When I first saw the scan of this picture, my first thought was that it looked like a photo from a holiday brochure. I remember, before it was possible to find and book trips online, that we used to have stacks of these brochures in the house when we were planning a trip, all filled with similar shots of beaches, hotels, swimming pools, and local attractions.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
I took quite a lot of photos looking down narrow streets while in Lloret de Mar. These are undoubtedly just average streets, the type to be found in many a Spanish town, but they are different enough to the streets I’m used to in the UK to draw my eye. A combination of the narrow widths, along with the signage in a different language make these interesting to me. I also had some lovely Mediterranean light to draw upon too.
The dog in the third picture looked friendly enough but, having been nipped on more than one occasion by friendly-looking dogs, I decided keeping some distance was prudent.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
The hotel we stayed in was close to a large casino. It’s angular construction (and the way the roof was covered with artificial turf) made for some interesting subject matter.
I didn’t actually venture inside though.
Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Pro Image (first two pictures) / Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
It’s one of those cliched pictures of an aircraft wing taken through the cabin window (well, either that, or I somehow managed to climb atop the fuselage mid-flight…).
What this indicates is that I’ll soon be posting pictures from the holiday in Spain I took with my wife at the start of June. Everybody loves to see other people’s holiday snaps, right? 😉
Olympus Trip 35 & Fuji Superai 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
It’s one of those days where I just throw out a whole bunch of photos with no real theme of connection. In this case, a series of shots I made while wandering around the edge of town one day back at the start of May.
Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
This memorial was unveiled in 2023 to recognise those who lost their lives, or went above-and-beyond to help others, during the Covid pandemic. The designer of the memorial, Geoge King, described it as follows:
“When we thought about Covid and how the pandemic affected so many people, the willow tree idea was powerful to us. A willow has a strong trunk which symbolises how people worked together to create the strength that was needed at such a difficult time. It is also a flexible and resilient tree, whilst also being delicate. When a storm hits, the tree bends with it. Its long branches sweep all the way to the ground and when it rains the droplets fall all the way down the branches like tears to the ground. When you stand underneath a willow tree you feel embraced and protected.”
Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
The pictures I’m sharing at present are the result of one of my occasional rambles around town. These trips are usually pretty aimless beyond a rough route plan, and even that is subject to change at short notice, with me just going whichever way looks like it may be interesting.
The city centre undoubtedly has a whole range of things to photograph, a great many of which I will not have noticed or considered photographing before, but at the same time it can feel over-familiar, so it’s a matter of just walking an looking for things to catch my eye.
The shots today are gathered purely because they all feature a splash of red (maybe fuchsia in the second picture), whether it be a post box, or a Chinese restaurant.
There will be a similar mix of stuff in the coming days’ posts.
Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
I had hearing aids fitted today. A year or so back I decided to get a hearing test, not because I’d noticed any distinct hearing loss as such, but because I’ve suffered from tinnitus for several years. Thankfully, although the tinnitus is always present, my brain mostly filters it out and I don’t really notice it unless I stop and “listen” for it. Nevertheless, I felt that getting my hearing checked might be a good idea.
The result of the test was that I found I had some partial high-frequency hearing loss. Not really enough to notice a problem (although I have found that it can be more difficult to follow conversations in certain noisy environments, such as restaurants), but still something worth treating – especially as, apparently, if you don’t treat such loss then, over time, your brain can “forget” the frequencies it no longer receives at which point no corrective action is possible.
As my initial diagnosis was through a high street provider, the only options they had for hearing aids from them would have to be paid for (and believe me, hearing aids are not cheap, with some costing several thousand Pounds for a pair!). Thankfully, it’s also possible to get free hearing aids in the UK via the NHS, although the range may be more limited than that which is available privately. But, given the cost otherwise, I felt trying the free option first would be a good plan.
The downside of going via the NHS is the lengthy waiting lists that can be involved, and after visiting my GP to get the ball rolling, they advised me to contact the three closest NHS trusts to see which had the shortest waiting list so they could refer me to the relevant audiology department. It was a six week wait for the consultation, but it has then taken another nine months until today when I actually got the hearing aids fitted.
I’m now sat typing with them feeding me a newly amplified range of sounds (I ‘d forgotten the range of clickety noises that the keyboard makes when you can hear it properly!), which is nice. The devices are pretty small and unobtrusive, and not causing much in the way of discomfort – they itch a little, but I think I’ll get used to the sensation of them being in my ears fairly quickly.
I’d have preferred not to have needed hearing aids if I’m honest, but a combination of getting older (although I’m not that old yet) and, I suspect, damaging my hearing through the over use of headphones and loud music (and probably videogames too – particularly Battlefield, which effectively placed me in an aural warzone…) has led me to this point. I’m thankful to have access to the means to correct the condition, especially given I’ve gotten the treatment at no cost.
I appreciate that this has the sum total of zero connection with the photography stuff I normally post about, but it feels like a significant enough event to memorialise here on the blog.
But here’s a picture of an old car. It’s not as old as me though, so it’s ears are probably still fine. 🙂
Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Steel City Snapper photography 