5 Frames with Agfa APX 400 in the Midwinter

I spent a few days in a quiet rural area, before actually reopening the business for 2024. You know, that time space between the end of year and beginning of the new daily strife of the year that starts. I am no procrastinator, but I wish to give me a few days of rest and holiday before the demanding maelstrom of emails, calls, files and cases are piling up again on my desk. Or may be I am procrastinating? I wonder…

I had a couple of cameras with me, and more film than I actually needed (then again, I always carry some extra film in my bag, one never knows). After a good long blizzard, the world looked definitely changed, as it would of course: snow covered everything, of a eye-watering white, sort of a Swarowski blanket on every inch of the land. Crisp air, so crisp that in fact every breath intake was felt deeply in my throat. Good warm clothing and a thermos of mulled wine comes as a bless, and goes a long way towards warming oneself.

Took a Leica IIIf with me, film inside Agfa APX 400, freshly purchased. You know, I have no idea why I keep doing this: buying film already rolled, when I have at least a couple of that film in my fridge in 30 metres bulk roll. Lazy, I guess. Anyways, this is the camera and film I took with me on that day. Btw, the temp outside was a cruel – 19*C.

The camera apparently had no problem with this Siberian temperature; that said, I had it on my chest, under the jacket, and took it out only for shooting. I have this strange belief that if I leave this camera in open air at that temp, the curtain will become brittle. No idea if this is true, but I have a good reason to suspect this.

The garden appears to be a land of fiction, or some sort of a Sci-Fi movie: things are appearing from under the snow, looking angry, trying to escape through a multi-dimensional portal into our unprotected world.

I have seen many moons and winters, and I can tell you that I am always amazed at the resilience with which the nature meets some of the most ravaging conditions nature is throwing at her. And no matter what, the nature always looks like winning, come the spring.

The open air museum was closed, of course. At those temps, even birds avoided any movement, and I could see none flying. The museum court yard is quiet, white, cold, but welcoming; I felt that, and I was glad no one was present, so I was left to myself and my thoughts of “why the heck is this mulled wine goes out so fast”.

A day really well spent in (more than) fresh air and silence, which is not be sneered off in this time of hustle and bustle of the city and business / office occupation. Glad I have chosen this APX 400, as it behaved really well, I suppose. The grain is not exactly boulder-size, which I expected to be honest. Highlights were not troublesome, and it scanned well enough for me to be satisfied with the results.

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