SQ-A First Roll - Derwent Water

  Although i have posted shots from my Bronica already the shots below are from my first roll with my SQ-A.  The only reason they haven't been posted earlier is that i have only just got the chemicals in to develop them.

  My wife and i decided to head up to Maryport in the Lake District very last minute one Friday evening a month or two ago.  We had friends up there who said we could stay over and the plan was to get to Derwent Water near Keswick before dawn to catch some sunrise shots over the water.  Sure enough after 4 hours sleep there we were on the lakeside waiting for the sky to brighten.  It was a joy to use my SQ-A for the first time and i cant wait to get back up that way again for some more shots.  Tiring but fulfilling.

Large Small Things

  After much 'um'ing and 'ah'ing i decided not to get a macro lens but fork out the vast sum of £11 for a set of close-up filters for my Bronica SQ-A.  While i can focus up to half a metre with my lenses i have always been keen to get that little bit closer.  I wasn't sure how sharp these filters (lenses to picky people) would be so i thought id run a test roll of black and white through the camera to see.  Armed with my £3 Ikea lamp and a huge reflector from ebay i setup my tripod.

  And i was rather pleasantly surprised.  Whilst a little blurry in places due to my own focusing error i really like how the shots came out.  It was fun to play with such a narrow depth of field, and the depth of field preview switch on my lenses was invaluable to say the least.  Im hoping to use the filters lots, especially for close ups in portraits.

Party Night

  Old friends visiting is always a good excuse to go out on the town.  7 of us headed into town to our local live band venue to see some bands and get a few drinks.  I decided to bring my Polaroid 600 as i thought it would be nice to get some shots of us all together.  The music was good, if not to everyones taste (after a middle-of-the-road rock band finished their set a thrash band started playing)!

  We left shortly after and headed to the off licence (via a cash machine which nearly ate my card) and then into the centre.

  We ended up at Glovers which is not my kind of place but served the vimto/fruit pastille cocktails that the girls wanted.  Not long after we decided to head back to my house for fun and games.

 

  We ended up staying up until 4am playing hide and seek and blind mans buff.  Quite a few people collided or had their shirts accidentally ripped mid-game but its was all part of the fun.  Then it was off to bed for us all (dont ever try to inflate a double airbed using your own lung power) ready to spend sunday tired and sleepy.

Lazy Day

  After a hectic Saturday the unexpected weather on Sunday made it clear that a relaxing trip to the park was in order.  My wife and i packed up a few bits of photography gear and headed off to our favourite park.  It covers a huge area and has a small forest with a lovely stream adjoining it.  There is also a miniature train that offers rides at certain times of the year, an arts centre, a mini golf course and a playground.. We only had a short wander as we were tired and had to get some shopping done before Tesco closed.  I decided to shoot some polaroids as, to be honest, i couldnt really be bothered with anything more technical.  My wife got a bit excited using our new cokin polarising filter and was snapping away at some reeds in a pond.  I found it was nice just to be out in the gorgeous weather with her, enjoying the surrounding nature and lazily shooting my Polaroid.