Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Although, I think those building might not be a farm and actually house holiday rentals… But it looks like a farm, what with all the fields and animals and whatnot.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 December 2025
There’s a bit of a background story to today’s picture.
I took a number of photographs of this farm, some of which I’ll post here in the coming days. A public right of way provides access past the buildings and then on to the Moss Valley or to Plumbley, depending on the direction you choose. After taking a few photos of snow covered siloes, I decided to follow the farm road towards the valley – I’ve walked it before and know that there is an old wooden building, a shed-like structure, which might make for a nice picture.
As I headed there I noticed that, to my right, I could see into the farmyard, complete with a stable containing cows and a bunch of rustic farm buildings with snow-capped roofs. This seemed the perfect place to make a photograph, so I unpacked the Bronica from my bag, set up the tripod, and framed my shot. As I was doing this, I noticed a sheepdog – a border collie – peering out from a gate a little further down the path. It sat and looked at me but didn’t seem threatening so I continued what I was doing. Gradually though, the dog started to walk slowly towards me. It wasn’t barking, or looking in any way troublesome, so I finished what I was doing and started to pack stuff away.
Then, as the dog got within about ten feet of me it began to growl, a low rumble of noise from deep in it’s throat. And I became concerned. The dog, which until now had looked like a friendly sheepdog, the type you see in children’s books, now made apparent the fact that it had teeth, and that maybe it didn’t really appreciate what I was doing. I’ve been bitten by dogs a couple of times in my life and, while both occasions were a long time ago, I didn’t fancy a reminder of the experience, so I started to carefully move away, muttering friendly words to the animal while wondering if I would be able to defend myself with my tripod should it decide I was fair game.
After a very long couple of minutes of careful sidling away while the dog kept pace with me (it letting out the occasional sharp-sounding yap) I reached the track that leads to Plumbley and, to my great relief, the dog didn’t pursue any further. After putting a good fifty yards between us, I finally felt able to relax and make my way to safety.
Whether the dog would have made good on it’s threatening activity, I don’t know. While it was a bit of a scary experience, the dog was undoubtedly doing it’s job – protecting the farm and livestock from people with tripods and cameras in this case! I think I’ll avoid taking any pictures of this farm in future though. 🙂
Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins 30 secs @ 20°
Taken 11 March 2023.
Long time subscribers of this blog will know that I enjoy making photographs of power lines. It’s a fascination that goes back to my childhood, probably borne out of watching the old Play Safe public information films that were screened on the television here in the UK warning of the dangers of overhead power cables and electrical substations.
I’m not obsessed by them, and don’t go out with the purposes of “pylon spotting” or anything like that, but I find the way they traverse the landscape quite evocative and find they make for interesting photographic subjects.
The three images presented here today feature not only pylons, but the source of their power as well in the form of power stations. After I visited North Leverton windmill, I drove towards the nearby village of Sturton-le-Steeple which is adjacent to the large West Burton power station. One of the public footpaths near the village provided a great vantage point to see the (still quite distant) facility. Another station, Cottam, is visible in the distance to the south in the final of these three photos. These, and other power stations, sit beside the River Trent from which I believe they draw water for cooling.
They are impressive structures, dominating the landscape from miles around.
Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 7 mins 45 secs @ 22.5°.
Taken on 25 July 2020
On pretty much every occasion that I attempt to take a photograph of an animal, whether wild or domesticated, they never do as I want. A perfectly composed creature will become spooked and turn away as soon as my camera appears. Even the cats we’ve had in our famly – current member included – will look straight at me until the second I raise the camera to my face. Even waist level viewfinders fail to trick them into holding a pose!
So, on the occasion of today’s featured shot, I was very happy when the white faced cow maintained its curious gaze while I made the picture. 🙂
Minolta Hi-Matic G2 & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 8 August 2019
A group of cows recline in the grass beside the footpath atop Curbar Edge.
Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford FP4+.
Taken on 12 May 2019
Today’s photo was taken not long before I took the shot of the two houses I posted here yesterday, albeit I was still within the confines of the Peak District National Park for this one.
It’s a fairly mundane shot of a cow taking a drink of water from a stream, but I really like the way the colour of its hide has been rendered with the Lomography film – a lovely, rich, saturated brown that stands out against the more muted greens and beiges of the grass.
After taking a drink, the cow wandered through the stream to the tree at the right of the frame, stuck it’s head through the V-shaped trunk, and gave its neck a good scratch on the bark.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Lomography Color Negative 400.
Taken on 12 May 2019
Another photo from the same farm where yesterday’s picture was taken.
Moo!
Yashica Mat 124 G & Shanghai GP3.
Taken on 31 March 2019
I went for a walk last Sunday, with no plan in mind other than to follow a public footpath on a map. This is something I like to do and aim to do more this year – I basically look for a public footpath on an Ordnance Survey map and then follow it. Hopefully I’ll find a few nice photos on the way and, if I don’t, it’s still exercise.
The path I followed last Sunday went around a small grass airstrip that I had no idea was even there before spotting it on the map. The map seemed to indicate that there was passage across the strip, but the reality was that it was bordered by electric fencing, the reason for this precaution probably being the subjects of today’s photograph.
I’m slightly wary of cows after reading of a number of injuries and even deaths caused by these normally peaceful creatures (although, in most cases the victim had a dog with them at the time, which is likely the reason the cows became hostile). I also became trapped in a field as darkness fell by a sizeable herd not too long ago when they wandered to graze right next to the only point of exit while I was taking a photograph elsewhere in the meadow.
Whatever my fears though, unfounded or not, this group were content to munch on the grass as I passed them by at a safe distance.
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Arista Edu 200.
Taken on 31 March 2019
Steel City Snapper photography 