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.

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.

Daisy the Springer Spaniel

Spring 2008

For about an hour last Spring, it snowed. Daisy sprinted for the kitchen door to chase the falling snowflakes, which she clearly felt were in need of some instruction. In midleap out the door, she realised what a dreadful mistake she had made (not being the outdoor type which you might imagine – being a Springer), her heels dug into the ice, leaving little furrows as she skidded to a halt, turned and in two beats was back in the kitchen again. Her look is to say, “Well I can see that some would like it, but it’s not for me”.

After Snow in Emory (GA)

I always seem to be attracted to snow and ice. I found this photo in a little drainage ditch in Emory – I have the feeling I was quite near the university. I only seem to be able to find a small jpeg of it. My memory is of being freezing cold, but very happy trudging through the snow. The roads were quiet, ‘cos the Georgians didn’t seeem so keen to drive in the snow and so I was pretty much alone (which can be nice).