In suburbia #2

December 14, 2019December 14, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A second trio of shots taken while walking around local suburban areas. The first was taken on the same day as those in yesterday’s post, the others a couple of days later. I’m not sure that these scenes would work under different conditions (although I guess maybe in fog, or at night could be interesting), but the low winter sun (and the long, deep shadows it casts) that we get in these northern latitudes makes things nicely photogenic.

While posting yesterday’s images I had the Pet Shop Boy’s “Suburbia” running through my mind. Today it was “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).

Taken on 2 & 5 December 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

In suburbia #1

December 13, 2019December 14, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I walked to my local processing lab on 2 Dec to get some rolls of film developed. The morning was full of gorgeous low winter sunlight, so I snapped a few suburban scenes on my walk.

The Z135 has a significant amount of vignetting when shot at its widest focal length.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).

Taken on 2 December 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Red and expired

September 4, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I’ve shot a number of rolls of expired film, some turn out wonderfully (some 20-year-old Tmax was beautiful) while others are less so and can result in grainy images that look muddy and, even worse for the home scanners among us, hideously curled negatives that are nigh on impossible to hold flat (or even get into the negative holders!).

All of which goes to reinforce just how nice this batch of expired Fuji Superia 100 that I bought a couple of years back is. Although it expired over ten years ago, it had been well stored and as a result behaves pretty much as good as when it was fresh. Obviously I don’t have a fresh roll to compare it with, but the colours it produces are both vivid and natural in a very satisfying fashion. The vividness is illustrated in todays picture, with the red of the fire engine leaping off the image. It’s not quite as in-your-face as Kodak Ektar, but it still pops and has a more natural look to the colours.

I’m very happy to have three full boxes of it in the freezer yet to shoot.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Summer hat

September 3, 2019 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I guess autumn is here. My kids are back at school tomorrow, the radiators switched on briefly yesterday morning as I was getting out of bed, and the local photo club is meeting this evening for the first time since the summer recess.

I don’t mind though – autumn is my favourite season and I’m looking forward to later sunrises and earlier sunsets, the crispness in the air, and the onset of colour as the leaves begin to turn. Still got a few weeks yet though and at least one summery day-out still planned for this month.

As a mark of summer’s passing, here’s a summery hat that was in the passenger seat of the ’46 Chevy truck that I photographed the other week.

If you’re lamenting the summer gone, there’s a nice post about it on Jim Grey’s blog that’s worth a read.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Isometric

September 2, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This tiny van (which looks suspiciously like the one that Postman Pat drives, albeit blue and rusty) is one of the boxiest-looking vehicles I’ve ever seen, which led to the shot below. The right-angled corners mean it looks like something built in Minecraft or an old forced-3D vidogame from the 80s.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

On the Buses

September 1, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

One of my short posts today – I’ve spent the last hour-and-a-half packing up some stuff that I sold on eBay and I’m losing the will to go on. While it’s always nice to get a bit of cash for things you no longer want or need, the packing part is a real chore. Oh well, it’s done now, so I’ll be thankful for that.

Anyway, a couple of days ago I mentioned that I might have a photo of the interior of the bus that featured as that day’s photo. Well <drum roll>, here it is! See, some things are really worth waiting for, aren’t they? I’m not saying that this is one of them, but some things are. 🙂

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

’46 Chevy

August 31, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This attractive Chevy truck was at the Lincoln Steam Rally. It had been carefully painted to give it a somewhat well-worn finish and it looked great in the bright sunshine – the browns and reds of the bodywork contrasting vividly with the bright chrome of the grille and the glass of the headlamps.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired).

Taken on 17 August 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lobster pots

July 20, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

There are heaps of lobster and crab pots on the harbour side at Scarborough (as, no doubt, there are at many fishing towns and villages around the British coast). There are probably a uncountable number of shots to take of these devices on any given day – the geometry of ropes, the rust of the metal, the tangles of seaweed, and the crusts of barnacles mean that there is no shortage of interest there for the inquisitive eye. You do, obviously, have to put up the a strong fishy smell in order to get your shot, but that just enhances the atmosphere (both literally and figuratively) and puts you in a proper frame of mind.

Pentax Espio 140M & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008).

Taken on 13 July 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Baywatch

July 19, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Ok, so you’d be unlikely to see The Hoff or Pamela Anderson here in Scarborough, even twenty-five years ago, but it’s all the same thing really, isn’t it? Well, maybe without the L.A. glamour, hot weather, and crime-fighting shenanigans.

Pentax Espio 140M & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008).

Taken on 13 July 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Activate panorama mode

July 18, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The Pentax Espio 140M that I bought for the princely sum of £1 at the steam rally the other week seems to work ok. It’s sharp (although maybe not quite as sharp as the Canon Sure Shot’s I own), and is very compact. The lens still seems pretty decent even when zoomed, and it has a range of metering and focussing modes that neither of my Sure Shot’s have.

It also has a panorama mode. At last, I can get those Hasselblad X-Pan type shots I always dreamed of. Well, kinda. Panorama mode here, like many other 35mm compacts with the feature, is actually achieved by way of a mask that blocks part of the frame, so all you’re really getting is a standard 35mm shot but with big black bars obscuring the top and bottom of the image. The same mask is visible in the viewfinder when the setting is activated, which does make composing the shots straightforward.

While it won’t give the resolution that an X-Pan (or a medium format camera with 35mm back) will provide, the results aren’t too bad, even if they could easily be achieved with any other camera by just cropping your image.

So, without further ado, here are four panoramas taken with the camera. Can you guess which two are actually just crops of a full 35mm frame done in Lightroom because I’d badly composed the images in-camera? 🙂