Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
This little scene caught my eye as I passed. The interplay of all the elements – the wall, the poles, the cables, plus the large bush and the bench – all came together in a way I found pleasing. The mole hills are just a little bonus extra.
Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 February 2025
Following the barn and schoolhouse pictures that I posted a few days back, here’s another subject that’s featured on the blog on multiple occasions (possibly because it stands right next to said schoolhouse and barn…). In fact, one of the pictures I’ve posted before is very similar to the lat one in today’s set. But, again, what the heck. It’s a nice subject, so who wouldn’t photograph it again? 🙂
My son had another job interview today, this one a little less impromptu and with support from his job coach. I don’t know what the outcome will be (apparently one of the other people being interviewed – for a job in a clothes store – was a marine biologist!), but he looked very smart and even if it doesn’t work out, every interview is more experience for him to draw upon.
Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 February 2025
I’ve been attempting to scan some medium format Provia 100 this evening and I’m not sure I’m happy with the results. Slide film can be a PITA to scan sometimes and it’s hard to get the results to look like the actual image on the film.
This has resulted in less time than anticipated to update the blog, so this is a bit of a quick post, although it does feature a picture that I really like.
Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 February 2025
Two subjects (which conveniently stand next door to one another) that have featured on the blog a number of times before (here, here and here, for instance). Sometimes subjects just demand further photographs, I find.
Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 February 2025
Today, I decided to roll up my sleeves and develop three rolls of black-and-white 120 film which I’ve recently shot. I had two rolls of Kodak Tri-X, and a single roll of expired Kodak Tmax 100 to process.
I have two developing tanks, a small one which will take two rolls of 135 film, or a single roll of 120, and a larger tank that will double the amount of film I can develop, so the Tmax went in the small tank, and the Tri-X in the larger one. My plan was to develop all three rolls using Ilfotec DD-X, but I realised when making up the solution for the two rolls of Tri-X that there would not be enough left for the other roll.
Not to worry, I thought, I’ll develop it in Rodinal instead. I’ve not developed Tmax 100 in Rodinal before, but expected it might look nice given it’s a fine grained 100asa film. So, after completing the Tri-X, I started to get myself prepared to develop the Tmax – the usual stuff: getting the water to the right temperature, making sure I had all the necessary bits and bobs required (including drying stuff I’d just used with the Tri-X). Then I encountered a problem…
I couldn’t get the top off my bottle of Rodinal. It has a safety cap which requires downward pressure while turning in order to remove it but, today, no matter how hard I tried, it wouldn’t come loose. It just rotated and clicked annoyingly. At one point I was using so much downward force that the bottle started to collapse in on itself! After five minutes of fruitless effort, I gave up on the enterprise, and decided that I would have to force open the bottle and store it in a different bottle. As I don’t have another suitable bottle (I’d assumed the bottle it came in would be fine) I ordered a brown glass medicine bottle from eBay, and I’ll re-home the developer when it arrives.
Later in the afternoon I searched online to see if anyone else had encountered similar problems and I found a recent Reddit thread describing the exact same issue. A few people had managed to remove the stuck cap with pliers or a wrench, so I’ll give that a try. The consensus seems to be that the developer crystalises in the safety mechanism of the cap, causing it to get stuck and no longer function properly.
Anyway, both rolls of Tri-X came out fine (although I did manage to drop one of them on the bathroom floor when taking it off the reel, coating it with bits of dust and a strand of hair, and necessitating me re-washing it).
No Rodinal was used in the development of the two pictures below. Perhaps that was for the best.
Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 February 2025
I’ve noticed this cluster of road-signs and various poles (for power lines and lighting) before, but this is the first picture I’ve taken of it, aided by the reach provided by the 28-200mm lens I used.
There’s a lone pedestrian in among the street furniture too.
Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 February 2025
I took a trip to Newark Air Museum today. This wasn’t my first visit (I think it’s my third), and I’ve posted pictures from the previous visits here on my blog, but today was the first time I’ve visited with my dad.
Actually, having said the above, it’s actually my fourth visit, because today was a second trip with my dad following an aborted attempt last autumn when we drove all the way there only to find out upon arrival that there had been a problem with the museum’s water supply and that it was closed as a result.
Thankfully, there were no such issues today (although I did phone them in advance, just to be sure!) and we got to wander around the place at our leisure for a few hours. My dad, now in his mid-80s, served his National Service with the RAF in the late 1950s, and I think he enjoyed looking around the place. During a brief chat with another gentleman of similar age, where he revealed that he’d been in the RAF, the other fella asked if he’s been a pilot! He was not, although he did ride a service-issued bicycle (which he crashed while racing one of his fellow servicemen one day, which resulted in him hiding the damaged bike until he left the service 😀 ).
It was a nice day out and I should try to arrange other such visits to similar places for us both, I think.
I shot a roll-and-a-half of Tri-X with my Yashica Mat 124G while there, but the pictures below are all digital pictures from my Ricoh GR III compact.
Ricoh GR III
Taken on 24 April 2025
Neepsend is a district in Sheffield that lies just to the north of Kelham Island. The River Don forms the border between the two areas.
Neepsend remains a largely industrial area, with numerous small factories and workshops throughout the area, although there is a creep of gentrification occurring and the district now also provides homes to a number of different bars, restaurants and other places of entertainment. Whether the entire area will become largely residential over time, as happened to Kelham Island, remains to be seen (a lot of the industry is still very much active whereas I think most of Kelham’s had been lost (leaving a plentiful array of old factory buildings to be converted into residential spaces, or empty land for new build homes)
Yashica Mat 124G & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 February 2025
This is another one of those pictures that I like, despite its mundane and (some might say) unattractive subject matter.
I quite like it for the fact that, in years to come, it will be a reminder that some people enjoy dipping their fries in a milkshake.
My son had his interview this lunchtime and I’m very proud of him. It’s the first interview he’s had, he’s had literally one day’s notice, plus he is neurodiverse, so these situations pose an added challenge, and the fact he went in and did it by himself is brilliant. I’m not sure if he will get an offer of a job but, having heard what is required, the role is probably not a great fit for him anyway. The experience will be valuable, whatever the outcome.
Yashica Mat 124G & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 February 2025
Today has been taken up with two main things. Firstly a trip to the local supermarket this morning to pick up some cat treats for our two moggies, although also to see if there were any post-Easter chocolate egg bargains to be had. Spoiler Alert: there were. So we now have a bunch more chocolate in the house. Our twin boys will scoff most of it, but there’s still a some for my wife and I to enjoy.
The other thing has been looking for employment opportunities for our son. He is about to finish an internship where we had been given some hope that there might be a job for him, but it now looks like that won’t be the case (nothing to do with his performance, which has been exemplary). So we are now moving to the next stage of his working life, which is slightly uncertain at present as it’s the first time he’ll be outside of educational support.
We spotted a vacancy at a new store that is opening not far from where we live which might have suitable roles, and dropped his CV in this morning, which led to a phone call this afternoon with an offer of an interview. This is great news on one hand, but having looked at staff reviews of the employer, I’m a bit concerned that it might not be a good place to work. Those parental worries kicking in again…
Whatever the case, the interview will be a good thing for him to experience, even if he doesn’t get the job, or decides against taking it. We’re fortunate to be in a position where he can live with us for as long as he needs to, which is comforting.
Apropos of nothing, a photograph of some modern housing at Kelham Island.
Yashica Mat 124G & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 February 2025
Steel City Snapper photography 