I’ve posted pictures of this location on plenty of previous occasions. Today seemed apt for another as the local branch of Papa’s, which closed almost a year ago, seemingly for good (another branch in Sheffield closed not long afterwards) has announced that it’s re-opening this week.
The local branch is next to a shopping mall, rather than on a pier beside the North Sea, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Tomorrow they have a special offer of takeaway fish and chips for £1 all day. I’m going to be enjoying the fruits of an Indian restaurant tomorrow evening, so no fish and chips for me, but my wife and sons might be able to take advantage of the offer.
Back at the end of June I spent the day in Blackpool for The Big Film Photowalk, a series of events around the country that had been organised by Analog Wonderland, the UK based film stockist. I posted about the events of the day here.
While the photowalk in Blackpool took place in Stanley Park, about a mile or so from the seafront, I parked near the town centre as my wife and her sister had accompanied me for the day and were planning on wandering round the shops while I went to take photos. As I was early for the photowalk, I took the chance to go and shoot some photos on a second camera I’d brought with me – my OM-10 – loaded with a roll of expired Fuji C200.
As I said in my other post, the weather on the day was not what I would have chosen. And while the photowalk had its share of drizzle and gloom, the beginning of the day along Blackpool’s seafront was worse, with bouts of full rain and a stiff breeze to contend with. I wasn’t confident of success, especially as I would usually prefer black and white for these conditions, not expired C41 film. Thankfully though, I was wrong, and I really like these colour pictures. They certainly capture the mood, and where there is colour in the scene, it really jumps out of the frame.
I managed to get pictures of the central and north piers, some (unused!) deckchairs, the sea defences, and obligatory shot of Blackpool tower, a shelter, a slightly pitiful looking crazy golf course, and some hardy metal detectorists on the beach.
Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Fujifilm C200 (expired 2012 and shot at 100asa) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
After yesterdays picture of Cleethorpes pier, here’s a picture showing what it looks like underneath.
This is one of the first photos I’ve ever spot metered handheld. I have a Reveni Labs spotmeter that I bought from someone second-hand. I’ve only used it at a basic level so far – looking for a Zone 3 area (dark, but with detail) to take a single reading and place it on middle-grey (Zone 5), and then underexposing a couple of stops from what it tells me (I don’t think I’ve explained that very well…).
It’s worked pretty well on the handful of shots I’ve used it for so far. I’ll likely continue to use an incident meter where possible, but it’s good to have the option to be more precise when I can’t get into the same light as the subject.
The upper part of this picture is pretty dark, but that’s what it was like (and there’s no way I could capture setail there without blowing out the brighter parts of the scene). My intent was to retain detail in the vertical struts, which I’ve managed to do.
It seems that every time I visit Cleethorpes, I photograph Papa’s fish and chip restaurant. Or, rather, I photograph the pier. Papa’s just happens to be the current tenant. It’s a photogenic scene though, so I’m not surprised that it draws my lens.
I think this is the third time I’ve featured the pier and chippy on the blog (here and here, although it might be in some other posts too , just not where I’ve mentioned it by name).
Another quick post today as I’ve spent several hours driving to pick up my wife and sister-in-law from the airport, so I’m just going to drop this picture of Blackpool North Pier in here.
Yashicamat 124G & JCH Street Pan 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Papa’s has been featured on the blog before, back in 2019. It’s one of those subjects that presents itself as a great photo opportunity, with lots of detail and interest, set against the backdrop of the beach and sea beyond. I had fish and chips the day I visited when making the previous post. I had fish and chips again on this occasion, but it was much colder this time around so instead of eating them on the pier, I walked back to my car parked a short distance away on the promenade and ate them while I sat and looked out at the incoming tide.
There is something comforting about eating in the car like this. It reminds me of when, as a child, we would sometimes drive to a place named Sandilands not far from Mablethorpe in my grandparent’s car. My grandma would always stay in the car, but grandad would come down on the beach with us (us being some variant of my sister, my cousins, and myself) where we would collect the big white pebbles that were scattered around, and which my grandad placed on the ground around the base of their caravan as decoration. When it got cold, we would go back to the car and eat snacks and watch as the sea came in.
Olympus OM-2N, Zuiko Auto-S 0mm f/1.8 & Ilford Delta 100. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 12mins @ 20°. / Olympus XA3 and Kodak Colorplus (expired 2012 and shot at 100asa)
Cleethorpes has a fairly long, straight run of beach with the pier stood maybe about halfway along its length. The pier, and the big wheel and helter-skelter that stand not too far away are prominent landmarks wherever you stand on the shore.
Being situated at the end of the Humber estuary, the beach at Cleethorpes is aluvial in texture, the sand being a dark muddy brown as it’s probably made up in a significant part by deposits from the estuary. The upper parts of the beach are sandy in a more traditional way and I wonder if this sand has not been artificially placed there for tourists. On the day I visited there was an excavator spreading sand around the upper part of the beach down past the pier. I have a photograph of that too, so I might post it on here at some point.
As I might not have full access to my PC to post for a few days while we’re having some decorating done, I’ve pre-written a few posts with older pictures that I haven’t posted before (I hope!). As I’m a little stuck for time to write them, they’ll each have this same boilerplate text. If I get back on my PC earlier than usual I’ll probably put the remaining ones back into the drafts folder for emergencies.
You’re not going to escape the crappy haiku’s though…
Although it looks cold It was very warm this day Ice creams in winter!
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF & Fomapan 400.
As I might not have full access to my PC to post for a few days while we’re having some decorating done, I’ve pre-written a few posts with older pictures that I haven’t posted before (I hope!). As I’m a little stuck for time to write them, they’ll each have this same boilerplate text. If I get back on my PC earlier than usual I’ll probably put the remaining ones back into the drafts folder for emergencies.
You’re not going to escape the crappy haiku’s though…
Hey crappy haiku Why assault my senses With your rubbish verse?
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF & Fomapan 400.
In business since 1966. this is apparently the largest fish & chip restaurant in the world and now resides in premises on Cleethorpes pier. The fish and chips were good. 🙂
Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF & Fomapan 400.
Steel City Snapper photography 