Tag: Medium Format

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

What If?

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Today’s photos show the side of the Sheffield Hallam University building. The poem was added in 2007 as part of the “Off the Shelf” literary festival that took place. It was written by Andrew Motion, the British Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009.

Sheffield Hallam University

The poem is partially obscured in both these shots due to the trees and the temporary buildings, but the full piece reads as follows:

What If?

O travellers from somewhere else to here
Rising from Sheffield Station and Sheaf Square
To wander through the labyrinths of air,

Pause now, and let the sight of this sheer cliff
Become a priming-place which lifts you off
To speculate
What if..?
What if..?
What if..?

Cloud shadows drag their hands across the white;
Rain prints the sudden darkness of its weight;
Sun falls and leaves the bleaching evidence of light.

Your thoughts are like this too: as fixed as words
Set down to decorate a blank facade
And yet, as words are too, all soon transferred

To greet and understand what lies ahead –
The city where your dreamling is re-paid,
The lives which wait unseen as yet, unread.

Andrew Motion

Sheffield Hallam University

Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 20 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Ringinglow Roundhouse

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Dating back to the late 18th century, this octagonal building functioned as a toll house and inn when originally constructed, sitting on the Sheffield to Ashby-de-la-Zouch turnpike at Ringinglow on the outskirts of Sheffield. It has also served as a general store and tea room in other times.

If you’re curious as to what the building looks like inside, there is still a listing online from the last time it was on the market here.

Toll house

Fujica GW690 & Shanghai GP3. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 10mins @ 24°.

Taken on 23 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

In Lady Canning’s Plantation

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This is one of the underexposed frames of Shanghai GP3 that I mentioned a few days ago – the least underexposed of the three and it’s been recovered for the most part in post-processing. The other two shots were also made within the trees of the plantation, so I suspect it was caused by poor metering on my part. The next wrst exposed shot has also recovered enough that I might post it too, but it’s noticably more contrasty than this one. The worst of the bunch is mostly “soot and whitewash” unfortunately.

Somewhere in the plantation

Fujica GW690 & Shanghai GP3. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 10mins @ 24°.

Taken on 23 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Christmastime

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The small hamlet of West Handley have decorated their phonebox and streetlamp for Christmas as usual. Santa seems to be re-purposed for various tasks as required, having had the face of previous UK prime minister, Theresa May in protest of Brexit on one occasion, and as an anti-fracking protestor on another. There are a number of other Christmas trees and festive decorations along the road that runs past the small group of houses that make up the settlement, and I expect it looks quite nice in the evening, although relatively low key in comparison with some of the extravaganzas of illumination that I’ve seen esewhere.

I’m still getting to grips with the rangefinder patch of the GW690 and have missed focus on Santa in the second shot. More practice needed!

Christmastime
West Handley Santa

Fujica GW690 & Shanghai GP3. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 10mins @ 24°.

Taken on 23 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Wooden hut

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Another shot from the “getting to know you” phase with my GW690. There will be a few rolls of me getting used to the camera, I think. I developed another roll today – this one some Shanghai GP3 I shot yeterday and a few frames are quite underexposed. I think all but one can be rescued (based on my scans so far), but I’m not sure what went awry. I suspect my metering is to blame though as it was only on a few woodland shots where the exposure issues occured. I sometimes think I should bite the bullet on a proper spot meter to avoid these problems, but those things are not cheap! Anyway, some of the GP3 shots will be up here soon.

This shot from my first roll of B&W through the camera isn’t too bad I don’t think – it’s pretty contrasty, but the scene was a mixture of shadowed areas punctuated by bright highlights, so it’s to be expected.

Shed

Fujica GW690 & Ilford Delta 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 20 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Working my muscles with the Texas Leica

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I shot my first real roll through my recently acquired GW690 last week. When I say “real” roll, it’s actually the second one – the first was a roll of Velvia that the previous owner had left in the camera when they sold it. It had seven unused frames which, in my eagerness to try out the camera, and the somewhat temperemental relationship I have with that particular film, meant that I was mostly unhappy with the results. The compositions were not especially interesting, the exposures were not good – I blew the highlights significantly in most of the shots – and my scans were disappointing in their colour reproduction. As a result I’ve not uploaded a sigle frame from the roll.

For this second attempt I used something I knew I should have more success with – at least in the exposure and scanning apects, if not the composition of the images (although, in this, I hope I still managed to get something nice). The results are much better than the first set, although still not quite perfect and, given the relative expense of using the camera – just eight shots per roll! – I need to up my game, slow down, and pay full attention to what I’m doing. Also, at this satge, I still have that “exciting new camera” feeling, so I’m probably not doing the best I can. Most of the shots are nice though, but a couple are slightly soft due to camera shake (I think I maybe need to do some weight training before using this handheld 🙂 ), and a couple of slightly dull compositions.

The photo posted today is one of the frames I liked. The curve of the road is nice and the light is good. It also shows the very nice results that the lens on the GW690 can produce.

More to come soon…

The road through the ford

Fujica GW690 & Ilford Delta 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 20 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Starbucks on a foggy evening

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Continuing my nightime Cinestill 800T shots, here’s an image of a local Starbuck’s branch. The cafe was closing and the staff inside looked like they were performing whatever end of day admin tasks go on in such an establishment. One person is sat to the left of the entrance apparently looking at paperwork, while there’s the blur of another person doing jobs behind the counter.

It’s another photo where I felt somewhat awkward making it as there was a car parked close by with some people sat inside. They didn’t say anything or even show any sign of noticing me, but I had an internal sense of them wondering what on earth I was doing. Maybe I need to just get on with doing stuff and ignore what my internal psychology is wittering on about…

Coffee shop after closing

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Cinestill 800T. Grain2Pixel conversion.

Taken on 11 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Tail lights

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Today’s photo is another of those that I really like without really being able to say why – although I think it’s probably the swipe of the red tail-lights across the scene on a jaunty diagonal. The red contrasts nicely with the overall blue tint that the photo has.

Passing by

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Cinestill 800T. Grain2Pixel conversion.

Taken on 11 December 2020