Frosted maple leaf

November 17, 2022 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

A few years ago I bought myself a roll of Fuji Velvia 50 as a treat. At the time I think it cost me in the region of about £11 for the roll, which seemed expensive. Little did I know…

Anyway, moaning about the price of film aside, the reason I bought it was to try and photograph some autumn colour. Unfortunately, when that autumn came around I either didn’t have the time, or the conditions weren’t right, and so the season passed. I kept the fim in the fridge though, thinking it would keep until the following year. But I didn’t shoot it again. And then covid arrived and limited my ability to shoot it even further. In the subsequent time I actually picked up a few more rolls of Velvia 50, albeit expired, and I’ve shot a couple of of those (although, given its cost, it always feels like a “special occasion” sort of film), but none of it during autumn. This year though, I had my chance – I booked a week of work for the first week of November which, this time, would be unperturbed by pandemic related lockdowns.

I went out a couple of times during the week to do some photography – the first trip to Bakewell (images to come at a later date), and then, later in the week, a visit to Padley Gorge and its surrounding environs. It was there that I finally shot the full roll of Velvia 50. I’ll probably share most of the worthwhile results in a seperate autumal-themed post, but there are a few that I like enought to post individually, or in small sets, today’s picture included.

This was the first day of the season that I had encountered frost – I had to scrape the car windows before heading out and, although I didn’t set off too early, there was still a little frost left on the ground when I arrived (although it was quickly steaming away where the sun hit it). Just across the road from where I parked my car there were numerous fallen leaves right beside the footpath, all with a light frosting of ice, and the one shared here today grabbed my attention. I was very glad to have taken my Sigma macro lens, and used it for almost every shot on the roll, even the non-macro stuff. It’s a very nice lens and one I should make better use of.

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Fujichrome Velvia 50. Lab developed & home scanned.

Taken on 4 November 2022

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Signs of autumn

September 19, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I took a walk out this afternoon to drop off a parcel at a local shop that accepts Hermes packages. The day has been bright and sunny and, while there was a slight coolness to the breeze, it was still very mild and I had a bit of a sweat going by the time I got home (I do walk fast though – much to the complaint of my family who accuse me of taking them on forced marches when we go out!). There are now definite signs of autumn colour on the trees and small drifts of fallen leaves can already be seen here and there.

Autumn is my favourite season, but one than seems to pass by all to quickly. This year then, I’ve made myself a promise to go out to walk at least three times a week and to take in and savour the changes that occur. I hope that this will help me to enjoy it while it lasts and not just suddenly realise it’s Christmas and the last three months have disappeared in a blur!

Keeping to the autumnal theme, today’s photo is of an acorn I picked up while walking with my family a couple of weeks ago. It was a fairly fresh acorn – still green – and I dropped it into a planter on the back garden after making the picture. Maybe it will take root.

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Ilford HP5+ (@1600asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 13mins @ 20°

Taken on 30 August 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Leftover flowers

September 17, 2020 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

I’m still writing my camera review piece, honest! I’ve actually started it today and now have a few hundred words down on paper (well, a text file…). Finger’s crossed it’ll be here soon.

So in the meantime I’ll keep posting other stuff which, today, means a couple of photos of some flowers I bought my wife for our anniversary. When they were past their best and starting to wilt, I nabbed them before they got thrown out and took a few photos with my macro lens. As I didn’t want to mess around with a tripod and the rest of it, I pushed a roll of HP5+ to 1600asa so I could shoot handheld. While it’s not the first time I’ve pushed HP5+ a couple of stops, it is the first time I’ve developed the results myself. As usual, the Ilfotec DD-X has delivered results I’m more than happy with.

As they fade — I wasn’t sure about the left side of this one at first, but now I don’t mind it so much.

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Ilford HP5+ (@1600asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 13mins @ 20°

Taken on 30 August 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Snail and cane

July 1, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

On the patio behiand our house stand a number of planters containing various flowers and shrubs. We haven’t re-planted any of them this year and they’re in a slightly sorry state with weeds growing amongst the remnants of the original inhabitants.

One of the pots contains a lily which flowered recently but is now dying back down again. At some point the pot must have had a different occupant though as there’s also a cane sticking out of the soil that would have been used to train and support some other plant.

Halfway up this cane is a small snail shell. I suspect that the snail is no-more. The shell has been afixed there without moving for months now, so is probably glued to the cane by what remains of occupant. It’s now been immortalized in photographic form though.

I’m not honestly sure when I made this photo. Sometime in May is my best guess. When I go out-and-about to a location I can use Google Maps’ history to remind me of the date I visited a place, but shots made at home have little evidence to place them in time.

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Ilford XP2 Plus.

Taken sometime in May 2020 (I think)

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Farewell 6×9

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

My brief foray into ownership of a 6×9 camera came to an end today with the camera being posted back to the seller for a refund. Will I dip my toes back into the world of large medium format negatives again? At this point I don’t know – while the seller has been very good about my returning the camera, the experience has made me a little more cautious about buying another folding camera online for the time being. I’ll perhaps stick to what I have (for a while, at least).

Some more photos from my Easter back garden session today.

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Kodak Gold 200.

Taken on 11 April 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Further afield

May 17, 2020 fishyfisharcade6 Comments

Today was the first time in almost two months that I’ve driven out to do some photography. The lockdown rules here in the UK now allow travel for exercise or other lesisure activities (but with social distancing enforced – you can only go alone or with members of your household, and you still need to remain 2 metres apart from other people you encounter wherever possible).

Despite so many places now being potential destinations, the location I chose is only a few miles from home. If I didn’t mind a long hike, it’s actually within walking distance in fact. Nonetheless, being able to drive there and then enjoy a walk was a definite pleasure.

I set off quite early, and parked the car at eight am, and the entire walk took me around two hours. During this time I encountered one other walker, two dog walkers, one jogger, and a couple of farmers shooting pigeons. Social distancing was easily maintained, and there were far fewer people around than if I’d visited the footpaths closer to home.

I also saw a deer, which was nice.

I took a couple of cameras with me. Firstly, the recently acquired Zeiss 6×9 folder that I shot the other day but which I believed to be faulty. I wanted to shoot another roll to confirm that this was the case before requesting a refund. Secondly, my Yashica Mat, which has just come back from being serviced, and so I wanted to give it an outing.

I’ve not developed the Yashica pictures yet, but I’m hopeful that there will be some nice photographs amongst them. The roll from the Zeiss was developed when I got home and scanned a short while ago. I didn’t have any great expectations from the photos as I didn’t spend too much time composing them, expecting them to show the same issues as before. The scans confirmed my fears, with the pictures afflicted by the same out-of-focus problems on the left of the frames. I’ll perhaps post one or two of them if I upload them though.

It’s disappointing, as I’ve been thinking of picking up a 6×9 folding camera for some time and, given the superb quality of images from my 6×6 Zeiss folding camera, I had similar expectations. Sadly, it’s not to be this time.

I’m looking forward to seeing my Yashica Mat photos though!

Todays’s photos are another trio from my Easter weekend in the back garden. A couple of shots of a snail shell I found perched in some heather, and one of a bag of leaves I’d swept up earlier in the day. This latter photo is one that I fully expect most people to dislike – it is, after all, just a bag of rubbish – but there’s something about it that caused me to make the photo in the first place – I think it’s probably the warm colours of the dead leaves framed by the black plastic of the bag. I dunno though, I like it whatever it is. 🙂

Nikon F80, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 OS HSM & Kodak Gold 200.

Taken on 11 April 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Photos for a competition

February 17, 2020February 18, 2020 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

I’ve mentioned the monthly film photography competition I take part in before, if only briefly, and today’s post contains some shots I’ve taken for this months theme: “Mostly black“.

I think I’m going for the first one as my entry. Although it could maybe have used a touch of exposure compenstion, and it’s more white than black, I like it best and it still fits the theme perfectly.

I could also maybe have done with ducking down when taking the shots as each marble in the second and third shot features a vague selfie.