Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
I’m off to the cinema after work today to see The Marvels, so this shot of a theatre kiosk seemed an apt choice for today’s post. Do you think they sell hot dogs there perchance?
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.
Taken 9 September 2023.
This wheel kinda looks like how I feel at present. I seem to be having a lot of trouble finding enthusiasm for anything, even things I enjoy, on a regular basis. I don’t think I’m depressed or anything, just that I can’t seem to find the energy to do stuff. My attention wanders but never really settles on anything, just drifts from one thing to another, not gaining any real benefit. I’m finding it difficult to focus on things, both at work and at home.
It’s not a permanent, 24/7 thing – sometimes I feel better, but it’s noticeable enough for me to be giving it thought. It’s especially frustrating because, sometimes when I have free time to do something I’d like I end up doing nothing, which is a big disappointment. Free time is something I have in limited supply and to waste it is not good.
I’ve started to wonder if I might have Long Covid or something, as these symptoms are often associated with that condition, but I don’t really have any of the other signs. Or maybe I’m just getting older.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.
Taken 9 September 2023.
When walking to the West End of London, after disembarking my train, I decided to take a route I’ve never used before. Instead of heading south down Woburn Place / Southampton Row, which is the way I would normally go if walking, I headed further west along Euston Road and then cutting south down Gower Street.
I didn’t have any particular reason for choosing Gower Street other than it’s a road I’ve never walked before (and might therefore have some things worth photographing), and that it would take me towards my destination.
I already posted a couple of pictures yesterday that I shot outside University College London, but the ones featured today are what I photographed as I continued down the street past rows of elegant terraced houses. One of the things that struck me about these was the number on chimney pots visible above each property, with ten individual pots being visible on most of the buildings. Each has five floors including basement and attic, so I guess two or more fireplaces on each floor – which doesn’t actually sound that many – but to see them all emerging from the rooftop together is quite striking. None of the houses in the estate where I live has any chimneys, they instead have a simple vented tile on the apex of the roof where fumes from gas fires can escape (assuming a gas fire is still in use – our h0ome, and I suspect many others, now relies totally on gas-powered central heating, with any fumes vented from a flue from the boiler.. Different times, I guess.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.
Taken 9 September 2023.
As promised, this post marks a change in imagery from all the Malaga pictures I’ve been posting. I’ve now moved onto a roll of Ilford HP5+ that I shot on a visit to London back in September. The trip was to see exhibitions at The Photographers Gallery (Evelyn Hofer), and The National Portrait Gallery (Sir Paul McCartney). Bot exhibitions were excellent, although I enjoyed the Evelyn Hofer photographs more.
After getting off the train, I decided to walk into the West End rather than catch the Tube, so was able to get a bunch of pictures during the amble southwards. These first two were taken outside University College London.
Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.
Taken 9 September 2023.
Those were the words of Vyvyan the punk in the classic British 1980s sitcom The Young Ones. And they align with my feeling about posting pictures of Malaga which I’ve now been doing for <checks blog> the last five weeks or so,
I’m not actually bored of my pictures, or of Malaga itself, just the act of posting an almost continual daily stream of them since early October. It will be a nice change to post some different stuff, I think. I guess that shooting four rolls of film and getting lots of pictures I liked is what leads to this situation. There are worse things, I suppose.
With that in mind, I’ll drop a big image dump of some remaining Malaga pictures today before posting something new tomorrow.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 21 August 2023.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 21 August 2023.
The building covered in netting is the old post office building in Malaga. Apparently Enno Haar wasn’t there though. I have no idea who Enno Haar is.
I liked the building as a subject for a picture, but I think the framing with the traffic lights makes the shot.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 21 August 2023.
This oversized “Rubik’s Cube” is a feature of the Pompidou Gallery in Malaga. It’s quite a striking sight from without, and I expect that it’s equally interesting to look at from within (the gallery is below this paved area, although I didn’t go inside).
The structure above ground is hollow, but you can see people walking past on the opposite side to where you stand, filtered by various colours of glass.
The first shot visualises why polarising filters on wider-angled lenses can have an adverse effect – the sky changing from a deep to light shade of blue as the polarisation effect changes across the scene.
The second picture, shot through the cube, has an almost cross-processed look. To be honest I’m not sure if it’s an accurate representation of what I photographed, or if it’s one of those wildcard images that Negative Lab Pro goes a bit crazy with. I like it though.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 21 August 2023.
This photo is one of those examples where I focused on one thing, while completely missing something else that was right before my eyes.
The thing I took a picture of was the street art, with the narrow street vanishing into the distance with a lone figure approaching. I spotted the wooden pole with the cables and thought it framed the scene nicely.
What I didn’t notice at all until I scanned the negative what what was affixed to the pole – namely a pair of divers flippers, what might be some stuffed leggings, and a sign which reads “Si el pais se hunde estamos preparados” which translates to the English phrase “If the country sinks we are prepared“. I like it when I spot these little hidden surprises in photographs (although maybe I should more time seeing, rather than just looking when I’m composing a photograph).
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 21 August 2023.
Want to see how that roll of film renders the colour red? Why not photograph a Coca-Cola sign then?*
* or a British post box. Or maybe a fire-engine.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 21 August 2023.
