35mm · Film photography · Photography

A line of trees

Another shot made possible by having the XA3 in my coat pocket. I did have my Fujica GW690 with me on the day, but that had already greedily eaten all my 120 film in it’s limited eight-shot stomach. So the XA3 came to the rescue for any other pictures I spotted.

I honestly didn’t know if this would be a nothing shot at the time I took it. I spent a bit of effort to make sure the trees all had separation (as much as possible, at least – there’s a background tree hiding behind one of the foreground ones), but the scene didn’t look all that inspiring to the naked eye. However, seeing it appear in black and white, I realise what it was that had caught my eye, and it’s one of the best pictures from the day. There’s something about the way a camera renders a scene that can make it different, and more interesting, than what was seen with the naked eye. The opposite can be true as well, of course, but in this case the camera captured it better.

A line of trees

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Fence posts and pylons

This landscape shot, taken on a walk along the Cuckoo Way a couple of months back, turned out pretty nicely, I think. The pylons and the concrete fence posts (no actual fence though) belie the area’s industrial heritage, but that’s fine. I think the concrete posts work as well as weathered wooden ones would, and I’ve always got room in a photo for a pylon or two. 🙂

Fence posts and pylons

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 27 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Ozzy the bull

Ozzy the bull resides in the Grand Central hall at Birmingham’s New Street railway station. Weighing 2.5 tonnes and standing 10 metres tall, the animatronic bovine beast was first unveiled as part of the Commonwealth Games in 2022 before finding his new home after a major redesign and rebuild.

He’s named after Ozzy Osborne who hails from the city.

Beware of the bull
Bull's eye

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 20 January 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

I used to skate here

The Gosvenor Casino in Sheffield occupies the building that once housed Silver Blades, once the city’s only ice-skating rink. Sheffield still has an ice-rink, but it’s now located in Attercliffe and is the home of Sheffield Steeler’s, our local ice hockey team.

Ice hockey took place at Silver Blades too, although I was never involved in the sport and just went to the rink to skate about with friends and play video games in the mini arcade that was there (teetering about on a pair of skates and attempting to play Marble Madness took a degree of skill!).

When I first went to the rink I would hire a pair of boots. They were, if I remember correctly, all purple and always felt somewhat damp and clammy. After going for awhile, I decided to invest in a pair of my own skates and got some Bauer hockey boots. While I was never a skilled skater, I was proficient, and could get up a decent sprint on the ice.

While most of the sessions involved skating around in an anti-clockwise circuit (complete with a DJ playing music from a booth overlooking the ice, usually with a bunch of kids crowded below submitting requests), there would also be a short daredevil intermission half way through the evening where the circuit would become a figure-of-eight health-and-safety nightmare (although I cant ever recall any serious collisions happening).

I’ve not skated for about three decades now. I wonder if it’s one of those things you don’t forget how to do?

Where we once skated

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken on 20 January 2024