Fujifilm

I ran a roll of colour negative film through the F100 mainly to check if it was leaving tramlines on the film as this camera has sometimes done. It passed the test so I’m loading up the queen of all colour films, Fujichrome Velvia 50 which, know it or not, you saw splashed across magazines throughout the 90s. I found this precious roll in the fridge (expired 2009) and, since I’ve discovered there’s a place processing slide film in Cape Town, wanted to shoot it on the F100. The F100 came out in 1999 and can use Nikon’s most recent F-mount lenses, including those with image stabilisation for maximum sharpness - especially with a very slow, 50ISO film like this. A lot of young people may only think of film for producing images with character. But Velvia can theoretically out-resolve the highest resolution full-frame digital cameras and produce wild colour. ...

My old beast. Loaded up with a roll of ancient Fujicolor Superia 100 for the first time in more than ten years. This was the first camera I actually bought rather than got as a hand-me-down. I hauled this heavy thing and 30 rolls of film around South and Southeast Asia in 2005 - well inside the digital era but before digital was good. I’ve discovered a few rolls of Velvia 50 and this is the perfect camera to shoot them on. But I need to first see if I’ve sorted the issue where the pressure plate was leaving tramlines down the film.

@kanesnaps and I went out to see the effects of the summer fires in December (if I recall). It was amazing to see how the protea flower clusters had opened up to release their seeds and how there were already some green shoots in the ashes mere days later. Also impressive were the huge shards of sandstone blasted out of the boulders like onion layers where the water dumped by helicopters hit the searing hot stone.

John demonstrates his fistfuls of charcoal braaiing technique in his back yard in August 2023. The gum trees are a trial to him dropping leaves steadily in his pool. But in compensation they’ve attracted a young African Harrier Hawk or Gymnogene which is always an exciting garden visitor.

I dropped @withoutaleaf off at the harbour to take the Hogwarts Express. Some of us work from home and see and do the same things everyday, and she has so many adventures she begins to find some a nuisance. It’s not long ago she was spending the working day watching lions eating a giraffe they’d killed.

It’s the first time I’ve done this walk since March. So much going on with the cat boi going missing and then getting injured. I decided to take my camera. I just can’t get good results with a phone although some people can. I’ve also changed laptops and still haven’t sorted out my photos again. So I edited these on my phone.

Leucodendrons, @kanesnaps tells me. A very pretty and delicate protea that looked quite spectacular in spring profusion, painting the entire mountainside yellow.

@kanesnaps and I went heroically up the mountain by a new route (for me) and found that rock that looks like a camel from certain angles. It was lovely up there, where the traffic noise suddenly disappears and you’re in this magic park in the sky filled with the astonishing diversity of plants in the fynbos botanical region. Kane almost got bitten by a very unfortunate young puff adder that had been run over (almost certainly by accident since it was so well camouflaged on the road - such that Kane nearly didn’t see it too). Luckily some guys working up there arrived in a truck and ended it’s suffering with a sharp spade since it was way too injured to possibly survive. ...

I feel like Observatory’s going through a bit of renaissance as covid winds down. @withoutaleaf got ice-cream from @_tapi_tapi - and it’s really good. Lots of African ingredients are used. It seems like not long ago tourists would struggle to find anything African to eat that was accessible to them in Cape Town. But now there’s a lot on offer. Can definitely recommend this place. Great, unique ice-cream and super friendly, informative people working there.

Doing some technical reading on the balcony with this chonky chap. It’s the first warm weather in a good long while and he’s here for it. 27 degrees according to the weather app. No doubt there’ll be plenty more cold weather ahead. But this is a nice break. I’ve had a nasty cold for a week. Did a great show on Friday @noongunbrewery in Muizenberg. Thank goodness we do a lot of instrumentals because I couldn’t croak a note.