This shot was one from a short roll of Fomapan 400 that I bulk-rolled to test that my camera wasn’t faulty – the previous roll had revealed a piece of fluff on every frame which I needed to painstakingly clone out of every shot! Thankfully the offending fiber must have been dislodged when I took the roll out of the camera, and this test roll showed no sign of it.
But, despite just going for a quick walk to fire off a few test shots, I managed to get several I really like, including this lovely picture of an elderly couple walking down the Trans Pennine Trail.
I think it pays to shoot with a sense of purpose, even when running a test.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 for 9mins @ 20°.
I had the opportunity to go out yesterday and today to do some photography, but mostly failed to do so. Part of this might be one of those dips in inspiration that seems to afflict photographers from time to time, and it was this which meant that, as the weekend approached, I was unable to decide just where to go.
This was compounded, perhaps fatally so, by the fact that I’d got set in my head that I was going to use my large format camera, which I haven’t used in over a year! While I love the images I can get on 4×5 film, I’m also put off the process somewhat by the effort required.
Not only is it an expensive process in terms of film (especially if I shoot colour!), but perhaps more tellingly, in my time. Each shot takes a lot of preparation to get right and because of this, I might only come back with a handful of pictures which then puts a lot of pressure on me to try and make sure they’re all worth the effort. Sometimes I think about the work I need to put in and just think “Nah! I can’t be bothered…“.
Another factor is that, if the weather is nice, then the weekend will draw others to places I might want to photograph. While this is fine – I have no ownership of these places, and everyone else has as much right to enjoy them as me, it can lead to frustration if my perfectly composed shot keeps getting disturbed as others enter the frame (usually in the short window when the light is perfect). If I’m shooting smaller formats then it’s easier to avoid this as I can work much faster and have a greater chance of taking a picture quickly when opportunity arises.
I did go out briefly yesterday morning, with an intent to photograph a local cemetery, but with a detour to get some urban landscape scenes for a photo comp I’m taking part in. Luckily, I also took my pocketable Olympus XA3 with me, and used that to take these pictures, as it really wasn’t worth the effort of setting up the 4×5, but the large format camera would serve me well at the next destination, or so I thought. But when I got there, the place was closed. A sign on the gates said it would be closed for two days (the previous two days, not the day I was there!) and it wasn’t possible to gain access. After this I though about maybe going somewhere else, but a thick bank of cloud had moved in, the light was lost, and I decided to cut my losses and go home and do something else.
I planned to go out this morning too, the weather forecast had looked promising with a mix of sunshine and clouds, but I woke to a pure blue sky devoid of any interest, and by the time some clouds began to show their fluffy faces late in the morning, the sun was high, the light was harsh, and any desire to photograph had left me.
Obviously, as soon as I’m back at work tomorrow and unable to go out with a camera, the weather will no doubt be perfect and I’ll be abuzz with inspiration again. Sigh…
Here’s a picture of Steetley dolomite works, taken on a day where I felt a lot more inspired.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
It wasn’t the best sky for photography on the day I took this. While it was a blue sky, rather than grey, which at least meant there was some contrast to be had, I still dislike empty skies most of the time, and being shot on black and white film, there wasn’t even any colour to be seen.
I think blank skies can work if you’re looking for negative space in a picture, or – if shooting colour – as a contrast to other subjects, but otherwise they can be a lot of nothing taking up a lot of the frame. This is made worse by the fact that I sometimes get banding artifacts when scanning images, which are especially noticeable in such scenes.
I’d much rather have some clouds to break things up and add interest.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Large blocks of uninteresting foreground and sky meant I felt this worked better as a panoramic crop, and it’s fared quite well considering it’s a 35mm negative. It has nice leading lines in the field and the wires, and the angle of the sun has added some lovely contrast and relief to the buildings.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
The village of Sheldon stands a short distance from Magpie Mine. It’s a pretty and picturesque place, although these days slightly blighted by the number of cars parked on the streets, I think. But that’s progress, and the inhabitants have a need for transport.
Pictured below are the village pub, The Cock and Pullet, the village hall, a nativity scene including two tyre snowmen (it was just after Christmas when these pictures were taken), some cottages, and a wreath on the church gate.
Sheldon has a curious tale in its history. In 1601 a duck was seen by a local resident to fly into a hollow tree and not to come out again. It gained the name from then on as the Duck Tree. Some three hundred years later when the tree was felled and sawn into planks, each plank contained the life-sized outline of a duck. The wood was reputedly used to make a mantelpiece for Greatbach Hall in Ashford.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
The last of the Magpie Mine pictures, and one I took as I headed towards the nearby village of Sheldon, a way marker showing the path on which I’d just traveled, and the one I was about to take.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
This was my third visit to Magpie Mine, a former lead mine in the Peak District national park. You can see some other posts from previous visits (where I shot 30-year-expired film, and large format) here, here, and here.
This time I was shooting my Nikon F80 with my Tamron 28-300mm zoom lens. As I mentioned the other day, I haven’t been impressed by the sharpness of the lens, and while it’s not too evident in these images, there are others from the roll that I wish had been sharper.
[Magpie Mine] was the last working lead mine in the Derbyshire orefield and is one of the best surviving examples in the UK of a 19th century lead mine. The mine has a fascinating history spanning more than 200 years of bonanzas and failures, of bitter disputes and fights resulting in the “murder” of three miners, and a Widows’ Curse that is said to remain to this day.
Thankfully there were no murders while I was there, and no sign of the widow’s curse. I did however witness another visitor’s dog race off across the fields next to the mine when a hare appeared. The hare made it’s escape hopefully none the worse for wear.
Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.
Steel City Snapper photography 