Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
I think that this picture works quite well, the traction engine and steam roller, as well as the people in the scene are nicely placed. Quite often I get one or the other, not both, so I’m pleased how this one turned out.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE, & Fujifilm Acros. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 14mins 45secs @ 20°
Taken 24 June 2023.
While I sometimes crop digital photos to a panoramic ratio, it not something I tend to do with film photographs which, outside of a little straightening, or minor bits of resizing to remove edge-of-frame distractions, I tend to not crop at all.
However, when looking at the scans of some of the photos I took with my Bronica ETRSi at this year’s Sheffield Steam Rally, I realised that large swathes of the top and bottom of the images were filled with uninteresting sky and grass, so I decided to see how they would look with that stuff cropped out. Turns out they looked pretty nice, I thought, so here they are today.
I think it helps that the 75mm Zenzanon lens is very sharp, and that Acros is a fine-grained film, but it’s something I’ll remember next time my in-camera framing doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE, & Fujifilm Acros. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 14mins 45secs @ 20°
Taken 24 June 2023.
I visited Rufford Abbey back at the end of May. It’s the ruin of a cistercian abbey dating back to the 11th century and then later incorporated into a mansion house in the 17th century.
The monastery was closed by Henry VIII when England broke away from the catholic church in 1530. Henry appointed commissioners to find evidence that would allow him to close the abbey. Apparently, one of the “disgraceful offences” that permitted this to happen was an allegation that the abbot, Thomas of Doncaster, had broken his vows of chastity with several single and married women. Following this, the abbey and lands were granted to George Talbot, one of the wealthiest people in the land at that time, and construction of the new house began.
In the 15th century, the estate passed to Sir George Savile. Savile supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, and his support for the royal family allowed for prosperity in the years following the restoration of the monarchy.
During World War II, the estate was requisitioned and used by the Leicestershire Yeomanry, 6th Cavalry Brigade. By the end of the war the estate was in poor state and Nottinghamshire County Council bought the estate to preserve it. This included demolition of some parts of the structure.
In 1969, the estate was officially designated a Country Park.
It’s not possible to enter the ruin itself, but the whole thing is surrounded by Rufford Abbey Country Park, incorporating gardens, woodland, a reservoir and various cafes and other entertainments. The park itself is free to enter, but there is a parking charge if you arrive by car.
It was a pretty hot day when I visited and there were a lot of visitors (although I’ve almost completely managed to keep them out of these pictures!). There is a large adventure playground making it ideal for familes, plus acres of open grassland, formal gardens, and woodland trails that are nice to experence and explore.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 15mins 45secs @ 20°
Taken 27 May 2023.
A couple of images taken within a stone’s throw of one another, both in the village of Whitwell in Derbyshire. Whitwell appears to be quite a nice place, but it’s somewhere I rarely pass through – mostly because you have to leave the main road deliberately to get there, and it’s otherwise easily bypassed. One day I think I’ll park the car and go for a proper wander around the place as I’m sure there are plenty of interesting things to photograph.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 15mins 45secs @ 20°
Taken 27 May 2023.
This is a church I’ve photographed on a few occasions. While Cuckney hasn’t been a particular destination, it’s a place that I drive through occasionally and the church stands out. It’s a Grade I listed building dating to the 12th Century, although it has been restored a number of times since then. I think it has a pleasingly angular shape. It is also largely unobscured by anything blocking it’s view – many churches tending to be stood amongst trees that can make photographing the entire structure more difficult.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 15mins 45secs @ 20°
Taken 27 May 2023.
I drove past this place on my way home aftert a day out and turned the car around to stop and get a picture. It would have been good to get closer, but there was a sign warning about trespassing which I didn’t feel like disobeying.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 15mins 45secs @ 20°
Taken 27 May 2023.
The past three weeks have been pretty crazy. Even outside of the illness, I’ve been incredibly busy trying to sort a bunch of things out both at home and at work. I’ve had little to no chance to do any photography and my blog posts have frequently been, let’s say, concise.
I think that situation is likely to continue into next week at least, although I really do hope for a bit of calm and a chance to catch my breath before long.
So please exuse any lacklustre efforts I make. I don’t plan on missing any days, but there may be a few posts where there’s little to see other than a photograph.
Here’s another picture from the University of Leeds. I like this one a lot for some reason.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken 25 March 2023.
I think I’m finally shrugging off the worst of the throat infection. I’ve actually managed to eat normal food today without the feeling it wouldn’t fit down my throat, which was very nice. I’m definitely not back to 100%, and swallowing is still slightly iffy, but at least I can manage to get a decent amount of sustenance into my body. The antibiotics are still making me feel vaguelly nauseous all the time though, and I get the odd headache and sudden horrendous coughing fits through the day, which I’ll be glad to see the back of.
I felt well enough to return to work and impressed my colleagues with my new (and temporary) deep, gravelly voice.
I was going to try to write something about reflecting on my experience to provide a link to the photo today, but coudn’t think of anything that really worked. So the picture stands alone.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken 25 March 2023.
I thought the juxtoposition between the ages and styles of these two buildings made for a good picture. The older chapel has the detail and the history, and the tower provides a sence of modernity and scale. I think they work well together.
The throat infection continues to improve, although not as fast as I’d like. I’m managing to consume more solid foodstuffs now, but there are still limits – an attempt at some bread was not favourable – and I have a constant feeling of nausea and fatigue, the former probably a side-effect of the antibiotics, the latter because I’be been eating well under a thousand calories for the past few days now. Hoperfully the next day or two will provide a marked improvement.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken 25 March 2023.
Another University of Leeds building today, the one on the left is the Office of Wellbeing, Safety & Health.
I’ve noticed that I have a bit of a trend of using tree branches to fill in empty parts of photographs where I can. I like the effect it gives and, while the sky isn’t uninteresting in this picture, it would help to mask it if it were.
Day 5 of the throat infection and I think I’m feeling a bit better today. Not well – I still feel pretty ill – but not as bad as I did yesterday (and certainly much better than I felt on Thursday or Friday when I was more or less incapacitated). Hopefully I will start to feel noticeably better in the next day of two. Maybe I’ll even be able to swallow food properly again and perhaps eat something solid with enough calories to sustain me. As of today I’ve lost half-a-stone in weight since this began last week!
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken 25 March 2023.
Steel City Snapper photography 