Another of those square shots that I had to crop due to people being in frame at either side.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ @800asa. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 December 2023
Man’s best friend
Tag: Film photography
Henry and his piano
I took a few pictures of this guy busking beside York Minster. To quote his bio that can be seen in the photo:
“Hello 🙂
My name is Henry. Me and my piano have been travelling around the U.K. for the past few years in my van and busking.
This piano was going to be taken as rubbish before I rescued it and gave it a new life!
I aim to create quiet moments for people to reflect and connect during these strange times.
Hope you enjoy my original compositions.
Thanks for listening ❤”
He seems to get around a bit and has pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp.
I have no affiliation with Henry, but I did chuck a couple of quid in his case before I took these photos. 🙂
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ @800asa. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 December 2023
Sparkle
A selection of jewellery glitters beneath the lights of a window display while a lady looks at potential purchases from the opposite window.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ @800asa. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 December 2023
Bowler hats and ghosts
My wife and I visited York in December to see the Christmas markets. As always tends to be the case at these things, the wares on offer were not cheap! That didn’t put us off buying some treats, and we came away with selections of cheeses and biscuits and other bits and pieces. It also seems set in law that there must be a stall selling bratwurst cooked over a charcoal fire at all these markets. I had a concoction of bratwurst, chips, and various toppings for my lunch, but there was some sort of jam stuff on there too which wasn’t really to my taste and I wish I’d just had a sausage in a bun instead.
Wandering round York city centre I took some pictures where I could with my Yashicamat 124G (and a few with my Olympus XA-3 which was tucked in my jacket pocket). It was pretty busy and trying to get pictures without someone walking into frame while I set up the shot or (more annoyingly) just as I pressed the shutter, was difficult.
The two shots here were taken at The Shambles, York’s famous medieval shopping street. This quaint street with it’s hundreds-of-year-old buildings is busy at the best of times as a tourist trap, but is made even busier by the fact of having a Harry Potter shop at one end, and The York Ghost Merchants at the other.
It’s the latter shop from which the two bowler-hatted gentlemen featured in today’s pictures were from. There was a queue of at least fifty people waiting to go into the shop to acquire their very own unique ghost (including a lot of overseas tourists. These spooky figurines are clearly popular!), so these people (of which there were at least four) were acting as crowd-control in the very narrow and very busy street.
The first shot was taken from close to minimum focus distance with me backed right up against the window of a baker’s shop. The second doesn’t look too busy, but you’ll notice that it’s cropped from the Yashica’s usual square format. This is because I has perhaps a quarter of a second to photograph the guy outside the shop before the crowds closed in again. There are people entering and exiting frame at the left and right of the full frame version.
Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ @800asa. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 16 December 2023
By the lake on a frosty morning
Rother Valley Country Park lies within walking distance of my home. It can be quite photogenic but familiarity has bred, if not contempt, then a certain boredom towards it’s possibilities. Like most man made lakes and reservoirs (the lake used to be an open cast coal mine) there’s a certain artificial feel to the place. I guess that over time this will lessen and the place will feel more an more part of a natural landscape (although it’s now been over forty years since the park first opened).
Despite my lack of inspiration, it’s still a great place to go if the conditions are good, especially mist or ice, as it gives it a distinct atmosphere and look that isn’t present at other times.
The two shots published here were taken on a frosty morning in late November last year just as the sun was rising, and I stood stepping between feet to keep warm while I waited for the sun to rise and start to cast light on the scenery. It was worth my time though, I think.
The second shot has been cropped. The top of the frame featured the lines of the cable-powered waterski circuit that occupies this end of the lake.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken 25 November 2023.
Hiding in plain sight
It’s been a while since any pylon / power lines photos appeared on the blog, so let me rectify that…
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken 25 November 2023.
A note to self… take care when testing cameras
When testing a new (to me) camera, I should do this somewhere close to home and not, I repeat NOT, drive right out into the Peak District National Park to do so…
This is what I did today, with the intent of shooting a roll or two through my new Yashicamat 124G. I’d already taken a couple of pictures with the camera earlier this week and all had appeared ok, so I went out to the Derwent Dams to finish the roll (and maybe shoot another if things went well).
Everything started out ok although, despite Google Map’s promise of it being “not too busy” the main car park was full when I arrived, necessitating me finding a spot about a half mile away instead and then walking back to where I wanted to be. The walk is pleasant enough though, and part of it can be made beside the reservoir. A little downstream from Derwent Dam I spotted a nice photographic composition looking down towards Ladybower Reservoir. I took the first picture with no issues and then framed up another shot. However, when I pressed the shutter release nothing happened. I was momentarily puzzled – had I not wound the camera on after the last shot? Had I accidentally tripped the shutter? I wound on to the next frame and was able to take the shot successfully.
Slowly working my way up to Derwent Dam and then up the valley towards Howden Dam, I was able to take a number of shots without issue. An then it happened again. By now I was sure that it wasn’t my memory or an accident at fault, and started wondering if there was something set up on the camera that might be causing it. I couldn’t think of anything though and, having shot several hundred photos with my old Yashicamat 124G, didn’t feel that operator error was likely to blame.
I finished up the first roll and then made the decision to load another. I felt that, if I needed to return the camera as faulty, shooting another roll would reinforce the evidence I had of a fault. So I set off up a very steep footpath that led back to where I started, but halfway up the valley side. The first shot from the new roll was fine. The second gave me the same non-firing shutter problem. The third worked ok. I then decided to focus for a while on not having a heart attack during the uphill hike (I need to get back to the gym!). After quite a while I came upon a nice scene – an old and slightly rusty Landrover parked on the trail. Framing everything up I pressed the shutter and… it didn’t fire. What’s more, it would not fire at all now, even advancing the film and re-cocking the shutter several times. The button would depress, but the shutter would not fire.
At this point I decided enough was enough and that the camera would have to be returned. I managed to get a photo of the Landrover using my Olympus XA-3 which I had in my coat pocket. Annoyingly, after this, I found some very attractive woodland scenes that would have suited the Yashicamat perfectly, but which I couldn’t take proper advantage of. I took a couple of shots with the little Olympus, but I suspect the slow shutter speed it gave me will probably result in camera shake on the photos.
I’m hoping that the photos I did manage to take on the first roll will turn out ok, even if there will be two or three blank frames. I’m also going to try to re-wind the other roll in my changing bag. It’s Tri-X so not that cheap, With luck I might be able to use the remainder in another camera.
But this week will see me return the faulty Yashicamat and start my hunt for a replacement.
TLDR: Today’s picture has absolutely nothing to do with the above. The light is nice though, yes? 🙂
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken 25 November 2023.
Rooftop
Another of those “it just caught my eye” shots although, to be truthful, pretty much every shot I take is because something just caught my eye.
This is the roof of a cottage in the grounds of the Dukeries estate shot, from all places, next to the restaurant in their garden centre.
It looked nice though, and despite the overcast nature of the weather at the time, it was catching some nice light.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken 25 November 2023.
Some final splashes of last year’s autumn
I lieu of having anything else to talk about today, here are a few more pictures of autumn colour from last year. I doubt any will win prizes for their scenery, but the light was nice for each of them.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken 25 November 2023.
Revolution House
This 16th century thatched cottage in the village of Old Whittington, which is now a suburb of Chesterfield, was once the location for a plot to overthrow the king of England, James II.
The conspirators were three local noblemen William Cavendish, 4th Earl of Devonshire, John Darcy, fourth son of the Earl of Holderness, and the Earl of Danby. Upon hearing that James had given birth to an heir who would be raised as a catholic, the men plotted to replace James with William of Orange, first taking control of the north before marching south to take the throne.
James fled before William’s approach and the result was a bloodless change of monarch.
Revolution House was formerly an inn named the Cock & Pynot, and the conspirators met there under the guise of a hunting party to concoct their plans. The building was converted to a private residence and, over time, it’s size was reduced. It is now a free-to-enter museum.
Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken 25 November 2023.
