At Oldcotes

August 26, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Back in June my wife and I went strawberry picking at a farm near Tickhill. It was a hot day so, on the way home, laden with three large tubs of delicious berries, we decided to see if we could find a cafe. Looking on Google Maps, I found a place called Manor Farm (which is the building in the last photo below) in the village of Oldcotes which has a cafe and makes its own ice cream. The ice cream was very nice, as was the cafe which had seating in a lovely courtyard as well as indoors.

In getting to the place, I noticed a few other things in the area that might make for interesting photos. I didn’t have my camera with me at the time so, a few days later, I returned, parked the can and went and took some pictures (I also returned to Tickhill on the same trip, and took a bunch more there, but those are for another day).

As tends to be my thing quite often these days, most of the pictures are of buildings I found interesting (although I snuck a kissing gate in too…).

Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 22 June 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A busy long weekend

August 25, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I thought I’d just throw out the remaining pictures from my trip to Bury for today’s post. It’s the last day of a bank holiday weekend here in the UK, and it’s been quite a busy one. It feels like it’s still Sunday, but I’m back at work tomorrow (I could do with another bank holiday to recover from this one!).

Saturday started with me developing a roll of film first thing in the morning. Normally I would do this later in the day, but we had plans to visit our eldest and I wanted to get the roll sorted out and hung to dry before we set off. We got back in the afternoon, so I had time to cut and sleeve the negatives before going back out to visit my dad.

Sunday was my day out with a camera (actually three cameras, more fool me) on a trip to Spurn Head on the east coast. I’ll post more about the trip when I have some photos to share, but suffice to say that the lighthouse at the end of the head is a lot further than it looks!

More developing today, and I managed to get through three rolls. Two rolls of Acros developed together in the same tank while, at the same time, I used semi-stand development on a roll of Fomapan 400. The Across looks good, but there are problems with the Fomapan. Some of it might be down to my development (I can see bromide drag – the first time this has happened when I’ve used semi-stand), but it’s also beset by the tiny white specks issue that I’ve had in the past with Foma stocks, plus some other weird artefacts that I think are also film related. I’ll do what I can to rescue the shots, but it’s disappointing, especially given some of the shots are from my lengthy walk yesterday and look nice otherwise. I’ll say more about this when I post the shots.

I did shoot more (non-Foma) film on the trip too, so hopefully those will work out better.

Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 16 May 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

The Kay Monument, Bury

August 24, 2025August 24, 2025 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

The Kay monument commemorates several members of the Kay family, notably John Kay, a prolific inventor most famous for the ‘flying shuttle’ a simple device which dramatically increased the output of hand loom weaving.

Apologies for a concise post today. I’ve been out for a hike and am exhausted!

Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 16 May 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Bolton Street Railway Station

August 23, 2025August 23, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I visited Bury in Lancashire a couple of months ago for my, now regular, visit to Bury Arcade Club where myself and a large group of other middle-aged blokes meet up for a curry, and then a full day playing arcade games.

Before I was able to check into my hotel on the first day, I decided to wander around Bury town centre and take a few pictures. I might share some of the others, but I’ve grouped the ones below as they were all taken at Bolton Street Railway Station, which forms part of the East Lancashire Railway heritage line upon which all manner of vintage locomotives and trains operate.

There were no locomotives present when I visited, just a few carriages, but the station itself still offers plenty of nice photographic opportunities. I was stuck with quite harsh light, but things haven’t turned out too badly.

Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 16 May 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Office space crop

August 22, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I don’t tend to crop my photos all that often. I’ll occasionally trim a little from the edge if something distracting has crept into the scene or, on occasion, reduce a 6×6 square image to a 6×4.5 (3:2) ratio if there’s a lot of empty space, but it’s quite rare that I perform more significant crops, especially on a 35mm image.

This shot is one of those unusual occasions where I did. I cropped it to a 16:9 ratio, keeping the upper part of the picture while removing a chunk of bland and empty foreground. The photo looked unbalanced without the crop, but I think it works much better in this “widescreen” version. The Reflecta ProScan scanner I used has got enough resolving power to mean there’s still plenty of detail in the reduced frame.

Olympus OM-10, Zuiko Auto-S 35mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 18 May 2025

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Giving the Holga some light

July 1, 2025 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

My Holga has sat unused (but not unloved) for quite some time. I almost always like the lo-fi results that it produces, so I really should shoot it more often, but I guess having a bunch of different cameras means that some of them have to wait awhile to get their time in the sun (or overcast).

Fellow blogger Dave Whenham posts Holga pictures on a fairly regular basis, and it’s from reading his posts that the urge to Holga took hold.

Here are the results from a roll of Fomapan 400 I shot back in March. Apart from one picture that I wasn’t happy with, it’s the full roll. I don’t think this represents my most successful outing with the Holga, and there’s some element of shooting stuff because it was there rather than being more careful in my choice of compositions, but there are a few that I really like, such as the Thai Boxing gym, the underpass, and the church.

I’m also very pleased with the results of the semi-stand development. I sometimes find that Fomapan 400 needs more light (something you can’t particularly control with the Holga), but the Rodinal has pulled out a full range of tones from every image. I’ll certainly semi-stand Foma 400 again in the future.

Holga 120N & Fomapan 400. Rodinal 1+100. 1 hour semi-stand development.

Taken on 28 March 2025

Digital · Photography

Man with a hotdog

June 30, 2025June 30, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

It’s very warn and muggy here again today. I have a bunch of Holga pictures that I’d planned to post, but I’m sat in my my office which is currently 31.4°c and don’t have the energy to add them all to the blog. So, instead, here’s a summery picture of a fella in Whitby holding a hotdog. It looks like it was hot on that day too (I can’t recall – it was nearly ten years ago!), but the people in jackets and hoodies perhaps suggest it wasn’t as warm as it is here today.

Panasonic Lumix GX7 & LUMIX G 20/F1.7.

Taken on 18 August 2016

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Not as hot…

June 22, 2025 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

The temperatures have cooled noticeably today and I can feel a pleasant breeze from the window as I type this (yesterday my office was unbearably stuffy). However, I went out today and despite the fresher air outside, the house was considerably warmer inside than out when I got back, although it does seem to have cooled somewhat now we’ve aired it some more.

I decided to go out and make some photographs today. I’ve had the last couple of days free to do this but the hot weather really put me off. I also think I’ve been having a bit of a dip in my photography mojo recently too, finding it difficult to work up enthusiasm to get out with a camera. I expect that the drive to take pictures will return, but it’s a bit frustrating to have time for photography but not the inclination – it feels like I’m wasting opportunity.

My lack desire for picture taking was still evident this morning, but knowing it was the last day of my long weekend, that the weather was more inviting, and that I’d probably feel guilty for not going out, I gave myself a kick up the backside and headed out. I had half-a-roll of HP5+ in my OM-10, plus I took my Yashica Mat 124G and three rolls of film for that too (better to have too much film and not shoot it, than to run out).

In the end, I managed to finish the roll in the OM-10, and also most of a roll of 120 HP5+ in the Yashica Mat. Not only that, but I’m quite looking forward to seeing the results, which is a positive sign.

Next weekend is the annual Sheffield Steam Rally, so I’ll be heading there to get yet more shots of steam engines, classic cars, and suchlike.

Another digital picture today. I like the simplicity of this scene – the window seems almost to float.

Ricoh GR III

Taken on 6 June 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Hot again

June 21, 2025 fishyfisharcade7 Comments

Another hot and sticky day here again. It’s nothing compared to the temperatures and humidity in other parts of the world, of course, but it’s the UK and we’re not really geared up for much beyond drizzle and overcast skies. One thing we are very adept at, however, is moaning about the weather, whatever shape it comes in. 🙂

Here’s a shot I took during our recent trip to Spain, where it was very warm, but we were on holiday so it didn’t feel the same somehow.