Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
A little bit of the Leeds General Infirmary building is the subject of the picture shared today.
Something good that happened today…
This is something good that’s about to happen today. My in-laws are visiting from Spain and we’re all meeting up for a meal. I’m hungry and looking forward to it.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
A selection of shots taken inside Leeds Kirkgate Market.
These are from the same roll of Kodak Elite Chrome 200 that I will be writing an “Expiriment” post about soon (honest!).
Kirkgate Market is the largest covered market in Europe with over 800 stalls. The ornate hall at the front of the market (where these pictures were taken) is particularly nice.
Something good that happened today…
Last year I visited the doctor because I’d noticed a mark on my arm that hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t causing me any discomfort, but it was new, and as such I thought I’d best get it checked out. This led to a couple of referrals to a clinic where the lesion was photographed and the pictures sent away to be checked. The outcome from the second of these referrals was a letter informing me to make an appointment with my GP for treatment. No mention of what the issue might be was included in the letter, so I had some concern that it may be some type of skin cancer or something.
I visited the GP today and was told that they believe the mark to be an actinic (or “solar”) keratosis – effectively damage to the skin caused by exposure to the sun over time. While I’m not one for sunbathing (I actively avoid it!) my arms are often uncovered when the weather is warm and, as such, probably get more sunshine than any other part of my body, so this diagnosis is perhaps not a surprise.
Solar keratoses are non-malignant and do no real harm, although there is some chance that they can develop into skin cancer over time (though, thankfully, a less serious and treatable form). I now have to pick up some ointment from the chemist tomorrow and apply that for the next three months before returning to the doctor’s later in the year to check it is still ok.
So, while I’d rather the keratosis not be there, the knowledge of what it is and that it’s probably not something to worry about, is today’s good news.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
I’ll be posting more photos from this roll in the coming days and, given it’s an expired film, I’ll try to write up a new “Expiriment” post.
For now, here’s a single frame that I shot while visiting Peter Mitchell’s “Nothing Lasts Forever” exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery last autumn.
Something good that happened today…
My eldest son came to visit after he’d been to get his hair cut. We all ate pasta and had a good catch up.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
I was reading an online post today from someone who suffers from anxiety, and how they used journalling as a means to help deal with it. One of the things they found useful was to list a number of good things that had happened during the day, and to also set some goals for the following day.
I suffer from anxiety sometimes. Mostly it’s focused on a particular issue and goes away when that thing has been resolved, but I do tend to worry about things in general too. This doesn’t tend to give me the same physical and mental symptoms as actual anxiety, but is more of a constant low-level awareness of things that might be (but not necessarily, will be) a problem. Sometimes this can lead to catastrophizing and imagining extreme outcomes from often innocuous things, such as someone’s tone of voice, or something I overhear. I’ve gotten better at recognizing these situations, and I can usually talk myself out of this behaviour, knowing that the thoughts are unrealistic and ungrounded.
Knowing this, I’m going to make an effort to look out for the good things each day, and make a note of them when they happen. I think that setting my weird mind looking out for good things will be a much better use of energy than imagining what might be bad. I’ll try to list some of them here each day.
Something good that happened today…
I took down the Christmas decorations. This is something I don’t enjoy very much and which always makes me feel a little bit sad that Christmas is over for another year, so it might seem weird that I’m using it as “something good”. But the fact is that, despite my sadness that I’ve had to take them down (not that I would leave them up indefinitely or anything), I don’t actually feel too bad about it. I think I was more worried about being sad, than actually sad, and I feel fine now.
I also had our two cats helping me which was kind of annoying, but also nice. A balance between the frustration that they were constantly getting in the way, and the delight at seeing them sitting in every single box they could find (usually just as I was about to put something inside it!), which made me smile and laugh.
Today’s pictures are the last of the batch I took when I visited King’s Lynn back at the start of autumn (I know I say this a lot, but time really is flying by quickly as I get older!). This cottage forms part of the border of the grounds of St. Nicholas’ Chapel, a church dating back to the 11th century.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken on 19 September 2024
Somehow, another year has concluded. I feel that I’m spinning closer and closer to whatever is at the centre of everything, each orbit feeling shorter than the last. At this rate, I expect a year to feel like five minutes before too long!
So as the year comes to a close I’ll pick my annual selection of favourite pictures, one from each month. very subjective as usual, and as always I could have picked one of several from some months. The pickings have become much slimmer over the past couple of months though, mostly due to other matters being on my mind and not shooting as much. December’s entry (given I’m keeping this selection film-based) is one I’ve only shot since Christmas, and only developed and scanned today. I expect this one may be usurped as I have a couple more rolls yet to scan (and one roll of colour from Barcelona to send off for processing) which may contain a preferred picture. We shall see.
One thing I’ve noticed is that I seem to have gone for a bit of a bridge theme for this selection. 🙂
I’ll end this bit by wishing you all a very happy New Year and wish good things for us all in 2025. Have a good one!
January
Yashicamat 124G
Kodak Tri-X (@800asa)
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
February
Olympus XA3
Ilford HP5+ (@800asa)
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
March
Olympus XA3
Ilford HP5+ (@800asa)
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
April
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16
Kodak Tri-X
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
May
Olympus Trip 35
Fomapan 100
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
June
Yashica Mat 124G
Fujifilm Pro 400H
Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
July
Fujica GW690
Kodak Ektar
Lab developed.
Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
August
Olympus OM-10
G-Zuiko AUTO-S 35mm f/2.8
Ilford FP4+
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins
September
Fujica GW690
Kodak Plus-X (expired January 2008 and shot at 100asa)
Adox Rodinal 1+50 13mins @ 20°
October
Yashica Mat 124G
Kodak Portra 400
Lab developed
Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
November
Nikon F80
Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD
Kodak Ultramax
Lab Developed
Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
December
Yashica Mat 124G
Kodak Tri-X
Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
So that’s another year’s round-up. And now I begin anew with a bunch of fresh pictures in 2025!
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken on 19 September 2024
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken on 19 September 2024
Beside the river stand a cluster of siloes. I believe they are part of an Associated British Ports facility.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken on 19 September 2024
Low tide on the River Great Ouse, and the mud of the riverbank is revealed.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken on 19 September 2024
The view down the River Great Ouse to where it empties into The Wash. I wonder how many of those special, extra-tall electricity pylons there are around the country? I’ve only ever seen them where they span rivers, like in this case.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken on 19 September 2024
Steel City Snapper photography 