I've started experimenting  with digital black and white whilst making some seascapse with the 5x4 Linof Technika IV  and colour sheet film. The weather condition chosen   was the mist and fog hanging around Encounter Bay on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula over the Xmas/New Year period (2023-24).  

I've never had much success with digital black and white conversions from a colour digital file using the Sony A7 R111--- the results have always been disappointing, as  the images have  looked bland and muddy.   The recent seascapes and fog offered me an opportunity  to experiment to see if I could create something better.   The above 'behind the camera' image is an example  of  this experiment.  

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Now that Suzanne's broken fibula is healing and she is able to walk one of standard poodles I am able to start to plan a photo trip to the Murray Mallee in South Australia. I will take Maleko with me. 

I plan to pick up where I left off prior to  the Covid pandemic, which was  in 2019. This was the Claypans  and the nearby  Copeville and Galga area  that were on the old  Waikerie railway line, which was a branch line from Karoonda. The railway  was constructed around 1914  and was closed in the 1990s.  

I will start by returning to this  site and this photo:

It will be a large format photo trip and my initial camp will be in the quarry near Copeville,  as it was on the previous trip.  Things have changed in the meantime.  The Copeville silo was painted  by Jarrod Loxton in 2022 as part of the South Australia silo art trail. 

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The picture below  (from early January 2023) comes from  my decision to explore and  experiment with  a  different approach to the seascape project that I have been engaged in over the last year. I am finding it an intriguing project. 

The exploration involved searching for   different locations from the Rosetta Head one  that I had previously been using. What I was looking for was  a site   that  would enable me to get closer to the sea , as well as  provide protection from  any surging rogue waves. I was wary as I'd been previously caught with expensive consequences for the photography gear. 

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Last Sunday (26th March) was  overcast and raining.  These are  good conditions  for  returning to the  Spring Mount Conservation Park in the southern part of the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia to make some large format photographs of the bushland.  I did return,  and my objective  was to  photograph the bushland in  black and white. I have learned that monochrome works better representing  this old growth stringy bark  bushland  than colour film.   

The photo making  needed to be after  the rain  had eased and before the cloud cover cleared and the sun came out.  The location chosen was along Strangeways Rd,  which I had identified  the day before whilst I was on an afternoon poodlewalk with Maleko.  There was no low cloud or mist between the trees that morning  but it was gloomy -- suitably so  - and, luckily,  there was little wind.   

I had about  45 minutes to an  hour in the  mid-morning  to use the 5x4 Sinar F1 view camera.   I was able to make 2 exposures before the sun came out and changed the atmosphere. 

Like the Gitzo tripod I was using,  the entry level, Sinar is around 50 years old,  as it was probably made sometime in the 1970s. It is  a lightweight, modular, view camera and very  easy to use in the field;    or  either  the right angle viewer  or the   binocular reflex magnifier on the back  of the camera.  I don't have either of the latter.  I just use a simple dark cloth, which is a hassle to use when the wind is blowing. I didn't have time to put  the Sinar pan tilt/head on the tripod. 

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Continuing the light series/project.  This  is  Light #3 for contrast. 

The photo was made on a  spring morning in October 2022 looking across Encounter Bay from Rosetta Head at Victor Harbor.  

There was heavy seafog that morning. These are infrequent as they only happen a couple of times during the year. 

A couple of days before, and between Xmas and New Year 2022,  have been conducive for seascapes and  photographing light. 

An example of a seascape from Rosetta Head at Victor Habor in the early morning:

A cold front  came through from the south west on  the morning  of the 27th after the previous day of  40 degree and  hot north westerly  wind. Rosetta Head is a favourite location for seascapes as I am able to find protection from the strong south westerly  wind.

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The fourth in the  series of photographing light per se which broadens the terrain beyond photojournalism, documentary and landscape. 

This is looking east over Encounter Bay from the shoreline of a small beach in front of Whalers resort complex. 

Another image  in the  series of photographing light per se which broadens the terrain beyond photojournalism and documentary:

This is looking east over Encounter Bay from Rosetta Head.

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The studio  hardware  upgrade is  nearly finished.   Thank goodness. 

The old Mac Pro (2009) and  its cinema monitor are  now sitting in the garage looking for a new home. The  Mac Studio and  Eizo monitor  replacement  have  arrived,  been unpacked, and are  sitting on my desk in the studio.   I've  just started  working with them. I've also upgraded to the  Adobe Photography plan. I didn't want to lease the  photo software  but  I really didn't have that much of a choice.

A picture from 2021 of a building in Pirie St made with my old Rolleiflex TLR through an open  window in the Epworth building:

At this stage of the upgrade I cannot get my  old Epson V700  flatbed scanner to work, even though I  upgraded to the VuScan software. So all the film photos from  2022  plus many of the b+w ones from 2021 have yet to be scanned.  I have been forced  to order a new Epson V850 Pro scanner. 

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This is my second attempt in my little project of photographing light per se:

On this occasion I endeavoured to  simplifiy things down to the bare minimum.  I'm  at the western edge of Encounter Bay on Jetty Rd that runs alongside  Rosetta Head in the early morning. I'm precariously balanced on  some rocks at the very edge of the sea. It is early in the morning just after sunrise. The advantage of digital is its flexibility as working with a tripod and film would be much more difficult. 

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