Optical components

With Dave's borrowed lens to play with, I thought I would go and visit John, who lives on a hillside in one of five valleys which meet at Stroud. They have wonderful long views across fields and woodlands to Painswick, with the slopes at Sheepscombe in the distance. The sun was shining intermittently too. Perfect for testing out the gear.

John and I went to school together in our teens, but didn't really get to know each other till he left university. When he first came to Stroud in the 1970s on his motorcycle, he stayed with Andrew Wood, another mutual school friend, in his derelict Bethesda chapel in Uley, where I visited them. As we drank coffee today in his workshop, I showed him my Blip journal, as I thought he might like to start his own, but I gather he has just created his own Blog, which you can see for yourselves HERE. It is worth looking as you can see some of his pictures.

I have long wanted to come here to record a blip, as John has so many interesting pursuits. He has introduced me to the wonders of his 3D photography, which he has been keen on for years. Many years ago, he let me use a photo he took of a snow-flake, for the cover of a video I produced. His downstairs workshop is full of amazing equipment; brass microscopes, home-made camera holders for his 3D work, slides of microscopic organisms that feature in his photographs, massive modern microscopes which would look big in a laboratory, compasses and protractors, and eclectic tomes on subjects ranging from palaeontology to a biography of 'William Fox Talbot, Pioneer of photography and man of science'. It is my lucky day again, as he has lent it to me to read!

We had a good chat about his latest project, which I think may well be brilliant! In the end, I reverted to my 50mm, given the conditions. I took some photos of him, but my blip has turned out to be of various prisms he had on his desk, ready to be fitted into his latest stereo viewfinder, which he will be making in the next few days. The final calculations and drawings were being made when I arrived.

I love the light, the shapes and the angles of the prisms' facets. I wish you could see how beautiful they look, and even peer through them too. I tried a shot through a couple of the them, but the spectra they produced just were not sharp enough for the discerning Blip viewer. I shall be back to have another go at the equipment one day. It is not a museum, because John loves these marvellous tools for what they can achieve, and uses them whenever he can, adapting them when he needs to.