Category: 35mm

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Mablethorpe north beach and dusty negatives

fishyfisharcade7 Comments

More scanning tonight, and yet more dust woes. Suffice to say I won’t be using the same place again for my colour developing. I’m frankly quite disheartened at the thought that some probably quite nice pictures are looking not so nice due to this, or will require an undue amount of dust spotting in Photoshop – a mind-numbing task. I tried cleaning the first couple of negatives with some IPA which did remove quite a lot of the dust, but also seems to have added some faint streaks which may, or may not, be permanent. Not good.

I’m going to have to bit the bullet and start developing my own colour film, aren’t I? In the meantime, I’m going to have to find somewhere else and incur postage costs.

The shot below was from the same lab, and while still dusty in comparison with the lab I used to use (which has now closed), it’s nothing like as bad as the roll I’ve started to scan tonight. It still took quite some time to dust spot though.

North beach

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Portra 160. Lab developed, home scanned, & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 17 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Corringham windmill

fishyfisharcade4 Comments

The corringham windmill is, let’s face it, not a windmill any longer. Originally built in the early 19th century it functioned as a working mill for around a hundred years, ceasing operation in 1908. It attained Grade II listing status in 1985 and in 1993 was converted to an owl house. It has looked pretty much like it does in the picture below for as long as I have known it, and I’ve passed it on many an occasion.

It sits just to the east of the village of Corringham in Lincolnshire, standing close to the A631 road which runs between Gainsborough and Market Rasen (indeed, it runs all the way from the east end of Sheffield, passing through Wickersley, Maltby, Tickhill, and Bawtry before it reaches Gainsborough) and was one of the stretches of road I would travel when visiting Mablethorpe with my grandparents when I was younger. It’s still the route I take when I visit Mablethorpe now – it feels a bit like a pilgrimage of some sort where I follow the route my grandad drove, even though there are alternate routes that are faster.

The windmill at Corringham was one of many landmarks on the journey to Mablethorpe and it fills me with happiness, nostalgia and a touch of melancholy when I see it appear alongside the road. It’s a part of a beloved journey, one that evokes wonderful memories, but also a little sadness that my grandparents are no longer here. I don’t think I ever took the trips to Mablethorpe with my grandparents for granted, but I sometimes wish I could tell them just how much they meant to me.

Corringham Windmill

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Portra 160. Lab developed, home scanned, & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 17 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Beach football

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This singular football goal stands on the north beach at Mablethorpe. I think the sand and blue skies are a nice contrast and make for a nice photo. I decided to use if for my competition entry for the “cloudscapes” theme.

North Sea cirrus

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80 f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Portra 160. Lab developed, home scanned, & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 17 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Empire State Human

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I liked the juxtaposition between the foreground statue and the background building in this scene. The figure looks defiant, as though holding back the looming structure in some way. The low angle makes him look larger than he might otherwise appear.

Brick by brick, stone by stone, build him till he’s fully grown.
Fetch more water, fetch more sand, biggest person in the land.
Empire State Human – The Human League

Behold!

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 7 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Stairway to heaven (or the location of a little man)?

fishyfisharcade4 Comments

It’s in a catherdral, so maybe the former? Most likely just a stairway to the upper gallaries and the clock-tower though.

This picture instantly brings to mind the poem, Antigonish:

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there!
He wasn’t there again today,
Oh how I wish he’d go away!”

When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door…

Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…

© William Hughes Mearns

As I was going up the stair

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 7 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Popping into a cathedral

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On my last trip to Birmingham, the train got me to the station with plenty of time to spare before I had to be at my meeting, so I wandered around and took some pictures with my Canon Z135 compact. It’s not the smallest compact I own, but it’s proven that it can produce reliable point-and-shoot results and the images are plenty sharp, although with perhaps a bit of softness right at the edges.

The cathedral (St. Philips) was open, so I popped inside to see if there were some photos to be had and I made the three you can see below. While the cathedral interior wasn’t too dark, the Z135 doesn’t have a particularly fast lens – f/3.5 at its widest – so I was pleased I was still able to make these three pictures handheld with no noticeable signs of camera shake.

Aisle
Altar
Candles

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 7 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Light and dark in the underpass

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On my last visit to Birminghm I had an hour or so from getting off the train to when I needed to be at my meeting so I did what any self-respecting photographer would do – I took photos.

Just outside the station I found an underpass with a reflective ceiling and a number of cylindrical columns which looked like it might make a good location to catch a picture or two. Noting the reflections that pedestrians were casting in the mirror of the ceiling I waited for a couple of people to walk through the scene.

For this first shot I metered for the interior of the tunnel.

Approach

For this second image I waited for a person to appear at the far end of the underpass, the camera metering for the bright opening and casting the tunnel into a starrk, low-key light. This is the one I prefer.

Man on the ceiling

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 7 September 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Everything is different today

fishyfisharcade2 Comments

Maybe not everything, but some* things at least.

On the downside, our new prime minister and her chancellor seem to have tanked the entire economy with their so-called mini-budget last week which cut taxes (marginally for the average person, but at a much higher rate for the wealthy, who are now in line for a windfall to further increase the disparity in incomes and wealth). The Pound is plummeting against other currencies, continuation of high inflation will push up prices further and, if the Bank of England decides to react, there’s likely going to be a significant rise in interest rates that will increase the cost of mortgages and borrowing for members of the public as well as businesses.

On the upside, I heard today that I’ve been successful following the job interview I attended a couple of weeks ago, which I’m very happy about. I wish the country wasn’t taking it’s licks, but I’ll grab a bit of good news where I can.

*Actually many, many things. An uncountable number of things even. But still not everything. Probably.

Everything is different today

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 7 September 2022