The Skirrid Mountain

Last weekend I visited the Skirrid Mountain with my wife and parents, this is another mountain in the Black Mountains range and commands some great views of the Sugar Loaf on one side and views into England on the other. The walk starts from the roadside leading up a rough chipping-lain track that quickly moves into a small forest. On the way up, on one of the regular stops, we chanced across the tree pictured below that had been overrun by some kind of creeper.

Mamiya RB67 Pro S, 90mm Prime. Ilford HP5 , souped in LC29.

It's not until you hit the top of the mountain that the trees cease to grow at which point you are suddenly hit with amazing views both across to the Brecon Beacons in one direction and the flat plains of England in the other. Apparently on really clear days you can see the Malvern Hills from here, it was too misty while were were up there.

Mamiya RB67 Pro S, 90mm Prime. Ilford HP5 , souped in LC29.


Mamiya RB67 Pro S, 90mm Prime. Ilford HP5 , souped in LC29.

Here is a link to the rest of the photos taken that day and a few from the Sugar Loaf a few weeks ago.

Wooden Mountain

I revisited the mountain that is on the way to the folly on Saturday to try and get some more out of the amazing old tree stump that we stumbled across the last time we visited the area. This time I was armed with HP5+ and the idea of using high-contrast as well as a very low angle to create the perception that the stump was a rocky mountain, enhanced even more by the use of a dark red filter to turn the blue sky a deep-black. I'm glad to say that the idea worked pretty well and I'm happy with the results.

One problem I did have was on the processing side of things. I have used Diafine about four times now (twice with Rollei IR, once with Pan F+ and one with HP5+), each time I have been troubled with streaking down one of the edges of the negs. I'm not sure if this is to do with over or under-agitation, but I do know that it is specific to the Diafine as I developed a roll of HP5+ yesterday in LC29 that has come out perfectly. I'll probably post a picture with the streaking on LightCafe to see if anyone can help me with this as all the other aspects of Diafine are so enjoyable.