Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Low winter sunshine is a wonderful thing. It makes scenes you might otherwise walk on past simply glow. This is a relatively ordinary terrace of houses, but the light is gorgeous. It illuminates things with a crisp, warm light and casts relief onto every surface. Lovely.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 5 December 2019
This is St Peter and St Paul’s church in Eckington, NE Derbyshire. I spotted the glorious light falling on it while I walked around getting images of suburbia (see the last two days’ posts for those).
I’m really happy with the way this is lit – the brightly illuminated tower and spire sitting atop the shaded entry, the light and shadow on the left-hand tree, and the lovely greens of the Yew tree – and all topped off by the blue sky and orange/brown fallen leaves.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 5 December 2019
A second trio of shots taken while walking around local suburban areas. The first was taken on the same day as those in yesterday’s post, the others a couple of days later. I’m not sure that these scenes would work under different conditions (although I guess maybe in fog, or at night could be interesting), but the low winter sun (and the long, deep shadows it casts) that we get in these northern latitudes makes things nicely photogenic.
While posting yesterday’s images I had the Pet Shop Boy’s “Suburbia” running through my mind. Today it was “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 2 & 5 December 2019
I walked to my local processing lab on 2 Dec to get some rolls of film developed. The morning was full of gorgeous low winter sunlight, so I snapped a few suburban scenes on my walk.
The Z135 has a significant amount of vignetting when shot at its widest focal length.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).
Taken on 2 December 2019
By the end of today this is likely to be my most viewed photograph on Flickr (in the fifteen years or so that I’ve had an account on there). It managed to get into Explore today and, while I’ve had quite a few photos in Explore before, I think this one is the closest to the top of the page I’ve ever had – it’s the 25th photo in Explore today. It’s far from the highest in terms of favourites though (it has 100 at the time of writing, although that’s still a huge amount compared to what most of my photos get – I usually get 10 to 20 faves on average).
That said, I’m not really someone who seeks faves and likes. I do feel good when I get them, but I don’t take photos for that reason, so it’s not a big deal if they don’t get heaps of attention. I might have mentioned this before, but it always seems to be the case that the photos that I really like, and which I think might deserve special attention, are rarely (if ever) the ones that get into Explore. It always seems to be something slightly random. It’s not to say I don’t think they’re good shots, but they’re not the ones I’d expect to get in there.
EDIT: In the time it’s taken me to write this, it’s now surpassed my previous most viewed image (this one, which had 15,614 views, should you be interested).
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 17 June 2019
I guess that today must be “literal blog post title” day or something. In my head, at least.
This is what I assume to be a vacant lot in Barcelona, in the Gothic Quarter. The wall at the rear of the shot certaily has that “not intended for public view”-look about it, all rough concrete and clearly visible lines where the floors once stood.
Someone, however, has decided to paint it a bright yellow. It’s has a mustard tint to it in this Portra 400 photo, although I seem to remember it being more vivid at the time (this could be my brain frazzling out bad memories though). Whatever the case, I thought it was worth a photo, especially with the chap in the chair.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 17 June 2019
Inside the Maremagnum shopping mall at Barcelona marina were this pair of Ferrari’s. I don’t have a great deal of interest in cars, but they often make for great photographic subject matter and I liked the colour and light so took the picture. It was amusing to see just how many men took selfies or got someone else to take their photo in front of the cars. This included me too, as my wife took a shot of me on her phone. 🙂
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 18 June 2019
Going back almost two months to New York where I took this photo in The Occulus, which is a very fine place to take photographs if you get the opportunity.
Canon Sure Shot Z135Â & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 26 May 2019
This photo captures a girl giving a somewhat scathing look at her colleague. Or at least that’s what you would assume looking at the photograph in isolation.
It’s something that we see regularly in the media – particularly the press and news sites that make use of still images – where an image will be chosen to suit the tone of the article in which it is used: a sneaky look on the face of a politician the paper is opposed to; the beaming faces of parents with their healthy new baby; the triumph or despair on the faces of athletes; the shadowedy, unkempt look of someone charged with criminal offences. Each representing just a fraction of a second in that person’s existence, and each picked as being the right image to match the tone of the story being told. How often would another photograph, taken just an instant before or after the one selected change the whole feel of the image?
In my photo below, it looks very much like a dissaproving glance is being given, but the reality of the situation is that these girls were smiling, laughing and apparently getting on like the best of friends. My single captured instant is just out of context. It’s a fairly innocuous example, but it goes to show that, while a picture may paint a thousand words, the slightest movement in time can result in a whole new story being told.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 17 June 2019
One of those quickie posts today as I have to rush out and might not get the time later.
Here’s Woody, Buzz, Bo and Forky (oh, and Giggles McDimples!) advertising their upcoming presence in Barcelona.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.
Taken on 16 June 2019
Steel City Snapper photography 