Two Men In A Room

Morning folks - in a nod to the mighty WIRE and their cracking tune 'Two People In A Room', this is another tale of countryside adventures and one way roads.

As he has been wont to do recently, Sir Bruce Of Robbinsestershire duly picked me up and whipped me away to somewhere I had never even heard of, but curiously, had passed once:

HMS Peewit. 

It is a motley collection of hangars now used as farm buildings, outside the famous Angus golfing town of Carnoustie. 

The hangars are easily mistaken for those massive farm barns you often see these days, but in reality, look a little further, and they're obviously hangars; there's remnants of runway and tumbledown collections of typical RAF base buildings scattered about too.

Sir Bruce (knowing no fear) sidles Der Linsenwagen up all sorts of roadways I would never even dream of looking at. 

And that's just what we did. 

"Isn't this . . . ?"

"Nah, we'll be alright."

It's a bit like being with your Dad actually and in a good way!

He also went and asked permission from the landowner, and we unpacked our gear and went and Stared The Camel In The Eye.

I was using the Hasselblad SWC/M, on a tripod, loaded with FP4+ rated at EI 80. 

I went with this combo because of the tight quarters expected in the buildings and the forgiving nature of FP4+.

And I really did need it. 

The lovely thing about the SW is that if you obey the bubble, you're fine. Anything that looks squint will be squint, though fortunately most builders do use spirit levels! Its only caveat is that YOU are entirely the judge of focus (as it is a VF-only viewing camera) - this can get quite complex close up. 

I always recommend carrying a small tape measure with you, and also always recommend that you MUST realise that the really strange bendy image you see in the VF looks nothing like what is captured by the lens. In other words - TRUST THE MACHINE!

When you learn to do that, everything should fall into place.

The other thing I love about the SW is that it is a superb architectural camera. OK it doesn't have rise and fall and other movements, but get your viewing position right and the camera level and it will render an interior beautifully. I love it and am very aware that I am lucky to own one.

Anyway, without further ado, HMS Peewit.

Peewit 1

Peewit 2

Peewit 3

Peewit 4

Peewit 5

Peewit 6
(That's Bruce btw)

As you can see, she's mostly used as a gardener's shed these days (though actually it has probably been so for a long time) - you can find more about her real history from reading four articles on Bruce's blog. 

I prefer his photos to mine, so stick that in yer pipe and smoke it.

You can find them if you click - -> HERE

The film was developed in Pyrocat-HD. I did that because of the very obvious disparity between those deep interior shadows and the windows. 

Some of the shadow readings were around EV 1!

Not only was the day quite gloomy, but the light indoors was pretty shocking too. 

You're talking exposures (taking into account reciprocity) of 145 seconds at times:

"STAND BACK FROM THE TRIPOD! Now put that cable release on the ground . . ."

Yes, not the easiest, but fortunately the tripod was sturdy and there was no wind.

It's possible that the Peewit will very slowly slide into the ground - as you can see the exterior brickwork is in need of some TLC, however the interior concrete is pretty damn fine - when you think about it, the brickwork is just camouflage - what it disguises are concrete bunkers. 

How long do they last? 

Even the heavily-exposed-to-the-elements ones around these parts are still doing fine, so you never know . . hundreds of years?

It all depends on how long the windows can carry on for I suppose - some of them are boarded up . . . 

We both commented on what a fine photographer's studio it would make with a little jimmying-up.

The above are all scans of prints - sadly they don't do the prints justice. 

There's levels of detail in there which I think goes above and beyond 5x4.

The prints are also not as 'grey' as they appear to be above, but hey ho, that's what happens when you use a cheap scanner and can't be bothered with all the curvy stuff. 

Admittedly, they're not the most exciting photographs in the world, but if I've managed to convey some of the atmosphere of the place to you, then I am happy.

And that's about it really.

Normally at this festive time of year I do a yearly round-up, but I'm not sure if I can be bothered this time (even though [actually] it has been a very productive year photographically.) 

So, if you don't get another clarion call from MailChimp to your inbox, you'll know why!

All that remains is for me to wish you all the best for the Festive Season, and, in an increasingly chaotic and angry world, peace and happiness for the New Year.

Take care, have a good one and remember to get the sprouts on around about now.

H xx