No parking

January 17, 2023 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

Narrow lanes like this can be a frustrating place for photographers. You’ll be driving along them and suddenly see an amazing composition only to realise that there’s nowhere to pull over and make a picture. This road does have pull-ins in a few places, hence my ability to have taken this photo, but I’ve had situations in the past where there is nowhere to stop at all and the picture is effectively lost without a very long walk.

I had a similar situation today when I went out at lunchtime to try and shoot a few frames while the weather was good. I saw a scene that I really liked but there was nowhere to stop. There were a few passing places that I could have used, but had I done so my usual bad luck would have resulted in a farmer coming down the lane in a tractor or something and the resultant awkwardness as I had to remove the roadblock I’d created. And so I missed the picture.

Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 24 December 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Same scenes, different format

January 16, 2023 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A couple of duplicate photos today. Duplicates in terms of the subject matter, at least.

I shot both these same locations on my Yashicamat 124G on the same outing but, because I’d forgotten my tripod plate, had to shoot them handheld and wasn’t comfortable that they would be free from shake (or that the wide apertures I’d used might spoil the images). So I took the same shots with my Olympus Trip as well.

You can see the original medium format versions of the images here and here.

Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 24 December 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Blackpool Tower

January 14, 2023 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Two similar, but still different views of Blackpool Tower today.

Apologies for a brief post today – I’ve been out to do some photography this afternoon and it turned out to be a dissapointing experience. Things went wrong and I ended up making mistakes and feeling annoyed and sorry for myself as a result. And now I have a headache. 😦

I’ll probably provide details of the events in another post (assuming some of the photos turn out ok..).

Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 26 November 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

The Big One

January 13, 2023 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The Big One was, for a couple of years, the tallest and steepest rollercoaster in the world. It opened in 1994 and was 213 feet tall. It has since been surpassed by a considerable margin with the current world’s tallest rollercoaster being over twice as tall at a stomach-churning 465 feet (Kinda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, USA).

The Big One was branded as the Pepsi Max Big One until 2011.

I’ve ridden on it once, about twenty years ago, when I went on it with one of my sons. It was a great experience riding it, but not the most comfortable of rides. Not as terrifying as the Wild Mouse ride that also used to be present in the Pleasure Beach.

Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 26 November 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Sandcastle

January 12, 2023 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A couple of shots showing the Sandcastle Waterpark at Blackpool, the UK’s largest indoor waterpark. It houses multiple attractions including the Masterblaster – the world’s longest rollercoaster waterslide. I wasn’t aware that such a thing even existed before writing this post! You can see a video of someone riding on it here on Youtube. I expect that the waterpark is a lot of fun but I’ve never been inside.

I’m not sure that my two black and white photos do the place justice, them making it look like a cross between an industrial plant and something constructed by the Empire from Star Wars!

The structure to the right of the first image is The Big One, the tallest rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I may publish some more pictures of that tomorrow..

Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 26 November 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Mirror ball

January 11, 2023 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

This giant mirror ball stands on the promenade at the southern end of Blackpool’s seafront. Erected in 2002, it is the world’s largest mirror ball with a diameter of six metres.

The actual title of the artwork is “They Shoot Horses Don’t They?“, named after the depression-era story by Horace McCoy (later turned into a Jane Fonda movie) that tells the tale of young people attempting to win a $1,000 prize by dancing until they can no longer stand.

Blackpool is famed for its glitzy entertainment, music, and dancing – including the famous Tower Ballroom – so the mirror ball is a fitting piece.

Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 26 November 2022.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

St Michael and All Angel’s church

December 4, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Another set of photos from Hathersage today but these are all of (and in the grounds of) St Michael and All Angel’s Church.

The church dates to the 14th century and sits on a hill just outside the centre of the village. Perhaps its main claim to fame is that the graveyard contains the alleged grave of Little John, companion of Robin Hood. His grave is Surrounded by a small iron fence and is notably long. Close by an old-fashioned coin parking meter is embedded in the earth to collect donations for the upkeep of the churchyard.

Sadly, my roll of film ran out before I had chance to photograph the grave, but you can see a picture on the Wikipedia page for the church and also for Little John himself.

Olympus XA3 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 4 November 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Peak District houses

December 3, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

After developing some film this morning and then an afternoon spent putting the Christmas decorations up (a little earlier than usual this year) I’m ready to veg out (in the festive living room:)) and so am just going to bung up a load of photos from a visit to the Peak District a few weeks ago for today’s post.

Olympus XA3 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 4 November 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Bakewell bridge and willow

December 1, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

The bridge that carries the A619 Baslow Road across the River Wye at Bakewell can be quite frustrating to photograph. It’s an attractive structure but, due to it carrying traffic on one of the main routes into and through the town, along with the popularity of the place as a tourist trap, it can be difficult to catch a moment where some vehicle isn’t raising it’s distracting head above the top of the walls. I’ve nearly managed to avoid it in the picture published here today. But not quite. If you look carefully there’s a van peeping into view. Not a bad picture though and I have almost the exact same composition to come in a future post, but this time on 6×45 and in colour.

Olympus XA3 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 1 November 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Keep absolutely still. It’s vision is based on movement.

November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

A few weeks ago my wife an I visited some local garden centres to see if they had their Christmas sections in place (they did, of course, it was late October – practically the big day already!). While wandering around the displays in one I spotted this festive T-Rex and the terrified snowman quaking in the background. The snowman was literally shivering – some mechanism causing it’s movement – and it amusingly reminded of the words spoken by Alan Grant in Jurassic Park when the T-Rex escapes its paddock.

I’m quite surprised the picture turned out ok – it wasn’t well lit in there and I have no control over the XA3’s shutter speed or aperture.