Film Cameras

For quite some time now I’ve had a film SLR camera in my flat. It’s an old Ricoh KR-10 and it is easily my most satisfying camera to take pictures with. Winding the film is like pulling back a bolt from a bolt-action rifle, releasing it is like putting the bullet in the barrel and replacing the bolt, and the wonderful click as you finally take a picture is like pulling the trigger. Simply glorious.

Part of its appeal for me comes from the orgasmic experience I described and the other part is the fact that everything you do with the camera is deliberate and manual. None of this auto focus crap or automatically setting the best aperture and shutter speed for you like a fussy mother, everything is chosen by you.

That and it’s all so simple! You have the aperture, shutter speed, focus, zoom (if you have a zoom lens), and the shutter release, that’s it. Nothing more and nothing less than the bare minimum and I love it.

Unfortunately film has become alot more expensive over the years since digital arrived and 72 pictures is going to set you back £12 for the film, plus £15 to process the film, plus another £20 for prints (prices approximate). So when you’ve developed another 3 batches you might as well have just bought yourself a DSLR.

I do love using the Ricoh but nowadays digital is definitely the way to go for amateur photographers on a budget.

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Two Weekends, Two Rivers, No Swims, Winning.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently but as a treat, here is an entry from my other blog that I just wrote about the past two weekends of kayaking!

http://goo.gl/P03px

Something terrible has happened

I have started to actually enjoy going to the gym!

As some of you may remember I wrote an entry a few weeks ago explaining that my new year’s resolution for 2012 was to go to the gym. I found a fitness programme online and had been sticking to it fairly well before I fell ill a little while ago. I’ve fallen behind a bit and I’ve actually missed going!

It’s strange because in high school we had a sadistic (ok bit harsh but that’s what it felt like!) teacher who made us run and run and run, and row and row and row until I could barely breathe. I hated running because it practically killed me and there were asthmatics who could run further and faster than I ever could. I hated rowing because my backside felt like I would never be able to sit comfortably ever again once I poured myself off the machine. And after all the effort I put in, I was always the weakest and slowest. I hated the sessions. Simply because I was trying to compete with people so much better than me that I could never hope to compete.

And I believe that is why I am enjoying the sessions now. Because myself and Paul can actually compete with things. I am still terrible at running but I’m better than him swimming and everything balances so that overall we’re about as unfit as eachother!

I’ll post up some results of the fitness test I did at the start of the programme and when the programme is finished I’ll post them up too. Let’s hope I actually improve!

It was going so well…

I feel like I’m back in high school and, having woken up a bit late, had a lazy shower and slow breakfast, and missed the bus, am now shuffling awkwardly into registration a full ten minutes late with staring judgemental eyes fixed on me all the way to my seat. Ah sixth year, I don’t miss it.

So you may have noticed I haven’t posted in a while. Quite a few days in fact. Nice “daily blog” right? Honestly, I am genuinely apologetic to anyone actively following this blog looking for procrastination material but I’m about to explain my absence. Bear with me. Please.

A few months ago I was invited, through facebook, to a party in my hometown with my “adopted little sister” because it was her birthday. Obviously, I was delighted to say I could attend and that most of the friends I had accumulated there, including my “brother”, would be going too. Except I completely forgot about it till I noticed the event on facebook, at four in the morning the night before. Oh crap-baskets. So, having inevitably slept in the next morning, I missed one bus then managed to get one an hour later and arrive just in time, almost early in fact! I had a brilliant time and I really should make a point of seeing them more often, though hopefully without spending so much money next time! I don’t mind really, it was her birthday!

What I did mind was the conversation involving a friend, my “brother” and myself before going to sleep. And I was having such a great night up to this point. Basically, I’m not going to talk about it to anyone except those involved and that’s that. Needless to say, it put me in a bad mood, or as my other “adopted little sister” would say, POUTY!

So that’s why I haven’t been blogging. This was on my mind and I wasn’t in any mood to write about anything else. I’ve got some good topics coming up soon though so if you forgive me then come back tomorrow (later today, whatever I know I should be sleeping) and I should hopefully be able to entertain you with stories of… something. I haven’t quite decided yet. I’m a master of last-minute decisions! When I say master…