We seem to be on (an admittedly slow) roll with pubs at the minute.  The Nag's Head.  Nice.  Fancy a pint?  Why not, eh?  Abingdon, again - by the Thames. The Nag's Head pub in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. On FP4+ thinking it was HP5+ HC110 for a good while, Foma 133 paper and then dunked in a-bit-too-strong freshly made Pot. Ferri ..read more

I read that the number of pubs in England are in rapid decline.  I guess the Covid lockdown was a game-changer for many - people stopped going out and maybe by the time lockdown was lifted their habits had changed.  A lot of pubs now rely on food to boost their profits - and then you have the dreaded 'gastropubs' (whoever thought up that 'orrible name has a lot to answer for if you ask me).  I do have a lot of sympathy for the pub landlords, to be honest - rising utility bills, rents, raw material and staff costs combined with fewer customers must mean many are in financial trou ..read more

A couple of weekends ago we were in the City of Dreaming Spires, to give our daughter a little lift before her finals, which are approaching at the speed of a bullet train.  As my wife and I wandered around the city I was thinking to myself this could well be the last time we do this.  Next time we are there will most likely be for graduation - and that is probably going to be a quick-in-quick-out affair.  So I was making the most of it, complete with the M6, 28mm Elmarit and a bunch of HP5.  The icing on the cake was that as we passed by the entrance to All Souls College w ..read more

A right mess of rocks and waves it is. It looks like clouds but it's all just angry sea: 'Blad/250mm/FP4+ with red filter so a few seconds exposure - on a tripod but not that you'd know as it was very windy.  Foma133 with thiourea tone ..read more

Not the sort of doorways you see around The Liberties, I must admit, but I guess these sorts of grand entrances that we came across from time to time in Budapest aren't that uncommon in the old cities of Northern Europe. Spotmatic, 28mm, home-brew thiourea tone on Foma 133 paper. Interesting fact: it occurred to me during our short trip that this was the first foreign trip I've made where I didn't take - or need - any local currency.  Hungary uses Florints - and there were 450 of them to the pound.  Not an easy number to do on-the-spot conversion, unless you round up ..read more

Last year I had a milestone birthday (60) and as a special treat my wife took me on a short trip to Budapest.  Yes, I know - but I'm worth it.  Haha.  Budapest was a city I had always wanted to visit, ever since I found out about the trip my uncle made to the city in the late 1930s (documented here, in case you've forgotten).   It didn't disappoint, although we only had two full days to explore, so it was a quick in-and-out.  The best part?  - we could fly direct from Belfast, which made the journey so much easier.  Well, except for the fact that we had ..read more

 Still in a very cold and windy Portballintrae, but looking west this time: That would be Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal way in the distance. Blad/250mm/FP4+/Foma 133.   I had a 10-stop ND filter on this one which took me down to about 8 seconds ..read more

I finally got those last frames of FP4+ wasted and actually made it into the darkroom on Saturday morning.  I was a tad rusty, of course, but got something out in the end: Looking out over Runkerry Beach towards the Causeway, which lies just beyond the headland Blad/150mm/FP4+/Foma 133.  I took this shot not far from the car park as it was ridiculously cold that day, with a wind that would clean you, as my mother would say.  My wife and I had intended going for a walk along the beach, but after about 5 minutes we both looked at each other and said 'Let's get back to th ..read more

I'm pleased to report that the various things that have been keeping me from the usual nonsense on this place are gradually coming to an end.  I actually got a film loaded into the 'Blad the other day and got the shutter release pressed, oh, at least three times.  Impressive, I know.  I hope to press it another few times soon and then you might get to see some new stuff.  In the meantime, here's a oldie from a few years ago - Ballintoy, on a stormy day: On a side note, we've had an uncommonly large number of pretty violent storms this winter.  Missy was booked on the ..read more

One from a while back.  In my mind this was Birkenhead docks from the rear of the overnight Stena ferry from Belfast, but the big ballast thing on the top of the leftmost crane says 'Belfast Harbour'.  Hmm.  Well sure it's either one or t'other, makes little odds. Not much is sharp, even though I was resting the camera on the big steel thingmy at the back end of the ship. Missy has just left us again, to complete her last semester before graduating later this year.  It was really lovely to have her home for a good long time - we reconnected and we were all sad whe ..read more