The last couple of days have been among of the most painful I’ve ever experienced. Strangely, Grandma’s funeral last Thursday wasn’t the worst part – the emptying of the bungalow she called home the following day takes that honour. Something felt very wrong. It was all very surreal and immensely sad as the furniture was carried away. One of the more common sentiments among many of the village residents present at the funeral and afterwards, was that it was the end of an era for the village community. It certainly felt like the end of something you never thought would end.

I had packed a couple of cameras with me and i’m glad i had them. The day of the funeral started as a bright but foggy morning – perfect for getting some moody, atmospheric shots among the trees and around Thorpe Malsor. To be honest, it was great to have a distraction, but the photography also served a deeper purpose of recording the village that had been part of Flint family life for so long. That relationship, that physical connection, has finally gone. Was the photography a form of therapy? Undoubtedly i’d have to say yes.

I took film cameras rather than the DSLR. I did pack the digital camera but then decided to stick with a 35mm SLR and the 6×6. Later it seemed right to be shooting these final (?) images of the village using film. After all, as a teenager, I’d had great fun going around Thorpe looking for images, armed with my trusty Miranda MS2 (my first SLR camera) loaded with Boots film. Fortunately the light was great during my final stay. I’ll be publishing the 35mm and 6×6 images on the blog very soon.

Finally i come to the image above. My iPhone developed major battery problems so that it could only be used if plugged into a power socket. I would have liked to have posted some images, audioboos and tweeted more as i walked around, but it wasn’t to be. Instead i took this image, using my Nokia, of the snowdrops in the churchyard at Thorpe Malsor. For many years, my Grandparents lived in the house opposite. The proximity of the church, combined with living in a fabulous old country house, made it feel very olde world England. The snowdrops in the photo add a feeling of new life. Renewal. A new start.

It was dark when i left the village. Will i return? Well i prefer to use an au revoir rather than a definite goodbye. If I’m nearby, I’ll stop to remember some childhood memories. When it comes down to it though, the Thorpe Malsor residents were right – it is the end of an era.

The harbour wall at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK

The fun has started. I’ve started looking into getting a new computer for later this year. My old Dell is still going strong but it needs to be replaced with a  more modern machine. At the moment, i’m looking at either getting a Mac or sticking with Dell who, regardless of what Mac fans say, do build decent PCs. A computer is a tool and as long as it does what it should, is reliable and the price is right, i have no problem with using either Mac or PC. I can use both. A computer snob i ain’t. My only issue with Apple is cost. Yes their computers are superb, but the prices significantly reflect that too.  It would also mean changing Photoshop, Nikon and Capture One software over to Mac. More cost. More to think about. Sometimes i just get really fed up with the seemingly constant upgrading process that’s part of this modern technological world.

 A February winter sky II

Field boundary in winter – North Yorkshire, UK

For the first time in years, i’m having to look at my broadband provider. After years of great service by my old ISP Tiscali, i’ve been forced into the hands of the UK’s second biggest internet service provider TalkTalk due to a takeover. So far it looks like i’ll keep the status quo and remain a ‘loyal’ customer, but what i find rather annoying is the lack of choice i have from my new supplier. Upgrade or go really sums up the attitude.

ISP’s are like banks – we rarely swap from one to another. It’s too much hassle and the choice is just bewildering, even after ten years of consolidation in the ISP industry. What’s more…. they KNOW this!!!  Why fight it? I’ll sign up to TalkTalk for 18 months and see how it is. My broadband is currently under their control and it’s been the most solid,  consistant speed  i’ve ever had. Important when you deliver images to clients via the internet nine times out of ten. After 18 months i’ll review it and go from there…

Oh dear! It’s been a while since my last post on Darker Skies. I’ll be making up for the shortfall with a post, just a photo or maybe a photo and text, added everyday until the New Year starting on Christmas Day. The shot above was  taken on my iPhone and altered using a rather good photo theme app called Camera Bag. The theme used on this photo was cinema. The iPhone’s camera isn’t quite as good as those on the Nokia phones, but the vast array of post production apps available,  more than make up for lack of the Nokia’s Carl Zeiss lens.

The view from my back garden. I took this photograph a couple of years ago using a Soviet Kiev 60 medium format camera. Although the camera is a basic, rather crude, type of camera, i’ve found that really enjoy using it. I think it’s the back to basics aproach to photography that the Kiev offers. No metering, no autofocus and no program modes – just a simple mechanical camera that’s devoid of technological distractions. You have total control over the image making process, and i like that feeling.

This winter, i’m going to start on a landscape project, and i’m seriously considering using the Kiev 60 as the camera for the project. I’ll be shooting using 50ASA film (Ilford Pan F probably) with the camera mounted on a tripod.  The choice of camera format will be important, so i may end up compromising and use two cameras. Maybe two separate projects running alongside each other might work better, one using the 6×6 Kiev and the other using the 6×6.45 Bronica ETRS.

The winter landscape projects will be released as a downloadable PDF book in late 2009/early 2010.