35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
A couple of photos of the old Woollen Signs building in Sheffield. The company was bought out about twelve years ago and the site was permanently closed, having been in business since 1883. Some employees went on to form a new Woollens business trading on their expertise in traditional sign writing.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Kodak Colorplus.
Taken on 28 June 2020
While wandering around Sheffield’s Kelham Island area recently I came across this piece of street art that I thought was deserving of a photograph. For those readers outside the UK, the person depicted is Dot Cotton, a long serving character of the British soap opera Eastenders. June Brown, the actor who plays the role, joined the soap back in 1985. She had a hiatus in the 90s from 1993, but returned again in 1997 where she played Dot up until January this year.
I don’t actually like Eastenders, and I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full episode (although my wife used to watch it and I picked up many of the storylines of the time via osmosis). Dot Cotton is, however, an archetypal British screen character and I really liked this small homage to her on this namesake street.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Kodak Colorplus.
Taken on 28 June 2020
I’ll post one of my weird photos today that I like a lot but which I expect many people will just wonder what on Earth I was thinking when I fired the shutter…
It’s just an advertising hoarding. One with a torn advertisement. I don’t drive past this often, but have done so on a handful of occasions recently and each time I passed it caught my eye. Usually this indicates that I ought to make a photograph.
I’m not really sure what drew me to it, although it was the faded, half-torn Colonel Sanders that first caught my attention. I also like the way that the badly faded KFC advert is peeling away to reveal a still fresh-looking advert for (I think) Sky Sports beneath, where it emerges butterfly-like from it’s pale cocoon, still daubed with the remnants of paste, almost like the man is yelling the remains of the paper away. I like how the splash of blue in the otherwise overcast sky is mirrored by the blue on the billboard. I like the cluster of poppies giving a splatter of red to the dusty edge of the car-park besides which the billboard stands.
I like it.
Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Kodak Colorplus.
Taken on 28 June 2020
The entrance to the City Life Christian Church with some lovely light falling upon it. Once again, the aged but lovely Superia 100 does the business.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 28 June 2020
A bunch of photos that I made on a big looping walk from Thorpe Salvin a few weeks ago. I’ve posted several photos from the same walk in previous posts here, here, here, here & here.
These are all from the second roll of film I started during the walk, some expired Fuji Superia 100. It expired 12 years ago but has been cold-stored and it still looks great. I sometimes overexpose it slightly, but it looks good shot at box speed too, as can be seen in the photos here.
It’s a bit of a random selection of some of the things I passed while walking and I’ll post them as they come, without any commentary.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). The last shot was with my Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM lens.
Taken on 31 May 2020
After two days of fence painting I feel a little like this cicycle looks…
Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 28 June 2020
I’ve had the day off work today as the garden fence needed painting. I’ve been at it all day and it’s still not finished (there’s a lot of fence!) and now I’m exhausted. As a result, I don’t have the energy to type anything lengthy, so here’s a photograph of some poppies I made about six weeks ago. Gotta love this expired Superia! 🙂
Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 31 May 2020
A couple of pictures of The Hub, home of Sheffield University’s Student’s Union. This was a museum – the National Centre for Popular Music – when it was originally opened in 1999. It closed a little over a year later due to lack of visitors (including myself).
Olympus OM-2n, F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 June 2020
The local lab that I use for developing has re-opened. Well, in actual fact it opened weeks ago, but I’ve only just spotted that the walk-in reception has now opened again too, meaning I can drop off and collect films without faffing about paying (and waiting) for postage.
Given I’ve been developing my black and white film at home since the lockdown took place, it’s likely that I won’t use them as much as I used to, but today I had a roll of Provia 100F to get developed – I don’t have the chems for E6 film, not do I really want the faff of the temperature control involved. I also had a roll of HP5+ that I was going to develop myself but, as I won’t get the chance until after next weekend, I decided to take the lazy option and pay for it to be devved on this occasion.
I’ve not scanned either roll yet, but the Provia shots look nice and, while I’m not an expert at reading negatives, the HP5 shots look good too – something I’m pleased about as I took a few shots without realising I’d accidentally knocked my light-meter’s ASA setting to 800!. I’ll try scanning both rolls with Vuescan on my Epson this week to see how they compare with my usual Epsonscan process.
Today’s photo is as hot of a building in the city centre. I liked the play of sunlight on the windows. It’s one of a number of photos I made with the 28-70mm Tamron Adaptall lens that came with the OM-2n when I bought it, but it’s quite soft in comparison with my Zuiko lenses, so I think I’ll sell it on. It hasn’t fared too badly with this scene though.
Olympus OM-2n, Tamron Adaptal 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins @ 20°.
Taken on 28 June 2020
In recent years there have been a significant number of cat cafes open in the UK. These are regular cafes, but home to several cats. The idea being that you get to enjoy a coffee and some cake while watching, stroking and (if they’ll let you) cuddling the cats. You usually have to book a place as they’re very popular and entry to the premises is controlled through an airlock-style double door system to prevent mass escapes.
As with so many other things however, the cat cafes have been hit by the pandemic and lockdown. While some may be starting to re-open now, when I passed this one a few weeks ago it was still closed for business and this little lady was looking forlornly from the window.
Olympus OM-2n, F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 June 2020
