Another well lit house (and the increasing cost of film)

October 30, 2021 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

This might be a bit of a theme over the next few days – photos of houses that is. I’m down to my last few frames of scanned, un-posted photos, and all of them are of houses (except for one of a fire station). I have finished a roll of HP5+ today that’s been in my XA3 for a while, so if I can get that developed tomorrow, then that should give me a bit more fuel in the tank before resorting to the archive.

It doesn’t seem that long that I was four or five rolls of un-scanned photos in front!

I was disappointed to see that Kodak have announced further price increases. Kodak’s films are already expensive, with things like Portra and Ektachrome pretty much off my shopping list already, but the proposed rise of “at least” 20% will blow my desire to buy them completely out of the water. This will put a 5-pack of something like Portra 400 at somewhere in the region of £60-80, and I expect that even stuff like Colorplus and Gold will be prohibitive – settling into the price ranges that the professional films were at a few years ago.

I’ve still got a decent stock of color film in the freezer, at least enough to keep me going for the next year or so based on the rate I shoot it at, and I tend to favour B&W photography anyway, and there are still a good number of reasonably priced black-and-white films available at present (here in the UK at least), and my preference is for Ilford’s films for B&W anyway. It’s a shame about these increases though – I want to support Kodak, but I’m not sure my wallet will allow it.

Running out of shots
I need some fuel for the blog
Best get to shooting!

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Corner house

October 29, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The light on this house was gorgeous as I passed by so I made a photograph (and similar pictures of a number of other buildings on the same street). Sometimes nice light is all you need and the photos just present themselves.

It’s a handsome looking house, although I’m unsure as to it’s age – I expect at least a hundred years have passed since it’s construction though. It’s a shame about it’s twin next door which is boarded up and an ashen grey colour. It’s been boarded up for several years as far as I can recall.

Old house in nice light
Better kept than it’s neigbour
Which needs TLC

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A church in a coastal town

October 28, 2021 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

This pitures today show St. Joseph’s, a catholic church in the seaside resort of Mablethorpe. It’s a building I’ve photographed before (although, without looking, I can’t remember if I’ve posted photos of it on the blog previously).

Although I’m not a religious man, I like photographing (and looking at, and inside) churches. They are fascinating and impressive buildings regardless of faith and often make for interesting photographs.

The sunlight made for another nice picture on this occasion, I think, illuminating the warm browns of the brickwork against the blue of the sky. Similarly, the light on the statuette of Mary in one of the windows also made for a good picture, and I like the way the clouds are reflected in the glass.

I’ve passed by this way
On numerous occasions
Never been inside

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Chinese takeaway

October 27, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This boarded-up takeaway caught my attention the last time I was in Mablethorpe in 2020 and I made a picture of it then. It wasn’t a very good photograph though – the weather was dull and I think it needed some sunshine to get anything from the subject matter.

On my trip this year, the sun was out and I made the photo you see today. It’s most likely no award winner, but the jumble of tilted and broken letters, and the vibrant red, white, and blue colours attracted me and I like the slightly abstract feel.

Chinese takeaway
Closed for business now these days
No more egg fried rice

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Seaside art (and back to work)

October 26, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I’m back at work tomorrow after a week and two days of leave. The decorating is almost complete now – just the kitchen to finish off and a few odds-and-sods to tidy up. Tomorow will likely be the decorator’s last day here. For anyone wondering at the ostentatiousness of us having a decorator, the simple reason for this is that I’m terrible at this stuff. We learnt early on in our home-owning journey that paying a professional to do this stuff would produce far better results. It oviously has its downside in terms of expense, but I’d much prefer the end result to look good than to save a bit of money and have it look shabby.

The end result of the last week has been that I could really do with another week off just to recover – I’m exhausted. Apart from all the maneouvering of furniture from room to room, dismatling and re-assembling beds and so forth, we’ve also been getting up at 7am every morning for the past two weeks to get everything ready before the decorator, carpet fitters, kitchen fitters etc. arrived. The only day where I had any time to myself really was yesterday, when I managed to get pretty much the full day to myself (I went out and made some photographs, and thens saw Dune at the cinema – great movie BTW, amazing visuals!). Despite that, I’m still exhausted and not really looking forward to being back at work. I do tend to find what I do for a living interesting and fullfilling though, so that will ease things a little.

So, a bit of a waffle today, but the picture below features some pictures that other people have painted, so there’s a slim connection with my decorating tale I suppose.

Oh my I’m so tired
I could sleep for a whole week
If given the chance

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Seaside shelters

October 25, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The British weather being what it is, it never hurts to have someplace to shelter from it, whether the rain, wind, or even (perhaps more rarely) hot sunshine. Most seaside resorts have such things, often along the promenade where passersby can watch the tide come in while it pours with rain. These brightly painted concrete shells sit just back from the promanade at Mablethorpe and look inland or across a large caravan park.

During bad weather
Why not hide in a blue shell
Not Mariokart!

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lifeboat station

October 24, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This is the lifeboat station on the promenade at Mablethorpe. If you look closely in the circular window to the right of the building, there’s a small, knitted caostguard figure peering out. You can see them better in this picture I took a few years ago.

These men and women
Who volunteer their efforts
To save people’s lives

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Tea and cake and dead insects beside the sea

October 22, 2021October 22, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This was taken as I sat with a cup of tea and a flapjack on a bench near the cafe. Sadly the flapjack was a little melted from being in the full sun and, to my dismay, a small insect decided to take it’s own life by drowning itself in my tea before I could finish drinking it. Nontheless, as I sit typing this after a full week of complete and upper upheaval while we have the whole of the the upstairs and the staircase decorated, a melted flapjack and insect-polluted tea on a sunny day beside the sea would be quite welcome.

I mustn’t grumble
Despite things I didn’t like
I ate fish and chips

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Ice cream

October 16, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The informal photo competition I take part in each month had a theme of “Tempting” last month, and I made a few photos that might fit the bill – the picture I posted here yesterday of the seaside cafe was the one I chose to enter and it got me second place.

The photo in today’s blog was another potential entry, and one I’d had high hopes for, but I was disappointed when I received the developed film as the ice cream cone was off to the left of the image. I quickly realised that this was due to me not using the parallax correction lines in the camera’s viewfinder. I’d had to hold the ice cream at the limit of my reach in order for the camera to focus correctly, and this meant the subject was close enough for parallax error to creep into the composition. The camera does have a macro mode, but that uses a partial zoom which meant the subject fell well outside the image edges when viewed.

After looking at the photo again I decided that it might work with an off-centre viewpoint, so I cropped in a little to get the picture you see here. I’m pretty happy with it now.

Offset ice cream cone
At the limit of focus
The end of my arm

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

Taken on 16 September 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Seaside treats

October 15, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The Mermaid cafe sits on the small promentory on Mablethorpe’s prmenade, just to the north of the Pullover – the main access point to the beach at the end of High Street. The cafe has been there as long as I can remember, although I can’t recall if it’s been known as The Mermaid all that time. It stands adjacent to a small crazy golf course (which can be seen to the right of the photo). The course is now pirate themed, but I remeber it in its slightly ramshackle and homemade guise from when I was younger, with obstacles that looked like they had been built in some inventive creator’s garden shed. It was great fun.

Games of mini golf
The sound of waves and seas breeze
Acompanied play