Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
I’m having a run of days this week where I’m short on time and having to upload somewhat short posts to the blog. Today is another such day, unfortunately. Apologies for the lack of words!
So here are two photos I took in Birmingham in January, the first of the cathedral, the second of the art gallery.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2024
While walking around the Derwent reservoirs, my descent back to my car took me through some pine forest where the low winter sun was shining beneath the canopy illuminating the trunks of the trees.
I attempted two shots with the XA3, which didn’t turn out badly at all – I was expecting camera shake as, despite the sunlight, it was still quite dim beneath the canopy, and braced myself against trees to attempt to keep the camera steady. Luckily there is only perhaps minimal evidence of any shake.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 9 January 2024
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 9 January 2024
I quite like this picture. It has a lot of layers, from the gate in the foreground right through to Ladybower reservoir and the hills beyond. I did wonder at the time I took the photo whether it would be successful given the limited control over focus possible with the XA3 but, again, it proved itself more than up to the task.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 9 January 2024
After sharing some photos of the dam itself, here are a couple of pictures of the reservoir it forms behind it.
The first picture was taken from the footpath that skirts the edge of the water, while the second was taken from up on the hillside above the reservoir. You can just make out some small figures in the shot – those people are close to where I made the first photo.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 9 January 2024
In the hills up above the Derwent reservoirs I found this Land Rover Defender parked up. It looked in its element up there.
I would have photographed it with the temperamental Yashica Mat 124G too, but it was at this point that it stopped working. The XA3 saved the day.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 9 January 2024
Three more photos of Derwent Dam not, as the post title might misleadingly suggest, taken on a separate visit to the location, but taken on the same day as the Yashica Mat 124G shots I posted a couple of weeks ago (which you can see here). These shots were taken with my Olympus XA3. Indeed, it was fortuitous that I had this little compact camera with me as the Yashica quickly exhibited signs of a fault and let me down and without th little XA3, I would have been unable to make any more photos.
The people in the first picture were flying a drone (despite signs clearly stating that this was not permitted), but I think it was out of sight beyond the dam wall when I took the picture.
The final two pictures are similar compositions to those I made with the Yashica Mat, although the wider angle of the XA3’s lens (and also the 35mm aspect ratio) meant I was able to get more of the scene in each shot.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 9 January 2024
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2024
The large, rectangular building that sits in the distance in this picture has caught my eye on more than one occasion when visiting Cleethorpes. It stands a way to the northwest and is actually in Grimsby. There’s a footpath that runs atop the sea defences which will take you to the structure. or at least I assume it will as I’ve never walked that far before. It’s one of those places that is actually a lot further away than it looks.
It’s a cold storage facility apparently, and also holds a seafood wholesaler. Both logical uses given Grimsby’s status as a fishing port – indeed it was one the home port of the largest fishing fleet in the world back in the mid 20th century before the industry fell into decline.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2023
I quite often try and pick days with nice light for photography. Alas, living in the UK, dull weather is never to far away, particularly through late autumn to early spring when it can persist for days on end. There’s nothing that puts me of going out with my camera more than a flat grey sky. But should it?
The two pictures published here today were taken on the same day in Cleethorpes at the end of December last year. When I arrived the sky was bright and clear and strong contrasty light was present. However, as the day progressed, clouds began to gather until they pretty much filled the sky. By the time I set off for the drive home the light had diminished considerably and it was raining.
Yet, despite this and my normal preference for good light, it’s the second photograph made in the supposedly worse conditions that I like the best. It just has bags more atmosphere. I guess the different composition of both could be having some effect, but I don’t really think that’s the reason.
Maybe I should just embrace the grey.
Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 28 December 2023
Steel City Snapper photography 