A farm above Miller’s Dale

June 24, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

While most of the photos I made on my walk around the Tideswell area were black and white images shot on HP5+, I also took a couple of colour photographs too. These were courtesy of my Canon Sure Shot Supreme, which I’d tossed into my coat pocket before I’d left the house. I kinda wished I hadn’t taken it along as it continually banged, worryingly and annoyingly, into limestone rocks every time I climbed a stile. Luckily it didn’t seem to take any critical knocks though.

The two photos were shot on a roll of expired Fuji Sensia 100 reversal film. After successfully shooting my previous roll of expired slide film (some Kodak Elite Chrome) with the Sure Shot Supreme, I decided to use it again with the Sensia and shoot it at box speed. As with the Elite Chrome I have some more rolls of this same film so this was essentially a test to see how it fared. Most of the roll was shot over the following couple of days on trips out with my wife, but these two pictures of a farm on the hillside above Miller’s Dale were the first ones I made.

As withe my previous rolls of 35mm expired slide film, I seem to have lucked out with some decent results. Although a little bright in places (the white painted farmhouse was in full sunlight), nothing has been blown out and the colours are pleasing.

More expired slide film
To be well tried and tested
And prove it still works

Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Fujichrome Sensia 100 (expired 2003).

Taken on 24 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Pandas

June 17, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

New Era Square is a recently completed development to the south of the city centre, just the other side of the ring-road that circles the middle of town. It consists of three building surrounding a pedestrian plaza and has been dubbed in the local press as “Sheffield’s Chinatown”, and “Sheffield’s very own version of New York’s Times Square” apparently, although the latter would seem a little on the ambitious side.

One of the features of the development is a family of three eye-catching panda statues. A public campaign sought names for each of the trio from the readers of the local paper, The Star. The final names chosen were Little Mester, who sits on a bench – named in reference to the small cutlery workshops which used to be numerous in the city; Coe Coe, a small panda climbing one of the building columns – named after Sebastian Coe, the Olympic athlete who lived in Sheffield as a boy; and Hendo, the largest of the three pandas which was mounted on the roof of one of the buildings for a while, but who now sits in the plaza, and is named after Sheffield’s much-loved local delicacy, Henderson’s Relish (or Hendo’s as it is generally known).

I don’t have a close-up photo of Coe Coe, but he can be spotted in one of the images featuring Hendo and Little Mester if you look carefully.

Not Winnie the Pooh
Nor Baloo. But pandas are
A type of bear too

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Covid-19 protection

June 16, 2021 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Even the Women of Steel statues in Sheffield city centre are taking precautions. Well, one of them is at least. The one on the left is showing blatant disregard for social distancing guidelines while not wearing a mask. Perhaps the anti-vaxxer movement has even found a hold in the staue community…

Finding some humour
In a public health crisis
You have to laugh, eh?

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Sharp lines from the XA3

June 15, 2021 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I’ve been very impressed with the quality of the images from the tiny Olympus XA3. Given the zone focus system I wondered if they might not have the sharpness I might expect in comparison with a camera that allows full focusing and control of aperture, but it makes tack-sharp photos.

I’ve often heard said
That you might find some good things
In small packages

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Debenhams

June 14, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The branch of Debenhams shown in today’s post has been in Sheffield since 1973 when it replaced Paulden’s department store. It closed for good (along withe every other branch of the store) in May 2021, the mandated closure of non-essential retail businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic hammering the final nail into its coffin.

It marked a double-whammy for Sheffield as there were not just one, but two seperate branches of Debenhams in the city. The one shown here at the top of The Moor, and another, more recent branch, in the Meadowhall shopping mall.

There are not many
Department stores left in town
I hope some survive

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021 & 23 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

John Lewis

June 13, 2021June 14, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The John Lewis department store in Sheffield can trace it’s history back to 1847. It was originally a silk mercer and hosier founded by brothers John, Thomas and Skelton Cole and traded under the name Cole Brothers. The Cole Brothers business was sold to Selfridge Provincial Stores in 1920 which was itself then bought by John Lewis during the Second World War.

The store continued to trade under the Cole Brothers name in Sheffield and moved to new premises in Barker’s Pool in 1963. The store expanded further when the former primitive methodist chapel, Bethel Chapel, which sits across the road from the main building on Cambridge Street, was purchased to house the offices. Later, these secondary premises would house the toy and sports departments. The store branding has now been removed, but the upper floors of this building can be seen in the image below.

In 2002 the store was formally re-branded to John Lewis. In 2021 it was announced that the store would be closing permanently. The main entrance to the building is covered with messages from staff, customers, and Sheffielders recounting memories of working in and visiting the store and lamenting its loss.

Hearts on store window
A lament to memories past
Working and shopping

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Through into the light

June 12, 2021June 14, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A quick post today as it’s almost time for our Saturday-night movie – we’ve been watching the whole MCU series in release order for the past few months, one movie per week, and are now almost at the end – just Avengers: Endgame tonight, and then Spider Man: Far From Home next week and that’s all twenty-two viewed in sequence. Then we’re done until Black Widow gets it’s belated release in a couple of months. We’ve also had a Chinese takeaway and I’m feeling stuffed to the gills with all manner of dishes.

Anyway, here’s a photo of a small passageway in the centre of Sheffield that I’ve never noticed before. I always presumed it was an entrance to the office building beneath which it passes, but it’s actually a thoroughfare!

Lots of Chinese food
Now I’m ready for Thanos
And his comeuppance

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Straight lines and curvy lines

June 11, 2021June 14, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I’m still in my “don’t feel like posting” mood today, although not so much as before. I didn’t have an extra-long day at work today, as with the previous two, plus the report I had to deliver has now been sorted and presented, so that’s out of the way and off my mind to a large degree (although there’s still further work to be done as an outcome). I don’t think the warm weather we’re having at the moment is helping much either, even though it’s not unseasonably hot or anything, rather we’ve had a run of colder-than-expected temeratures and now it’s bounced back to normal it feels like a heatwave in comparison.

The weekend beckons though, and while the usual chores are waiting to rob me of my time (the grass needs cutting again) I should have enough time to at least try and relax and do something I enjoy. This weekend, if the sunshine holds, that will hopefully include a walk to try out some expired Velvia 50 that I have four rolls of. This will be my test roll and give me a good idea of how the film performs given it’s age and give me confidence (or not) as to it being useable. I have some Sensia 100 received from the same person and the first roll of that looks fine (although I haven’t scanned it yet).

Anyway, I’m supposed to be averse to posting at the moment, so I’d better bring things to a close with some photographs. A couple more from my XA3 test roll.

The first photo is looking up to the large block of concrete that is the O2 Academy, but which will always be the Roxy nightclub to people of a certain age. It sits atop a large NCP car park and, while not to everyone’s taste, is quite a distinctive structure.

The second shows a much older building in the shape of the NSPCC building. It’s surrounded by more modern structures, but the curve of the block-paved roadway leading up to and around the building makes for a nice image.

Drinking and dancing
Loud music and toilet floods
That allright f’yers?

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Another day the same

June 10, 2021June 14, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

After yesterday’s grumble about not wanting to write a blog post, I’m in the same boat again today. Still at work finishing off a report I need to present tomorrow. The hard part is done, but PowerPoint is dedicating it’s efforts to slow my progress by making seemingly simple tasks time consuming and frustrating.

I’m writing the blog to take a break, so please enjoy a photograph of Pond Street bus station (or “interchange” as I believe it is now named), in Sheffield.

WordPress seems to be on it’s only little mission to perplex me at the moment too. For the last week or so every time I post a new blog entry I get a message congratulating me that I’m “on a streak“. I expect today I’ll get one letting me know my streak is now at 892 days of continual posting. I’ve no idea why this has started, when it will decide I realise and stop bothering me, or why just-under-two-and-a-half-years of continual posting is the time to begin telling me about it.

Why do things happen?
It’s often a mystery
Or a cosmic joke

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

On days like these…

June 9, 2021June 14, 2021 fishyfisharcade6 Comments

I really don’t feel like writing a blog post. A busy day at work and all I want to do is chill out, but my daily posting regime means I won’t allow myself to evade the blog. The fact that I’m adding a haiku to every post this year is an extra unwanted bonus on a day like this. It’s all of my own making of course, and no-one is forcing me to write a new post every day, but sometimes I really fancy a day off from it. The issue with doing so is that then the run is broken. What would then stop me from taking a day off every time I didn’t feel like it (which happens on a pretty regular basis)? I suspect that any sort of break would be a straw to break a camels back and my frequency of posts would fall off a cliff.

But hey, look, I managed to get a post out of moaning about not wanting to post anything! Winner winner chicken dinner!

Anyway, here are two more “test” photos from the little XA3.

I can’t be bothered
To try and write a haiku
Here’s one anyway