I bought a VERY cheap Lubitel 166B medium format 120 film camera............I don't know why!!!

I really do feel that my age is now starting to get the better of me.

If it wasn't enough that I'm carting off out into the Scottish landscape at all times of the day, month and year, in all seasons and all weathers, sleeping in my car, driving hundreds of miles in one day for the fun of it and pushing myself beyond my current physical limitations at nearly 60 years old, I've only now gone and bought a bloody medium format film camera, and I don't know why.

Film is fussy, fiddly and not cheap.

Total opposite to digital.

I'm still trying to figure out my reasoning.

Actually, to say I don't know why is basically complete and utter dribble.

I do know why, so please do read on if you've this far.

I opted for a stupidly cheap Lubitel 166B camera (yeah, yeah, yeah, I can already feel the eyes of seasoned togs rolling like the reels on a fruit machine). In fact it was so cheap, my only hope at this time is that the bloody thing actually works. We'll find out soon enough when I get some film, shoot the shots and send it away to be developed :-D

Okay, the "why's and wherefore's".

Truth be told, I'm really quite fascinated by medium format film cameras and have, for MANY years, hankered after a medium format film camera. I love the square negatives, I'm enchanted by the sometimes dream-like quality of the images and I love the prospect of having to completely set up the shot from scratch. There's a certain thrill associated with waiting for the negatives (hereinafter known as "the negs") to come back from the photo lab and the hope that you've actually managed to get at least one image that looks passable. Ah yes, the unpredictable joys of film-based photography.

So with the Lubitel 166B, it's all VERY manual - there's absolutely no on-board light metering, no autofocus, no zoom, no exposure bracketing, no focus bracketing and no auto ISO. Joyful stuff, and I genuinely mean that because working this way really does put the emphasis back onto knowledge, experience and artistry. I'm very comfortable with digital photography, I know the basic concepts of the exposure triangle (the inter-relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO), I'm getting to grips with composition and I'm happy with how the aperture can dictate depth of field etc.

Technically speaking (sic), the Lubitel 166B is what is referred to as twin lens reflex (TLR) camera. This means that  it has two lenses of the same focal length, one of which is the photographic objective or "taking lens" (the lens that takes the picture), and the other lens is used for the viewfinder system, usually viewed from above at waist level.

In addition to the objective, the viewfinder also consists of a 45 degree mirror (hence the word "reflex"), with a matte focusing screen at the top of the camera, and a pop-up hood surrounding it. The two lenses are connected in a gear-like mechanism, so that the focus shown on the focusing screen will be exactly the same as that on the film. Most TLRs use leaf shutters with shutter speeds up to 1/500 of a second with a bulb setting.

So why turn that on it's head and head back into the Stone Age of photography???!!!

Well, why not.

For me, this is all about creativity, from start to finish. Okay, I won't be processing the film - at this time, I really have the motivation or the time for that. However, the prospect of finding my image, composing it, framing it, setting up the exposure and the focusing is incredibly appealing and I feel that it could serve to authenticate my photography in that my practical knowledge and experience using film will help to improve my digital photography. With my trusty little Canon M100 mirrorless camera and my faithful old Canon 60D DSLR, I can fire away and not really concern myself too much if I don't get it right with the first hit of the shutter button. However, using film, and particularly when using a vintage piece of equipment that is essentially automatic nothing, there is a need to get to grips with every aspect of the shot and making every release of the shutter count. My starting block will be with rolls of 12 exposure film, the cost of the film will be around £7 and the cost of processing will be in the region of £20-£25. That's a lot of money to waste because of not bothering to think things through. So you can see how it has the right potential to create discipline and a sense of purpose to each and every image. In turn, one would expect that disciplined approach to organically transition into my digital photography, and, fingers crossed, it'll help develop and improve my overall photographic capabilities.

 

Dezzy Bee............Dezzy what???!!!

Dezzy Bee is my little red 2012 Suzuki Swift.

He's also known as the Crimson Highland Cruiser.

He's quite a little character and is currently transporting me to many of the fabulous landscapes that my adopted home of Scotland has to offer.

Whilst Dez is pretty small from the outside, he is something of a TARDIS as I seem to be able to pack a lot of stuff in him. Camping gear and photography equipment do seem to fit in his wee interior quite nicely. With the passenger seat back ( and a nice warm sleeping bag in Winter), he's ideal for car camping.

The roads of Scotland, particularly in the more off-the-beaten-track locations, can be very curvy and winding, but Dezzy Bee seems to take it all in his stride, and believe me, we've already seen a few hairy little roads!!!

So, you now know about my little car and how important he is to my travels and adventures in and around the fabulously amazing country I call home......Scotland :-)

Where we're at......

 A restarted blog needs a little background info to establish where things are at this point in time (late December 2024) and what's happened in the last few years.

2020 saw the beginning of some of the biggest changes I've experienced in my life. As with so many people around the world, COVID-19 reshaped the way life had to be lived, but it was also the year my mother passed away, almost 14 years to the day that my father died back in 2006. The impact of her death was both profound and significant, triggering an awful period of mental health illness and some pretty seismic life changes. Professional achievements happened, old relationships ended, a new relationship began, a serious illness occurred that created a defining shift in my way of thinking and living, remarrying for the second time and a life-altering decision that  caused a radical change of direction resulting in my wife and I relocating to Scotland in July of 2024.

Much of what I did and who I was has now changed beyond recognition. Music has now taking something of a significant step back in my life, a decision made soon after we relocated to Scotland, probably not a permanent thing, but for now, it's a bit of a closed chapter. Our new life in Scotland has awoken me to the very real potential of new experiences and adventures that I never dared dream were possible, such as hill-walking, waterfall hunting and sleeping under the stars, all of which with a camera in my hand.

Professionally, I now enjoy a job and work life that is both satisfying and rewarding on so many levels. As a professionally qualified and accredited embalmer, each day brings new opportunities (and challenges) to help those who have lost loved ones. This is a profession that I genuinely wish I had discovered 30 years ago. And that is most likely the last I will say about what I do for a living, that part of my life isn't really what this blog is intended to be about.

So, as I said in the first posty bloggy thing, new life, new country, new job, new home, new wife and that's just for starters. The more serious bits needed to start this bloggy thing are now said and done, moving on from all that, things are all about a life to be lived, creating new memories, experiencing all the wonderful things my new home country has to offer and recording what I can of our adventures with my cameras.

To quote Jean Luc-Picard:

"Let's see what's out there!!!"

The long and the short that'll probably be more long than short, but you never know......

 And here we go......

I've had this bloggy spotty thing for quite a lot of years now, which, at one time, was regularly updated with all my rants, raves and everything in between.

It was mainly about my musical misadventures, sometimes about my photography and more often than not, laced with my opinion on something.

But then I stopped and deleted the lot in a bid to escape the burgeoning and depressive virtual life.

That's actually worked for quite a while now. My social media activity these days is bordering on non-existent, preferring Instagram to Facebook (I know, same meat, different gravy), no Tik-Tok, Snapchat etc. etc. etc. and I've been enjoying the freedom of mind that comes from relinquishing the hitherto unexplained, self-inflicted psychological demands of the Internet.

I post on Instagram with some regularity, I suppose to document for myself more than anything else, some of what goes on in my life. So for me, it's currently acting as something of a personal journal, a timeline of how my life has been going. These Insta posts are then automatically ported over to Facebook. I do this as I have made acquaintances with a number of people over the years who've shown active interest in what I get up to, or they are people who I know personally, be it through work, music or photography. It's also a good way to keep some measure of contact with friends and family, particularly since relocating to another country (more of that in a bit).

I'm now in a position where the dust of the last few years is finally showing signs of settling, which in turn is allowing me a little more time for life, the universe and living in another country.

Yeah, that.

Amongst many other changes, I now live and work in Scotland. My wife Ebony (yes, I've remarried) and I made the move a nearly six months ago (July 2024) from Norwich in the East Anglian county of Norfolk, to a village just outside Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland. So far, it's been bloody great and we're loving it.

And, in part, that's kind of where this bloggy-spotty-posty-webby-loggy thing is now coming in. Living and working in this country has opened a new word of adventures and experiences, and I feel that writing a blog is the best way for me to document all the things I get up to. Ebony and I did seriously consider setting up a YouTube channel about our adventures, but alas, the time and effort needed to maintain that, as well as holding down busy jobs that fund these adventures, are simply too much and we would struggle to create the kind of content that would be needed.

So let's see how long this lasts for as I'm a notorious non-finisher, easily distracted by the things that life has to offer.

The bets are on!!!

Okay, I'm back......again......!!!

Okay, okay, I know, please calm yourselves.

So, there's a brand new year (2025, just so's you know ;-) ) on the horizon and what the hell, I'm going for yet another attempt at maintaining a weblog.

I'm not really sure how long it'll last, but hey, you have to give these things a go every once in a while, "rise to the challenge" sort of thing.

If you've been here before, you need to know that my life has completely changed over the last 2-3 years, and is now quite different. New life, in a new home, in a new country, with a new job and a new wife.

That's just for starters.

I'll probably add some abridged details in the next posty thingy, but this post is all about the big shout that this weblog is back up and running.

But, and this is important - you have been warned.

Now, let's see if anyone or anything actually notices......