You would think that, with more daylight hours, summer is ideal for outdoor photography, but it really is not. The trees are masses of green glistening with sunlight when they are not putting everything else in shade. The sun rises too early—four o’clock, really?—and sets too late—around dinner time with P. And when I gather the courage to venture out, it’s a long and hot uncomfortable walk.
Thankfully, my local neighbourhood has been a good substitute provider of my shutter therapy. Last Saturday, I monitored the outside conditions all day until they were just right to leave the coolness of the house a couple hours before sunset. I walked through the nearby retail park, then continued on to the Farnborough IQ business park. There, I went through the routine of hiding from the security guards, of being spotted on CCTV, and of eventually being told by the security guards that it was “a private estate” and that photography was not allowed, that the Heritage area was not National Heritage, and that I definitely did not have the right to take pictures. I was, however, privileged to do so as long as I did not loiter. Still, I enjoyed a nice walk around the historical buildings that gave birth to British aviation.
I brought the Minolta X-300 along with a few rolls of Fomapan 200 black-and-white film. I hadn’t used this camera for a while and wanted to exercise its internals. I exposed all the shots based on the internal lightmeter readings and so was pleased when pictures came out perfect from the development with Rodinal 1+50.
Here are some shots from the day.
