Back to the UK

Been back to the UK last week. It really aggravated me that I was unable to link up to the net in order to maintain my updates. I had loads to share.

For starters, I went back to see to some business that occupied me for only 16 hours in total. Driving over there from Germany by car seemed lunacy as I was away from my accommodation in NRW for over 4 days... just to attend 2 meeting that were no more work than 16 hours?

I am not doing that one again! I will fly across next time, no matter the cost.

Well, this time round I may have been stuck due to the volcano's eruption in Iceland.

My brother is stuck in Madrid with his wife on a forced holiday extension. Lucky him!

Lunatic!

The driver of this Range Rover actually transported this Gas Bottle on the back seat of his vehicle... until the coppers stopped him and passed on a hefty fine; just as he deserved.

Little Bump!

Biker didn't look where he was going.

Scanning Done!

I have finally finished scanning the latest batch of images. I can tell you that I am sick and tired of sitting at the computer now. I am a photographer, not a computer operator. I hope that in future I ill be able to farm the scanning out to others... its soooo boring.

So, now that I am done I have to look at each image and edit what is good and chuck what is bad. That will also take ages...

I am not doing that again. I left it far too long to develop films. I racked up 28 rolls of 35mm and 8 rolls of medium format. That is just too much!

Dog Handler in Iraq 2008

(Edited, not retouched)

One of many Dog Handlers of the British Army that risked life and limb of his dog and himself in order to provide security to his comrades and the people of Iraq. He never questioned why he was sent there, nor did he take sides in a conflict that was understood to be of questionable legality from the onset. What counts is that both pictured above returned safely after contributing to one of history's events in this world.

Watering Time! 2008

A military Working Dog of the British Armed Forces being offered water during the hottest time of the day in the area of Basra, Iraq. Daytime temperatures during November may reach up to 40 degrees Celsius. Cool water can be a life safer for man and canine.

Crash in North Wales! 2007

Excessive speed and wet roads turn into a recipe for disaster when not respected in traffic.

Saturday Activity: Shopping

Went shopping with the wife today for our weekly food-shop. She thrives on that and leaves me in peace sipping a coffee in a cafe. That gives me a chance to catch up with all the news in the photography world by reading the newest magazines and papers.

After this 'exciting' event I returned to scanning. I have reached the 542 mark but there is still no end in sight. Find below another edit. Its nothing great, just an edit that I made whilst waiting for the scanner to do its thing.

The wife is also starting to irritate me now with her naggin' about what I need to do for her. She keeps interrupting me, bothering me with niff'naff' and trivia. I think she doesn't really want me occupied with anything that hasn't to do with her.

I sometimes wonder...

Demolished

I am at it again... scanning that is. Whilst the light beam covers the negatives I managed to re-touch one of the images. I was all surprised that my computer didn't freeze up by doing too many things at once.

Gas Cock! Its what is left of the ancient barn! Demolished!

I have decided that scanning is my fate. It is after all my own fault for pursuing a career in photography.

Images scanned so far: 412

Images edited so far: 2

= NOT GOOD

= NOT COST EFFECTIVE :-(

Its my brother's birthday today. I must ring him. Last year I forgot..... (BAD Duncan!)

Edit

Managed to do some editing whilst scanning...

:-(

This scanning is doing my head in. I have been bogged down with this for far too long. I have to find the money to farm this out to others!

Also I found another 6 rolls of film that I hadn't even developed yet. I bet it is loads of documentation of last year's Basra visit. If there is anything decent in it I'll show it here.

The wife is getting aggrevated because I am glued to the computer all the time when I should be mowing the lawn and she has threatened to starve me if I don't tend to my husbandly duties!!!
Buggr! I can't have that! I love food!

I'll be seeing my printer on Friday. Hopefully I will get my first hand print back by then. If he is good, I'll have all by images done by him... let's hope.

Done!

I finally got round to developing my rather large collection of exposed b&w film. Most of it is 35mm so it was not really a problem, just a bit messy to start with as I am a little out of practice.

I managed to shift 17 rolls from exposed state to fixed silver halide film strips...all are 36 exposures long. That will take me ages to scan.

I spent most of the day feeding film strips into my scanner. I have never done anything more boring in my life!!! No wonder labs charge a fortune for doing the job.

I guess I will be scanning for the next few days... then editing... then retouching...

I need to get a life!