I always wonder if “squashes” is the correct terminoligy for this type of vegetable? There are pumpkins in there too, plus some marrows, and some weird swan-like things that I don’t know what they are, but I guess they are all types of squash? Please correct me if I am wrong about this important subject. 🙂
The flash fired on my first attempt at photographing this scene so I took a second picture. The version with flash looks much better though.
Whitely Woods is an area of woodland alongside the River Porter in Sheffield. I have a vague but fond memory of walking here with my nan when I was young. She bought me a small fishing net on a cane and I caught small fish – probably minnows, or perhaps baby fish of some species, but all given the group name ot “tiddlers” – in the dams further downstream in Endcliffe Park.
This is the millpond that feeds the waterwheel at Shepherd’s Wheel museum.
It’s not an area I’ve ventured back to all that many times – most of them have been in the lasrt few years as somewhere to go with a camera. On this occasion I’d taken a walk with my wife – mainly because I was testing out my ankle after my fracture, but also because it was a pleasant way to pass an hour or two (with the benefit of finding somewhere nice to get a bite to eat).
I took this one because the tree looked like it had a frowning face. An Ent, perhaps?
All three pictures here were made during the part of the walk in Whitely woods on the way to and from Shepherds Wheel.
Close to the bottom of Whitely Woods. At the end of the path before you reach the houses there is a road. The path through Endcliffe Park continues the journey towards town.
Shepherd Wheel is a working museum in the Porter Valley in Sheffield. It’s one of the earliest surviving water-powered grinding workshops in the area. The earliest reference to the wheel is from the 14th century.
The wheel still powers a variety of machinery in the workshop where caraftspeople can be seen putting them to use. It’s fascinating to see the ingenuity of the design, with numerous pieces of machinery powered by a complex series of shafts, cogs, gears, and belts.
I had my Sure Shot Z135 on me when we ventured inside and while this is a capable point-and-shoot (with a flash), I wanted to try and get a picture in natural light. The actual machinery was probably going to be a step to far for the f/3.5 maximum aperture of the camera, but I was able to take this image of some old pots and pans in the light of a window. I’m quite pleased that it came out nice and sharp, and that the film has captured detail in both the highlights and shadows.
Today’s picture is one of those occasions where I looked at an everyday scene and thought, “there’s a photograph“. It was taken from the rooftop level of a multistorey car-park and when I glances over the side there was something about the arrangement of buildings that just looked right. Part of it was due to the light (although I remember having to stand and wait a few minutes for a cloud to pass in front of the sun before it looked just as I wanted it to). Part of it is the different geometric patterns and textures on each of the buildings. I also like the way the road briefly appears at bottom left before vanishing amongst the architecture. It’s also a somewhat empty picture, with no signs of human foot or road traffic to be seen.
This was the first photograph I took after breaking my ankle. It was shot just over two weeks after the accident during my first real trip beyond the house. We’d gone out to visit the Chinese supermarket to re-stock on instant noodles (which I’ve taken a fondness to over the last couple of months, and which the Chinese supermarket has a bewildering selction from which to choose) and so I took the Yashicamat with me on the chance that I might make a photograph or two. In the end I shot the whole roll during the hour or so we were out. I don’t think it’s the best roll I’ve ever shot but it was good to scratch the photographic itch.
The photo below was intended to be a picture of the building itself but, as I framed up the shot, the lady appeared in the doorway at just the right time.
Strange times are upon us. Queen Elizabeth II, monarch of the United Kingdom for the last seven decades, passed away yesterday afternoon. It’s a truly historic moment, I think. Not only has she been our longest serving monarch but, because of the length of her reign, she has been a fixture in the lives of so many people for their entire existence, her face on our coins, banknotes, stamps and countless souvenirs and items of popular culture. The Queen’s Speech has been a Christmas Day fixture on the television (and before it, the radio) for what seems forever. Yes, there will be those who remember the years before she became queen, but I expect that for the majority she has always been queen.
I’m not a monarchist particularly, but I’m not a hardcore republican either. I’ve generally avoided any sort of fascination or fixation on the lives of The Queen and other members of the royal family except where it became unavoidable, whether due to scandal, tragedy, royal occasions such as births and weddings, jubilee’s and, of course, deaths. Nontheless, despite my relative uninterest, her death has still left me with a feeling of sadness. I think it’s the way it demonstrates the passing of time, that nothing lasts forever, and – despite the monumentous impact of this occasion – that as the years pass, so even this will become just another section in the history books. It reminds me of my own mortality, the loss of my own loved ones, and the fact that one day I will no longer be here either.
It’s something that happens whenever someone who has had an impact on my life passes away – musicians, authors and actors are probably the obvious examples – a sad knowlege that they are gone and that they won’t be making or doing any of those things you like any more. All you’ll have is what is already there and the memories you made. In those cases though, outside of fan circles, the news tends to die down and – for those who didn’t share a connection – may go unnoticed altogether. There is little chance of escaping the death of The Queen though. All the main TV channels and radio stations are broadcasting almost nothing but the ongoing news of the situation. Radio has become sombre in it’s choice of music. Even the commercial and smaller channels are paying their respects is a variety of ways, with pictures and messages of condolence in abundance. Even outside there are signs and reminders. Electronic billboards – the sort that normally advertise movies, or McDonalds burgers – are now all showing a picture of The Queen. I passed four in close succession today. As each passed, so another would appear in the distance.
And now Queen Elizabeth II is no more, we have a king again in the shape of Charles III. It will be interesting to see how this next era of our history unfolds, although, as before, I will likely view it from a distance and, given current events, it may well be overshadowed by greater concerns. What is certain however, is that he will not reign for anything like as long as his mother did.
I searched through my archive for a relevant picture, but all I could find was the photo below featuring a bobblehead Queen (and Mr Bean).
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Ilford HP5+.
I was wondering what picture to post today, especially as I’ve almost exhausted my current supply of fresh pictures (the ones that are scanned that is – I have a couple of rolls waiting to undergo their analogue to digital transformation, plus three rolls waiting to be developed AND another couple of rolls in cameras with just a handful of frames remaining to be shot).
So, I picked out the two below which have some thematic connection at least.
I’m not sure of the reason – although the humid weather might be a cause – but I’m feeling particularly stressed-out today, a feeling that has increased during the afternoon. Despite this, I did manage to develop a roll of film during my lunchbreak, and also started scanning som 120 Kodak Gold negatives when I finished work (although that process was not going smoothly, so I packed it in before my stress levels increased further).
I’ve not much to say about today’s picture other than this large fibreglass sheep was stood outside a shop I passed when on a day out with my wife last month. It was striking enough to make a picture.
I guess that this is a similar picture to the one I posted yesterday. This one is overexposed though. It’s overexposed because I mistakenly set the 35 RC to an f/2.8 aperture instead of the A (for auto) setting that would allow it to meter correctly in it’s standard shutter-priority mode. As a result this picture (and a couple of others) got far too much light. The other couple I’ve discarded in terms of posting them anywhere but I still quite liked this shot so I did what I could to recover it.
The photo also appeared in Flickr’s Explore section today, which I was a little surprised by. I get pictures selected for Explore on a reasonably regular basis (probably one a month or so) but they are rarely the photos that I think are my best. In fact, they’re often the ones I like the least. I have no idea how Explore selects it’s photos.
Whenever I get a photo in Explore I always get lots of comments from people congratulating me on the achievement. I’m grateful if people like my photos, but these people rarely seem to then venture into my feed to look at the other (arguably better) pictures. It’s almost as though anything not in Explore is somehow sub-par and not worth bothering with.
I don’t tend to look at Explore very often – usually it’s only when one of my pictures is featured and I’m feeling nosey as to how far down the selction it appears. There are a lot of very nice photos featured, but there are also a lot of obvious pictures too, as well as some bizarre choices from time to time. However, if I do find one I really like then I will go and look at the feed of the photographer as sometimes this introduces me to new bodies of work I really enjoy.
I had an appointment this afternoon and didn’t get home until recently, so just a quick post today with a photo of a Tetris-like building in Manchester.
Steel City Snapper photography 