Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Following the pictures I shared from my walk to Pico Fort a couple of days ago (the picture sharing, not the walk), here are random bunch of pictures I took on my walk back down the hill and into Funchal centre.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 26 June 2026.
One morning during our holiday in Funchal I decided to take a walk to one of the old forts that are dotted around the city, namely São João Batista Fort, also known as ‘Pico Fort’. I chose this one based on an online recommendation as it has panoramic views across the city.
While not far from out hotel as the crow flies, Funchal is a hilly place and the route was far from a straight line. Nor was it flat – requiring the ascension and descent of a couple of ridges on the way – the final stretch in particular was pretty steep.
While I didn’t set out to document the trip, the photos included here today were shot on the way. The first shows a view of the fort as I began my descent from the first ridge. While it looks like I could walk straight towards it, the twisting route instead took me to the right – effectively where the neck of the bottle on the advertising hoarding points.
The next two pictures are a couple of buildings that just caught my eye. I like the layering of the first shot.
After paying the entrance fee, I gained entrance to the base of the fort before climbing to the main gate, which provided a nicely framed picture of the ocean beyond.
The views over the town were nice, both down towards the Atlantic, and also looking north to the cloud covered mountains, their foothills blanketed by homes.
The final shot is of a tree that stood in the courtyard within the fortress walls and which I photographed with both film and digital. The digital shots were nice, but I think this film shot looks pretty good too.
The fort is quite big but, sadly, much of it is closed to public access with only a single chamber accessible, containing pictures and descriptions of the fort through its history. I spoke to a member of staff about the rest of the building but he only said that it would be accessible “in future”. Nonetheless it was still worth the walk and I enjoyed the hike and views.
I took more pictures on the way back down, but I’ll save those for another day.
Nikon F70, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Portra 160 / [shots 4 & 5] Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired in 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro
Taken 26 June 2026.
Outside Leeds Art Gallery there are a number of brightly coloured “loungers” for people to sit and, well, lounge upon. I took a couple of pictures, but the first is the best because the couple on the red lounger make a nice counterpoint to the Henry Moore “Reclining Woman” sculpture on the plinth above.
Something good that happened today…
It’s Friday, which is almost always good, so I’ll go with that today.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
These four photos were all taken around Leeds Combined Courts Centre. I found the brickwork and the architecture made for interesting photographs, and the nice weather didn’t hurt where the expired slide film was concerned, either.
Something good that happened today…
I’ve had a busy day at work, mostly taken up with meetings. Sometimes days like this can be frustrating because there’s insufficient time between calls to get on with the work I need to do. While that was still the case to an extent, all the calls I was on felt productive, and I came away from them feeling like something had been achieved, which is good.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
This sculpture was stood in a corner of the main entrance gallery in Leeds Art Gallery. It would be incredibly impressive in scale if those were full size bricks, but in reality the figure is not much larger than a normal person. It was a photogenic looking character though, regardless of size.
Something good that happened today…
The robin was on the garden this morning again while I sorted out the cat litter tray (always a delightful task…). Today it flew over an alighted on the wall a couple of feet from where I stood, before quickly shooting off to hide in the laurel bush. At this time I hadn’t yet put out any bird food (the current breakfast for them is a selection of sunflower hearts and toast crusts) and in my mind I imagined that this small display of bravery was a polite nudge for me to hurry up and put some food on the grass.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
Given the brilliantly lit white facade of this building, I’m happy that the slide film caught the detail without blowing it out. I guess the dynamic range across the whole scene is not too large, but I still wondered whether this would be a success or not.
It would have been nice to have a tilt-shift lens to capture the scene. While I don’t hate converging verticals in photographs, sometimes, when they’re only slight as is the case here, they bother me more for some reason.
Something good that happened today…
I managed to find some time this lunchtime to develop a couple of rolls of Tri-X that I’ve shot recently, so I have another 24 images waiting to scan. I’m always glad when I’ve gotten film development done because I find it a chore. It’s easy enough to do, and I’m relatively successful at it, but I don’t get the enjoyment from it that some other photographers do. On the other hand, I do quite like scanning, which some other photographers hate!
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
Another of the expired Elite Chrome photos. The Light is a retail and leisure centre in Leeds and contains shops, bars, restaurants, and a cinema among other things. The name seemed fitting for this picture as “the light” really was quite nice.
Something good that happened today…
I missed my “Something good…” bit yesterday because I published an Expiryment post, but I’m back today.
My son started his new job today, and while we haven’t had a “debrief” with him about it yet, he seems happy enough, which is good.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
At the rate I’m posting images from this roll there won’t be any left for an “Expiriment” post!.
Something good that happened today…
I received an email from a colleague today that might lead to roles for some of my colleagues affected by the job losses on our team. I’ll have to find out more next week, but it sounds promising, so I’m hopeful it will prove fruitful for them.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
Another photo of the Leeds General Infirmary building, or at least the Victorian part of the building.
While a hospital has stood on the site since the late 18th century, the part of the building shown in the picture was built a century later during the Victorian period. A number of additional hospital wings were added through the 20th century. The small section that I posted a photo of yesterday can be seen at the far right of today’s image.
Something good that happened today…
The Robin was back on our garden again this lunchtime (although, to be fair, it could be a completely different robin to the other one I’ve seen). Today it snagged itself an earthworm from the lawn and was busily gobbling it up when I spotted it. One of our cats had also seen it and kept a close eye on it from the utility-room window until it eventually noticed her and hopped sideways on to get a better view. It then began a series of loud warning chirps before making an exit.
I’m glad on these occasions that our cats are house-cats – I can only imagine the threat they would pose to the local bird population otherwise! – and it’s good to see that the robin, and the other birds that come to our garden, feel safe to do so.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
A little bit of the Leeds General Infirmary building is the subject of the picture shared today.
Something good that happened today…
This is something good that’s about to happen today. My in-laws are visiting from Spain and we’re all meeting up for a meal. I’m hungry and looking forward to it.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 5 October 2024
