Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
This is my favourite photo I took during our visit to Lloret de Mar. I got the timing pretty much as good as I could have wished, with the three cormorants on the rocks in the foreground in front of a nice wash of blue and white surf, and then the backdrop of the tourist filled beach and row of hotels. KFC even gave it a complimentary splash of red!
Olympus Trip 35 & Kodak Pro Image 100. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 4 June 2025
The picture shared today features a pair of adult swans and, if you look closely, their brood of cygnets.
The photograph was taken a few minutes after the swan at the front had gone into full blown protect-the-family mode.
A man was coming down the canal on a sit-down paddle board (he must have been fishing, as there were a couple of fishing rods attached to the back of the board). As soon as the swan noticed him heading in the direction of its family, even though he was still about thirty meters away, immediately launched into a threatening flight directly towards the man, flying inches above the surface, it’s wing tips making splashes on the water.
The guy on the paddle-board slowed himself to a stop and the swan dropped back into the water maybe seven or eight feet in front of him, it’s long neck coiled down into a tight number-two shape. The swan then proceeded to swim back and forth in front of the board, clearly prepared for any sign of hostility towards it’s nearby family. This continued until the guy gently and slowly passed downstream from the birds.
I took great care not to antagonise the swans when I took this picture. The thing about a swan being able to break a man’s arm is most likely an urban myth, but I felt it prudent to take no chances. 🙂
Yashica Mat 124G & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
I knew I had to get a photo of these pigeons as soon as I saw them. If I’ve counted right, there are one-hundred-and-eighteen of them perched on the overhead cables (including the two in flight). Normally when I see something like this they’ll all fly away before I get chance to take the picture, but on this occasion I was blessed with a flock tolerant of my presence. I guess city pigeons are generally quite accepting of people though, and they were pretty much out of reach up there on the wires anyway. I suspect that, had I dropped some fod on the floor, the whole lot of them would have descended!
The tram has a slight blur as I wanted to maximise my depth of field, so had to use a slower shutter speed (I think it was 1/125s, but it might have been 1/60s.
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 November 2021
So, my first week of Couch-to-5k has taken a dip on day three where it appears that I’ve gotten myself a calf strain. I managed to walk home ok but the pain has increased since (at least when I move around) and the range of movement has reduced. Absolutely brilliant, eh?
I’m dissapointed that I will likely now have to put the running off for a while. Not because I’ll miss the activity itself – running isn’t something I can say I love doing – but because I do want to increase my fitness and, more importantly, support my son as he runs too. I’ve no idea how long the injury will take to heal before I can run again (even assuming it is a calf-strain. I’ve not spoken to a healthcare professional about it as yet, so it might be something else), but online self-diagnosis suggests it can take up to six weeks to fully recover. Bah!
Like a cramp, it felt
as I tore my calf running
Excercise. What Fun…
At present I can’t really even consider going for a walk until it heals a little as I’m moving about like a pirate with a wooden leg at the moment. I should have stuck to walking!
Here’s a flock of birds and some power lines from a few weeks ago when I was able to move around uninjured. 🙂
Pentax P30T, SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.7 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 24 December 2020
A pair of pigeons (or are they doves?) perch atop telephone wires. It reminds me of one of those old cartoons where the birds would place their heads to the wire and evesdrop on the converations being transmitted.
Pentax Espio 140M & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 11 February 2020
A couple of days ago I posted a photo of some waterfowl at the edge of Elsecar reservoir and spoke about how a lady came and fed them while I was there. Today’s picture shows them in full feeding frenzy!
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 30 November 2019
I liked the contrast of the white gulls on shore and the darker ducks (mostly) on the water. The red filter has darkened the grass to add more contrast too.
Olympus OM-1, Zuiko 135mmf/4.5 (with red filter) & Adox Silvermax 100.
Taken on 12 November 2017
Steel City Snapper photography 