35mm · Film photography · Photography

Tinkling the ivories

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Many railway stations here in the UK, or at least the larger ones with sheltered concourses and departure areas, tend to have a piano (sometimes several) on which members of the public can exercise their musical talents (or lack thereof). This one is at Manchester Picadilly station – and there’s at least one more at this station.

This is a shot from the first roll I’ve shot through my Olympus 35RC in far too long. My XA3 seems to have gotten much of the love over the past year, but even before I got that camera, the 35RC had languished for longer than I liked. I’ve shot this roll with it and currently have a half-finished roll of FP4+ loaded. It’s a great little camera and deserves some use.

Tinkling the ivories

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 7 May 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Country store (no more)

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The light falling on this shopfront – a combination of contrasty tones and shadows from the trees to the left of frame – attracted me to make the picture. It’s a shame that the shop is not trading, but I guess that’s the way the country is changing. Demographically, villages like this are altering, and combined with that a change in shopping habits and the introduction of online shopping, means that trading conditions have become much more difficult for such stores. Hopefully it will re-emerge in some new guise.

Country Store

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Broken gate and crumbling wall

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Two individual frames of the same scene here today. Both shots are opportunistic – I sometimes like to just go out in the car and drive along roads I’ve never travelled in the hopes of spotting something I think will make a good photo. The gate and the crumbling drystone wall in the field behind it were one such random find.

Sometimes such trips can reap dividends, sometimes they turn up dry or (potentially more disappointing) great shots but with nowhere to pull over and take the shot. But even the latter case still records an entry in the memory bank for a possible (better prepared) future visit.

Old gate
Crumbling wall

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lines in the sky

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It’s been a while since I posted a photo of powerlines on the blog, so let me rectify that…

There were two things that attracted me to this shot. The foreground and distant pole providing a sense of direction and travel through the scene were the first thing that caught my attention as I approached in the car. Then, after parking I noticed that the best angle to make the picture would also result in the contrail mirroring the track of the powerlines.

I don’t think the picture works as well as I thought it might, mostly because the foreground fence is a bit of a distraction. Unfortunately, given the focal length of the camera and the available places where I could position myself to take the shot meant I couldn’t avoid this. I tried cropping the fence out, but the result didn’t look right.

Lines

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Vintage prestige

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A couple of shots featuring vintage prestige cars (a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, and a Jaguar).

I had intended to go out and shoot a roll or two of film this morning, but when I arrived at the location the weather had changed from sunlight to overcast, which put me off. The nail in teh coffing though was the fact that my lightmeter – a Sekonic L-308s – was displaying an error message an wouldn’t work at all. I’ve not got to try and get it repaired and hope I don’t have to buy a replacement (I’d quite like a combination spot / incident meter, but they seem to cost an absolute fortune!). It’s not the end of the world though as I still have my original L-208 Twinmate meter which will work just as well. It’s just that I do like the digital display on the 308.

Rolls
Prestige trio

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

House reflected (once more)

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Today’s picture shows the same house I posted a photo of a few days ago. This shot was made on the same day, although mybe half-an-hour of so later. It was also shot with a different camera and film, and from a different vantage point – this one involved me venturing into the edge of the river (thankfully not deep or fast!) to get a composition I liked.

A little downstream from here is a small weir and I ventured down past it to try and get a picture of a bridge. The picture didn’t really work as the weir kinda seperated the foreground of the scene too much in the frame, but it did result in an amusing experience when a duck, just upstream of the weir, spotted me and swan towards me – perhaps expexting some food – and just nonchalantly paddled right over the edge and into the water below with a “plop”.

House reflected B&W

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A house in the country across time

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I have a tendency to photograph the same things on multiple occasions, it seems. I suspect I’m not alone in this.

As photographers we can appreciate how a subject can change though time, whether that be over decades of weathering, decay, or environmental change, through the seasons of the year, the time of day, and even minute-by-minute, second-by-second as the light changes.

A house in the country
In May 2022

I’ve never purposely set out (so far, at least) to document such changes to a scene as part of a project, but I do find that things that catch my eye the first time I encounter them will often catch it again on further visits. Today’s post shares two shots of the same house, the photographs made about five and a half years apart on different cameras, different formats, different films, and in different conditions. The viewpoints are different in both, but the central subject remains the same. Maybe I’ll photograph it again on some future visit to this location.

FILM - A house in the country
Back in early 2017, shot with my Olympus 35RC on Ilford HP5+

(first picture) Fujica GW690 & Fujichrome Provia 400 (expired 2013). Lab developed.

Taken on 30 April 2022