Church Alley

October 29, 2020 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

This interesting little street caught my eye while I wandered around Bakewell a few weeks ago. I think it would make an interesting photograph under most conditions, but the contrast caused by the emerging sunlight definitely brought it to life. I think stepping back a little might have benefited the scene but IIRC I think I was backed up against a wall. As a result the end of the Church Alley sign has been truncated by two letters.

The Controlled Zone sign kinda contemporises the scene somewhat, but I’m not one for trying to create faux oldy-worldy scenes with my photographs, and having this sort of street furniture in the shot will date it and make it old-fashioned at some point anyway I guess. Similarly the television aerials – in this ever more online world, I wonder how long it will be before television transmitted over the airwaves disappears, leaving these antenae as relics of a bygone age?

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 18 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A door out of true

October 28, 2020 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

Today’s photo is a relatively straightforward composition made harder by the fact that the door is not perfectly aligned with the frame and stonework. As I lined up my camera to take the shot I was befuddled somewhat by the fact that, if I lined up the lintel of the door, then the door panels would be skewed. Line up the door and the masonry is now out of true. In the end I went for the door panels, but even there something looks awry.

I’m glad it’s like this.

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 18 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A smattering of Ektachrome

October 25, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

A bit of a mini image dump of Ektachrome images today, mostly because I’ll get onto something else from tomorrow.

There’s not really any theme to them other than they were all shot in Bakewell. I liked them enough to upload to Flickr, but I’m not sure any of them really elevate above average. Perhaps I should seek a job in the art promotion scene, eh? 🙂

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Cricket pavillion and lawn roller

October 24, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

A couple of photographs today depicting things emblematic of the game of cricket: a pavillion, and a lawn roller for keeping the ground in good condition, particularly the pitch, where the bowling and batting takes place. Both pictures were made in Bakewell, a picturesque market town in the Peak District.

I’d say more about cricket but it bores me to the back teeth (apologies to any cricket fans who might be reading!). I place the origin of this lack of interest at my dad’s feet – he loves cricket, and indeed pretty much any sport for that matter, and I was subjected to it endlessly on television as a young boy. Where this might had nurtured a lifelong love of sport in some, for me it did the complete opposite. That doesn’t mean I can occasionally appreciate it though. And make pictures.

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Finding light in a dark place

October 23, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The title of today’s post isn’t intended as a metaphor for the subject of the photograph, although I suppose it could be. It refers instead to the fact that I was in a cathedral with only a film camera containing 100asa slide film. While I had a nice, fast, f/1.8 lens attached, there were very few places within the building that gave enough light for even a slow exposure. This table of prayer candles was lit by a bright shaft of sunlight however and I took the chance at handholding the camera at 1/30sec. Somehow I managed to avod camera shake and ended up with a nice looking photograph.

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Another pillar box

October 22, 2020 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

A few weeks ago I posted a couple of photos of pillar boxes (or post boxes if you prefer) that I shot on some Fuji Velvia 100 and which exhibited vividly saturated reds. Today I have a photo of a different pillar box, this one dating from the reign of Queen Victoria – hence the VR insignia on the front. A quick bit of Google research points to this being a VR Penfold model.

Once again, the slide film has delivered vivid reds. While I’ve tweaked the contrast a little which might account for some of the rich colour, I’ve not touched the saturation of vibrancy controls at all. It looks pretty much like this on the original transparency too.

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Crucible & Covid-19

October 21, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

One of two theatres adjacent to one another in Sheffield city centre, the Crucible is the younger of the pair, dating from 1971 (the other, The Lyceum, dates back to the late 19th century). It’s probably most famous for being the host venue for the World Snooker Championship since 1977.

As I write this today, Sheffield (and the rest of South Yorkshire) has been put on notice that we will be moving to the Tier 3 “Very High” level for Covid-19 restrictions at the weekend. While, for the most part, these won’t make much of a difference to what I do (it’s nothing like as restrictive as the full lockdown we had earlier in the year), it does place a restriction on mixing with people outside your immediate family or support-bubble, so it’ll mean I can’t see my dad for the next few weeks (assuming it’s lifted by then).

It also means that I’m not supposed to travel from the Tier 3 area to areas at a lower level of alert. This is disappointing as I have a week’s leave coming up and had planned to make a visit or two to the Peak District National Park. While I can still access part of the park (some of it falls within Sheffield, and South Yorkshire’s borders), it’s a relatively limited area and doesn’t include the places I’d hoped to go to. As I would be travelling in a private vehicle and not interacting with anyone, I’m not sure that there’s a problem or that I would be risking any sort of trouble, but I guess I’ll see what happens before making a decision one way or the other. If not, there are plenty of other places within South Yorkshire that I can visit, and not just the bits within the Peak District. I have a project that I came up with the idea for over a year ago, so maybe I can make a start on making the pictures for that.

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A big metal fish at the railway station

October 20, 2020 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

This wonderful sculpture was sat outside Midland Station in Sheffield when I walked past a few weeks ago. The day was bright with autumn sunshine and the metal body of the fish caught the light nicely on its scales. The OM-2n metered the scene with aplomb, the Zuiko glass resolved sharp images, and the expired Ektachrome gave a gorgeous look (although I have removed a purple cast that was lurking in the shadows).

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

More expired slide film: Ektachrome 100 EPP

October 18, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Back in July I bought several rolls of expired slide film from someone on a forum I frequent. They consisted of Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP, and Kodak Elite Chrome in 100asa and 200asa variants. The seller was unsure of the age of the film and stated it had just been kept in a box in the house, so no refrigeration. Despite this, having had some results from expired E6 film that I’d been happy with, I went ahead and bought some.

About a month ago I shot one of the rolls of Ektachrome 100 EPP from the batch. I have no idea how old it is as it wasn’t boxed, just stored in it’s plastic container (with a Kodak label on the top). The Elite Chrome is boxed and (IIRC) expired around 2010, but I’ve not idea if the Ektachrome is similarly dated.

Anyway, I decided to shoot the first roll at box speed as a bit of a test – still aiming to make appealing photographs, but just shooting at easy to visit locations. This way I’d have an idea of how the film has stood the test of time and also whether I need to overexpose it or not on future rolls. The results are, on the whole, very nice. There was a bit of a purple / magenta cast to the results, but I’ve been able to remove that using Photoshop. In terms of exposure, I think it needs a little more light – the shadows are a little dark on some frames, especially some that were shot on an overcast day – so I think I’ll shoot the next roll at 80asa to see if that works better.

There’s something very special about E6 colour film though – the bright, vivid look of the colours isn’t something that tends to be matched by negative film. It’s just a pity it’s such a harsh mistress (and so expensive!)…

The three frames posted here today are just the ones I’ve uploaded to Flickr so far, so there will be a bunch more in the coming days.

Olympus OM-2n, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 / Zuiko Auto-T 135mm f/3.5 & Kodak Ektachrome 100 EPP (expired at some unknown date).

Taken on 17 September 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Down by the canal

October 17, 2020 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

A selection of photos taken around Victoria Quays and the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal. I thought I’d drop in a bunch of them all at once as I’m getting a bit of a backlog of photos – I’ve currently got two rolls waiting to be uploaded, plus another three rolls that haven’t even been scanned yet.