our eyes, so I do think a number of our future breaks will be closer to home.

However, that said we are off to somewhere completely different and alien to us this year, that we are kind of looking forward to but not really sure what to expect. We are off to the island of Madeira. Now fortunately we are visiting with a cousin who just so happens to be married to a Portuguese national, so there will be no barriers as such and we do at least have someone with us who knows the island, and that can only be a bonus.

Then come February next year we are returning to Iceland to venture further around the island, we love this place and we are now getting to see things off the beaten track as they say.

Later next year we will be returning to our favourite place on the planet after a hiatus of two years. Cyprus. Southern Cyprus to be precise. It’s a home from home, and the locals in the remote part that we go to, are more like friends to us. I just can’t wait.

Our little home away from home in Cyprus

There will no doubt be days and weekends away interspersed with all of the above, and they will be most welcome breaks to get us both, (especially me) away from the drudgery of shift work.

My dream of retirement sits just over the horizon and hopefully the next few years will bring that dream to fruition.

Until then, we just keep on, keeping on.

Happy day everyone.

Brothers Memorial Day

My dear brother John succumbed to the “Bastard” that is Cancer ten years ago.

He was a lovely guy, fun to be with and the family compared him to a character who used to be on UK television called “Arthur Daley”. Anyone who knew that character would know why we made the comparison with John, as he’d be involved in everything all totally Kosher of course….cough,cough.

A decision was made at his wake that we’d have a family day, once a year at one of his favourite spots, Cassiobury park in Watford. And yesterday was the tenth anniversary meeting, it was a lovely day, however the weather didn’t really behave itself. Despite Watford have plus 30 degree days for getting on for a week now, yesterday the rain decided to hit in near biblical quantities. But did it dampen the day? No, we all had a great time and it was great to see everyone.

I lived for 54 years in Watford and never really liked the place, I really dislike going there but sometimes you just do what you have to do. It’s no big sacrifice is it? But there is no doubt about it that the park at Cassiobury is one of the finest, most beautiful public spaces I have ever visited in this country, it really is a stunning well kept and huge piece of parkland that you really should visit if you are ever in the area.

The normal agenda is for us all to meet at a local hotel and then wander off to the park with a picnic, seats and numerous bats, balls, frisbees and whatever, to have a good afternoon of laughter and sporting activity, that normally results in aches, pains and strains for the older participants that I can truly relate to as I write this post this morning.

There were 21 of us on this on this occasion, from all around the country, Southampton, Leeds, Wales and everywhere else in between. It really was a superb turnout and just shows how much John was loved.

A good turnout, the weather held out for a while

I often like to have a wander, and as I previously stated it’s a massive park and deserves to be explored so here are a few pics to show it off

About 5pm the weather was drawing in and we decided to move out of the park, however we weren’t quick enough, the rain hit – heavy, and we were caught out. Thankfully we had some umbrellas ☔️ and we made our way back towards the hotel. Myself and my wife were bringing up the rear and we stopped under a tree, in the park and just watched the rain. It was beautiful, a calm and lovely moment in a world of total chaos, the only two people in our own little world, it was just one of those photographic moments that your mind creates for future reference.

The rain hit, and created a beautiful memory

Back to the hotel to dry off, and then we were out to a local eatery for a meal, 21 people into a restaurant is a feat of organisation itself, and thanks go to the ladies in the group for doing that without a hitch.

We left Watford about 10pm for a drive back to the East Midlands, we said our goodbyes, made arrangement for a couple of other gatherings that are on the horizon, and had probably our best run home up the motorway that we’d had in many a year.

A superb day was had by all, it reminds me of a picture that was displayed at Johns funeral that made everyone laugh.

Sums him up perfectly and had everyone who knew him smiling and grinning whilst nodding in agreement. It was him. And this is how we remember him.

We have a date for next years gathering, and I can’t wait.

Memories, there is nothing like creating wonderful memories. People may physically be gone from our lives, but they are never, ever, forgotten.

Thanks for reading. Have a super day.

Last nights pub crawl

Just back from our break away and some of us are still in the holiday mode, itchy feet the decision was made to take a short train ride out to one of the areas I patrol at work – Barrow upon Soar, a small town between Leicester and Loughborough.

Barrow-upon-Soar is a parish and large village, which gives its name to a Poor Law Union district, and a county court district. It has for ages been celebrated for its excellent limestone, and is pleasantly situated on the east side of the navigable River Soar, and on both sides of the Midland Railway on which it has a station 2 miles N. of Mount Sorrel, 3 miles S.E. of Loughborough, and 9 miles N. of Leicester. Barrow township comprises about 2510 acres of land and had 1099 inhabitants in 1801, 1638 in 1831, 1800 in 1861, and 1973 in 1871, the increase of the last ten years being ‘attributed to the opening of the limeworks.’ It is in East Goscote Hundred, but its parish comprises also the townships of Mount Sorrel North-end, Quorndon, and Woodhouse, all of which are in West Goscote Hundred. The area of the whole parish is about 9160 acres, and it had 5857 inhabitants in 1871.

Wikipedia

On the train we soon arrived after a 17 minute ride, and as always the difference between city and town is so noticeable, life is a lot more serene and uncomplicated in these small towns surrounding the city.

We tried four different pubs, had a lovely meal in one, took a nice walk on the canal, and ended up sitting beside the river soar to complete the evening. It was lovely and finished off the break away just fine. We now have the joy of a new working week to look forward to. Roll on next holiday….

Here’s a few pictures:

Have a wonderful day. Thanks for passing by.

Just a few snapshots

No words or trying to speak “Proper” here. 13 of us have just arrived back from four most beautiful days on the east coast at Norfolk. Temperatures up into the high twenties, a phenomenon not often experienced on this coast in the UK. It made for a wonderful break away, and this family bond remains as strong as ever as a result. Here are some photos to chew on, all taken with my trusty iPhone 14.

All taken in and around Gorleston and Hopton on sea- Norfolk

Have a super day, stay safe and enjoy this wonderful weather.

Sunday morning coming down

(To quote the lyrics from a favourite song)

I have just finished a run of night shifts, as we are heading out to the coast for a few days with 12 others from the wife’s side of her family. I’ve kind of been in that frame of mind for a few days when people get closer to a vacation or break away when they just slip into “Holiday mode” at work, you know that feeling when the not so important stuff gets shoved to one side in the hope that one of your colleagues will pick it up, when in fact it will probably still be waiting for you to complete on your return. Yep I’ve been in that frame of mind for a few days now. I need a break, no matter how brief.

It’s going to involve an early start tomorrow as we head out to the east coast, first stop Gorleston in Norfolk where us old farts in the family gather at the local boating pond for a break, before moving on to our destination further up the coast. Gorleston is a beautiful part of the UK with one of the finest beaches you will ever see, it just seems to go on forever.

At Gorleston as I’ve previously mentioned, there is a very large boating pond. Here the older specimens of the clan take a break from driving to float their model boats. I’ve been watching them do this for years and have always threatened to build a model warship to jokingly blow them out of the water.

This year I have built a model boat, it is a torpedo boat, I know it floats but this will be its first true test of operation, it could go either way, it’s so damned fast that it could either just take off or dive into the depths of the lake. I hope it doesn’t though. You can read about the build of this boat in the two posts I created about its construction: PT109 wooden torpedo boat kit – construction and the last part: PT109 wooden torpedo boat kit – finishing. I hope to post a video of the actual “Sea trial” pending its maiden voyage or ritual sinking.

Anyway that’s tomorrow and to be totally honest I’m really looking forward to it.

Yesterday was a busy one, I rose fairly early considering I was working nights as there was a special event taking place. One of the younger members of the family, Jude who is only 14 was going to have his first flying lesson, purchased for him by his parents as a Christmas gift from last year. Luckily we have an airport close by that used to be a base for American forces back in the day, that was visited by Dwight D Eisenhower, and was also the home to a squadron of old Stirling bombers. Today it is a local aerodrome, but keeps the title of Leicester airport.

I love having a wander around old airports and in one hangar I found a beautiful old plane tucked away under tarpaulins, a MkIV Harvard built in 1952 for the Canadian Airforce but currently wearing the colours of the California ANG. Registered as G-CJWE (NG481273) known as “Dazzling Debs”.

Jude was going to be heading off from Leicester up over Oakham and the Burleigh estate and Rutland water on a flight that was to be approximately 45 minutes in duration. His parents had paid for two passengers to accompany him, and I was asked if I’d like to be one of those passengers. I politely declined, as much as I love aircraft I’m not a good passenger and don’t really want to fly if there is not really the need to. This refusal worked out quite well as it now allowed both of his grandfathers to be those two accompanying passengers. How lovely is that, I never even got to meet either of my grandfathers, now Jude, has both of his grandfathers sitting proudly behind him.

First flight ✈️

Needless to say, he created some lasting memories this day and was full of smiles on his return, in fact they all were. And to top it all it was a gorgeous day, with some cracking food and fun company.

Blog wise I’ve got the backlog down to ten posts in draft now, and by the end of next week that should be reduced by another couple as two older posts come to fruition. It’s been a busy week, no more estate agent tours as yet, we’ve requested a strict viewing criteria with them now, to deter the time wasters who most definitely have spare time in bucket loads.

Have a great weekend everyone, stay safe and try to stay happy.

200ASA

100ASA (+1 stop overexposed)

50ASA (+2 stops overexposed)

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