Giant micro-organisms and metal trees

January 3, 2024 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Just a couple of pictures of unusual stuff today. The first is a shot of a giant micro-organism – an e-coli bacteria to be specific – that was lurking within Sheffield’s Winter Gardens. This larger-than-life model is 90 feet long, apparently making it five million times larger than it’s actual size. At this scale you’d have no problem spotting if your food was contaminated, I guess, although I tremble at the thought of the chicken that it might have inhabited!

You can find more information about the sculpture here: https://www.lukejerram.com/e-coli/

The second picture is of another sculpture, a steel willow tree commemorating the victims of Covid-19 and the unsung workers of the pandemic. It was unveiled in March 2023 and stands in Balm Green Gardens, close to Barker’s Pool in Sheffield.

Olympus OM-1N, G-Zuiko AUTO-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford FP4+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 10mins.

Taken 21 October 2023.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Brilliance

September 14, 2023 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This metal sculpure names Brilliance resides on Birley Street in Blackpool and was installed as part of the town’s regeneration by light scheme. It takes the theme of “a continuous ribbon spiralling in and out of the ground” and is illuminated at night.

I didn’t see it after dark but it still made a striking enough subject for a photograph in the daylight hours.

Yashicamat 124G & JCH Street Pan 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°

Taken 1 July 2023.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

199 Steps

August 29, 2022August 30, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

One of the landmarks and visitor attractions in Whitby are the 199 Steps. These ascend from the charming pedestrian shopping streets of the east side of the town up to St. Marys Church and, a little further on, the ruins of Whitby Abbey.

The earliest record of the steps is from the 14th century, but they are believed to be older than this. Originally made of wood, the current stone steps were laid in 1774. It is said that they are a test of faith as climbing them to reach the church definitely takes some effort!

The steps are somewhat deceptive to climb as they are shallower than a stair you might find inside a home. This results in you making smaller movements of your legs than you might be used to which is odd and tiring. The spacing of the steps also makes taking two at a time more difficult than you would expect. There is a steep, sloping cobbled path beside the stairs which looks even more treacherous!

There are many photographs of this landmark to be found online – most of them better than mine here – but these were the pictures I got the chance to make on this visit.

The final shot below shows the view from the wetern side of the harbour with a sculpture of some fishwives in the foreground. You can just make out the steps in the upper right of the frame where they ascend up to the church.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Kodak Portra 800. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 29 July 2022.

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Bronze women

December 7, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This sculpture stands beside the City Hall in Sheffield City Centre. It’s named Women of Steel and commemorates the women who took up roles in the city’s steel works during the first and second world wars. I’ve photographed the statues on a number of occasions and they’ve featured in the blog at least once before (here).

My OCD brain at first showed alarm at the fact that I’ve both chopped off a bit of the closest woman’s arm, and also not gotten her in focus (I was shooting at quite a wide aperture), but my rational brain overrode the concerns because, frankly, it looks just fine.

Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 27 November 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Covid-19 protection

June 16, 2021 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Even the Women of Steel statues in Sheffield city centre are taking precautions. Well, one of them is at least. The one on the left is showing blatant disregard for social distancing guidelines while not wearing a mask. Perhaps the anti-vaxxer movement has even found a hold in the staue community…

Finding some humour
In a public health crisis
You have to laugh, eh?

Olympus XA3 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 May 2021

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

Figures in a gallery

April 14, 2020 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

Another sculpture in The Hepworth (and, yes, once again I didn’t make a note of it’s title or the artist’s name because I am an idiot…). I took two photographs of this scene, one with the figures in focus, and the one published here, with the sculpture sharp and the couple out of focus. I definitiely prefer this one – partially because of the effect, and also because the pose they’re in is much nicer in this shot.

I decided to take a walk before I began work today and got out for about half-an-hour. Although still lovely and sunny, the temperature has dipped considerably since Sunday and there was a distinct chill in the air. Although it wasn’t too early, the sun was still low enough to cast some beautiful light, especially on the local churchyard with is currently full of blossoming trees.

I had a Canon Sure Shot in my pocket, so took a few photos during my walk. The blossoms made me wish I had some colour slide film in the camera rather than the Delta 400 that I’d loaded.

Minolta SRT 101b, Rokkor 50mm f/1.7 & Ilford HP5+ (@800).

Taken on 14 March 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Some sort of thingumajig

April 6, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

It’ll be another short(er) post today I’m afraid. I had a long day at work and then decided to scan some more of my home-devved negatives. Now I’m tired and don’t want to type anything too lengthy. I did make a start on my home-developing blog-post this lunchtime though, so that will be posted sometime this week and (in terms of length, at least) will more than make up for this short post!

The UK COVID-19 daily death toll fell again for the third day in a row today. That’s obviously good news, but I’m somewhat wary of the figures. I think I’ll be much more relieved when it’s continued to fall for at least a week. While I’m hoping for the best, the things I’ve read from trustworthy sources all seem to indicate that we’re not yet at the peak of things and that it will be some time before the lock-down has a noticable impact on the figures. As I say though, I hope these sources are wrong.

Today’s phot is of a small sculpture in The Hepworth gallery. I neglected to make a note of the name of the piece of the artist who created it. For that I apologise.

Minolta SRT 101b, Rokkor 50mm f/1.7 & Ilford HP5+ (@800).

Taken on 14 March 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Distraction

April 4, 2020April 5, 2020 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

Despite the lock-down, today has been quite a full day so far.

After breakfast, I decided to take a walk – as I’m not at work today I decided on a longer outing so I could get a bit more of a workout (insomuch as brisk walking counts as “working out”). I chose a route that took me through the industrial estate before cutting back across to the Trans-Pennine Trail and then back home. As usual, I took a camera in case I saw any shots I could get while out. One of the things I photographed was a notice affixed to one of the businesses stating that visitors should ring the bell and wait to be admitted due to the coronavirus pandemic. I’ve been taking photographs of coronavirus related sights that I see when out and might post about them when I have a few developed, but want to capture them for a record of the times whatever the case.

Taking the photo today led to a car pulling up beside me and the two men inside asking what I was doing. They’d seen me taking the photo and I think they were suspicious that I might have been casing the building for nefarious purposes or something. When I explained why I’d taken the shot they seemed satisfied and drove off. The 1975 35mm film SLR I was using to take the photo was probably not an efficient tool for mischief even if I had been inclined that way. 🙂

When I got to the Trans-Pennine Trail it was busier with people jogging, cycling and walking dogs. Certainly not crowded in any sense of the term, and it was easy to keep a wide berth from others, but I think I’ll avoid it in future at weekends (unless I go out especially early). I took a few photos while walking and finished the roll in the camera, so tomorrow might be the day I have my first attempt at home developing. Eek!

Once back home, the rest of the morning was taken up by washing the cars and then giving the garden a once-over. The grass is now cut (and so begins another summer of regular mowing duties…), the weeds pulled, and some general tidying-up. There’s quite a lot of garden waste left over and, given the normal outlets for disposal are closed, I will probably have to burn it later in the garden incinerator.

The result of this is that I’ve mostly been distracted from whatever today’s news is regarding the pandemic. I’m happy to keep it that way if I’m honest. Plenty of time to catch up on that stuff later.

Today’s photo is of someone else apparently distracted…

Minolta SRT 101b, Rokkor 50mm f/1.7 & Ilford HP5+ (@800).

Taken on 14 March 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Slightly unnerving

January 14, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This huge hare-headed woman is at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (not far from a circle of beautifully crafted animal head sculptures – albeit them being on a much smaller scale). They’re impressive to see but, like some of the other sculpted figured dotted around the park, can be oddly unnerving.