Time, time passing away... Developed my first roll of B&W film last night, which was easier than I thought it would be - Even despite my lazy approach, the whole process is quite forgiving! Now I just have to source a cheap supply of B&W film and look into the possibility of chemicals for developing colour prints.

eBay is certainly your friend for obtaining extremely cheap darkroom equipment - A complete black and white & colour darkroom complete with colour enlarger for under £60 posted. It almost hurts it's so cheap! Currently using a 50E for photos, but how the hell people manage to focus with it, I don't understand... Or maybe I'm going blind?! I thought film cameras were supposed to have brilliant clear viewfinders?! I'm left with having to press the AF button, wait a second for it to lock on and hope for the best.

Looking at the photos I've taken and not having the shot information to actually tell me which settings I've used is a little annoying too... Is the shot blurred because I used the wrong settings? Or a problem in processing? A fault with the lens or just the camera?! Man, trying to improve has never been harder. I've put most down to my bad choice of settings, though there are a few that should be in focus, that aren't... I hate mysteries.

Looking for a more capable camera, I've heard good things about the Canon EOS 3, but it's a little pricey for something I want to throw around everywhere. Hell, the 50E was a little over the limit, but it works with my macro flashes so I figured I'd give that a shot. The only other option is the EOS 5, but that's a no go with my flashes, which is quite a turn-off.

Anyway, my life is ok. I'm not dead and I got promoted at work to Database Administrator (Woo!). I took last week off and I've got to say it was the best week I've had all year (besides the arrival of 1D), it's just such a great feeling being able to do whatever you want with no pressure. I also found time to go to the zoo and get some pictures, which rounded it off nicely.

Looking forward to taking my next week off in a few months!