Frugal Film Project 2024 - April

For this chapter of the Frugal Film Project I've travelled across the border. The Frugal Film Project - you know, that project where you use a film camera and lens that cost you less than $ 75 and shoot a roll of affordable film each month just to show that you don't need expensive stuff to get great photo's - has seen a rise in participants in the last few months, the community is now 556 photographers strong. It is really fun to participate and to see the photo's other participants have taken.

Il-14P of the Polish Air Force, built in Dresden

April saw me taking photo's at the Flugausstellung Peter Junior located at the Haberberg 1 in Hermeskeil, Germany. This aviation museum, established in 1973, has a collection of more than 100 aircraft and is well worth a visit. I brought my Canon EOS 1000N fitted with a 25-85mm lens and loaded a roll of Agfaphoto APX 100. As usual, I've developed the roll at home using Adonal developer and scanned the negatives with an Epson V850.

Former Aeroflot Mi-6A

Former Interflug Tu-134AK

An ex Fleet Air Arm Sea Hawk FGA.4

Ex French Air Force Super Mystere

A former USAF F-105F

An ex Luftwaffe Pembroke C.54

A MiG-21US trainer version

A former East German AF An-26

The F-104 Starfighter, a rocket with wings

Another shot of the Il-14

At the fence: Ramstein Air Base

Part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, Ramstein Air Base is one of the biggest US military installations in Germany. Ramstein serves as the headquarters of the combined command of the United States Air Forces in Europe  - Air Forces Africa and is the seat of the NATO Allied Air Command. Ramstein was built in the 1950s in the Rhineland-Palatinate region in what was then the French Sector. It has a fascinating history, I might actually feature this in a future blog post.

Currently the host unit at Ramstein is the 86th Airlift Wing (86th AW). The 86th AW operates a fleet of C-130J-30 Hercules, C-21A and C-37A VIP aircraft. The base functions as a hub for cargo aircraft of the United States Air Force and allied air forces. In addition to the 86th AW fleet you can usually see C-5M Super Galaxy and C-17A Globemaster III operating from here.

Visiting Ramstein was C-5M Super Galaxy 87-0027 from the 433rd AW.

I recently got the chance to spend some time at the fence, resulting in these photographs. 

A rare visitor was this Lithuanian C-27J.

From the based 86th AW, C-130J-30 11-5738 shows commemorative WW2 invasion stripes.

Usually based at McGuire AFB is C-17A 02-1098.

Another C-5M, this time 86-0021 based at Dover AFB.

An unusual visitor was Australian C-17A A41-210.

Not often seen in Europe are the aircraft of the US Pacific Air Forces. C-17A 05-5150 is based in Hawaii.

Frugal Film Project 2024 - March

I travelled to Lake Naarden (Naardermeer) for the March edition of the Frugal Film Project. For those new to the project, the aim is to show that you don't need fancy photo gear to get great photos so in order to participate you select a camera-lens combo under $ 75, some cheap, well, make that less expensive film and shoot a roll every month for a year. I've opted for a Canon EOS 1000N with a 24-85mm lens and Agfaphoto APX 100/36. I also develop the film at home using Adonal developer.

Wind mill De Onrust at the edge of Lake Naarden

Lake Naarden is a nature reserve in the 't Gooi area of the Netherlands. These former marshlands are the first nature reserve in the Netherlands, established in 1905. Before that, there were several attempts to convert the marshlands into dry land. This was almost managed in 1629 but to stop the advancing Spanish Army from reaching Amsterdam the whole area was inundated. During the reign of Louis Napoleon in the early 1800s another attempt was made, this time by building three wind mills to pump away the waters. These three mills together however did not have the capacity to pump away all the water. In 1883 a third attempt was made and a steam mill built. The costs to dry the entire area were deemed to high however and the area remained wet marshlands. In the early 1900s the city of Amsterdam then planned to use the area as a waste disposal area but local opposition was fierce, resulting in the creation of the preservation foundation Vereniging tot Behoud van Natuurmomenten. It was this foundation that bought Lake Naarden for 160,000 guilders and made it a nature reserve.

Of the mills, the steam mill building and one of the original three wind mills still exist. Wind Mill De Onrust (the Unrest) was built in 1809 and is still used to regulate the water level in Lake Naarden. It is this mill that I went to see.