Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Two sets of power lines en-route to the large substation at Canklow meadows a few miles away.
I liked the contrast between the organised and regular structures of the pylons and the organic shapes of the two trees flanking them on the horizon.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 24 December 2022.
Another photo from my Christmas eve outing. I saw this scene as I drove past in my car but, due to the roads being narrow with no place to stop or turn around, I had to do a loop of several miles to bring me back to the same location so I could park up and go make the picture.
I think it might have worked well had I been able to face the trees head on, but there was limited space and my shadow would enter the scene if I positioned myself in certain places, so this was what I got.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 24 December 2022.
Another photgraph taken at Ulley Reservoir on Christmas Eve. It was the first time I’d ever taken this road around the edge of the water and so I’ve never seen this viewpoint of the bridge where it crosses this part of the reservoir. I’m not sure if the water level was particularly high, or if those arches are designed to leave such little space beneath the roadway. No-one is going to be taking a boat under them, that’s for sure!
Again, due to my tripod-plate mishap, this was another picture shot at a lowere shutter speed and wider aperture than I’d have liked.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 24 December 2022.
Another year is about to come to an end, and it’s time for the annual look back at my favourite photographs. It’s a slightly curtailed post this year (although there are still twelve images featured – one for each month) for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve done my usual trick and procrastinted leaving me insufficient time to do a proper job and, secondly, because I’ve come down with a cold and don’t feel very well. A sensible person would learn from this and take measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again next year. But I can’t find a sensible person willing to write this thing, unfortunately.
So, here are my favourite shots from each month of 2022. As always, this is subjective and could change if I were to revisit the piece again. Some months were difficult to pick images for because I had more than one that I liked. Other months had quite slim pickings due to me not making as many photographs (when I broke my ankle in July, or in December where I’ve only finished one roll of images taken during the month).
I’ve wondered a few times about slowing down my daily output but I expect I’ll be here again tomorrow (and the day after that, and the day after that (you get the idea…)), starting a fifth full year of daily posts.
I wish you all a Happy New Year and a good 2023!
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Another photo taken outside The Hepworth gallery in Wakefield. I think this one is definitely my favourite from the roll. The use of a shallow depth of field was deliberate to throw the building out of focus but still keep its presence in the frame.
I had the chance to go out with a camera today (well, I was Christmas shopping, but had the Trip 35 in my pocket). Sadly, the beautiful – if very cold – frosty weather also came to an end today, being replaced bith grey overcast skies and rain. So I took not a single picture. Sigh.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 5 November 2022.
Another working week draws to a close. I’ve managed to complete something I’ve been involved with at work over the past couple of months, which is nice. While there are some bits still to do they won’t be required until after the Christmas break. My usual situation is that I end up working right up to the final hours before my Christmas leave kicks in but this year, hopefully, I might have a slightly more relaxed time next week and maybe get into the Christmas spirit a bit more than I currently am.
Today’s photos are a couple more from my trip to The Hepworth. Some more signs of the veil flare are apparent in the picture of the stairs, but it’s manageable. My lens spanner arrived yesterday evening and while I’ve not attempted the repair to remove the lens haze yet, I was able to confirm that the taking lens seems to come out easily enough, which is a good sign.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 5 November 2022.
I visited The Hepworth back at the start of November to see the Hannah Starkey: In Real Life exhibition that was (and, at the time I write this, still is) present in the gallery. The exhibition was good – Hannah Starkey isn’t a photographer I’ve followed particularly – much of her work takes the form of staged portraits designed to depict candid scenes of women going about their lives – but I always tend to find such exhibitions interesting and inspiring, even if the work is not something that would be my first choice of style. Seeing the huge prints in the gallery environment was a great experience.
I took my Yashicamat 124G with me on the visit in the event I might find some things to photograph while I was there, and the posts for the coming days will feature some of the results. Today’s two pictures were made inside The Hepworth gallery, though not in the confines of the Starkey exhibition.
I’ve noticed over the past year or so that my Yashica tends to flare in certain conditions – a diffuse veil flare that reduces contrast, turning deep blacks to greys. Closer inspection of the taking lens reveals that there is haze present, so I need to try and get that fixed. I’ve looked online and it appears to be a reasonably simple job to remove and clean the taking lens, although not without risk of my cack-handedly breaking the camera in some way. To this end I’ve bought a lens spanner and will attempt to effect a repair this weekend. Wish me luck!
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 5 November 2022.
When you shoot at f/2.8 with a medium format camera there’s not mushroom for mistakes when it comes to nailing the focus. Ho, ho, ho. 🙂
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 & Kodak Yri-X (expired 2013). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 3 November 2022.
I must apologise for the somewhat concise posts of late. I have a lot of things going on keeping me busy and not much mental capacity remaining to write much on the blog.
Todays I present a picture of Critchlow’s Farm Shop in Bakewell. It took quite some patience to find a moment when there wasn’t a vehicle of some sort driving in front of it!
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 & Kodak Yri-X (expired 2013). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 1 November 2022.
Today’s photo is of Holme Bridge in Bakewell, a gritstone packhorse bridge spanning the Rivey Wye whose construction dates to 1664.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 & Kodak Yri-X (expired 2013). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 1 November 2022.
Steel City Snapper photography 