Footprints in the sand

June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Someone had been walking barefoot across the beach at Hornsea on the day I visited. Whoever they were, they had moved out of sight before I came across their tracks.

I like this picture but can’t help but think that there was a better one to be had. I wanted to keep the building in frame at the upper right, and I wanted a crashing wave as well, both of which I’m happy with, but the placement of the footprints isn’t quite how I’d like it.

Scenes like this require care. walk into the scene and, to quote Joel Meyerovitz, it becomes bruised – in this case the risk that the smooth sand becomes tarnished with my own footprints as well as the unknown walker’s. Maybe I should have sought out more patience but, as usual when I visit somewhere that’s not as easy to get to, I like to try and maximise my value from the day and see as much as I can, which means I tend not to hang around a sinmgle location of photo opportunity for too long. Perhaps I would improve my photography if I did.

Yashicamat 124G & Fujifilm Acros. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 20 June 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Pebble beach

June 28, 2022June 28, 2022 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

The beach at Hornsea has a lot of pebbles, no doubt in part because of the coastal erosion that is taking place in the region. Pebbles are interesting to look at, with an endless array of shapes, sizes, colours and textures. The colours are multiplied further when the pebbles become wet, their tones becoming more saturated, fragments of minerals sparkling in the sunlight, and some taking on a crystaline, semi-translucent appearance.

I wondered as I stood there, how long the process of taking a rough chunk of rock and smoothing it to an organically sleek pebble would take. “How long is a piece of string?” might be a suitable retort as, given the range of different types of rock and mineral, plus the fact that the process never ends, each individual piece being constantly weathered until it becomes sand, but it’s still something that I expect will take a considerable duration.

So I was quite surprised to see a large pebble formed out of a section of brickwork, complete with mortar holding the components together. While I’ve no idea when this chunk of masonry began it’s transformation, I expect it’s far more recent than I might have expected. I took a phot of the brick-pebble but it’s on a roll of film I’ve yet to develop. Hopefully, if it has worked out ok, I’ll post it on the blog.

Yashicamat 124G & Kodak Gold 200. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 20 June 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

North Landing

April 17, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The view from North Landing near Flamborough. Although on the east coast of England, because it is on a promontory, this view is actually looking to the north. Setting off on a straight line from here would take you right over the top of the world without hitting land until you reached Wrangel Island, off the northern coast of the Russian mainland to the west of Alaska. It would be a long and arduous voyage for one of the small boats seen in this scene.

Olympus XA3 & Ilford Pan HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins 20°.

Taken on 14 March 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Fred Flintstone’s bowling ball

April 6, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I spent some time trying to get a composition I was happy with here. The jumble of large chalk pebbles on the beach looked nice in the sunlight and I was keen to get a photo, but it took some effort and fiddling with the tripod. I still don’t think it’s the best I could have gotten, but I did like this distinctive looking rock with its bowling-ball type trio of holes on top. I’m not sure even Fred Flintstone would have scored a strike with this mis-shape though.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Lomography Color Negative 100 .

Taken on 14 March 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Boats at Flamborough North Landing

April 5, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I visited the Yorkshire coast a few weeks ago, visiting Flamborough – specifically North Landing and then a walk along the clifftop path to Flamborough Head, where the lighthouse resides.

The two pictures in today’s post are from North Landing. This used to be the launch point for the Flamborough lifeboat and the steep concrete launch slide is a major feature of the walk down to the sand (it is just to the right of the decaying boat in the first photo). The lifeboat has now moved to South Landing and the ramp and boathouse are no longer in use – for their original purposes at least – although the boathouse now serves as a cafe and grille.

The walk down to the beach is quite steep and the sand is very soft, making progress across it away from the firmer ground of the water line quite an energy intensive process. The walk back to the top is pretty good exercise for thigh and calf too!

I’ll be posting a series of shots from this trip over the coming week or so.

This was the first roll of film that I converted with Negative Lab Pro and I’m pretty happy with the results.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Lomography Color Negative 100 .

Taken on 14 March 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

On the beach

March 1, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Cleethorpes has a fairly long, straight run of beach with the pier stood maybe about halfway along its length. The pier, and the big wheel and helter-skelter that stand not too far away are prominent landmarks wherever you stand on the shore.

Being situated at the end of the Humber estuary, the beach at Cleethorpes is aluvial in texture, the sand being a dark muddy brown as it’s probably made up in a significant part by deposits from the estuary. The upper parts of the beach are sandy in a more traditional way and I wonder if this sand has not been artificially placed there for tourists. On the day I visited there was an excavator spreading sand around the upper part of the beach down past the pier. I have a photograph of that too, so I might post it on here at some point.

Olympus OM-2N, Zuiko Auto-S 0mm f/1.8 & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 12mins @ 20°.

Taken on 31 January 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

On a North Sea beach

January 22, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

My plan to get more film developed today has not borne fruit, so for now it means I’ll have to dip into the archive to find a shot (for today at least – I still plan to get another roll developed tomorrow). The good news is that it wasn’t procrastination at fault, but the fact that I went out with the camera this morning and shot a couple of new rolls. I was using the ETRSi, so that should mean 30 more potential shots to feed the fires that keep the blog going.

Today’s photo then is from late spring last year, made during a daytrip my wife and I made to Bridlington, a seaside town on the Yorkshire coast. I thought that I’d posted this one before, but looking through my posts I can’t see it on here. It’s one of my favourites from this roll too.

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 27 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Beach grasses (and the inconvenience of home improvements)

October 23, 2021October 23, 2021 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

My photography has dwindled over the past few weeks, coinciding with the new kitchen we’ve had fitted and ten the decorating that is still ongoing. I had hoped that I might be able to grab a few outings this week while I’ve been off work but, alas, there has been too much other stuff to be done unfortunately. Except for yesterday that is, when I had most of the day free.

Unfortunatley the weather wasn’t ideal – a mixture of boring grey skies punctuated by the odd rain-shower and glimpse of sunshine – plus I was tired from all the other stuff that has been taking place. Still, I didn’t want to waste the opportunity while I had it (I’m fast running out of new photos for the blog!) so I made the effort to go out. I dug the Yashica Mat from a box where it was being stored, along with my light meter, a cable release, and a tripod quick-release plate. I took four rolls of film (better to be prepared, eh?) and, as I was leaving the house, grabbed my XA3 too, which has an almost full roll of HP5+ rated at 800asa loaded.

This last item proved fortunate as, despite all my preparation (and remembering to take the Arca-swiss plate), I forgot to take the actual tripod, leaving it leaning in the corner of the kitchen where I’d placed it! If I’d loaded a roll of HP5+ or something in the Yashica this wouldn’t have been too much of a problem as I could have shot it handheld at box speed, or even pushed it, but I’d instead loaded a roll of 80asa Ortho Plus instead. Because of the dull light, unless I fancied shooting the whole roll at f/3.5, it was rendered pretty much useless without the tripod to hold the camera steady. So, instead, I took shome pictures with the XA3 – maybe ten or twelve frames, not enough to finish the roll. At least I made some photos though.

I might get the opportunity to shoot some more on Monday or Tuesday, but I’ll have to see how things go.

This decorating
Is not helping to push my
Creativity

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Lomography Xpro Chrome 100 (expired 2012)

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

At low tide

October 20, 2021October 12, 2021 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

As I might not have full access to my PC to post for a few days while we’re having some decorating done, I’ve pre-written a few posts with older pictures that I haven’t posted before (I hope!). As I’m a little stuck for time to write them, they’ll each have this same boilerplate text. If I get back on my PC earlier than usual I’ll probably put the remaining ones back into the drafts folder for emergencies.

You’re not going to escape the crappy haiku’s though…

Estuarial beach
A feeding ground for the gulls
As strangers pass by