I've been going through the archives  looking for material for the website's various galleries  and I came across some studio based work:

I had ignored this body of work because I couldn't develop it. I didn't know how to.   Technically it  wasn't very good and that discouraged me, especially when I saw the quality studio work on the internet done with  high end DSLR  cameras.

 But I  do like the way film can flip things--makes them odder or wilder. 

I have finally had  the  batteries for the Rolleiflex 6006 system repacked by a battery outfit in  Thebarton.  The previous attempt to repack them in Adelaide was a failure, as the person doing it didn’t know what they were doing. The batteries, though new, would not recharge, and, if I couldn’t find anyone else in Adelaide to repack them,  I was faced with sending things back to Rollei  in Germany.   

The 6006 is  a bulky 1990s system, but a good one that I use regularly. However, the battery pack is an old fashioned one, and over time it holds less and less charge.  Without the batteries the electronic cameras become expensive doorstops. This system had been out of action for six months because I couldn't  find anyone to repack the batteries properly.

I'm happy that things up and running as it means that I can do more table top pictures in the studio. 

The heat wave continues in Adelaide. 

 I'm doing more work in the studio--at the moment it is black and white shots of a clove of Russsian garlic. I'm decided to use up the expired Ilford FP4 125 ASA  film, which  came with the Rolleiflex 6006  system that  I acquired a year ago.

This is a rose from the garden at Solway Cresent. It was taken in 2011 with  Fujichrome Provia 100F using a Cambo studio stand.

I spent yesteday scanning 5x7 colour negatives on the flatbed Epson V700 scanner without much success.  The negatives were scanned without a film holder, as no film 5x7 film holders came with the scanner.   I used the film area guide  and they have a strong blue cast. I couldn't  restore the colour with the Epson software. It did not work at all.

Unfortunately for me there are  no 5x7 film holders  made for  the scanner. They only go  up to 5x4. I am converting some of the scanned negatives to black and white but I will have to invest in a flexible  5x7 film holder from betterscanning.

I can see why people make the shift to digital.

During the high summer in South Australia it is difficult to take photographs.It is very hot and without the the cloud cover there is a very limited time at dawn and dusk to take photographs.

I don't fancy walking across rocks in the dark carrying large format equipment to have it all set up before dawn. Usually I have a location in mind and I  wait for some cloud cover to soften the very bright sunlight.

In the meantime  I make use of the studio. It's a simple set up: tabletop,  window light, closeup rings on a Rolleiflex 6006 , exposures of around 2-4 seconds, a 120 roll of  Fujichrome  Provia 100F and some fruit and  vegetables, such as this avocado.