You would think that, with more daylight hours, summer is ideal for outdoor photography, but it really is not. Trees turn into masses of green glistening with sunlight and put 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 enough courage to venture out, it’s a long and hot uncomfortable walk.
Thankfully, my local neighbourhood has been a good provider of my shutter therapy. Last Saturday, I monitored the outside conditions until a couple hours before sunset when they became just right for me to leave the cool of the house. I walked through the nearby retail park on to Farnborough IQ business park. There, I went through the usual cycle of avoiding the security guards, being spotted on CCTV, and eventually being caught and told by the guards that it was “a private estate”, that photography was not allowed, that the Heritage area was not National Heritage, and that I definitely did not have a right to take pictures. I, however, had the privilege to do so as long as I did not loiter. Still, I enjoyed a nice wander around the disused buildings that played such a big part in the history of British aviation.
I brought the Minolta X-300 and a few rolls of Fomapan 200 black-and-white film. I hadn’t used this camera for a long time and wanted to exercise its internals. I relied on the internal lightmeter readings to expose all the shots, and so I was pleased when perfect pictures came out of development with Rodinal 1+50.
Here are some shots from the day.
