Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Modern houses on Sheffield’s Manor estate.
I came here with the intent of photographing views from the hillside over the city, and took a few pictures, but the best shot was this – looking in the opposite direction.
It really pays to look behind you when out with a camera. Sometimes the best views are the ones you’re walking away from.
Olympus XA-3 & Fomapan 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 18 April 2026
A few more pictures from (and of) Positano on Italy’s beautiful Amalfi Coast.
Olympus OM-1 and G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 on Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 24 August 2018
I’ve taken a break from re-scanning these holiday pictures today and instead had a go at scanning some very-expired colour film I shot a couple of weeks ago. I’ll post the results in one of my far-less-frequent-than-I-originally-planned expired film posts.
The film expired in 1987, so that might give you some clue as to what to expect, suffice to say that they don’t look quite as nice as these re-scanned Ektar pictures.
Olympus OM-1 and G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 on Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 24 August 2018
Olympus OM-1 and G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 on Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 24 August 2018
Another re-scan of a picture which I’ve posted on Flickr previously, but not here on the blog. There’s a definite pleasure to revisit older negatives and re-scan them with improved equipment and skills. This set I’m going through now have much better colours, and also a lot more resolution than before.
I like the vertiginous elevation of the hillside houses and hotels in this shot.
Olympus OM-1 and G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 on Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 24 August 2018
Large blocks of uninteresting foreground and sky meant I felt this worked better as a panoramic crop, and it’s fared quite well considering it’s a 35mm negative. It has nice leading lines in the field and the wires, and the angle of the sun has added some lovely contrast and relief to the buildings.
Nikon F80 and Nikkor 70-200mm f/4 ED VR on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Semi-stand in Rodinal 1+100 for 1 hour @ 20°.
Taken on 8 February 2026
Another food production factory in Gainsborough, this time the AB Mauri (former Rank Hovis McDougall) works.
Beyond lie rows of terraced houses, and the spire of the Trinity Arts Centre (which resides in a Grade II listed former church , hence the spire).
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC / Zenzanon 150mm f/3.5 MC & Lomography Color Negative 800. Lab developed, home scanned & converted with Negative Lab Pro. Converted to B&W in Lightroom.
Taken 30 November 2025.
A subject I often seem to find myself drawn to is houses. Not all of them, but ones which I find to be interesting for some reason, whether it be the architectural style, the period they were built, their decor, or even just the way the light is hitting them.
Here are three I photographed recently.
Apart from the aerials and antennae, I expect they wouldn’a’t have looked that different had I photographed them sixty years ago.
Yashica Mat 124G and Ilford Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 24 January 2026
When I go on a holiday, I like to take time to wander round and explore the places we visit. Sometimes, in a place like Barcelona, there is far more to be seen than can possibly be experienced in a short stay. But even in more tourist-focused locations such as Lloret de Mar, there are still things to be found. Sometimes these are relatively everyday locations that are made exotic by unfamiliarity, and sometimes they are just unexpected.
In my mind, I had the basic layout of the part of the town where we stayed mapped out as gradually sloping downhill until it reached the beach (separated from the town by a promenade, road, and a long strip of hotels and restaurants). What I didn’t realise was that there was a tall hill smack bang in the middle of this. The hill is no doubt readily apparent from a higher vantage point, but once you’re amongst the buildings then it becomes easily obscured. Until you stumble over it on a random walk through the streets.
I first noticed it when I spotted a large flight of steps between a couple of buildings. It was a very hot day and I considered taking another route, but the curious part of me decided there might be something worth seeing at the top, so up I climbed. I didn’t count them, but there were quite a lot and the first picture below if the view looking back down.
The first thing I spotted at the summit was a row of houses draped with vivid swathes of red flowers. I don’t know what this plant is, but it certainly made for an attractive subject for a picture.
Despite being near the top of the hill, I didn’t find any vantage point where I could take in a view (other than down mostly curving streets). I guess you need to enter one of the buildings to take advantage, such as the tall stacked platter of a structure in the image below.
It was odd that, even when I knew the hill was there, it was still quite easy to miss, even from the beach – where it was apparent, but kind of blended into the taller, more-distant background hillsides.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 3 June 2025
Contrasting nicely with yesterday’s old building, here’s one that is considerably more modern. Named The Strelitzia after an Italian flower, this striking house in Lincoln is the work (and home) of a local property developer. Construction on the house began in 2007. You can find out more about the house and see what it looks like inside in this article.
Yashica Mat 124G & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 1 March 2025
Steel City Snapper photography 