Today’s post will be much briefer than the ones I’ve been posting over tha past couple of weeks. It’s been one of those days where I’ve been busy at work, and then had to pick one of my sons up from college. Now, as I sit here typing this, it’s just after 7pm and I really want to sit down with a cup of tea and maybe watch some TV. So I’m just going to drop in a few pictures I made of Chesterfield Market Hall a few weeks ago to fill out the post.
I bought a roll of Ilford Ortho Plus film, oh, well over a year ago and it’s been sat in the fridge ever since. Until about four weeks ago that is, when I loaded it for an abortive trip where I forgot a vital piece of equipment. So, after we’d had all thge renovations and decorating done, I managed to get a day to go out and make some photographs. As is my luck, the weather was mostly less than ideal on the day – the dreary slab of overcast that tends to sap my enthusiasm. But it was a chance to go out, so I took it.
I decided to head out to Clumber Park, a National Trust property about 15 miles away, near the town of Worksop. It’s a place I’ve been many times, and somewhere I like to go to see some autumn colour. Alas though, I think I pretty much missed the best of the colour this year – or at least the days that would have highlighted it at it’s best. I packed the Yashicamat along with a somewhat ambitious five rolls of film (including the already loaded Ortho Plus). Unlike the previous time I’d taken out the Yashicamat with this roll of film loaded, this time I took my tripod!
I wandered around the park for a few hours, eventually shooting the full roll of Ortho Plus and also a roll of HP5+ before heading home. I developed Ortho Plus the following day (the HP5+ roll is still sat waiting for me to get around to it) and noticed some very dense looking negatives. I’m not sure if this is normal or, perhaps more likely, due to the fact that my Massive Dev Chart app managed to reset part way through the development meaning I had to quickly try and get back on track on the fly. While I think I was still pretty close with the timings, I was probably at least 10-15 seconds out. Maybe this impacted the process.
I scanned the roll and was pretty disappointed with the results. Not only were the results dark and drab looking, there also seemed to be quite a lot of veil flare on a number of the frames. This might be because, despite remembering the tripod, I still forgot the lens hood for the camera. I’ve noticed similar flaring from the Yashicamat on other occasions, although it’s not consistent and I often get full rolls where it doesn’t appear at all (whether the lens hood is attached or not).
The other reason for my disappointment probably stems from my ignorance of using orthochromatic film. I think I got it muddled up and thought the trees in the shots would look quite lively. In actual fact, the film doesn’t register reds and other warm tones, reducing them to dark grays and blacks instead. This meant that, while the autumn colour wasn’t at its best, there was still enough of it present to make my photos look pretty sombre.
All-in-all it wasn’t what I’d hoped for but, as I say, it’s my ignorance at fault here. I’ll maybe try a roll of the film again at some point, I just don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to do so.
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford Ortho Plus 80 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10.5 mins @ 20°.
I thought I’d take the time today to post the picture I’ve entered for the “magical” theme in the photo contest I’m taking part in. It fits the theme, certainly, although in a rather literal way, but it’s probably not the picture I’d have hoped to get under different circumstances. As I said yesterday, I was up against the ticking clock with the deadline for entries on the 30 November. As I’ve not been in any sort of mood for doing any photography over the past two weeks, it was very much a last minute dash to get something in before closing.
I had though about going inside the shop and perhaps picking up some props to photograph at home as a still-life or something, but they were closed yesterday (it’s normally opened on Saturdays I believe, but there was a sign on the door apologising because they were having some new flooring fitted). So my only option was a shot of the shop from the outside. The weather was very gloomy due to the snowy and stormy conditions we’ve been having, so the light wasn’t great, but on the plus side, the billboard on the side of the shop fitted the theme perfectly too, so that little bit of synchronicity was welcomed.
All-in-all I could have done better in different circumstances, but it is what it is and certainly better than dropping out of the contest. I still want to win it for Stan! 🙂
This somewhat unnerving sculpture is the Knife Angel. It’s officially known as the National Monument Against Violence and Aggression. Apart from its head and hands, its body and wings are formed from thousands of knives that have been handed in as part of weapon amnesty programmes.
Towering above An angel formed out of knives Sending a message
The frontage of Chesterfield town hall is attractive and makes for a good photographic subject. While Sheffield town hall is a very nice building, the fact it is surrounded on three sides by roads and buildings means that finding a good vantage-point to see it at its best is more difficult. Chesterfield on the other hand has a large expanse of park in front of the building, with a path lading up to the main entrance of the building. There’s a road with a lot of car parking spaces directly in front, but these are obscured by the rise of the hill and the stone steps at the top.
I’ve posted photographs of the building before, here.
With ornate columns Shining bright in the sunshine A sight to behold
It’s not that often that I cee circuses, so when I drove past this one in a field beside the road I took the first opportunity I could to turn the car around and go back and grab a couple of pictures.
Above the hedges Looms the shape of a big-top Circus is in town
This viewpoint of Bolsover castle is always striking to behold, I think, and there was clearly good reason to place the castle in this location given it’s commanding position above the valley below. The castle dates to the 12th century and was built by Henry II and further extended in the 15th and 16th centuries.
M1 motorway Runs like a river below Bolsover castle
