35mm · Film photography · Photography

Things in Funchal part ii

A second image dump of pictures I took while wandering around Funchal.

I think the first, third, and sixth image would be my favourites from this set.

The first is of another of the town’s forts, this time Forte de São Tiago, which sits right beside the sea. The final shot is of the same location, but taken a few days later.

The third image is a view out to the Atlantic from a bridge that crossed a deep ravine not far from out hotel. The building at upper right is Reid’s Palace Hotel which supposedly does very nice afternoon tea (although we didn’t try it for ourselves). It’s a pretty view and I shot it more than once during our trip.

And, finally, the sixth image is the most mundane of my faves, but I liked this view towards the harbour with the buses in view. We used those buses a lot!

Just another three rolls of film to go through…

Yellow fort
Doors and plants
Reid's and the Atlantic
Drinks and kebabs
Modern day piracy
Shaded church
Buses
Out of the water

Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro

Taken 25 June / 1 & 2 July 2026.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A walk to the fort

One morning during our holiday in Funchal I decided to take a walk to one of the old forts that are dotted around the city, namely São João Batista Fort, also known as ‘Pico Fort’. I chose this one based on an online recommendation as it has panoramic views across the city.

While not far from out hotel as the crow flies, Funchal is a hilly place and the route was far from a straight line. Nor was it flat – requiring the ascension and descent of a couple of ridges on the way – the final stretch in particular was pretty steep.

While I didn’t set out to document the trip, the photos included here today were shot on the way. The first shows a view of the fort as I began my descent from the first ridge. While it looks like I could walk straight towards it, the twisting route instead took me to the right – effectively where the neck of the bottle on the advertising hoarding points.

Heading for the fort

The next two pictures are a couple of buildings that just caught my eye. I like the layering of the first shot.

Layered
At the rear of the museum

After paying the entrance fee, I gained entrance to the base of the fort before climbing to the main gate, which provided a nicely framed picture of the ocean beyond.

Fortress flags
Sea view

The views over the town were nice, both down towards the Atlantic, and also looking north to the cloud covered mountains, their foothills blanketed by homes.

Funchal mountain view
Funchal ocean view

The final shot is of a tree that stood in the courtyard within the fortress walls and which I photographed with both film and digital. The digital shots were nice, but I think this film shot looks pretty good too.

Orange, yellow, green, and blue

The fort is quite big but, sadly, much of it is closed to public access with only a single chamber accessible, containing pictures and descriptions of the fort through its history. I spoke to a member of staff about the rest of the building but he only said that it would be accessible “in future”. Nonetheless it was still worth the walk and I enjoyed the hike and views.

I took more pictures on the way back down, but I’ll save those for another day.

Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Portra 160 / [shots 4 & 5] Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro

Taken 26 June 2026.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A walk in the country

The black and white pictures I’ve been sharing over the past week were from a walk I took near Carlton-in-Lindrick, a village in Nottinghamshire not too far from where I live. It’s a place I’ve visited for a walk and some photography three times now. The first was in 2025 on a day where the ground was waterlogged and muddy, which made for a less than pleasant walk (especially when it began to rain), but still produced some nice pictures. On that occasion I’d planned on a longer walk that took in the countryside to the west and east of the village, but I only managed the western side due to the conditions.

The third visit took place in mid-June, and was when I took the shots I’ve posted this past week. That walk took me to the east of the village, out past Hodsock Priory, and was a nice hike spoiled only by the fact that my film was underexposed, spoiling many of the pictures as a result.

So here today are the results from my second visit (I know, I’m posting these out of order, a fact that niggles me somewhat). This was almost a mirror of my first hike, with me walking much (but not all) of the same route, only in reverse and, thankfully, in far more pleasant conditions, passing through a mix of farmland and woodland, before finishing at the church close to where I’d parked my car.

I only shot with my Yashica Mat 124G, and here are the pictures that I saw fit to upload (the full roll except for a slightly boring picture of some crops – imaging the first picture but without the interest of the footpath). I shot a roll of Ektar, a film that normally gives me pleasing colours straight out of the scan, but on this occasion I really had to faff around with it to get the colours looking correct (and I’m still doubtful that they are). Further tweaking may resolve things, but I haven’t had the time or inclination to do so. Yet, at least.

But, apart from the slight concerns about the colours, I do like most of the pictures I got.

A path through the crops
Springtime
Two trees
Tree on a farm track
Field tree
Edge of the field
A lot less muddy than last time
Horsey crossroads
Through the trees, a house
Copse, clump, or spinney?
St. John the Evangelist's church

Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Portra 160 & Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 2 May 2026

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Country lane(s)

Three country lanes (well, the first two pictures are the same lane) photographed during the same walk. I’m still a little miffed that I lost a lot of the shots from this roll. There are a few that I really would have liked to have seen turn out properly, both pictures of horses as it happens. Still, I guess should be thankful for the pictures that were salvageable.

A curve in the lane
Near Carlton in Lindrick
Farm on a curve

Nikon F80, Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR & Fomapan 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°.

Taken on 31 May 2026

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Barley

At least I *think* it’s barley. I’m never quite sure which is which and have to look it up, but these have awns – the thin bristles poking out of them – so I believe barley is correct.

One thing that wasn’t correct was my exposure of this roll of film. I think I’d changed the metering setting on the camera and the resultant negs were extremely thin, with a sizable number ruined as a result (losing a few pictures I think would have been pretty nice). Luckily I was able to rescue some of them and I’ll post them in the coming days.

Barley

Nikon F80, Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR & Fomapan 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°.

Taken on 31 May 2026