Always carry your camera - I didn't...

 

The iphone view of the pool. The two conical shapes on the horizon are the Bass Rock island on the left and North Berwick Law on the southern shore of the estuary. Both are volcanic plugs. The rounded one in the centre is, I think, Traprain Law in East Lothian.

Yes, straight from the "Don't do as I do, do as I say" department of the Online Darkroom comes a tale of what might have been that was a salutary lesson for me and will perhaps resonate with some readers.

A 20 minute drive down the coast from where I stay is a fishing village called Cellardyke which has an old outdoor, tidal swimming pool that fell out of use, became a bit dilapidated but was then restored a few years ago through a community fund raising effort. It's filled by and drains into the Forth estuary and is basically a safe harbour for people.

A small but hardy group of wild swimmers use the pool all year round and usually avail themselves of the two coffee outlets just yards away to defrost their shivering bodies and stave off hypothermia after their bracing swims.

I like the outdoor pool and the way the light during the autumn and winter months bathes it in a little warmth, albeit one that is only detectable by the white balance setting on a digital camera and not the cryogenic swimmers' goose bumps.

I've been trying to get a good pic of the scene for much of the year, a photograph that would, ideally, feature nice light, a textural difference between the water in the actual estuary and the pool and a couple of bathers enjoying the experience. Back in October I came close but was thwarted by an out-of-date roll of HP5 in my Mamiya Press that introduced an unwanted mottling to the scene.

I was kicking myself at the time because I had thought about just ditching the old film and loading up a fresh roll for the shot to be on the safe side. Lesson learned. I'll never use an out-of-date roll of film again.

I have a preview app on the iphone which was set up, in the case of the above pic, for a 100mm lens on the 6x9 format. This image is the view I'd have had of the swimming pool if only I'd had the Mamiya with me.

I've been back a few times since but have failed to get anything worthwhile due to a number of factors including low pressure greyness, no swimmers and both low and high tides. Then, just yesterday, I found near ideal conditions whilst out with Cath and the dogs. There weren't any brave swimmers but everything else was good. But, you've guessed it - I didn't have my Mamiya Press with me. So instead of a lovely, big HP5 negative, I have a jpeg file courtesy of an iphone - and an old one at that.

We were walking the dogs on ground just 30 yards north of the pool and I could see everything coming together nicely. There was even a little light shining on the pool itself as if to make it stand out - God's spotlight, so to speak. How bloody annoying can life get sometimes! I took a couple of iphone photos just so I could inflict more torture on myself by writing about it here.

So, always carry your camera. I'll make sure I do in future in the hope that I can capture just the right conditions again at the pool. Who knows, maybe the next time the scene will be even better.