Camera: Diana 151 Film: Fuji Pro 400H

My brother gave me a box of old cameras, mainly old box-brownies, but in it was this cool box camera with the largest waist level finder I have seen in these kind of cameras ever.
It’s an Ensign Ful-Vue and what is more it takes 120 rolls nicely!
The settings are pretty simple and shutter speeds are ‘T’ (equivalent to ‘bulb’ setting on later cameras ie shutter open as long as you hold it down) & ‘I’ or instant (which in this case means 1/30th second)
When shooting my first roll, I had accidentally left the shutter on ‘T’ – Of course I didn’t realise my mistake until I had pulled the developed film out of the tank and examined it against the light. When using cameras such as this, with such limited options and controls, it is amazing how often I can make a basic mistake!
This shot is from the second roll of film, where I actually made sure I didn’t have the shutter set on ‘T’

Camera: Ensign Ful-Vue
Film: Ilford HP4 125

This photo is a detail of Ken Unsworth’s ‘Annulus of Stones’ (2007), a sculpture at the McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park in Melbourne’s South East.

Camera: Bronica SQ-A     Film: Fuji Neopan Acros 100

Seven Acre Rock is a large rocky outcrop, 600 m altitude, which provides superb views of the Yarra State Forest, the Bunyip River Valley, and the Bunyip State Park in the state of Victoria.
It is located in the Yarra State Forest, deep in the logging area south of the town of Powelltown, about 80 km east of Melbourne. It can be visited by a 2km return hike from a picnic area. The geological formations of quite stark white boulders are surrounded by natural forest all around on the slopes leading up to it, but near the peak stand (and lie) the casualties of the bush fires that ravaged many parts of the state early in the year; the charred, blackened and truncated trunks of trees that were. They act as a quite aesthetic counterpoint to the chalky white rocks. This image looks out across the Yarra Valley.

Camera: Bronica SQ-A    Film: Fuji Pro 400H

This image represents my first foray into home C-41 development. The chemicals were a bit warmer than needed (at 42ºC) but still within usable range.

Method: The Nova Pro-Speed 41 ‘Press Kit’ is a two step C-41 process consisting of a short development time (in this case 2min 5 sec @ 42ºC) agitating 15 sec initially then 5 sec every 30 sec and then 3 min blix, continuous agitation (I misread the instructions and should have only done 2 min Blix for that temperature but it didn’t seem to matter).

Seven Acre Rock is a large rocky outcrop, 600 m altitude, which provides superb views of the Yarra State Forest, the Bunyip River Valley, and the Bunyip State Park in the state of Victoria.
It is located in the Yarra State Forest, deep in the logging area south of the town of Powelltown, about 80 km east of Melbourne. It can be visited by a 2km return hike from a picnic area. The geological formations of quite stark white boulders are surrounded by natural forest all around on the slopes leading up to it, but near the peak stand (and lie) the casualties of the bush fires that ravaged many parts of the state early in the year; the charred, blackened and truncated trunks of trees that were. They act as a quite aesthetic counterpoint to the chalky white rocks. Here is one image where I tried to capture the poetry of these juxtapositions.

Camera: Holga with Waist-Level Finder as modified by Randy at Holgamods   Film: Fuji Neopan 400

Developing Notes:
Film Rated ISO: 400
Developer: Ilfotec HC
Dilution: 1:31
Temp: 22ºC
Time: 6 min
Method: Initial agitation 60 seconds then 4 inversions every minute, Fix for 5 minutes then Ilford Wash Technique & dip in Fotoflow.

Camera: Diana 151   Film: Kodak Tri-X 400

Rated ISO: 400
Developer: Rodinal
Dilution: 1:50
Temp: 20ºC
Time: 13 min
Method: Initial agitation 55 seconds then 10 seconds every two minutes.
60 sec Stop Bath (Kodak Indicator Stop Bath). 5 minutes Ilford Rapid Fixer. Ilford Wash Technique then Kodak Fotoflow for 30 sec.

Camera: Holga 120N with Waist Level Viewfinder (modified by Holgamods)
Film: Shanghai GP3 400

Developer: Rodinal
Dilution: 1:50
Temp: 20ºC
Time: 15 min
Method: Initial agitation 30 seconds then 10 seconds every 3 minutes.
60 sec Stop Bath (Kodak Indicator Stop Bath). 5 minutes Ilford Rapid Fixer. Ilford Wash Technique then Kodak Fotoflow for 30 sec.

There is a seaside camping/caravan spot we sometimes go to in a quiet spot called Walkerville on the coastline east of Melbourne. This van has been there for quite a while, but I can’t ever remember seeing anyone occupy it, although admittedly my holidays are usually not in the peak season due to my shift work. I feel there’s something about caravan parks out of season that seem quite serene and sometimes a bit mysterious…

This shot was taken with my newly acquired modified Holga (with waist level viewfinder, bulb modification and cable release) from Randy at Holgamods, expect a review in the ‘words’ part of this blog soon!
Camera: Holga 120N with Waist Level Viewfinder (modified by Holgamods)     Film: Fuji Pro 400H

On a long road trip it is a good idea to have a break in the journey to stretch ones legs and in the case of children to have a play in a playground if you can find one. On a recent trip we found ourself in Sale and discovered such a spot that also had one of those old-fashioned playground round abouts which don’t seem to be around much anymore. We all had a ride on it, the kids especially loved it, and amazingly, no-one threw up (we were going round and round pretty fast!)

Camera: Holga GFN    Film: Fuji Pro 400H

On the 3rd week of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, my family kidnapped me for a few days and we went along the Victorian Coastline up to Tathra, which is over the border on the South Eastern New South Wales coastline. It was lovely and pretty much the only consistent, consecutive few days of blue sky and sun we saw during September. On the way home, through driving rain and gale-force winds, we stopped overnight at Lakes Entrance. The weather was still inclement the next morning but not as miserable as the day before, so I went for a stroll along the water’s edge in the morning. There was a cage with all these hessian sandbags in case there was need to hold back the water, I suppose…

Camera: Holga GFN     Film: Fuji Pro 400H