[LONG - save for later, or put the kettle on and make a cup of tea first ;-]
Sorry I haven't posted any pics of Cesar's visit to Oxford - I've been
busy busy busy ever since I dropped him onto the coach for London
yesterday morning. I'm currently sitting in our Swindon office (yes,
someone has to do it) between jobs, but I process all the pics on the
house-bound PowerMac, so maybe later today.
Cesar arrived safely on Saturday morning and I met him at the railway
station. The first thing to get to grips with was exactly how do you
pronounce that name? Depending on country of origin and ambient
acoustics, the closest I got was 'Sezza'. A near second seemed to be
'Suhzzarrrrrrrr'. After I'd seen the reptilian LX again, I asked him if
he'd seen the film 'Escape From New York', and took to calling him Snake.
I think he liked that ;-)
I had met Snake once before at Grandfather Mountain in 2004, and was
disappointed to see the caterpillar had crawled off his top lip. Looking
too damned handsome in dark jeans, cotton jacket and Aussie hat, we
greeted at the station and climbed aboard the Disco for a short drive to
an underground car park in the centre of Oxford.
I thought a good start would be a climb to the top of Carfax tower (a
sort of mini-Big Ben) for a view of the city and surrounding area from a
couple of hundred feet up. It proved popular and the clearing skies
provided plenty of light for some rooftop photography.
Snake had brought FOUR LXen with him on the trip, as well as his *ist D
mated to a silver 77 Ltd. For walking about he shouldered the reptilian
with a lens (I forget which) and the D, and made ready use of both. He
seemed very at home shooting digital and film in seemingly equal proportions.
I had brought the Mark II with an EF 24-70, and in a shoulder bag rested
a 70-200 IS and the venerable K15 3.5. I only brought out the longer lens
while we were atop the tower, and I grabbed some nice street scenes, as
well as some close-ups of Snake at work ('...that you Snake? Snake? Snake
Pliskin?'.....'Yeah - who wants to know?')
We made our way down accompanied by the totally incongruous yet lovely
sounds of a Mexican band playing in Cornmarket, the main pedestrian
shopping street. We thought they might be South American, but Snake
approached and enquired. We were all too conscious of the hammering that
their fellow countrymen were taking as Wilma scoured the Yucatan that
very day. We spent a few minutes shooting some street and then embarked
on a walk that took us through Christ Church college gardens, and back
toward the High Street via a lovely cobbled lane. We could have been
extras in an episode of Inspector Morse.
We ended up on the bridge next to Magdalen College (pronounced mawd'lin)
and photographed punts in the river below. The greys and whites in the
sky were more and more giving over to the blues, and sunlight was now
hitting the gleaming walls of the church tower where every Mayday, a
choir sing from at 6 am. Naturally I've managed to avoid filming such
frivolous activity as that's far too early in the morning for my lazy
arse to be out of bed.
While we were there, another photog was making good use of the light and
he seemed to be using a Nikon digital - with the infamous black tape over
the logo! He wandered past as he clocked my Canon paperweight, but his
eyes bulged like cherry tomatoes when he spied Snake's LX. He didn't seem
the chatty type, so we moved on.
Lunch beckoned, and we ended up in a hostelry that a certain Norwegian
knows well - the Turf Tavern - where a couple of pints of Old Speckled
Hen chased down bangers and mash (for Snake) and fried Scampi (for me).
It was nice to pause a while, but the call of the colleges meant we only
stayed 45 minutes or so.
There were graduation ceremonies taking place at the Sheldonian, and as
we passed, gown-clad students emerged with proud parents. Plenty of well-
to-do amongst the crowds and a local freelance came up to us and asked if
we were working (the Mark II is standard PJ armament). I replied that we
were not, and explained to Snake that there was always a sprinkling of
paps at these graduation ceremonies, ready to grab a candid of the rich
and famous for Hello! and the like.
Around the corner we passed by the Radcliffe Camera and examined the work
going on to re-lay the myriad of large pebbles that make up the cobbled
street. November is still busy with tourists and considering the
punishment these street surfaces take throughout the whole year, it's
surprising that repairs aren't more frequent.
On into Broad Street and past the Blackwell's Art bookshop where I
coveted some 2006 calendars - there was a Man Ray, an HCB, the ever-
present Ansel Adams, a Mapplethorpe amongst numerous others.
From here we turned north into St.Giles and popped into the quad of St.
John's college for a brief respite from the traffic. Inside, Snake
immediately noticed the lack of ambient noise, and we paused to admire
the building and the peace which was interrupted only by the click-click
of heels on flagstones as students occasionally made their way to and fro.
Along St. Giles there are a few pubs, but none more famous than the Eagle
and Child. Many a visiting PDMLer has ventured inside to sample the dark
and claustrophobic atmosphere where Tolkien and his fellow Inklings drank
beer and cogitated. Snake and I had a pint and a half of Brakspear's,
respectively. The reptilian got noticed readily as it swung about, its
owner's eyes darting here and there, examining everything in detail, not
missing a trick.
After several hours of Oxford, we ambled back towards the car park and
headed off on the 30-minute journey to my place, arriving well before
dark. Opon arrival, my wife greeted us and quickly fell under Snake's
charm (d'oh) as anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting him will
attest, he is one of life's Gentlemen.
The day had caught up quickly with me and after a few early starts in the
preceding week, I was feeling very tired after our dinner of Shepherd's
Pie. Tonight was not going to be show-and-tell night, and I retired a
wreck with a bad headache.
Fortunately I recovered by the next day, and seeing as Alma had taken
Snake off to a local boot sale (flea market), I got up devilishly late on
Sunday morning, and made a big brunch of bacon and scrambled eggs with
all the trimmings. This proved popular as the troops returned, and we
tucked into it.
In the afternoon we all went for a walk down to the Thames and Northmoor
Lock, frequented by Robb Studdert, Jostein Oksne, Ryan Lee, amongst
others. It was pleasant enough, but the skies promised rain and we went
dressed accordingly.
At my favourite gnarly tree, we paused to inspect it's tattered trunk,
and as I was testing a large overhanging branch for rigidity by wobbling
it with my hand, when there was a right kafuffle and out shot a beautiful
barn owl, whizzing past Snake's face just inches away!
I had the 70-200 plus 2X on the Mark II, but my name isn't Christian
Skofteland and the bugger made haste of into distant trees, evading my
aim. Fortunately I had with me a pair of Hobbits who had brought a
football to kick about, and I sent them off to flush the barn owl out of
hiding. I was ready, and they succeeded, but he or she flew off the other
way and I never got a clean shot. Christian would have been creaming
himself with all this ;-)
It rained for the return and we took sanctuary back at the house, sipping
mugs of tea. The conversation touched on camera gear, and knowing Alma
had some decent antiques in the cupboard, I delved therein :-)
Out came a Voigtlander Bessamatic with 50mm f2.8 Color Skopar in very
good condition, along with a 135mm f4, a small folding Kodak from the
1940s, a Rollei snapshooter of some description, and various other bits
and bobs. Snake was rather taken with the Bessamatic, and explored it
thoroughly. I went upstairs and retrieved Alma's mint black LX with a few
lenses. Pentax 50 1.7, 35 2.8, Tokina 90 2.5 macro, of particular
interest to Snake, a Tokina RMC 17mm f3.5 which he tried on the *ist D.
The previous day he had played with the Mark II and 65mm MP-E macro with
ring flash, snapping table-top vegetation anywhere between 1X and 5X
magnification. The ring flash has small 'modelling' lights as, at 5X mag,
it's mighty dark down there.
Before dinner, we had an hour at a local swimming pool and I spent half
of it in the jacuzzi as my lower back had been playing up for a couple of
days. The relief was good, and we were all refreshed for the evening
meal: Squid a la Cotty. The best part of cooking is the swigging, and out
came the wine, graciously provided by Snake for the occasion.
We had some great conversation, and later on, I stepped back to the part
of observer as Alma and Snake discussed religion - just like the later
stages of any PDML thread. The talk was far from flaming though, and
indeed the atmosphere was jovial and lots of agreement was reached. I put
the A*85mm 1.4 aboard the Mark II and documented proceedings. I've
decided that this is worth a whole page to itself, so when I can get
stuck in, expect 'East Meets West'. Should be good, if the focus was
generous. At ISO 800, I was wide open at a 60th in ambient tungsten. I
didn't want to interrupt with flash, so we'll see soon enough.
The weekend drew to a close, and at 2 am, I retired a couple of hours
after my wife. Snake seemed happy enough, and I left him to peruse his
preferred web sites. I gather that Wilma was picking up speed (a good
sign) and heading for mid-Florida, well away from Panama City and Snake's
place.
I know that anyone who has met Cesar and his snakeskin-covered cameras
will agree with me when I say what a lovely person he is. Roving
Ambassador for the PDML is a title he holds together well, and long may
it be so. It was great having you up for such a brief amount of time, and
hopefully we can meet again in the not-too-distant future.
Now all I've got to do is process about 400 pics and edit them down into
a couple of dozen.......aaaaargh.
Regards,
Cheers,
Cotty
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|| (O) | People, Places, Pastiche
||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com
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