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. 

The  overcast conditions with passing showers returned in the l afternoon so I decided  to return to the Conservation park in the late afternoon with Maleko and  incorporate some more photography  with a  poodlewalk. The photography didn't work out as  it started to  rain on our way there,  and the rain continued  whilst we walked along Strangeways Rd.

The rain  had set in so there was no point in hanging around.  I could have tried to work with an umbrella  but I decided that was the end of the  large format  photography  for the day.  

I would have to wait for another overcast day if I wanted to photograph the other site  that had been selected on the Saturday poodlewalk. It's autumn so more rain and overcast conditions will come  soon enough. 

 I reckoned that  2 exposures of 5x4 b+w sheet film constituted a successful photo session.  It is not often that my  luck holds with respect to the light -- in this situation it  flat, even light that was required.