Ricoh GRIII
Taken on 21 March 2026
Further foggy day scenes
Tag: fog
Rother Valley fog
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Taken on 20 December 2025
Trees in the fog
As promised yesterday, here are some more pictures from my foggy day walk yesterday.
These were all shot on the outward leg of the walk. They would have been very different had I shot them on the return, when the thinning mist had increased the visibility enough for distracting background details to emerge.
Ricoh GRIII
Taken on 21 March 2026
Foggy avenue
After dropping my son of at work this morning, I drove out to the Welbeck estate to undertake another of the walks that wind through the grounds. This time I chose the walk to Cuckney Water Meadows which, while the longest of the four official trails at 6.28 miles, was also much easier than the Belph Brook walk I did a few weeks back (photos to come from that in due course) because, for the most part, it is along paved, gravel, or concrete footpaths and roads, with only the final stretch to the water meadows being over fields.
The walk was made much more pleasant from a photographic point of view by an abundant blanket of mist and fog that hung around for most of the morning, only beginning to lift when I was well into my return leg of the walk.
I shot a roll of Tri-X, but also shot a bunch of pictures with my Ricoh GR III, including the one shared below.
It will probably be a while before I share the Tri-X pictures, but I’ll share some more of the digital images in the next day or two.
Ricoh GRIII
Taken on 21 March 2026
Bulk-rolled Rother Valley swans
The first of these two pictures featured in my favourite shots of 2025 post, but the second hasn’t been shown before.
As mentioned yesterday, these shots are taken from a short roll loaded from my recently acquired bulk loader. I chose Fomapan 400, in a shorter 17m roll for this first time out, mostly because it’s pretty cheap compared with something like HP5+ and wouldn’t be a bankruptcy risk if I somehow messed things up but, also, partially because I’m curious about trying different development methods with Fomapan 400 – a film which I often find to be underexposed or very contrasty when I’ve shot it a box speed before but which gave me some good results when I tried semi-stand development with some 120 reel film.
I tried the semi-stand approach on two occasions with the 120 variant, the first time with great results, but with the second giving me some noticeable bromide drag. I’m unsure why the results were different as I used the same methodology on both occasions, but they were.
For this roll of 35mm Foma 400 I used 1-hour semi-stand again (in Rodinal 1+100), but instead of 30secs of inversions at the start, plus a single inversion at 30 minutes, this time I gave the tank a single, gentle inversion at the 15, 30, and 45 minute marks. For this roll, at least, there are no signs of bromide drag, so I’ll try the same method on my next attempt.
The results are very grainy, but I expected this and it’s not something I mind – it adds some grit to the images – but the tonality is good (though this might also be partly due to shooting it at 320asa instead of the 400asa box speed) without the heavy contrast I’ve seen in the past when using regular development in Ilfotec DD-X.
But, anyway, the first roll of self-loaded film was mostly a success (it did come off the spool at the end, requiring me to remove it from the camera in a changing bag) and I have another, longer roll waiting to be shot in my F80. I’m looking forward to the results from that too.
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Taken on 20 December 2025
Regrowth
Another picture from Renishaw golf course. This old trooper of a tree is exhibiting signs that it’s not yet finished with life.
It isn’t the first time I photographed this particular tree, and an earlier shot from last October shot with my Olympus OM-10 on Ilford HP5+ can be seen below the square Yashica Mat image.
Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2024
Mystery golf course tunnel
There are a number of these shallow brick lines tunnel on and around Renishaw golf course. While I don’t know for sure, I wonder if they’re there to aid drainage on the golf course in cases where the nearby river Rother breaks its bank and floods the surrounding area?
If so, they were perhaps not sufficient for the task (or at least the increasing regularity of such events) as the golf course has flooded numerous times, to the extent that it has now closed due to the constant disruption this has caused.
The news article linked above mentioned interest from a new owner for the club, but there has been little sign of this happening, and the course is now gradually returning to overgrowth. Despite this however, the club website still appears to be live, with membership offers still advertised and even a little status notification that the course is currently open!
Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2024
Tree trunks
Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2024
Along the farm track
Not far from the Trans Pennine Trail at Renishaw stands a farm. A public footpath runs along the farm track, fields to one side, and a wooded area to the other.
When the track reaches the farm gate the footpath forks away across a grassy field, beneath a row of power lines, and then descends down a stony path, passing an impressive tree with an large hollow exposing its roots.
After this point, the path is rejoined by the one I showed in yesterday’s post and they then descent to the railway line, which can be crossed by a footbridge.
Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2024
A gateway to the mist
There’s a footpath beyond this gate that I haven’t walked before as I always take an alternate route that skirts some arable fields (you’ll see a couple of pictures from there soon). That mist does look tempting though. Perhaps next time I’m in the vicinity I will take the pass less well trod.
Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2024
Steel City Snapper photography 