Meanwhile, starting off with some expired Fuji 100 Acros, feeling a bit sea sick on the train…

After arriving at Circular Quay I was surprised to see Customs House doing a roaring trade in food, as seems to be the custom these days…


Across the road they’ve turned the old Paragon Hotel into a McDonald’s. Now that’s uncustomary… and un-Australian!…

The Quay essentials, drugs, money and food…

The pigeons are different here…


On the ferry heading to Manly. Obligatory tourist shot of the Sydney Opera House…



More tourists having a captain cook. Not a bad endeavour…


Kids doing what kids do best. Trying to stop the pavement bubbling…

Manly Beach. Time to update that myspace profile…

Everyone seems to be point and shooting these days. Old new school street photographer?…

A man’s not a camel so we headed to the pub for some replenishment…

Luckily the next bar was open and seeing as they call it Harry’s Gym we obliged by doing our right arm curls with pints of beer! The girls on the left were balancing a little camera on top of a beer for their myspace self portrait update. I had to balance mine on the table for the quarter/half second exposure and to appease the objectionable dickheads on the right. Suck eggs fellas…

Waiting on the ferry to head back the oldies thought it a good time for a cup of tea…

We went in search of something more substantial and found a nice young lady pouring overpriced Lowenbrau’s around the corner…

Swapping to HP5 Plus @1600 and Sydney Harbour bridge from the ferry…

And skyscrapers that float…

They have these portable wheelchair ramps under lock and key on most platforms. The station master has the key. He isn’t always accessible tho’…

Windows on the World…

The train was packed on the way back and I relinquished my seat (seeing as I already had one!) to a lovely young lady with kids who plied me with cans of bourbon most of the way back. I wasn’t complaining! The bored commuter on the other hand…

Waiting for the driver for the final leg home…

Conclusions:

The inter-city trains can be a pain if they’re full or you can’t do a standing transfer to the seats. The internal doorway into the passenger compartment is very narrow and it gets claustrophobic sitting in the little access area (drinking helps!). The city trains are much better. No access to dunnies.

Getting on and off the trains can be a breeze if you’re a bit of an Evel Kneivel. Some stations have bigger gaps than others though so it pays to always board the last carriage as the guard has the key to the ramps and can give you a little assistance.

I was surprised at the number of stations becoming accessible. City Rail has some good info on it’s website but is not always up to date. It helps to phone ahead if you’re unsure. I even got a call back while on the train advising me the lifts were out at Central and to transfer at Stratfield instead. The guard also checked with me to make sure I knew.

The Manly-Sydney ferry and terminals are excellent and have good facilities.

….until next time

….the journey IS the destination

….Pete

Leica MP with 50/1.4 Summilux ASPH LHSA and 35/1.4 Nokton Classic
Ilford XP2 Super 400 (2 years expired)
Lab developed
Negative scanned (by me, not them!)
Corrected in Aperture

After eight months of delays I finally got the Leica MP back from a certain camera service centre who will remain nameless until they’ve had the opportunity to, at least in part, salvage their reputation.

In January of this year I was given an estimate to Clean Lube and Adjust both the camera body and a Summilux 50mm lens. In May I was told they were waiting on Leica to send parts that should arrive by late June. In September I was advised it was ready to pick up and finally got someone to pick it up for me last week while on a rare venture into the big smoke.

So I finally got to feel it’s familiar weight and smoothness back in my hands the other day. Or so I thought! I could tell straight away that they hadn’t even looked at the lens despite already charging me the high end of their estimate. The upper edge of the blinds looked at bit worn, considering they claim to have fitted new ones too, especially bearing in mind that the Australian Leica dealer had already assured me that the faults is was exhibiting are easily cured with a good CLA.

Loading up a test roll (see next post) I was dismayed to notice that it wasn’t as smooth as it once was. Then I noticed the counter wasn’t working either. After shooting the roll I can see the lever that actuates the counter is fucking bent and not seating properly. The focus ring on the lens is still it’s loose but sticky old self and front focusing. What a fucking joke!

The bastard’s shit me. I want it fixed but there’s no way I want them touching it. To do a Visa charge back, give them a second chance or send it to Solms? Either way, fuck ‘em!

The Developing/Scanning Saga

Then there’s the developing. I ran an expired roll of XP2 Super through it to speed up the development/scanning process and eliminate my Wild Turkey developing innacuracy issues. Turns out the local photo lab has closed down so it was off to K-Mart. They may be able to develop C-41 but the negative scans they supplied on disk are a fucking joke too…

I was thinking they must’ve cross proccesed it in HC-110 or something until I tried my own scan…

Moral of the story? If you want something done properly, do it yourself!

Reminds me of the song Flakes from the late Frank Zappa. Seems like times haven’t changed any for the better!

….until next time

….looking up camera tools and manuals

….Pete.

Sunrise in the departure gate, Newcastle Airport.

There’s a bit of a story to this one…

I was a bit late checking in due to traffic and rudely berated by a pair of former beached lesbian whales literally seconds after they announced check-in had closed despite phoning ahead and being assured everything would be fine.

They refused to let me check baggage which is OK seeing as I didn’t really need a swag for camping in the bush, a day’s drive from my destination, in the middle of winter and camera backpacks travel free. Sensing a power trip happening I politely ignored their, “you know, we don’t have to let you on” diatribe, discriminatory advice for the disabled and having to be there twice as early as anybody else. Fuck me, don’t the silly cows realise that’s what the ‘go to the front of the queue pass’ is for!?

It wouldn’t have been so bad but after the mad rush through the ‘don’t scan my fast film’ check and explosives swab I hastily proceeded to the front of the queue again. In the ensuing madness (turns out there were three plane loads of people crammed into the one gate) they nearly bundled me onto a flight heading in the other direction and after figuring it out just in time told me my plane hadn’t even landed yet and there was an estimated delay of an extra hour before boarding.

The place was packed with whining passengers, I couldn’t move, the bar was shut and I needed a whiskey already!

I considered escaping for a reconnoitre of the other bar and to fire a broadside at the broadsided ones but security was only working one way. Damn!

Saw this shot after the next plane load had left and cleared some space. Jetstar was most definitely not measuring up to myself or anyone else’s expectations!

Estimated aperture/shutter speed and focus. A quick lift-frame-thwap. Missed my estimated framing but wtf. Big girl on the left was wandering why I was trying to run over the toes of people behind me and burst out giggling. Got some evil stares off the phone bloke and quite a few others after the shot. I obviously need to work on my invisibility!

To top it off Jetstar also managed to lose my wheelchair when we arrived in Melbourne. They had an elderly lady bring one of those silly aisle chairs to the door of the plane and push me (seeing as it hasn’t got wheels I can push) half way across the airport. Despite my protests of “but there’s a bar over there” and “what about the lady over there giving free wine samples” she plonked me in the middle of a walkway while she went in search of the man who was fetching my chair. I was like a stoned mullet in a dried up creek bed. Unable to move and passers by giving me funny looks.

What a morning! I finally got to find out Mildura is half a bottle of Wild Turkey away from Melbourne though!

Perhaps I should write a song!

…and, no, Jetstar or Qantas will never see me again.

Leica M6 TTL LHSA with 50/1.5 Nokton
expired Fortepan 100 in Ilford LC-29
negative scanned
corrected in Aperture
no cropping or other shit

I love a sunburnt country but waking up to an ominous red glow filtering through the curtains puts the wind up me. Hearing an accompanying howling westerly, fearing the worst, and jumping out of bed quicker than the Newcastle earthquake my senses were relieved to be full of dust and not bushfire smoke!

The view from my veranda.

So after four days and three thousand kilometres on the road, and two of testing the liver and kidneys at a remote bush camp, it’s back home to the daily grind.

The Esky continues on another couple of thousand clicks to the southern most tip of our continent without me. Why someone would need a box to keep beer cold, or thongs, down there eludes me, but hey, they’re a weird mob!

Conclusion: The iPhone leaves a lot to be desired, as do the Facebook, WordPress apps and photographer! As my Tasmanian mate was heard to mutter, “Get off that bloody camera!” It is after all, only a phone!

Off to play with Aperture then chemicals and hopefully wake up to the smell of some fixer in the morning once again.

…until next time

…fuck digital

…cheers Pete!

Heading off into the sticks now. Probably no reception for a few days.