Category: Medium Format

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Scenes from an autumn walk part 2

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Following on from yesterday’s post showing pictures taken on Lomography Color Negative 400, here’s a (smaller) selection of images that I shot with Fujifilm Pro 160NS.

I’ve already posted a couple of images individually from this roll here and here. Despite taking the full fifteen images that the ETRSi provides per roll, I haven’t uploaded that many of them. Many of them felt samey, or I didn’t get the results I’d hoped for. Also, while the day had great light, by the time I shot this roll the sun was already higher in the sky and starting to feel a bit harsh and this, coupled with the lack of clouds in the sky, left a few of the images looking a little bland. I might be able to tweak the editing to get more from them, but that’s something for another day (if I do it at all).

This first shot of the fungi-covered tree stump is my favourite of the set, but the third picture found it’s way into Flickr’s Explore selection, so received a lot more online popularity.

Small forest
Woodland
Somewhere in Longshaw

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Fujifilm Pro 160NS. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 11 November 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Scenes from an autumn walk part 1

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Blessed with fine weather and on a day where I could take advantage of it, I headed out to the area around Padley Gorge and the Longshaw Estate one Saturday morning in early November with the hopes of catching some autumnal scenes.

The pictures posted today are ones I shot on a roll of Lomography Color Negative 400 with my Bronica ETRSi. Tomorrow I’ll post another, smaller set, that I shot on Fujifilm Pro 160NS.

Autumn colour at Longshaw
Autumn colour at Longshaw pond
Autumn light
Millstone
Two corvids
Stump

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 11 November 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Tree trunk (not a Christmas tree trunk though)

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After yesterdays picture of a somewhat worse-for-wear tree trunk, here’s an altogether healthier looking example.

We put our Christmas decorations up today. This has been done with some trepidation as we have two kittens in the house, both of whom have never experienced Christmas before and who, no doubt, the experience will be full of new things to cause mischief with.

One of them had her curious little snout into everything while the tree and the rest were put up, the other is seemingly afraid of Christmas and went upstairs to hide (although she has since come back down and tentatively poked at the festive garland above the fireplace, and also stolen a small sprig of artificial spruce from a display and hidden under the kitchen table with it). The tree is still standing for now, although a length of tinsel was found to have mysteriously fallen off earlier this afternoon.

The outdoor lights are getting whipped around in the wind, and a section of them seems to have blown into the guttering. That can wait until tomorrow to be remedied though…

Trunk

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE, & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 11 November 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Animal damage

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The trunk of this tree looks a little worse for wear. I assume the damage is the result of animal activity – there are lots of sheep and also deer in the area. Plenty of squirrels too, although this amount of impact looks a little severe for those bushy-tailed creatures.

I’m not sure if it’s the result of teeth or horns / antlers, but it caught my eye and I took a picture.

The original is a colour image but it’s one of those frames that, for some reason, Negative Lab Pro had trouble with and the results had a nasty green and purple tint. The conversion to monochrome resulted in a more satisfying image. It’s not the first image that I’ve had these sort of issues with – sometimes I can spot frames that might be problematical – but this was not one of them. Maybe a visit to the NLP forum might help resolve the issue.

Gnawed

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE, & Fujifilm Pro 160NS – converted to B&W in Lightroom. Lab developed, home scanned.

Taken 11 November 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Sherwood Forest Scenes

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I’ve never visited Sherwood Forest before, despite it being only half-an-hour’s drive from where I live. I’ve visited Clumber Park and it’s surrounding woodland on many occasions though, and I guess that’s all part of the original much larger area of forest.

The trip I took last month was mostly intended to photograph the Major Oak but, if I’m honest, it’s not all that photogenic and, due to the fences that surround it, the compositions are a bit limited. I’m sure that, under good conditions, there are many good photographs to be had, but I feel that the other trees (including many other ancient oaks) withing the forest are perhaps better subjects.

Today I’ve posted a few other pictures from the trip. I think I might try to return in a few weeks when tthe autumn colour is in full effect.

A forest
Somewhere in Sherwood
A stand of birches
Still standing
Slant
Ferns

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE, & Kodak Ektar. Lab developed, home scanned, and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 23 September 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

The Major Oak

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The Major Oak is a large and ancient oak tree which resides in Sherwood Forest. It is thought to be in the region of eight-hundred to eleven-hundred years old. It’s trunk is eleven metres in circumference, and it is estimated to weigh twenty-three tonnes. It is named after Major Hayman Rooke (1723-1806), who carried out a survey of trees in the area in 1790.

The tree is perhaps most famous due to its association with Robin Hood who, along with his band of Merry Men, was said to shelter beneath the tree and occasionally hide inside its trunk.

In its old age, not that differently to people, the tree requires some additional support to keep it from taking a fall, and the boughs are supported in multiple places by supports that were first installed in the 1970s, and with chains at the crown of the tree that were placed in the early 20th century.

The tree is quite a tourist attraction and is around fifteen minute’s walk from the Sherwood Forest visitor centre. While the tree itself is fenced off to prevent damage, there are tables and benches in an adjacent clearing where people can sit and admire it. I was there quite early in the day and didn’t see many people apart for the odd dog walker and jogger, but I was quietly amused whe and ice cream van pulled up from one of the service tracks. I guess the tree is a good place to do business even if you’re not an outlaw!

The Major Oak

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE and Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken 23 September 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Dark vs light

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I was quite please with this picture of West Burton power station. I like the framing, and I’m a fan of industrial subjects in photographs, but most of all – thanks to the position of the clouds when I took the shot – I like the way that some of the cooling towers and some are light, like some massive game of chess or something.

Dark vs light

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE and Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken 2 September 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Old truck. Older carriage.

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I’ve posted a picture of this ice cream truck before, that picture shot with my large format camera on the same day I took this photo, but the carriage in the second shot was only photographed with my Bronica ETRSi.

Waterside Ice Cream

I don’t have a clue which type of carriage it is – I did look online, but backed out of the rabbit-hole of potential sunk time before I lost hours to detective work. It’s difficult to know just how old it might be. It could date back to when such things were a primary mode of transport, or it could also be a more recent vehicle, used for displays or special occasions or something, which has been left to decay. Whatever the case, it was interesting to see it there, albeit behind a metal fence that adds little to the picture.

Fixer-upper

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE or Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC, and Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken 28 August 2023.