A small handful of shots from the vintage Canon EOS300D ‘ ‘Cattle Stuff’.
Rural NZ look, but within 10min of Auckland’s CBD
MikeHawkey.com
photos and other things…
-
Like a number of countries, NZ is currently balancing on a seesaw of trepidation to see ‘what next’ with the America Iran war/conflict/situation (whichever is the correct legal term for your jurisdiction). Depending on the metric used, we sit at about 30% increase in fuel price and no restrictions yet. End result locally – fuel costs more.
As the price was beginning to climb last month, I took my favourite shutter machine, the GF-1 and its 20mm Lumix lens out for a stroll around a local Coffee and Cars show. Shooting with square in mind most the time and a focus on mostly yesteryear, here are some shots of the morning.
Pop-up headlights – I noted a volume of them (unsurprisingly). Sometimes you don’t miss something until it’s gone. Due to modern crash standards, we will never see these beasties again in a new vehicle – the drag aerodynamically, snag pedestrians as they get run down, cost more to make due to extra mechanics – and often, when up, look a little ugly – but they were a style of the 70’s to 90’s era (and older).
So much old steel. I have a particular soft spot for old British iron. Some beautiful Ford Escort’s and Anglia’s (perhaps locally known to some in my era as Angle Boxes) were present. 70’s and 80’s Japanese options also present, were amazing beasts of their time – so advanced when they hit our shores in NZ compared to the old Fords, Austins, VW’s etc.
Ford Mercury Cougar – as a child a family member had one of them. What a great mustang alternative – and a different take on the pop up headlights mentioned. Morris Minor – almost handed over cash for a project one of them several decades ago. #27c pictured – a T-Bucket? – what a fun old machine – no wheel guards, no rollover. A box with a big motor. Radical. Tidy Toyota AE86 -Hachi-Roku.
The Mini Car Club had a good turnout. Only a few snaps here, but featured a line of attendees next to the MX-5 club. A beautiful VW Karmann Ghia – long ago I had the opportunity to buy one, but decided it was too much work. Like many of the cars on this page all these years later – rare and valuable.
Ha – much of this post is me just listing off cars. Thats kind of what people do when visiting car shows from one angle. Some dig deep into ‘car tech facts’ or memories. Many appreciate the visual reward of a pack of old cars that spark some memory of life/desired ownership/posters on wall… whatever the car meant to them (or does now). For the attendees, they are in a like minded breed of owners of special things that usually hold some deep connection.
Thats all for today!
-
This is the second to last of the series taken by our mystery photographer. Only one box remains for our exploration through their eyes. Today’s lot is mostly Moscow! As with the rest of the series, I can’t be sure exactly when they were taken, but am working off clues. The biggest clue is a stamp on the Agfacolour Transparencies box suggesting development in 1965. I think that checks out looking at the cars – maybe a viewer can identify better based on landmarking and developments?
Above leading photo labelled ‘Sunbathing At Polish Customs’
One of the many statues near Leningrad 
Russian Countryside 
Typical Wooden House Near Moscow 
Log house near Moscow 
Red Square and Moscow Museum 
Gvm Dept Store Red Square A lot of this series slides were labelled on the slide frame, so I have where possible written that out word for word as it was shown. Looks like the photographer and group took a bit of a road trip in some Commer Vans – the FC model if I am not mistaken. British made (on that side of the planet – also assembled by Todd Motors in NZ), there looks like no official mass importation happened to Russia – so perhaps the group had a European road trip over in them? – wish I had more of those slides!
Moscow Starlins Grave Headstone 
St Basils Red Square 
Geoffrey & Me 
Moscow University 
Russian Domed Church 
St Basils Russian Orthodox Church 
Moscow Kremlin Walls 
Graves of Prominent Russians 
Red Square line 
Moscow Outside Lenins Tomb I may be mistaken, but I am pretty sure the man above is who I referred to as the ‘photographer’ in my Hong Kong series. Now, in the Russian series, he is in front multiple times so there is a unknown ‘second’ photographer! It’s funny how roughly 60 years on the dress style is not so indifferent to today in many shots. That said – I never see young men (boys) in hats like these ones anymore. A shame – they are cool.
Moscow – Young Pioneers in Red Square 
The Kremlin 
The Stare Armoury in the Kremlin. Most of the traffic is trucks 
St Basils from across Moskva River 
Hotel and Hotel Ukraine 
Kremlin Walls Many of the landmarks in this era are the same tourism landmarks of today … perhaps not exactly today – its not the easiest place to travel to from the west with war and conflict both there and elsewhere as I write. But no doubt one day things will have changed and boarders will again be open. As with all places in conflict, from a purely visual architectural perspective, one hopes landmarks of the old survive into tomorrow.
[unreadable writing] Tomb 
Spacecraft Sputnik 
Moscow University 
Bolshoi Theatre 
Moscow Lenins Tomb and Kremlin 
Lenins Tomb St Basils 
Woman Worker 
Our Guide in White It’s a moral and ethical challenge sharing photos of places in conflict. My perspective is I am sharing a snapshot of the time where the image came from. It’s offered from a position of historic viewing and void of political standing or stance. Is that the right thing? – I can’t say. Images and history should always be shared regardless of sides of a fence or standing. A reasonable volume of people in these photos are likely departed. What that they believed, felt and experienced are all just parts of our imagination as we look at smiles and otherwise towards the camera. My highlighted man clearly had a great trip anyway!
Entering Lenins Tomb 
Members of the Young Pioneers waiting to see Lenin 
Red Square Gvm Dept Store 
Que to enter Red Square 
Outside Intourist Hotel As we near a close to this series, I pull out my two remaining favourites. I loved the headline image of the group resting with their vans, but also the two below. For the first one (labelled Moscow), I can’t quite work out how the roading system operates. Clearly there are driving lanes, but it appears there is a large concrete patch in the middle. Is it car parking? It’s perhaps just bizarre as in my part of the world, it would either be kerbed and grassed, marked as a carpark, or more likely, have a building sitting on it! I bet it’s not just wide open concrete 60 years on today!
And finishing with another favourite. Its not a perfect focus, as is the case with several images in this lot which seem to be set to infinity not close focus – but its still a good one!
I’ll call it ‘The Gang’ – so they know the photographer? Maybe. Older lady walking past and some joker just sitting in the sidecar of the motorbike as the rider is ??? How old does that phone box already look compared to its surrounds! Very new looking window frame on the shop. I google translated the giant many word sign. Do you know what it came back with? – Food! – Its 18 Russian characters long. I feel like Google is simplifying it for me. Food.
It is titled in slide ‘Near Leningrad Local Bakershop’
And thats all for today. Farewell old time Russia.
All images scanned on the Kaiser Baas ‘Photometer Touch’ and fine edited in Darktable.
-
What do you get when you cross a ‘iffy’ Pentax SV and a box of Lucky 400 Film?… mostly photos, albeit semi dirty ones. I recently purchased a Pentax SV in ‘kind of’ working condition. The film counter is faulty, the self timer is faulty, the curtains were faulty, the lens front ring was half on crooked and seized (now fixed enough). It’s nearly as working as I need it to be. I don’t really care less for a self timer (though I may try to repair it some time). A film counter is really handy, so I do want to have a go at that some time. Dry running ok, I threw in another box of Lucky 400. I had shot the last box trying my non assisted Sunny 16 skills at 200asa. Being I didn’t trust this camera yet (or my skills), I used my phone app for a meter as the SV is another of several meter less SLRs in the collection (it won’t fail if it never had one!).
Yellow filter mounted, I took this to be 1 stop’s worth and shot at 200asa. Early on in the roll I noticed 1/60th and under was not closing the curtain. Into the dark bag, out comes the film, off comes the bottom cover and I made some adjustments to the shutter curtain tensions. By ear, they are not bad now and no issues with the curtains. Film back in, wound in dark with cap on up to where I left off, and away we went again. Focus is easy, viewfinder bright and controls pretty much exactly where they are for 80% of all SLR’s of this era.
The Lucky 400… Now I had done some reading before purchasing this basement bottom dollar film. It seems that quality control is not always known to be of Kodak standard. Dust, blotches and marks. I didn’t notice it so much on my other roll, but this one was a different story. Almost all the frames have what might be described as ‘black hail’ raining through the images. In part I like the charm of it. In part it makes the couple of ok shots in the roll not really usable, without post digital work. I have one more roll of it left int he fridge. I guess we will see if I am ‘Lucky’ whether it’s a clean roll or not. But again – its about the cheapest I can get anywhere, so not terrible for mucking around.
I think thats all the words on this one for today!…
Camera: Pentax SV (Roughly 1963)
Film: Lucky 400 – Shot at 200ASA with Yellow filter
Digital scan on Sony Nex 5N and converted to positive in Darktable
-
One can spend a volume of a lifetime living in a city and still not seeing all it has to offer. Mutukāroa ‘was’ one such place for me until recently. Placed right next to our main state highway, on the fringes of the CBD suburbs, I pass this place multiple times a week. Until recently I always wondered if it had a track and access, or was (as a few places are) locked off to the general Public. Then we went for an intentional drive and parked up at the entrance!
Travelling past it at 100kph/60mph, one does not realise it’s actually a fair sized park with an active farm of livestock grazing on its rolling grass hills. It also has some bush track and spaces for local bird watching. As well as the current attractions, it is a local site of a pre-European Māori settlement. One can see remains of habitation in the form of pits, terraces and middens. Being a high point of the area, this is not surprising – good view of approaching visitors and close to multiple water sources for fishing up some kai moana (seafood).
Interestingly (for some), in the 1960’s the hill was scoped for demolition to use to reclaim areas of the local Manukau Harbour. The local community petitioned and managed to save it. Both a win for its historical cultural significance and today’s recreation. Its actually out cities largest non-volcanic hill at 65m tall. The largest inner city is Mount Eden at 196m and out in the harbour Rangitoto at 260m – so Hamlins Hill (its other name from the Western side) is only impressive because it’s non volcanic.
Not the only hidden place I have no memory of visiting. I will find more another day!
Images shot on the old Canon EOS 300D
MikeHawkey.com 