Bits and Bobs, but mostly Bobs

Thu, 21 May 2026 20:48:54 +0100

A bluebell after a fright perhaps?

New photos, old camera

Wed, 14 May 2025 21:27:10 +0100

I recently worked with a class of primary school children learning about the First World War (1914-18). We spent time looking at the remarkable collection of photographs curated by the Imperial War Museum. This led to questions about what cameras were available to soldiers at the front and ultimately to me buying a Butcher’s Watch “Carbine” Pocket Camera dating from around 1912, for just a few pounds.

Naturally I wanted to see if this tiny, folding camera could still produce photographs. The shutter still seemed to work and the lens looked fine, my only problem was the obsolete film spool the camera requires. The actual film size (120) is still available and produces large negatives 6cm by 6cm. However, it is spooled onto slightly larger spindles than my old camera can handle and is twice the length. Fortunately a quick spindle trim with some scissors produced compatible film.

These images come from the first film I have put through the camera. The second was a happy accident. There is no mechanism to prevent exposing the same bit of film more than once, something I intend to take advantage of in the future.

I can’t help but wonder what images the camera captured when it was new and what its first owner thought of this tiny, technological wonder that they could carry anywhere in a pocket to capture images of life around them.

Sun, 29 Jan 2023 22:02:51 +0100

Golden turd on the Edinburgh skyline from the National Museum. It perhaps doesn’t look quite so awful in black and white.

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 21:23:33 +0100

Took some photos of several day’s accumulation of frost just half an hour before the thaw set in and it all melted.

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 13:11:41 +0100

Lovely moonrise this morning.

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 21:30:05 +0100

Just processing some colour film from last summer to feel a bit warmer.

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 20:52:39 +0100

Spent the last few days mostly on my own being ill. At least the view outside the kitchen window is pretty.

Sat, 26 Nov 2022 22:46:19 +0100

Figure from the remarkable collection of architectural fragments at Elgin Cathedral. I took this photo in February, but only just got round to developing the film.

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 22:34:10 +0100

Starlings were eating rowan berries in the garden this afternoon.

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 22:15:41 +0100

Met this anxiety filled couple at the Burrell Collection in Glasgow this morning. Apparently they have come over from Spain.

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 15:20:21 +0100

A self-sown sunflower in the vegetable patch. Hopefully there'll be more next year.

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 22:07:07 +0100

Colchicums coming out in the sun

Sat, 07 May 2022 20:22:00 +0100

Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline in February.

Fri, 06 May 2022 14:24:19 +0100

The Wallace monument, Stirling in silhouette against the winter sky back in March.

Thu, 05 May 2022 13:12:44 +0100

Some earth, or, if you prefer, a bit of the Earth from just a few cm.

Wed, 04 May 2022 21:14:42 +0100

Thorny gooseberry with baby berries.

Tue, 03 May 2022 13:33:37 +0100

Experimental image made with homemade RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging) setup. The aim is to make indistinct details on objects clearer, here on a white 19th century clay tobacco pipe.

Mon, 02 May 2022 17:06:15 +0100

A photo of a photo (negative) of me taking a photo of myself. The camera viewfinder shows a mirror image, so looking into the mirror I saw myself the right way round.

Sun, 01 May 2022 17:52:21 +0100

Part of a late Victorian/Edwardian electrical switch excavated along with some of the wiring in a local graveyard in 2015.

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 10:48:33 +0100

Another none too recent view from Calton Hill

Another old film developed

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 18:45:17 +0100

I have had another go at film development. This time a colour film taken some time ago on an old Yashicamat I inherited from my father-in-law. There are only 12 exposures to a film, but 6cm square, so much larger than 35mm.

My expectations for the experiment were set low, but I was pleased with the results. This image was taken from Calton Hill looking across the city of Edinburgh to the old town and castle. Edinburgh is blessed with a number of hilly vantage points. This one is steep, but well worth the effort.

I am not sure how long ago the photo was taken, but the cranes on the right have been gone for some months now.

Another photo, no longer out of time

Sun, 30 Jan 2022 21:53:00 +0100

I have looked at the rest of the film I developed the other day. This image comes before the beach scene I already posted and I actually recall taking this one. It was in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, spring last year. The lockdown had been relaxed and people were able to meet outside, in public, with a few friends or family from another household. It was a warm, spring day; my partner and I met up with our son and his partner for a picnic, carefully distanced from other folk doing the same thing. I remember it was quite exhilerating, scary even.

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 22:05:07 +0100

Snowdrops starting to appear in the garden now

A beach out of time

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 22:16:00 +0100

I finally got round to developing a couple of the films I took sometime between 2019 and 2021. I know this is the beach at Burntisland in Scotland, but that is all. There aren’t leaves on the nearest bushes - so not summer!

Head found in field!

Tue, 18 May 2021 11:01:00 +0100

I found a bit of a head whilst walking by a ploughed field. Poor thing.