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Bit of a long gap between updates, basically because there’s nothing happening.  Image rights for another museum duly paid and I’ve sent them some of the spare shots from my visit to see if they can use them as well.

The biggest annoyance, as with a lot of things, is people simply not getting back to you when you contact them, be it a phone call/message or email.  Worse is when a webpage says “we’ll contact you in x days”, you’re still waiting x months later!  I can’t nor daren’t go to print without confirmation a museum is happy for me to use their images without charge and just with accreditation, or after paying them a donation.  So far I’ve spent just over £250 in  donations for image rights, I’ve yet to get any response from half a dozen other places, so I can easily see that doubling.  So now more waiting whilst the publisher’s commissioning editor sees if they get more response than I do.

With holiday season approaching, I can see it might be quicker to revisit a couple of nearby museums and sort the image rights problem out directly, as well as get a few better images, hopefully with a bit of sunshine, a few photos currently slated for use were taken when the weather was a bit grim shall we say, just plain foggy would be another description!

The text for Volume 1 has had one trip across the copy editor’s desk and I don’t think I did too badly, though the subject matter is obviously not something they’re familiar with, when one of the comments says “TSR2, what’s that?  I’ve yet to get a reply to “The most famous aircraft we never built”.  I’m also unsure why “appropriate” wasn’t the correct word to use for the only complete Vickers Valiant bomber to be preserved, when it’s the only V Bomber (thankfully) to have dropped what they were all designed around, an atom bomb, even if it was in a test.   You may or may not agree with what they represent, but nearly 80 years of basically peace in Europe, despite or because  both sides having the means to turn the continent into a radioactive wasteland  either means deterrence worked, or we were lucky and yes, at the present time, it’s looking like the latter!

After my acquisition of a couple of 35mm SLRs, the means to get from the analog to digital domains was required.  As the Canon flatbed scanner I’d previously used had departed some years ago and the cost of dedicated scanners is  ridiculous, the arrival of something cheaper, smaller and a bit of fun in the process will be on no surprise.  Lomography released the DigitaLIZA a while back https://shop.lomography.com/uk/digitaliza-max  and the results have been pretty good, though seeing yourself on 35 year old slides is a bit of a shock as well.   Amongst the boxes of holiday photos were also some whose original owner I’d love to know, as they appeared on my doorstep well before I’d departed from home for the RAF.   One of the slides was more prophetic than was realised at the time.

 

 

Progress on the book has ground to a halt, primarily because the places that have the aircraft seem to think the publishers and myself will make a fortune out of my ramblings and photos, so want to charge for image of their museum exhibits.  Most places have been reasonable in what they want and I think I’ve shelled out £100 in donations so far, whilst other museums are just happy to have their exhibits in print and in the hope it stimulates visitors; I thank them profusely for their generosity and understanding.

After the initial per hour charges they wanted, until they discovered there wasn’t enough space to go back and reshoot anything anyway, the £50 to use my existing images that they finally came back with was considerably more reasonable.  Except now they’re arguing the toss about “oh it’s and ebook as well and it’s worldwide rights, blah, blah”.  So let’s see, it’s English only, which narrows your market somewhat. Any prospective visitor can’t currently get into where I’ve been, anymore than I can get back to shoot more images, whilst the main museum is also in a state of reorganisation and a few exhibits are actually missing, because its them cluttering up the reserve store!  Any potential overseas visitor stimulated to want to see in the metal what’s in the book, will already have shelled out a good few $ be they US, Canadian, Australian or NZ, (considerably more $$$ for the latter two) so they’re not going to come if they can’t see everything (it was hard enough to get into the reserve collection anyway!).  The museum’s also been told the initial “print run” is 750 copies (hell, I’d be impressed if it sold 75!), but now it’s “do we have to relicense if it goes to a second pressing?”.  I give in.

Not content with one lot being a pain, we’re now embroiled in a similar debate with “my lot” if you get what I mean. Yes, I do have an awful lot of your exhibits featured and yes, one would have been on the cover of Vol.2 probably and I’d be quite happy top pay a reasonable donation for these images, but £296 just for the cover image alone…really? So if they want to charge what it looks like the do from the list they sent, then that’s it, there will be no book!  Or rather their will, but the only copy will be mine as I’ll get one printed just for me, if only to show “here’s what it could have looked like”.  Now I know why people write fiction, because they don’t have to deal with reality!

As to the “new” 35mm film camera I decide to buy, seeing as most other major brands have passed through my hands at one time or another (Fuji, Olympus, Canon, Pentax, Yashica yes, I’ve had a few film cameras over the years) and as this is the cheap, unloved end of their manual focus range, but still accepts the same lenses, I thought it was about time I used one.  Not finished the roll of B&W film I loaded it with yet, but it’s surprisingly nice to go back to manual focus,  aperture control around the lens and a swinging needle meter.

 

It’s been all go the last few weeks.  I managed to get my day in London to take my photos there, but not sure I’ll use them though as they joined the other unnamed museum who want stupid money for three photos I needed and basically I can manage without them!  But I had a nice 6Km walk through London, as it was sunny, so I made the most of it.   I’ve also done my Southern tour, so to all intents, photography for the book is complete, but I’m not holding my breath and it would not surprise me one bit that some jobsworth tells me I have to go back, pay £X and take new photos.  But for the minute, I’m waiting to  hear what they’re going to charge me for what I already have, as their reserve store is so full, because they’re re-gigging the main museum, that there’s insufficient space to walk round and take photos.  That it’s taken them 2 months or so to realise this or for someone to tell someone in another office that this is the case is another matter; all I can do is sit and wait.

Another little trip this week was to the publishers and a couple of hours spent sifting through the archive photos they’ve pulled out for me, so I can get some period shots of things that were either scrapped, crashed or basically won’t be flying again.  Consequently, I’ve a selection of B&W images that I’ve certainly not seen in any book, though one or two have, simply because they’re the only ones that exist.

The publishers also have a job big enough to keep me gainfully employed for years and one that I’d love to do; digitise the image library!  Some have already been done, but being a combination of photographer and aeroplane buff, I stand a better chance than most of knowing what I’m looking at.  Sadly, I doubt moving house to Stamford for the job would be popular.

Finally and in typical fashion, after getting rid of all the 35mm SLR kit, mainly because the lenses had started growing fungus in them (you wouldn’t believe that’s possible, but it is) I had the urge to use film and shoot with a manual focus camera, so after a bit of the usual eBay shenanigans, deft use of Go Gone and a wooden chisel to remove disintegrating light seals and replacement with nice new stuff, I now have… I’ll show all next time.  I also got round to having a pair of 35mm films developed that had been in a drawer for years, only to find they’d never been used, but that’s another story…..

 

On my way to London and what should have been the last photography needed to put Volume 1 to bed.  I said should, because until yesterday it would have been.  That’s when I had an email back from a museum which shall remain nameless, regarding publishing photos of their exhibits.  I’m one bloke with a camera and I want to come and wander round like your average tourist and take a few photos.  Yes I would like access to your reserve collection, you used to do tours on a regular basis.  I asked nicely, what did I get back?

£50 admin fee and £150 per hour! You cannot be serious! I only needed about 5-6 photos, mainly in the reserve collection.  But because I asked, I now can’t use all the ones I already have and that means doing about 30 photos across two places at the same site. That I would have happily paid maybe half that just to get access to the reserve collection again is immaterial, nor is the fact that the new photos will look better using the new camera, mainly because the lighting in the place is crap, especially the reserve collection.

So now, publishing is back at least a month, I’ve an urgent trip to sort out to take the photos needed for Vol 1, again.  Needless to say I’ve also emailed all the other places to make sure they wouldn’t like a cut of money I’m not even guaranteed to get back in book sales and give them free publicity in the process. Because it would still be cheaper than a writ afterwards.  Trouble is I emailed a few months ago, even direct off their webpage forms for that very purpose and have I had a reply? Na.

Not happy?  Damn right.

So 2023 has arrived and I’m now looking at publishing deadlines, things are definitely getting very real!

Volume 1 has been edited yet again and is now in the format needed to send off for copy editing, tagged up to include where to put photos, separate document with the photo captions and all the photos have been renamed accordingly so they go in the right places (he hopes).

I’m now awaiting the archive shots supplied by Key Publishing that will accompany my photos, these mainly inflight shots and aircraft that are mentioned but none remain. I’ve contacted the relevant places about publishing images of their aircraft etc to stop getting nasty letter later, though,  luckily most museums were happy for me to simply include the details of their museum in the book, whilst the RAF Museum openly says on their website you can use photos taken there for publication.  The old adage any publicity is good publicity seems to hold true in this case, but I thank all the people I’ve spoken to at the museums for their encouragement and help.

I also have to thank my friend and former work colleague,  now wondrous wedding cake baker Babs Whelan for taking time out from her kitchen to take a few photos of an aircraft I couldn’t get to in Northern Ireland. Thanks Babs  https://www.wedcakes.co.uk/index.htm.

More thanks too once he’s waded his way though it, to my mate, aero-modeller extraordinaire and another former RAF electrician John Nicholls for “volunteering” to sanity check my magnum opus.  Doubtless this may cost me beer, but better that than be told by some be-anoraked person once its published, that I’m talking utter bollocks.

I’m still at the mercy of train strikes to get to London and I’m awaiting the announcement of when the next batch will be before I book a ticket for an away day to the Science Museum. The train is still the best way to get to London as it gives me a few hours peace (don’t you love noise cancelling headphones…)  to edit things on the way back.

All being well, I’m three weeks away from sending everything in for Volume 1 and then its on to Volume 2 and a few days away in the South West to fill in the blanks regarding mainly helicopter photos.

Meanwhile, I’m also hoping for some assistance from work with a few jobs to do for them in the right places, because I need a photo or two of this:

 

Stuck on a pole outside the Folland Sports and Social Club, which naturally enough used to be part of Folland Aircraft.  This I discovered is the last prototype Gnat a matter of week after I’d been close enough to divert past to take a photo…GRRRRR.

 

Managed to get a photo shoot in courtesy a work trip and paid a visit to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum.  Hidden away in the middle of East Anglia, this is a great little museum with a lot packed in and as every with most of the smaller museums, friendly talkative staff. Better still, the sun shone, we had blue skies and hence good light!

My main reason to visit was their Lightning F1 which as well as being part of the early development batch also acted as a chase aircraft during TSR2 development.  They also have a Jet Provost in an unusual colour scheme, one of only two Vickers Valetta still around and for anyone with an interest in the electronics fitted to aircraft over the years, a goodly assortment to demonstrate how much this has progressed in the last 50+ years.

One oddity we weren’t expecting is in the photo.  The shape of the fuselage frame gives it away straight off, it’s part of a TSR2 and is the locating frame for both the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. The thickness of the bearers onto which the moving surfaces mount just shows how large the forces acting on the control surfaces would be when at low level and high speed.

 

Three photo trips now done, more editing carried out, desired word count within touching distance, and one more museum to visit to complete what’s needed for Volume 1.

That the final museum is in London, which means a train as there’s no way I’d drive there,  not that I’m driving far after the last photo shoot as the car came back making a nasty noise which I correctly identified as a wheel bearing.  I may have the engineering skills to do the job, but lack the relevant tools to actually get the bearing out, but critically, a garage with adequate space to get a modern car into, let alone a flat drive way and favourable weather.  So pay through the nose it is as the main dealer was the only place able to do it.  There goes a new lens….

You’d have thought museums would be happy to help people essentially give them free publicity by including their exhibits in books?  Certainly the RAF Museum has no problems allowing photography for this, yet others want a donation, on top of you paying to get in.  If they all asked for a donation, the only people making anything out of this project would be them and the publishers and it certainly makes you think twice about bothering.  Note to self, take photos first and let them ask questions later.  As for answering email when the relevant address is posted on a website, I can appreciate some places are run on a shoe string so you might get delays, but if the big boys can’t be bothered to reply, what chance does anyone stand?

The hardest part in putting my book together has been identifying if  a prototype aircraft for a type that entered service still exists and if so where.  This primarily because I can guarantee some bright, anorak wearing, soul will come calling once it’s published and say “there’s one here”.  Part of me says, it’s my book and I’ll include what I want, the other part says if I’m doing the job, it’s done properly and I include everything.  Consequently I now need another trip “down south” to take photos of something mounted on a plinth! Hopefully this will be another work assisted trip, doing a job that needs doing while putting me near enough to get photos.  We shall see.

A few weeks into getting used to the new camera and I’m probably not alone in thinking “Did I need it?” or “Have I done the right thing?”, commonly known as upgraders remorse.

In terms of camera kit, I’ve done a system change a couple of times over the years, once back in the days of film I switched form Olympus to Canon when auto-focus first arrived and Olympus simply didn’t produce a conventional auto-focus 35mm SLR camera and I was really happy making the change.  When digital arrived, I was fine as my Canon EF lenses fitted the new digital bodies and it was 20 years all tolled before I did another complete switch and moved to Olympus again to use the new micro four thirds series. Switching back to Olympus I was delighted with what I’d done, loved the new kit and the results it gave me, lighter and smaller kit meant I could easily take it on holiday in cabin luggage when needed, a great results.

This time, it’s not quite gone as expected and it may take a little while to fully appreciate I’ve made the right choice. It’s not the “why I’ve swapped again” bit, the new camera does exactly what I wanted it to do, the results are stunning and my reasoning has been vindicated. It’s the realisation that it will take a good while to build a kit up to the equivalent of what I had,  mainly because I’ve stepped up into the big league and there’s a price to pay!  Aside form a couple of additional lenses,  I’ll even end up having to buy a new set of bigger filters should I want them for landscape shots to avoid vignetting, I’ve no flash gun of any sort, so at some point one of those will doubtless be needed and of all things, more memory cards to hold the larger files it produces.  Talk about first world problems.

Here’s a comparison of why I switched to a full frame camera from Micro 4/3.  Although it’s got some natural light coming in from the side, the actual light level in the building were pretty poor.  This is taken at 10000 ISO and my Olympus would have been really struggling.

 

This is with my Micro 4/3 camera, same aperture, f8, a fraction faster shutter speed and 6400 ISO.  Click on either to see what I mean.

I managed to chalk off another trip to an air museum this weekend, the relatively short hop for me to Newark.  With a good collection of aircraft, both indoors and out, along with an interesting number of engines as well.

Also a first trip out with the new Nikon Z5 and I’m pleased to say it passed with flying colours.  It’s quite unnerving when shooting indoors in less than ideal light and you know you’ve set it to auto ISO, but you’re still surprised to see the viewfinder saying 12800 ISO and the photo is better than some you’ve taken one your old camera at 6400 ISO.  Definitely bought for the right reasons.

Having been to Newark before, I knew what to expect, aside from the roundabouts at the  junction to and from the A1 which are always a nightmare.  The museum itself doesn’t really have any of the aircraft types I’m most interested in, but it does have a number of others which provide excellent background and input to the “stories”.

However, what the museum does have are a large number of well maintained aircraft and helicopters, a number of which you won’t see anywhere else and some you can see elsewhere are in vastly better condition.  Since my last trip, it’s obvious a number of the aircraft displayed outdoors have had work done to  preserve them and a new coat of paint; the MiG-27 and Lightning T5 especially.

Out of all the photos I took at Newark, the forlorn looking remains of the surviving Avro Ashton is my favourite, rather sums everything up.

Next stop…no idea.  To get volume 1 out, I need another visit to the RAF museum at Cosford as a minimum and that’s a full day as it’s a lot of aircraft and a five hour round trip.

The deed is done, after 10 great years using an Olympus micro 4/3 camera and some excellent Zuiko lenses, I finally decided I needed to move on.  So via trade in at my favourite local camera emporium and a few bits sold to a fellow Olympus user, I’ve bought into the full frame mirrorless age and gone over to Nikon in the shape of a Z5.

It’s odd only having one lens to use, though how long that stays true is another matter.  But the one I have will do the job I need to do, whilst the camera will take grain free photos in lighting conditions that would have left my E-M5 floundering.

There’s a definite learning curve involved in moving systems, mainly getting used to the menus and what button does what, but for the minute I’ll settle for not catching the on/off lever at inopportune moments….

I’m not quite Olympus-less, I still have a 35mm Trip that I restored and a TG-5 Tough should I wish to swim with a camera or such like, but they can’t do photos like this this either.