Former railway bridges in the snow

February 3, 2021February 5, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The penultimate image from the roll I put through the Holga in the snow. Taken at Rother Valley Country PArk, looking back towards two former railway bridges, remnants of the time when this was an area dedicated to coal mining. The foreground bridge is disused and, while you can get up on top of it without any restrictions, it just carries a track through the trees, the stonechippings on the ground a reminder that it once bore railway tracks.

The bridge in the background now carries the Trans Pennine Trail on the section heading south towards Chesterfield.

Many locos once
Carried coal across these spans
An industry lost

Holga & Ilford HP5+ (@800). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 14 January 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Winter sun and waterski structure

December 17, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The last frame from the roll of Colorplus that had been left in the DL-270 – literally so in two cases (I don’t think I’ll be posting any of the others AND it was the last frame on the roll, hence why it’s cropped to a slightly stunted ratio).

I tested the capability of the lens on the camera quite strongly by deliberately making a number of shots straight towards the sun, albeit trying to obscure its disk behind scenery – in this case the counterweight that helps balance the cable-pulled waterski structures. It passed all tests in this regard.

Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super & Kodak Colorplus. Grain2Pixel conversion.

Taken on 26 November 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Life ring

December 16, 2020December 16, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Dotter around the shore of the lakes at Rother Valley Country Park are these life ring holders. They all show environmental wear with cracked paint and algae growth. I expect that they are regularly checked to ensure that they’re fit for purpose, but they have a definite patina’d look about them now.

Although the lens on this compact camera doesn’t feel as sharp as some others I use, it still has a nice took to it. There’s a painterly feel to some of the images it’s made and I like the way it has rendered the waterski cafe on the opposite side of the lake, along with the caravan and (way back on the top of the hill) a white-sided building.

Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super & Kodak Colorplus. Grain2Pixel conversion.

Taken on 26 November 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Golden willow and white swan

December 15, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

Another photo from my “Whoah! Where the heck did those colours come from?!?!” series. I know I’ve mentioned it on more than one occasion already but, just, wow. The shots with this willow lit by the rising sun have got beautiful complementary tones – that classic, and perhaps over-used, orange and teal thing. I’ve not tinkered with the colours at all in these shots – it’s how they popped into being after converting the negatives with Grain2Pixel. Sometimes I can have to work at things with certain film stocks and Grain2Pixel, but these just landed perfectly.

I will confess to a bit of Photoshoppery to remove a trio of distracting ducks (or maybe they were gulls) bobbing about in the water behind the swan. I’m usually relucant to edit my photos in this way (apart from getting rid of bits of debris), but in this case I think it made the picture a lot better.

Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super & Kodak Colorplus. Grain2Pixel conversion.

Taken on 26 November 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Once more through the willow and into the sun

December 14, 2020 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

This is almost the same composition as the one I published last week here, albeit that being a medium format black and white image made with the Bronica. Again, the colours on this Colorplus shot are, I think, beautiful. While it might not have the detail of the medium format version, and I’m slightly miffed that I cut off the tree on the left (I should have kept all of it in frame, or omitted it altogether, but I think I was too busy concentrating on getting the sun behind the trunk of the willow to have noticed at the time), I think that this version is more impactful. The colour film has captured the lovely subtle tones in the clouds and the golden light on the grasses of the lake side.

Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super & Kodak Colorplus. Grain2Pixel conversion.

Taken on 26 November 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Through a willow and into the sun

December 9, 2020December 10, 2020 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

This willow stands at the lake’s edge at Rother Valley Country Park and I’ve photographed it on more than one occasion – there will be more photos of it to come soon, in fact!

It was a bright morning, with a hint of mist on the water and a touch of frost on the ground. I had a few frames left on the roll of HP5+ that I was pushing to 3200asa in my Bronica ETRSi, so I took a walk down to the lake before work.

The sun was low in the sky, peeking under a blanket of high cloud, and casting long shadows across the ground, so I decided to shoot into the light and use the branches of the willow to block the bulk of the glare. A small star of brilliance peeks between the branches.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Ilford HP5+ (@1600). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 20mins @ 20°.

Taken on 26 November 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Bedgreave Mill

December 8, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

A very quick post today as I have to go on a Zoom call in (checks watch…) 4 minutes! So, literally just a couple of sentences and a photo of Bedgreave Mill.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Ilford HP5+ (@1600). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 20mins @ 20°.

Taken on 22 November 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Fence in the lake

June 4, 2020 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

I’ve often wondered what the purpose is (if any) of this short section of fence that extends a few feet into the lake. There’s a gap on the shore (with the remains of a latch where a gate presumably once stood) so it serves no purpose in preventing passage. I guess it could be a holdover from before the lake was there (when it used to be a quarry) and was never removed when it was filled with water and the country park developed.

Whatever the case, it makes a nice subject for the occasional photograph.

Pentax P30T, Rikenon 50mm f/2 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°.

Taken on 2 May 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Old weathered bench

June 3, 2020 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

There are a number of these benches dotted aroung the edge of the lakes at Rother Valley Country park. I’m unsure as to when they were installed, but they certainly look like they’ve seen their share of the elements. The park is almost 40 years old now, but I’m not sure if the benches have been there all that time.

I’ve photographed them before on previous occasions. The shot below was originally posted on here back in 2017.

First picture: Pentax P30T, Rikenon 50mm f/2 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°.

Taken on 2 May 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lone figure

February 7, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I like the sense of scale in this photo. I’ve never really considered how tall these trees are before, but the figure in the distance gives some sense of their size. There is, to be fair, a little bit of perspective to take into play – the person in the shot is beyond the leftmost bit of the trees, but not by too far.