tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52308899947428084652024-02-24T02:05:22.741+00:00Space PilotA blog about experiencing life through drawing and photography, and using pictures to tell stories.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-65042417794143870542024-01-18T01:25:00.002+00:002024-01-18T01:26:41.383+00:00New Blog As of 2024, I'm retiring this old homepage and moving to a new blog with more of a journaling format. You can find me over at Mark's Journal. See you there.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-30806927697614223412023-06-28T13:01:00.001+01:002023-06-28T13:01:55.694+01:00Sunny 16 Rule for Celtic Lands I've been away trying out exotic film stocks for a while and I decided it was time to post something photographic.One of the things I have been thinking a lot about is taking film shots with old cameras that lack built in light meters. These cameras were designed to be used without such a thing and, if you get hold of a Kodak camera manual from the 50s or 60s you'll see how folk took good Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-38520094633628021882023-03-31T13:10:00.001+01:002023-03-31T13:10:21.309+01:00Dungeons and Dragons I recently restarted a long-running Dungeons and Dragons game that I started as Dungeon Master back in the days of lockdown during the Covid-19 crisis. We started it on Zoom and I've kept it that way as it allows the far flung family and some pals to join in. It's a great way to spend an evening every month catching up and creating a story together.Being online, I've come up with a few waysAyesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-47962405237471095382023-02-26T21:10:00.001+00:002023-02-26T21:10:24.320+00:00January I thought I'd better post these photos from January before February is out. As usual there are more on my lomography site.This last one features a story on a mug from Shoreline of Infinity.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-22002419076337978342023-02-16T22:52:00.004+00:002023-02-16T22:52:42.174+00:00Winter Photography CatchupI've finally got round to developing and having developed a few films that I shot over the Christmas holidays. I was putting some Agent Shadow from Kosmofoto through its paces, push processed to 1600 ISO, and some Santacolor 100 from Santa 1000, an ideal colour film for the Christmas period. I picked up both of these from the crowdfunders that got them started.The Agent Shadow Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-19582772713349035422022-11-03T16:48:00.004+00:002022-11-03T16:53:47.386+00:00Lomography Time Again I've been having fun with a couple of Minolta Dynax cameras. These were very expensive beasts in the 1990s and 2000s but are now available for around £20 including a lens on the secondhand market. No duds yet. They seem pretty reliable.Anyway I've been taking some Agent Shadow pictures with a one f-stop boost to get round the dull autumn light in Scotland and the results are on my Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0Scotland, UK56.490671199999987 -4.202645828.180437363821142 -39.3588958 84.800905036178833 30.9536042tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-76100009371663716572022-07-23T00:19:00.001+01:002022-07-23T00:19:26.118+01:00A Wet Afternoon, A Wind Farm, My Petri 7S, and Rollei RPX400The other day I took a trip to the Whitelee Windfarm with some of my family. Unfortunately it was a heavily overcast day with frequent rain; so not much light for photography. It seemed a good opportunity to try out some Rollei RPX400, a fine grain fast film, in my trusty Petri 7S rangefinder.After some struggles pinning down an exposure setting I got some acceptable results and the Rollei film Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-75377173620270400232022-07-14T12:55:00.005+01:002022-07-21T12:53:20.234+01:00More Yashica Photos I took out the old Yashica TL-Electro minus the Electro recently (plus a whole load of other photographic stuff, hence no posts here for a while). The new yellow camera had an issue or two; so it's back at the camera hospital being finely tuned. I loaded up a roll of the newly rebranded Fomapan 200 Creative panchromatic film. Apparently they loved the graphics that KosmoFoto had put on Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-58703650905665332122022-05-27T15:40:00.002+01:002022-05-27T15:43:24.863+01:00A Wee Update I was becoming increasingly aware I haven't posted here in a while. In fact I am thinking about moving the whole blog over to my Lomography page. I'll leave directions here if I do.At the moment I'm allocating cameras to purposes. I think the Petri 7S will remain as a good street photography camera. Of all the miniature cameras I have it's a choice between the Rollei B35 and the Minolta Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-27993858049979035622022-02-15T21:09:00.000+00:002022-02-15T21:25:11.289+00:00Half Frame, A Parallel Tiny World I managed to get hold of an Olympus Pen-D at a very reasonable price. I've been checking these out on eBay for a year or two and the prices are usually overinflated for what is a nice but fairly basic camera.The collectors are after them because they form a unique little story in the development of compact cameras in the 50s and 60s. This is the story of half-frame 35mm cameras and the Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-15527424792748816392022-02-15T20:05:00.002+00:002022-02-15T20:05:18.754+00:00Exercising Old Cameras I dusted off my Rollei B35 the other day, realising I hadn't used it in over a year. This is not a good thing for old cameras which need their cogs and springs exercised once in a while to maintain them. I had had a couple of problems with the winding mechanism and so I decided to run a film through and see if there was a real problem with this. It turns out that patience is the solution Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-84400712061100230012021-10-09T12:25:00.002+01:002021-10-10T16:23:09.285+01:00More Lomography, More 110I took the Minolta Autopak 450E out for some snaps last month then tried out some Ilford ID11 developer on the Lomography Orca film with some nice results. It's a very useful pocket-sized film camera and can take good photos with a little care.I've uploaded an album of the photos to my Lomography home at ayesongs · Lomography.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-43102004225277429142021-08-07T11:26:00.002+01:002021-08-07T11:26:44.054+01:00Further into the Tiny World of 110 Cameras Flushed with the success of my project with my old Dolphin Sirius, I managed to acquire a Minolta Autopak 450E, probably the best of Minolta's 110 offerings of the 1970s. It features an actual focusable glass lens and two exposure levels with exposure metering plus a built in Minolta Pocket flash. Once I get used to the symbols for the zone focusing this camera should be at least as usable Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-63764703953692221252021-07-30T09:31:00.003+01:002021-07-30T09:31:28.038+01:00Birthday CameraMy brother came up with a brilliant birthday present this year: a Petri 7S rangefinder, one of those wonderfully sophisticated Japanese cameras from the 1960s. It has metering visible in the viewfinder and not a battery in sight. So you use it like and SLR while having the immediacy and quiet operation of the rangefinder.Great wee camera and great results too.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-12915183288306874492021-07-21T16:37:00.001+01:002021-07-21T16:39:39.730+01:00Into the Tiny World of 110 Cameras I found my old Dolphin Sirius underwater camera and decided to give it a run with some film. The Dolphin Sirius is a 110 camera that takes tiny little film cartidges and produces teensy negatives that make 35mm negatives look like posters.Fortunately the nice people at Lomography make good quality 110 film and I bought a panchromatic Orca cartridge and popped it into the Sirius. Taking the Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-33474515481557620092021-06-20T12:32:00.001+01:002021-06-20T12:32:48.140+01:00Film Test: FED 5V Well, I ran a film through the old FED 5V and got to know it a lot better. The film of choice was Kosmo Foto Mono, a nice 100 ISO black and white film with an appropriate Soviet aesthetic. I developed this with Ultrafin at 20°C, with a 10+1 dilution for 6 minutes. I add this detail because Kosmo Foto films aren't listed on the Massive Dev Chart Film Development pages.So what were Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-26843686439350948662021-06-18T22:48:00.004+01:002021-06-18T22:48:32.982+01:00Another Old New Camera I managed to find another vintage rangefinder, or is it? This one is a FED-5V designed in the 1970s. However it has a very late serial number and may well be one of the last models built in the mid-1990s.Anyway, it all works mechanically and the rangefinder appears to be accurate. So I'm running a film through it to see whether it is light tight and whether the lens is functioning well. Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-91113988367228259042021-06-17T18:00:00.004+01:002021-07-21T12:33:15.634+01:00Busy Exploring with a New Camera Oops - looks like I missed posting for the past month. That's because I've been out and about testing and setting up an old 1960s Minolta A5 rangefinder camera.I've had mixed results with rangefinders; a lot of these mid-60s Japanese cameras come with some electronics which means finding replacement batteries and then dealing with shutter mechanisms that are intimately involved with the Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com2Dumfries, UK55.070859 -3.6051226.760625163821153 -38.76137 83.381092836178851 31.55113tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-56278163363121538482021-04-06T10:19:00.007+01:002021-04-06T10:21:41.868+01:00Easter Monday on the Crichton Campus, DumfriesWe had another beautiful spring day yesterday and missed the cold snap and snow that struck the east side of Scotland. Some fantastic spring colours were to be found amongst the wonderful old buildings that Elizabeth Crichton gifted to our town.The first two photos are of the more industrial buildings. The fancy rooftop is on the School of Multidisciplinary Studies. The trees seemd to be just Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-20939823840722680322021-03-13T02:25:00.002+00:002021-03-13T02:25:53.526+00:00Contagion - the full story Magpie of Space story Contagion is now complete and free to read at Magpie of Space. Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-56511473477857651282021-02-06T02:38:00.002+00:002021-02-06T02:38:56.871+00:00Magpie of Space: Contagion - Episode 13Magpie of Space: Contagion - Episode 13: Dr Trope makes her way to the Bridge, eager to hear news of the miniaturised away team. Have they managed to access the Space Station charg...New episode now available.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-76845343944103638692021-01-28T14:28:00.001+00:002021-01-28T14:28:21.360+00:00Other Health Issues Still AriseThe global pandemic doesn't have a monopoly on human health and this winter we've had our problems here in Space Pilot HQ. My wife is undergoing cancer treatment and so I haven't been around the blog or web comics very regularly.I hope to come back to these things later but other priorities are more pressing for us for now.Thanks for your interest in my work. I do have the last parts of the Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-91660899111960680542020-12-26T00:26:00.003+00:002020-12-26T00:26:36.120+00:00A Happy Christmas to all our ReadersIt's been quite a year. I hope you can all have a peaceful time this Christmas and recharge for the year ahead.Nollaig Chridheil!MarkAyesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-91008600925511395972020-12-13T00:06:00.001+00:002020-12-13T00:06:08.031+00:00More Magpie of Space The Magpie is back! Lt Hazard has been lost in teensiness somewhere in the Engineering Lab and now we know what has happened to him. Read all about it in The Magpie of Space.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5230889994742808465.post-55451697450886886992020-12-04T14:53:00.006+00:002020-12-04T14:53:46.229+00:00MILK Has Been FundedThe good news today is that my pal Stevie White will have his graphic novel MILK published thanks to a lot of good people who pledged to fund it on Kickstarter. The other good news is that I now have time to finish the next Magpie of Space comic. So watch for that soon.Ayesongshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15497210880441369021noreply@blogger.com0