I’ve driven past this garage / petrol station loads of times and always think it will make a nice picture. I know that “gas stations” are a massive cliche in photography, but this one has a certain charm. It’s an old-fashioned looking place, with its window full of spares, and slightly dated-looking fuel pumps (although they could be the latest spec for all I know – I didn’t look at them closely, and my knowledge on such things is limited). And on this morning I got the chance to take a photograph.
I still think it deserves a better picture though, maybe on 6×9 medium format, or even on large format. It’s a case of choosing the right time when the light is nice and in the best position.
Olympus 35 RC on Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Well, after two-and-a-half-years, I’ve finally tested positive for covid-19. My wife too (although this will be her second time).
I’m not sure exactly where I picked it up, but the flight to Spain is probably a good bet, confined in an airplane for two-and-a-half hours, plus walking through two international airports would seem to increase the odds. That said, I might have just picked it up in the local shops. Who knows?
I first noticed the symptoms last Wednesday, a couple of days after we returned from our trip. Nothing severe, just a mild sensation at the back of my throat like there was something stuck there, maybe a bit of granola from my breakfast of something. I also had some achy muscles, but I was putting those down to all the hiking about I did in Malaga – especially a hike up a steep path to the castle – but they may well have been covid symptoms too.
By Thursday I was feeling worse and under the belief that I’d caught a summer cold. My muscles ached more and I was suffering from bouts of fever and chills although, again, nothing too severe. Friday and Saturday were similar, but paracetamol kept the worst of it at bay – a headache around the base of my skull being the most debilitating symptom. This morning my wife was feeling ill too and we pulled out some of the covid testing kits we still have at home. Almost instantly, both our tests showed two solid lines indicating infection.
I’m actually feeling quite a lot better today and haven’t needed any paracetamol, but I’m feeling somewhat pissed that my remaining annual leave – where I had quite a few things I’d hoped to do – has been blighted by illness and resulted in my doing little. It’s a public holiday tomorrow here in the UK and the weather currently looks nice so, if I don’t feel ill, I’m tempted to take a trip with my camera somewhere. It’ll be someplace outdoors and I’ll not be mixing with anyone, so it should be fine if I decide to go ahead.
It still makes me feel oddly guilty to be considering it though, even though there are pretty much zero restrictions regarding covid here in the UK anymore. Even people working in healthcare are allowed to go to work while infected in most circumstances, so a trip out somewhere by myself should be ok I guess.
Here are three more Sheffield Steam Rally pictures. 2023 was the first year the rally returned after three years away due to the pandemic.
Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE, & Kodak Ektar. Lab developed, home scanned, and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Another of the occasional posts featuring a single shot, which I’m posting today primarily because I wanted to keep the flow of posts going on the blog, but haven’t yet gotten around to sorting out the pictures from the roll of Ektar I shot yesterday.
So, here’s a random shot from a while back. It was taken in Manchester while I was attending a training course, and as I was early on this particular day, I decided to take a circuitous route to the building where the course was being held. During the walk I spotted this little scene. It was the bicycle chained to the parking meter that drew my eye, but as I composed the shot I noticed the mini parked further up the street and made sure I included it in the frame, and I think the double-yellow (or grey in this case) lines lead you up to it and then to the distant tower of the crown court building.
The two people add a dash of interest. It’s a shot that I think will age nicely as, although the parking meter and Mini are contemporary to now, they’ll look pleasantly old-fashioned a few decades hence.
The camera used to take the shot was my cheapo Olympus Superzoom 105 G loaded with Fomapan 100. It’s not the sharpest of cameras, but it’s a very handy size and shape to just throw in a coat pocket when I’m out and about and, although I’ve not used it since finishing the roll of Fomapan, I can see myself picking it up again in future for similar trips out. The main downside I found was that the flash is automatically triggered in low light unless you first disable it, and I got at least a couple of unexpected flash bursts that I wasn’t expecting.
Steel City Snapper photography 