El Caganer

February 27, 2025 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

My wife and I took a trip to Barcelona the weekend before Christmas. The main reason for the visit was to go see the festive markets, although this actually didn’t take up much of the three nights we were there.

The markets were nice enough, and importantly, different to those that we tend to get in the UK so there was some novelty in seeing different types of stalls. This being said, there was a lot of duplication in the stall types in the Barcelona Christmas Markets, with there being a lot of repetition of decorations, miniature nativity figurines and dioramas, and El Caganer figures.

The latter were something I’d not experienced before. El Caganer is roughly translated into English as “The Pooper” and is a peasant figure in traditional dress squatting down to poop (with a significant deposit made!). In Spanish Nativity scenes (which can be large dioramas depicting entire towns, rather than just the stable scene), the figure is positioned somewhere out of the way to be discovered (I expect it might be frowned upon to place him beside the manger…). While the original figure wears traditional garb, the tradition has also evolved to take account of the multitude of celebrities and mascots we have in modern times, and you can find pooping figures in the guise of almost anyone: pop stars, movie characters, videogame figures, royalty, politicians – including one stall which had a crapping Donald Trump complete with a bleeding ear from the assassination attempt! – and more. The range was certainly considerable and diverse!

You can browse a range of Caganer figurines at the official website even.

Today’s picture is of a Caganer stall at one of Barcelona’s Christmas Markets.

Something good that happened today…

I think I might rest this section of my daily blog. Not because it’s a bad idea – I fully intend to keep recognising the good things in my life – which is a good thing to do. But I’m considerate of the fact that sometimes they can maybe feel a little trivial to post about, so I think I’ll save these bits for when the “something good” is a bit more notable than my having eaten a nice pastie for lunch or something.

Olympus OM-10, E-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 21 December 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A winding fence on a misty morning

March 23, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The day that this picture was made left me a little disappointed when I awoke. We’d had some bright days with sunshine and clouds in abundance just prior to this but, as usual, I was otherwise engaged and unable to fo make photographs. So, when I say the grey, murky skies I almost took the decision to stay indoors and find something else to do. In the end though, I have myself a gentle mental kicking, pulled on my walking boots, and headed out the house. As it turned out, the flat skies also held some mist – not thick by any means, but enough to add a nice, soft layer of atmosphere to the surroundings.

While the lockdown has restricted me from travelling very far, I decided to make the effort to take a long walk to Shirebrook Valley, which is maybe 2-3 miles from home as the crow flies, but longer when following the routes that us ground-dwellers need to tread. The valley is a wooded area with a brook running through the bottom. While I’ve passed it close-by on countless occasions – the bypsss that leads to the city centre skirts its edge – I’ve only visited on foot once in recent times, and walked across it from one side to the other on occasions when I was a lot younger – it was part of the route if we ever walked to or from my grandparent’s house instead of travelling by car.

This lack of previous exploration meant that I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, with some interesting photgraphic opportunities presenting themselves – particularly a whole series of fallen trees down beside the brook in one area – and definitely a place I plan on revisiting when chance and – particularly – conditions favour it.

The image featured today looks down towards the southern edge of the woodland. Although not really apparent, the busy bypass I mentioned is hidden amongst the misty trees at the top of this shot.

Just a feint light mist
Adding mystery to things
And pleasing the eye

Olympus OM-2N, E.Zuiko Auto-T 135mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 3 March 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Graffiti memories and rushes

March 21, 2021March 22, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

One day post-Covid jab and I can report some side-effects, albeit pretty minor. These came in the form of some soreness and stiffness in the arm where I received the injection, a mild headache, and some general all-over mucscular aches. At first I put these down to the fact that I’ve been for a run yesterday, but they’re not the same as I might expect so more likely a result of the vaccination. These side-effects are pretty common though so I have no concerns and a couple of paracetamols sorted them out.

Today marked the first time I’ve seen my dad in person since last October when our region was designated as Tier-3. The recent lockdown easing measures have so far been minor but do allow for two people to meet outdoors for recreation (the examples given in the official explanation are for a coffee on a bench, or a picnic). Not fancying a coffee or a picnic – it’s March in the UK ferchrissakes! – we decided to go for a walk. It was nice to speak to my dad in person rather than over the phone and we went on a decent walk covering two or three miles.

The route took us over an old railway bridge that I don’t think I’ve crossed in at least thirty years, so I was amazed to see that there was still graffiti dating back to the early 80s on the rusting metal sides of the bridge. Most of this originated during the 1980s miner’s strike and there were still declarations of “Scargill No.1” and “Tories Out“, which took me right back to my teenage years when we would walk past these declarations on a regular basis. I’m going to go back and make some photographs when I get chance. The graffiti is still very vivid, to the extent that I wonder if some diehard advocate of the industial action that took place might be refreshing them with fresh paint occasionally. Whatever the case, I’ll get a better look next time and record them for posterity.

Today’s photo has absolutely nothing to do with the miner’s strike, and was made on another walk a few weeks ago.

Back when we were young
Our lives still ahead of us
Places in memory

Olympus OM-2N, E.Zuiko Auto-T 135mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 3 March 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Curving around a birch

March 19, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A short section of the Trans Pennine trail close to the western entranct to Rother Valley Country Park. At the end, it cuts to the left on the park entrance path, crosses a bridge over an active railway line, before dropping back to run alongside the tracks to the north for half-a-mile or so. This area was covered in a lot more foliage until the last year, when some tree felling and trimming has taken place. Just off to the left of the scene where the trail curves around the path is a pile of thin logs that remain from the work.

Curving path heads on
Up north and to points beyond
And then east and west

Olympus OM-2N, E.Zuiko Auto-T 135mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 1 March 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Ducks and geese

March 17, 2021 fishyfisharcade7 Comments

I’m absolutely shattered this evening. I’m having a bit of a stressful week at work – nothing bad, just something I’m working on that I’ve not done fully before and I’m focussed on trying to make the best job of it that I can, which is taking a bit of a toll. Plus, on the physical side, I completed week seven of Couch to 5K today – the last of the 25-minute runs. Two more weeks to go, and three 28-minute runs for the next week. I always feel a sense of achievement when I complete one of the runs, but I wasn’t in the mood today, and it took effort and willpower to not stop moving.

Another grainy HP5+ photo today.

Geese on the water
So serene on the surface
Liquid hides effort

Olympus OM-2N, E.Zuiko Auto-T 135mm f/2.8 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 1 March 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Across the lake

March 16, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A bit of a mystery about today’s photo, which depicts a foggy morning at Rother Valley Country Park. The puzzle is in regards to the graininess of the image. It was shot on Ilford HP5+ rated and develoed for 800asa. I’ve shot HP5+ pushed a stop before (and pushed by much more in fact) and not encountered the amount of grain that is present in this shot (and a few other misty, low-contrast scenes made on the same roll of film). Even more curious is the fact that it’s only a handful of frames affected – most of the images show smooth and unobtrusive grain.

My thoughts are that it could be the way the scanner handles this type of scene (or perhaps my settings). I tried scanning the picture with both Silverfast and Vuescan and received similar results from both. It would be interesting to see if the grain is present on the negative itself, but I don’t have a loupe to use and haven’t bothered trying to use my digital camera and macro lens.

Despite the unexpected and unplanned look of the image, the grain gives it a very pleasing atmosphere, so I’m not disappointed by the result.

Golf ball sized film grain
Appearing out of the fog
It’s a mystery