Friday – a blue, cloudless sky and 34° in the shade. We are down south visiting family and after a long drive the previous afternoon I felt I needed to stretch my legs. So, donning my battered hat and shouldering the old, equally battered canvas bag with my cameras and light meter I left mother-in-laws house turned right and then right again. I’d been in shade outside the house but that second right turn put me right underneath the midday sun, basking in the full force of its glare and heat, with no gentle breeze to offer relief.
“Because they’re obviously, absolutely nuts —
Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.”
Noel Coward
Such were my thoughts and I wasn’t yet more than thirty feet from the house. I paused though as the dilapidated window frame of the end house caught my eye. Three windows in a row, surrounded by bricks would make a good panoramic image I thought. Out came the most panoramic of my cameras, the KMZ FT-2, loaded with Fomapan 100. A quick light reading showed I needed a shutter speed of around 1/600th of a second. But this is the FT-2 so I’d need to make do with 1/400th. Dratted sun, I don’t get these “problems” normally in the UK.
I would also find out that a piece of the felt inside the camera had come loose to adorn every frame and also that the problems I’d had loading the film would have resulted in scratches on the fragile film. But them’s the breaks.
Moving on, a matter of a hundred yards brought me into the shade of some trees and the first decision. Left? Or right? I welcomed the chance to pause in the shade. I’d only been out a few minutes and I was already thinking how nice it would be sat in the armchair I’d left minutes before. But I had three cameras, all with films that needed to be finished, and so I turned left.
The trees lined this side of the road which formed the boundary between the housing estate and the retail park and I welcomed their shade. Pausing every so often to check for compositions, I knew I was merely prolonging the moment at which I would again turn out into the sun’s full glare. I was staying in the residential area and apart from the odd tree there would probably be no more shade until I got back to the house.
My shoulder bag is distinctly non-photographer in appearance. It’s two inner pockets hold the chosen cameras very well but as soon as you lift it up the shape of the bag changes as the centre sags due to the weight. Not the easiest to use then with more than one camera but worth it for its discrete looks. Not that the chosen cameras were overly discrete. A plastic AgfaPhoto point and shoot in bright orange, the clunky clockwork beast that is the Horizon S3 Pro and, as we’ve already seen, the hunk of metal that is the KMZ FT-2. My elderly Weston Master V light meter completed the kit.
At the end of the road I turned left again, taking me back into the heart of the estate. I soon came across some roadworks which drew my attention. It also provided me with some amusement as cars slowed down when they saw a strange metal box pointing in their direction!
The bright, harsh sunlight, with no clouds to diffuse it, was making life difficult especially amongst the uninspiring architecture of this 1980s housing estate. Boxy, homogeneous houses stand in long uniform rows, punctuated by occasional in-built properties with weird shaped gardens in what would have been welcome gaps. I was still walking away from my start point but decided it was time to resume the left turns and start to circle back towards the armchair which was by now calling to me.
Walking down a street which I’ve regularly traversed in the car I spotted a gap in the progression of houses and in my usual fashion found my feet heading towards it. It turned out to be a footpath running along the Lydiard Brook. The brook runs into the River Ray further north and from there into the mighty Thames. It’s not contributing too much at the moment though being a mere trickle. Following this I soon came to a bridge which I crossed, eager to reach the unexpected shade of the hitherto hidden park on the other side.
It was a double-win too. A few hundred yards of cooling shade and it would also take me back towards my mother-in-law’s house.
I returned, a damp sweaty mess, and sank gratefully into the armchair and took the proffered cold beverage (non-alcoholic, I’m the driver) and reflected on a hot, at times frustrating, yet ultimately another thoroughly enjoyable walk.
Footnote: I had a very plasticky AgfaPhoto point and shoot camera in my bag, loaded with Fomapan 400. The KMZ FT-2 had Fomapan 100 loaded and despite these two films needing different developing times I developed both in one tank with Fomapan Excel. The Horizon S3 Pro had my second (and last) roll of 1989-expired Orwo NP27. I rated it at ISO 50 but with hindsight 64 or even 100 might have been better.
Dave's Place 
Loving this descriptive style of your photography walks 👌
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Cheers pal – appreciated!
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