Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
I already posted a picture of this yacht when I was uploading “on location” during our holiday, but the photo below (and the other shots in this post) was taken earlier that day when my wife and I took a walk along the coastal path that led from our hotel to an area of restaurants, bars and shops.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken 28 May 2024.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken 28 May 2024.
The building in the centre of this photograph is the Franciscan monastery in Dubrovnik Old Town, or the entrance at least. The building at right of frame is part of the same structure and behind this is the pleasant open courtyard area accessible upon entry. To the right is the northern city wall, and the steps that can just be made out are where I accessed the wall a couple of days later.
I like the busyness of this photograph, with the bustling tourists in front of the monastery entrance. The Olympus Trip 35 has rendered the scene with impressive clarity, helped by the fine grain of the Fomapan 100 film. Click on the picture to see it in more detail.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken 28 May 2024.
I took both these photos after descending from Mount Srđ in the cable car. This is the wall that surrounds the Old Town area of Dubrovnik, in this case the western, inland side.
You can just make out the heads of some people walking the path atop the wall in the first picture, something I would do myself the following day.
Olympus Trip 35 & Fomapan 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken 28 May 2024.
The third of the large-format church photographs I shot a week ago. This is probably the worst of the three for two reasons.
Firstly, it’s not in proper focus for some reason. It probably looks fine at lower resolutions but once you zoom in, it becomes a bit soft – especially around the doorway with the two watering cans.
Secondly. because I’m out of practice at large format photography, I spent so much time getting things in focus (Ha! Right!) that I forgot to pay attention to the verticals. If I were shooting a smaller format then there would be little I could do about this, but with the camera movements available on my Chamonix, these can be corrected quite easily. But I forgot, so this one looks a bit wonky.
I might try and make another large format outing this weekend if the weather is good. Let’s see if I’ve learnt any lessons…
Amusingly, when I arrived at the church there were a couple of men already there who turned out to be a vicar and an organist. When I said I was there to take photographs they asked if I was the wedding photographer! It turned out that a wedding was due to take place that afternoon. While a few more guests turned up while I was there, I left before the happy couple arrived. 🙂
Chamonix 045n-1, Scneider-Kreuznach Super-Angulon 5.6/90 & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 10 August 2024
Another of my recent large format church photos. The figure in the distance is not some sot of spooky monk’s ghost, but a scarecrow – one of many that were placed around this village on the day I visited as part of a scarecrow-trail.
Chamonix 045n-1, Scneider-Kreuznach Super-Angulon 5.6/90 & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 10 August 2024
Churches seem to be my most photographed subject when it comes to 4×5 large format. They don’t make up a majority, but no other subject type has featured as much (although bridges are not too far behind). As there are a lot of churches here in the UK, and as you don’t have to travel very far to find an interesting example, they make quite an obvious choice of subject matter.
This is my second photograph of this church, St. Peter’s in the small village of Letwell. The other shot was taken with the Fujica GW690 a couple of weeks earlier, but I haven’t uploaded that one yet. It will likely appear on the blog at some point though.
Chamonix 045n-1, Scneider-Kreuznach Super-Angulon 5.6/90 & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 10 August 2024
It’s been some time since I shot any large format photographs. This is mostly down to a lack of time rather than desire – each shot takes so much time to set up, that an outing with the Chamonix rarely returns more than four images. On the date I took the picture below, the number was one!
I had intended to take more but, due to the aforementioned complexity of setting up a shot, by the time I’d taken this one a large cloud had passed in front of the sun, blocking the light. It also brought a drifting veil of rain that I hoped might pass by without affecting the location I was at, but my luck was out and I was soon hurriedly packing everything away as the shower arrived.
The shot below is certainly not the best I’ve taken, and it’s not the first time I’ve photographed this particular scene (see here for a less leafy variant). That said, at least everything is in focus!
It is great to see the sheer level of detail that large format film can capture, though. Click through to the full-size version on Flickr.
Chamonix 045n-1, Fujinon NW 135mm f/5.6 & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°
Taken on 7 July 2024
It’s that time of year when I flood the blog with lots of pictures of traction engines and other vintage vehicles. This year I visited the Sheffield Steam Rally, as usual, but also visited the Haxey Feast, which is a new (and at present, smaller event, so I have quite a few pictures to share.
I might drop them in batches, like this roll of Tri-X, or maybe some as individual frames. We’ll see how it goes.
Fujica GW690 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 30 June 2024
I’ll be posting pictures without commentary while my mental batteries take a break and hopefully recharge. Please feel free to use your imagination to fill in the blanks. 🙂
Normal nonsense will resume shortly…
Nikon F80, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 11 May 2024
Steel City Snapper photography 