Tag: Film photography

35mm · Film photography · Photography

In Matlock in December

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The photo today shows a scene in the centre of Matlock that I snapped when we visited the Christmas market last month. I liked the way the far street rose up the hill into the distance, the wet road catching the dull light nicely. The building and the tree frame the shot, and the couple and the lamppost add some interest. At the upper left can be seen a clock tower. That was close to where we had parked our car and there will be more photos of that building to come over the next few days.

Matlock in December

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 18 December 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Kinda random

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I have to pick one of my sons up from college today, so I won’t have time to write the blog later (well, I will, but I’ll probably want to do other stuff instead :)). So today it’s a quick and somewhat random post with a picture of the back of the bowling green pavillion that featured in testerday’s post. It was the ripples on the water and the birds on the roof that caught my eye but it’s not much of a shot if I’m honest. Look at me, treating you all with such treasures! 😀

The truth is that I’ve still got most of this roll of film still to scan and am limited on shots to pick until I get on with that. The roll also seems to have some sort of marks on a lot of the frames. At first I thought they were drying marks, but they don’t really correspond to other drying marks I’ve seen. I’m now wondering if it’s something else – maybe I didn’t let the film defrost before loading it and caused condensation or something? Or perhaps it’s just an artefact of the film being almost twenty-years past it’s use-by date. Luckily I’ve been able to photoshop out the worst of it, including this photo.

Round the back

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 18 December 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

No-one bowling

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The weekend befoe Christmas, we went to visit a Christmas market in the town of Matlock – about a half-hour’s drive away. My eldest and his girlfriend came along and, despite it being a somewhat gloomy day (with heavy fog on the hills), and the market not being as big as we expected, we had a nice few hours wandering around, topped off with some takeaway fish and chips.

I took my XA3 in my coat pocket and managed to grab a number of pictures in the misty winter conditions, including this one of the bowling green in the park where the market was taking place. No-one was out playng bowls on the day.

I remember Crown Green Bowls being a regular fixture on TV when I was younger, although I never had any interest in it, but I’m not sure if it’s still shown these days – maybe on a dedicated sports channel I suppose? I’ve only played the game (which you can find described here) on a few occasions and, as I and my friends were young and foolish at the time, I recall it mainly involved us mischieviously larking about trying to collide with other player’s bowls in the middle of the green than playing it properly.

Bowling green

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 18 December 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Industry and entertainment

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Beside the Don Valley Centertainment complex – which houses a multiplex, bowling alley & arcade, kid’s play area, and a selction of restaurants – are industrial streets. This is the east-end of the city where, in it’s industial heyday, the bulk of the steel industry resided. There are still steelworks in the area, and more as you head down river towards Tinsley and Templeborough, but much of it has now become history.

I’m not sure what the building in today’s picture used to house – I’m sure my dad would know, and I’ll ask him next time I see him – but it’s now the home of a scaffolding hire and sales business.

Wood and steel

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 15 December 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Cosmos

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I made this picture back in late November I think – it’s on a roll that was shot over the space of a few weeks with my Olympus XA3, which I’d been keeping in my coat pocket. It was taken from the car-park across the road from these buildings on the day I went into town for one of my attempts to get my laptop rebuilt. I was heading towards the stairwell when I noticed the shot and liked the way the buildings stoof against the sky with the central tower flanked by the smaller buildings on either side.

The film was a roll of expired Tri-X dating back to around 2003. I’ve shot a few rolls of this and found that it likes an extra stop of exposure. For the previous rolls I just exposed it at 200asa and then developed it normally, but as the weather was a little gloomy on the day this roll was loaded, I decided to keep the extra stop of speed and push it a stop in development instead. I’m quite happy with the results. The grain is quite pronounced, but I’m not afraid of a bit of grain.

The worst thing about this film is how much the negatives curl when developed. Not only do they coil up like a spring, there is also heavy bow to the film along its full length. This made cutting and sleeving the negatives troublesome, but this was not nearly as problematic as trying to get them into the negative holder to be scanned. The Plustek holders are pretty good at keeping negatives flat – I doubt I would have gotten anywhere with my Epson holders – but you still need to get them in and aligned before it can be closed to hold them in place. Somehow I managed it though, although I’ve only scanned two strips so far.

Cosmos

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken in November 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Little white house

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This small white building is situated in the small town of Eckington. It’s opposite the road that leads to Chesterfield and often catches my eye when I’m driving back from there. In the right light, it’s white painted walls really light up.

I believe the building is a church – St. Luke’s Mission Church – although I think it is closed now – it certainly has a disused air about it, and the billboard beside the path has clearly seen no messages posted for some time. Looking at the Google StreetView historical photos it looks like it might have been disused for a decade or more, although it only looks like the grounds have become more overgrown over the past few years.

Little white structure #1
Little white structure #2

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X Pan (expired 2003 – shot at box speed and pushed a stop in development). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 25 October 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Logs in the water

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I took a bit of a risk getting these two shots. Although the footpath alongside Burbage Brook was only a few feet above the water at this location, in order to get in position to make the pictures I had to clamber over some wet rocks. My walking boots generally grip rocks just fine, especially the coarse gritstone that is prevalent in this area, but one boulder was deceptively slippery. It hid it’s treachery well, looking no different to it’s companions, but it was as though it had been greased.

Thankfully I was taking my time and using my extended tripod as a surrogate walking pole so I was able to keep my balance, but it could have been a different outcome had I been less cautious. A fall might have meant a soaked or broken camera, a possible twisted (or even broken) ankle or, right at the top of the scale, a full-on Laurel and Hardy-style pratfall into the water leading to who knows what injuries.

But I was fine. A bit of mud on my hands was about the extent of my discomfort. I am thankful.

Waterlog(s)
Turmoil

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Ilford Delta 3200. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9.5mins @ 20°

Taken on 23 December 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Scaly woodland beast

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Beside one of the footpaths in Padley gorge stands the remains of a twisted tree. Little more of the trunk is left but it’s something of a focal point on the path as the wood is embedded with hundreds (or more) coins which have been hammered into the surface and bent over (or perhaps they were bent over before they were knocked in). The result is an odd and intriguing texture that resembles the scales of some beast, like a serpent or a dragon.

Woodland beast

The effect is even more pronounced when viewed from the right point of view as the broken tip of the trunk resembles a horned face (or I think it does anyway). On this day it had a conifer branch leant against it giving it a slightly festive air given it was a couple of days before Christmas.

Copper scales

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Ilford Delta 3200. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9.5mins @ 20°

Taken on 23 December 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Twist

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Here’s another couple of photos of a grnarled and twisted tree on the upper slopes of Padley Gorge. I’ve photographed it before, including this digital shot made on the same day. The whole area is filled with interesting trees to be photographed and, when the weather is right – especially with some mist present – the opportunities just seem to multiply.

Today was my last day off before returning to work tomorrow. Before Christmas I’d intended to go out with a camera on a few occasions but, apart from the day I made the shots featured here, I’ve not done any photography beyond making pictures of my family. I’ve instead just spent a lot of time watching TV and playing videogames. I do have the itch to get out and make new pictures, and today had some lovely winter sunshine I could have taken advantage of, but sometimes it’s nice to just chill out and relax with other things and I’m glad to have taken the time to do so this Christmas.

Analog twist
Dark perch

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Ilford Delta 3200. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9.5mins @ 20°

Taken on 23 December 2021