James Shackleton's Blog

Tree in Landscape (with thick snow)

I’m never sure whether I should post old pictures or not (bearing in mind they won’t be more than10 years or so anyway).

I miss Finland. The glorious summers and snowy winters. And the quiet, self-contained Finns.

I was being firmly retro at the time, using a 1954 Rolleiflex and Fuji Neopan 400 – which I have just heard is to be discontinued.

The beauty of this combination was, that even at -20C, it functioned perfectally.

Leaf in Frost, Finland

I took this photo ages and ages ago, when the millenium was still wet and brimming with promise.

I really miss my Canon G2! I know it seems in bad taste to be nostalgic about electonic stuff, but I do. It was just the right size. It had an articulating LCD. The files usually looked pretty good. And it had a remote control that worked. I miss that.

But it didn’t have VR. And the files were only 4MP. I know some people feel all upity about this and say that should be enough for anyone – well it isn’t for me.

But it was a good camera (everything worked – well suited to its purpose).

I wonder what Ben did with it?

Harbour - Tammisaari

Snow is on my mind at the moment. I’ve just been speaking to my father and he says that there has been more at home. When I flew back to Vietnam I expected that I would take all the horrid weather with me – apparently my grandfather hasn’t been out of his since Boxing Day (I don’t believe that last piece of news incidentally).

The picture above was taken with an old Rolleiflex dating from 1952 (an MX – for the sad fellow trainspotter type who knows what means). It has a Tessar lens which I think looks rather different to those from a later Planar lens (note I wrote “different” not better or worse).  It always worries me the amount of time people can spend arguing about fairly subtle features of a camera. And everyone is so absolute and certain, that they would rather question others judgement than their own experience. I think I’ve only once contributed to a forum once and that was to confirm a particular feature on a Nikkormat (my bread and butter camera at the time).

My current excitement at the moment is with a new bicycle I collected this morning. It would be best described as an entry-level roadbike. When it got a little cooler this evening, I took at for a spin and it was just great. My little computer says that I managed 16miles. My average speed was 14mph and my highest speed was 24.8mph. Not amazing – lots of drifting as you can see, but it was marvelous just wafting along after the constant grind of my mountain bike.

Tammisaari, Finland - 2003

“Oh God, its snowing!” said the SAS flight attendant as the plane descended in Vanta Airport, “I hate it when it is like this,” she continued. And in a way, she was right – it was freezing cold, in an unrelenting, bone-aching way. But this was Finland, where they know the cold is coming and are organised and prepared for it. So nothing was cancelled and all the transport was working.

A few days before I went to a local outdoor shop to pick up some cold weather kit. I told the assistant where I was going and her face fell – she didn’t have anything for “that cold”, she said. But then she laughed and said, “But I don’t suppose you are planning on going out much!” . And she was right – and she was wrong. In the evening, I was with my girlfriend, who was full of tales of puss and root canals (she was a dentist), but during the day I roamed the town, fishing for pictures. When I think back on it, I feel ashamed of the opportunites I missed – note to self – talk to people more – smile.

I think this is the coldest I’ve ever been. What you can see is the Baltic – which was – as it often is – frozen over. Photographed with a Rolleiflex MX which dates from about 1952 if memory serves me. On 400 ASA black and white film – probably Neopan (it works for me). And I’m pretty sure I was using a Gitzo Gilux tripod – I was a believer even then.

Mean People Suck

Helsinki, 2004

Mean people suck – ‘cos they do!

I have been trying to post one photo every day – and I’m getting to the point where I need find new and fresh pictures, which was at least part of the idea behind doing this. One of the problems with having loads of photos knocking around, is that they clog things up and become “things” themselves. You spend time thinking about them – and what you should do with them – rather than thinking about your next photo. You look at them and wonder if you were a better photographer then, rather than now. What if that was the high watermark for you? I once read a rather amusing story by Ed Dimsdale in Ag+ about a family bulldog. One day as the dog lay on one of the stairs, a mouse literally ran into its mouth. The dog literally could’t believe its luck. The downside was that the dog wouldn’t leave that spot  – in case another mouse ran into its mouth. Which brings us back to photography.

This is one of the fastest photos I’ve ever taken. I was with my girlfriend (listening closely), paused for a moment (looking thoughtful) and then caught her up again. I normally only take photos on my own (an interesting sentence).