Breaking the creative block

July 16, 2022 fishyfisharcade6 Comments

The last few days I’ve noticed a lack of enthusiasm when writing for the blog, resulting in a number of rather concise posts. I’m not sure what is causing this apart from, perhaps, having too many other things to do.

Because I write these posts ad-hoc and rarely with any planning or forethought of any kind it’s very east to just bash out something quickly so I can get on to doing something else, and I suspect that this probably shows.

I’ve had this sort of fatigue before, and I think my daily posting regime is to blame for this. But the daily routine is also the thing that keeps me posting – I think that if I stop doing so every day then the gaps between posts will grow longer and the number of posts will dwindle, which I don’t want to happen.

And so I will get these periods of low-input from time-to-time where I need to push on and break through the creative barrier.

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 11 May 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A doggie in a window

July 15, 2022July 21, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

The sole reason for this shot was the little fella peeking out of the window in the middle of the frame. It feels like a happy picture to go into the weekend on.

Olympus 35 RC & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 11 May 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Newcomen engine house

March 19, 2022March 19, 2022 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

The building on the left of this shot – the one with the wooden structure attached – houses a Newcomen steam engine at Elsecar Heritage Centre. It is, apparently, the oldest steam engine in the world still in its original location, dating back to 1795.

Apologies for another succinct post today. My wife and I went out for the evening and I didn’t get chance to write something before we left. <feeble excuse ends>

Fujica GW690 & Ilford FP4+. Lab developed in Xtol.

Taken on 20 February 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Bandstand

March 18, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

This is the bandstand at Elsecar. I’ve posted photos of the same location before here.

I’ve got a number of pictures of bandstands – they’re an attractive subject – and yet not a single shot with an actual band playing in them.

Fujica GW690 & Ilford FP4+. Lab developed in Xtol.

Taken on 20 February 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Water and electricity don’t mix

March 17, 2022 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I’ve not posted a power-lines photo for a while, have I? Well let me remedy the situation with this photo of a transformer (at least I presume that’s what it is – I know little of such things) stood at the edge of a flooded field.

It’s a mundane scene, and one that is undobtedly repeated countless times across the country (albeit with perhaps less flooding), but one that appealed to my eye when I saw it.

Fujica GW690 & Ilford FP4+. Lab developed in Xtol.

Taken on 20 February 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Quiz Tuesdays (on a Wednesday)

March 16, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Sitting behind the Rockingham Arms pub (which I posted a photo of a few days ago) is this neat looking shed. There is a small sign on it saying “Players only on the green”, so I assume that the grass in front of it was once a bowling green. It’s now covered in wooden benches to cater for pub visitors though, although there were none to be seen on the windy February day on which the photo was taken

Fujica GW690 & Ilford FP4+. Lab developed in Xtol.

Taken on 20 February 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

In front of the round house

March 15, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

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

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Odd house

March 14, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

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

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Points of interest

February 14, 2022February 14, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This signpost sits beside an old wrought-iron footbridge over the River Don in Sheffield. The destinations are mostly areas of the city, but with a few places further afield. The sign pointing to Wales refers to the village of Wales to the east of the city, rather than the nation to the west of England. Interestingly, a variety of measurement types are used on the signs.

Someone on Flickr asked me what a “rod” was, so I looked it up. Today’s bit of trivia (and something I didn’t know before) is that a rod is equivalent to sixteen and a half feet. There are four rods in a chain, forty rods in a furlong, and three-hundred-and-twenty rods in a mile.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 15 January 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A post with a postbox

February 13, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Postboxes are another of those subjects to which I seem to be drawn quite often. Usually it’s when I’m shooting colour film as I think that the bright red paintwork lends itself best to that format, but I have more than a few pictures in black and white too, as with today’s photo.

Colour would have worked well too, although the box was in shad so might not have “popped” in the same way as when illuminated, but this particular example has the added interest of a bunch of stickers pasted to its side – a mixture of random art and political messaging of varying persuasions. I made the picture with the lens wide open af f/2.8 as I wanted to remove the background clutter, but perhaps a little narrower might have better benefited the ability to read the stickers.