I am one of those people who forget about subscriptions and gets notified after the payment has gone through. My subscription to WordPress and this blog is testimony to that and the fact that I did not write anything in 2021 is proof. Rather than continue with the emphasis on philosophy (which is not my main interest these days), the blog will have more astronomy and photography related articles.

We bought a house in Harrogate in Summer 2020 and were renovating till late 2021. Still work to do, but the main DIY is done. I consider myself lucky that we had the money and opportunity to do it during this time, and the Summer of 2020 will always be good with us despite the pandemic. Only last year, rummaging through a lot of the stuff we’d had in storage, or not immediately available, did I have the opportunity to get out some of my old cameras. Initially I resolved to give them a go again, and decide if they were still for me.

One is a Rolleiflex-T

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Rolleiflex_T

The other is a Contax ii

https://www.petrakla.com/pages/the-pre-war-contax-ii-review

Walking around Harrogate and its environs I had forgotten how nice it is having to visualise what your picture is going to be and manually set and compose the camera. I wondered why I had lost interest I enjoyed using them so much. In retrospect its not that difficult. Since leaving Australia in 2015, we had lived in 6 houses. When you move that much some stuff just gets left on the shelf. I’d had some Fujifilm digital cameras, which were great, but all had different batteries and chargers. I could not just use them as grab and go cameras. I saold them all and bought some new Panasonic kit, a FZ1000ii and an LX10 which charge by usb. In some way the Panasonic Monochrome D option for black and white they had inspired me to try black and white film again. After Covid I do not think we will ever take nature for granted again. Some of us may forget the endless walks, but for me, who had to work through it, its reminded to get my camera. With film I can take a couple of shots and not have to review them. That way I do not get lost in trying to get a good photo. I still enjoy the view. That why I think I will write a bit more about photography and these old cameras. May be there still is a good bit of of the philosopher in me.