Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Yesterday’s post showed the round house at Wentworth in its entirety. Today’s picture is a closer perspective with the cottage beside it in full view. Part of me prefers this shot – there’s a lot of detail tucked away and it was probably the two busts beside the front door that drew me as much as the structure itself.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford FP4+. Lab developed in Xtol.
Taken on 20 February 2022
This odd looking house was originally a windmill, built around 1745. I expect that the crenellations and other decorative features were later additions when it was converted to a domestic home.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford FP4+. Lab developed in Xtol.
Taken on 20 February 2022
I took quite a while to get the composition how I liked it for this photo. Not a long time, but longer than my usual “there’s a photo! click” method. I saw there was a picture to be had but there were distractions / potential interest points at either side of the frame, so I spent a few minutes moving left, right, backwards, and forwards to get just what I wanted into frame – all the while being conscious that I was stood in a road and that cars might be approaching from my rear.
The right of the frame had a parked car which I wanted to avoid in the shot, but the left had some interesting street furniture that might have added to the photo, plus it showed the curve of the road at the side of the house to better effect. Unfortunately, positioning myself to get the stuff at the left in frame also meant that other unwanted things crept into view as well, so in the end I went for this version.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 20 February 2022
As a direct follow on from yesterday’s post, which showed the new Holy Trinity church – that’s if something nearing one-hundread-and-fifty years old can be considered new I suppose – today’s post shows the old church that preceded it.
The old church tower predates the new one by four or five hundred years, with the rest of the structure having been rebuilt in 1684. The construction is of sandstone and the centuries have taken their toll with the masonry being quite worn by erosion in places, particularly the decorative stonemasonry elements such as carved figures.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 20 February 2022
This is Holy Trinity church at Wentworth. The church was built by William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam in the latter part of the 19th century, and consecrated on 31 July 1877. It’s quite an imposing building, its steeple visible from miles around. I remember the first time I saw it years ago, viewed from the road to Hoyland to the north, and feeling my gaze drawn to the structure, a huge spike pointing to the heavens, and thinking that it felt like the location from an M.R. James ghost story.
Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 20 February 2022
The GW690 is something of a beast of a camera – it didn’t get the nickname of The Texas Leica because it’s compact, that’s for sure. As a result it canbe quite an awkward camera to use, despite its otherwise simple set of controls. I find it quite difficult to hold in portrait orientation and most of my missed shots, where there has been a degree of camera shake, have been when taking pictures this way. The camera has a second shutter release button on the front of the body to aid in taking portrait format photos, but I still tend to generate more of a wobble when using it even like this.
Thankfully the portrait oriented pictures I took on this day in Wentworth have all come out ok with the exception of one.
Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Shot at 200asa and developed at box speed by lab (in Xtol).
Taken on 20 February 2022
A couple more photos from Wentworth today and, let’s face it, there will be a few more day’s worth of Wentworth photos yet to come given that I shot three rolls of film there. All GW690 though, so not that many in total really.
The first one required crackerjack timing (c.f. Jack Burton) to avoid any of the frequently passing vehicles getting in the shot, but I’m not sure if I should maybe have cropped the right side a little. It was composed this way deliberately to avoid the clutter of parked cars and stuff further down the road to the left, but it feels a little unbalanced as a result..
I made a big pan of chicken and bacon soup earlier today to satiate my current need for a soft diet. The soup looked great when ready, and then I had to blitz it in the blender to get rid of any chunks. It looks nowhere near as nice now but, thankfully, it still tastes great. I had a huge bowl of it for my tea and feel pretty full now!
Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Shot at 200asa and developed at box speed by lab (in Xtol).
Taken on 20 February 2022
Yesterday’s trip to the dentist resulted in, as I expected, the removal of one of my teeth – an upper back molar. The experience was not a pleasant one. It didn’t hurt at all and, so far, I’ve suffered no real post-extraction pain either. The lack of pain does not remove the other sensations resulting from having a tooth removed however. I’ll not go into details here as people might not want the gruesome breakdown, but suffice it to say that it is a highly uncomfortable physical experience even without pain.
I’m now stuck with a diet of soft or liquid foods for a while, so I’ll be having soup shortly, and had porridge for my breakfast and scrambled eggs for lunch. No hot drinks for a few days either, and even my soup will have to be left to cool before I awkwardly eat it while trying not to get any in the tooth socket. This is more to protect the healing of the extraction site than because it will cause pain, I think. I’ll also start a regime of saline rinses after I eat today and will need to carry on with those for the next week or more. At least it being on the upper jaw means that gravity works to prevent stuff getting stuck in there a little
Hopefully the infection that caused my trip in the first place has gone with the tooth though.
Enough horrible dentistry stuff, so here’s a photo of Wentworth post office, cast in some quite significant contrasty shadow by the light and the film I used. It took me a number of attempts to get this shot as cars kept pulling up in front on a frequent basis.
Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Shot at 200asa and developed at box speed by lab (in Xtol).
Taken on 20 February 2022
Another GW690 photo from my recent walk around Wentworth. I’m posting early today as I have a dentist appointment later which might (probably will!) involve a tooth extraction, and I’m not sure whether I’ll feel like writing anything after that.
Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Shot at 200asa and developed at box speed by lab (in Xtol).
Taken on 20 February 2022
There is a rabbit lurking in this picture of a cottage.
The photo was taken on a visit to the picturesque village of Wentworth, South Yorkshire, which I visited a couple of weeks ago. I got quite a few photos I’m happy with. This is a good thing as I was shooting my GW690 which only gives 8 shots per roll of 120 film, and I shot three rolls. It probably costs the best part of £1 per shot, maybe even more in this case as I had a couple of rolls lab developed as I didn’t have time to do them myself.
I bought the GW690 over a year ago and I haven’t used it all that much – probably due to the limitations of only having 8 shots per roll rather than the cost, as it means I need to take a few rolls with me in the event that I find lots of things to photograph. It does take very nice pictures when used correctly though, and I hope to use it more this year.
Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Shot at 200asa and developed at box speed by lab (in Xtol).
Taken on 20 February 2022
Steel City Snapper photography 