Tag: Derwent dam

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Derwent Dam revisited

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Three more photos of Derwent Dam not, as the post title might misleadingly suggest, taken on a separate visit to the location, but taken on the same day as the Yashica Mat 124G shots I posted a couple of weeks ago (which you can see here). These shots were taken with my Olympus XA3. Indeed, it was fortuitous that I had this little compact camera with me as the Yashica quickly exhibited signs of a fault and let me down and without th little XA3, I would have been unable to make any more photos.

The people in the first picture were flying a drone (despite signs clearly stating that this was not permitted), but I think it was out of sight beyond the dam wall when I took the picture.

Derwent Dam 35mm edition #3

The final two pictures are similar compositions to those I made with the Yashica Mat, although the wider angle of the XA3’s lens (and also the 35mm aspect ratio) meant I was able to get more of the scene in each shot.

Derwent Dam 35mm edition #1
Derwent Dam 35mm edition #2

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

Taken on 9 January 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Derwent Dam

fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Three pictures of Derwent dam today. There was a little water over-topping the dam wall while I was there, but no sign of the cascading curtain of white water that appears when its in full flow, sadly.

Derwent Dam (west tower)

The Yashicamat had no chance of getting the whole structure in frame from the available vantage points, so I opted for a couple of shots showing each of the dam’s towers, plus an extra picture of the century old sign warning of a £5 fine if you bathe in the water!

Prohibition of Bathing

The dam is perhaps most famous for the part it played in WWII, serving as a practice ground for RAF 617 squadron, or the Dam Busters as they are better known. Because of the similarity to the dams in Germany’s industrialised Ruhr valley, it was used to practice the low-level flying needed to drop the Upkeep bouncing bombs that would breach the dams during the raid.

Derwent Dam (east tower)

I took more shots at the location with my Olympus XA3, so I’ll share those too at a later date.

Yashicamat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 9 January 2024