Keith came to visit again and he brought some sunshine with him, which was nice. We got out for our customary wander and didn't have a plan, just go out and see where we end up. We started at Preston Dock, where I shot a roll of Fomapan 400 for a separate blog, then we headed to the seaside and had a wander around Fairhaven Lake at Lytham St Annes near Blackpool for an hour. I loaded Baldy the Baldax with a roll of Rollei RPX 25 120 medium format B&W film. The sun was very high and bright, and I hadn't used this film before. Keith had given me a couple of rolls some time previously and it was high time I used it.
Our first stop was the Fairhaven Lake Café, which was closed, to see the multitude of wildfowl that hangs out there on the off chance a human comes along with some free food. It was there where I met a rather tenacious Swan who thought my camera was something tasty to eat. After a good chat with it, I happily directed the swan to a chap with a loaf of bread who was being followed by a gaggle of geese and a couple more swans and it soon lost interest in trying to eat my camera.
When wild animals become accustomed to humans, they relax and get on with their lives, which at this time of year means raising their chicks. I found a few compositions as we made our way around the lake. It's a popular spot for recreation and plenty of folk were either walking or jogging along the path, there was also a chap in a powered wheelchair who had a good natter to Keith, who was sat upon his chariot, and they cracked jokes about having a race. British humour at its finest.
We eventually made our way to the Spitfire on display at the opposite end of the lake. This is a full size replica to commemorate the important role that Lytham St Annes and Blackpool played in RAF Fighter, Bomber and Coastal Command during WW2. Pilots came to Lancashire to train in aircraft before being deployed to their operational unit and defending our skies from the Luftwaffe.
You don't really appreciate the beauty of this weapon of war until you get close to one. R.J. Mitchell, the designer of the Spitfire, definitely got it right as pilots often said "You didn't strap into a Spitfire, you wore it." It was comfortable, could turn on a sixpence and matched the Messerschmidt Bf 109 in the skies above the English Channel whilst our Hurricanes went after the Luftwaffe Bombers during those dark days of WW2.
We had a glorious afternoon of photography and I hadn't quite finished my roll of film, but we were getting tired and headed for home. We were happy with what we had achieved on another splendid wander around a couple of great places to visit right here in Lancashire. I finished my roll of Rollei RPX 25 a few days later in Mesnes Park, Wigan on an equally sunny afternoon.
I developed my film a few days later in Zone Imaging 510 Pyro diluted at 1+150 for 9 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 sized led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.
It's always a joy to get out and about, especially when I have Baldy the Baldax with me. The conditions were wall to wall sunshine and I didn't have to do much my film in post production. Baldy the Baldax thrives on slower films and thus it was with this roll of Rollei RPX 25.
The slow speed of 25 iso gave me decent exposures without having to max out the camera's shutter and aperture settings in the process. I have another roll in 35mm format and will definitely be using it when we get another sunny day and I will use a yellow filter with it, just to eek out the contrast a little better.
Here's a few favourites from my very first roll of Rollei RPX 25 120 medium format B&W film. We had a wonderful afternoon and you can view them and more in my Rollei RPX 25 album on Flickr that you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Rollei RPX 25 - Balda Baldax
