Old slide film and new (old) cameras

May 9, 2021May 9, 2021 fishyfisharcade16 Comments

Last year I picked up several rolls of expired Kodak slide film – some Ektachrome EPP, Elite Chrome 100, and Elite Chrome 200. I shot a roll of the Ektachrome back in the autumn and was very happy with the results, some of which can be seen here. A couple of weeks back I shot one of the rolls of Elite Chrome 200 with similarly pleasant results. Whereas with the Ektachrome I had used my OM-2n, for this roll I decided to chance it in a point-and-shoot compact – my Canon Sure Shot Supreme. The camera generally does a good job of metering scenes and I wanted to see what slide film would look like shot through a consumer camera. On the whole, I think it did a great job. The images are a little softer than those from my OM-2n, but notby a large margin, and the film itsel gave pleasing result. I doubt the colours are strictly accurate, and I had the subdue a purple cast, but they are attractive nontheless – I don’t shoot expired film expecting it to give perfect colours anyway, my main wish being that it gives me something I like. I’ve added a couple of frames from the roll today and will upload more over the next week or so.

I acquired a couple of new (to me) cameras today. A lady had advertised an Olympus XA3 and Olympus Superzoom 160 on the local Trash Nothing group – where people can advertise items they are giving away free of charge. I spotted the ad first thing and expressed interest straight away. I received a reply later stating the someone else had got in first but that if that fell through then I could have them. I pretty much expected to have lost out on the deal but thn, this afternoon, received another message saying the other person had pulled out and I could have them. I’m looking forward to trying out the simple, and tiny, XA3 (which also has the flash unit), and if the Superzoom works ok, I might run another Travelling Superzoom project like I did in 2019 – this involved loading the camera with a roll of film and them taking a few shots. The camera would then be posted to another participant who would do the same. This would continue until the film was fully shot and we’d then share everyone’s photos amongst the group. The results from that first project can be seen here.

Two new cameras
Are waiting to be tested
Snap snap snap snap snap

Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2003).

Taken on 17 April 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

The last days of Beighton Station

April 1, 2021 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I detailed the events on the day the signal box at Beighton Station was demolished in this post here: The end of an era. At that point I’d not developed the roll of film that I shot when recording the event. So, today, here are the pictures from the weekend of the demolition, plus a photo made a week or so later showing how it now looks.

The last days of Beighton Station — On the day before the demolition took place, fencing was erected around the area and the road had been closed to all but foot traffic and bicycles.

The last days of Beighton Station-2 — There were a considerable number of contractors around, all in bright orange hi-vis clothing. Some from Network Rail, but also from a number of other companies involved in the work.

The last days of Beighton Station-4 — The following day, Sunday 15 March, the mesh fencing had been replaced by something more sturdy. As the work took several days to complete, these small cubicles were placed at either side of the tracks, presumably as shelter for overnight workers or security guards.

The last days of Beighton Station-5 — A truck delivers the large metal skip into which the remains of the signal box would be loaded.

The last days of Beighton Station-6 — Still intact, but only for a few seconds longer…

The last days of Beighton Station-7 — Spectators and workers gather to see the event unfold.

The last days of Beighton Station-8 — The demolition begins.

The last days of Beighton Station-9 — Some people moved down the side of the signal box to get a better view.

The last days of Beighton Station-10 — The roof has gone completely.

The last days of Beighton Station-12 — The claw does its work.

The last days of Beighton Station-13 — The upper section has almost gone now.

The last days of Beighton Station-14 — Still sheathed in plastic, the new warning signs await their work to begin.

The last days of Beighton Station-15 — The upper part of the signal box has now gone completely. Work continued to remove the brick lower section and remove the frame from the building, but I didn’t stay to photograph that.

The last days of Beighton Station-16 — And here’s how it looks now that work has been concluded. No signal box any more. There is apparently a radar-controlled system now in place to detect anyone on the crossing. The barriers cannot lower until it is clear.

Olympus OM-2N, G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 20 / 21 & 25 March 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Yorkshire Artspace Persistence Works and the Rutland Arms

March 4, 2021March 8, 2021 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Back in December, not long before Christmas, was the last time I visited the city centre. Less than a fortnight later the nation was placed back into lockdown and it became off-limits. The day in question was bright with sunshine and I spent an hour or two wandering around with my Texas Leica and the Sure Shot Supreme. The Supreme has been my “coat-pocket camera” for the past few months, going with me most places whereupon I would make the occasional picture when something caught my eye. Mostly, in these cases, I don’t really keep track of where and when I made each photo unless there’s something notable enough to get captured on my timeline. In this case, due to the Pandemic, a walk around town fell into that category. The roll of film in the camera was finally finished towards the end of last month (the Supreme has some Colorplus in there now).

The two images shown here are, respectively, the Yorkshire Artspace Persistence Works building, and the Rutland Arms pub. They sit opposite one another on the corner where Brown Street and Furnival Lane meet. I’ve never been inside either of them.

Hopefully I’ll get to see them (and the rest of the city centre) again before too long.

It’s easy to miss
The things you take for granted
When they’re out of reach

Canon Sure Shot Supreme & Fujifilm C200.

Taken on 20 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Takeaways and tattoos

January 17, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Takeaways, a cafe, a tattoo parlour, and an empty salon make up this row of shops about a mile from home. This is probably a bit of a record shot really, but it’s the sort of thing that will mature with age as the shops change hands and purpose and the cars become old fashioned. I enjoy looking at photos depicting places how they used to be, and perhaps in a decade or two, this one will fit that bill too.

Time moves. Places change
So dull contemporary
Becomes nostalgic

Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 29 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Stonefaced

January 2, 2021January 3, 2021 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

Christmas is over
The decorations are down
For another year

My haiku’s have made it to day two! I’m not sure exactly what topics I’ll cover with each – maybe an alignment with the rest of the day’s post but, more likely I suspect, as a kind of poetic journal refelecting something that has happened in my life or the world each day.

As you may guess from today’s, we took down our Christmas decorations this morning. This used to be a pretty depressing activity for me in the past as I would feel pretty down about the holiday period being officially over. In recent years though it seems to be affecting me less. I wonder if it’s because, as my children grow older, Christmas has changed. The magic of Father Christmas delivering presents is a thing of the past (at least until such a point as we become grandparents I suppose), and it doesn’t feel the same as when the boys were little. Plus, the way that time seems to fly by as a get older, it will be Christmas again in about five minutes …

Today’s photo is another made on the moors above Lady Canning’s Plantation next to a small cluster of rock outcrops known as The Ox Stones. I’m not sure where the name comes from, but there used to be an Inn known as Oxdale Lodge nearby, so perhaps livestock were grazed, or moved through the land by drovers?

From this angle, the stone has a face. A rock-face. 🙂

https://flic.kr/p/2kod5xD

Fujica GW690 & Fomapan 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 12mins @ 20°.

Taken on 23 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

What If?

December 29, 2020 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Today’s photos show the side of the Sheffield Hallam University building. The poem was added in 2007 as part of the “Off the Shelf” literary festival that took place. It was written by Andrew Motion, the British Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009.

The poem is partially obscured in both these shots due to the trees and the temporary buildings, but the full piece reads as follows:

What If?

O travellers from somewhere else to here
Rising from Sheffield Station and Sheaf Square
To wander through the labyrinths of air,

Pause now, and let the sight of this sheer cliff
Become a priming-place which lifts you off
To speculate
What if..?
What if..?
What if..?

Cloud shadows drag their hands across the white;
Rain prints the sudden darkness of its weight;
Sun falls and leaves the bleaching evidence of light.

Your thoughts are like this too: as fixed as words
Set down to decorate a blank facade
And yet, as words are too, all soon transferred

To greet and understand what lies ahead –
The city where your dreamling is re-paid,
The lives which wait unseen as yet, unread.

Andrew Motion

Fujica GW690 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 20 December 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Ringinglow Roundhouse

December 28, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Dating back to the late 18th century, this octagonal building functioned as a toll house and inn when originally constructed, sitting on the Sheffield to Ashby-de-la-Zouch turnpike at Ringinglow on the outskirts of Sheffield. It has also served as a general store and tea room in other times.

If you’re curious as to what the building looks like inside, there is still a listing online from the last time it was on the market here.

Fujica GW690 & Shanghai GP3. Ilfotec DD-X 1+9 10mins @ 24°.

Taken on 23 December 2020

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Three Tuns

December 11, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The Three Tuns pub in Sheffield. I was told by a friend that it is supposedly haunted, and a quick bit of Googling reveals reports on people being prodded by an invisible finger, and the sounds of an unseen crying woman in the cellar. If it says it on the internet then I guess it must be true, eh? 🙂

The shot was made with my £1-from-a-car-boot-sale Fuji DL-270 Zoom Super (which already had this roll of film loaded). I don’t think I’ll keep the camera – I have several other compacts already – but I’m very happy with a lot of photos from this roll. Not necessarily in terms of sharpness or anything, but in the way they look. I got some great colours in a lot of the pictures.

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

Taken on 1 November 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Beighton Signalbox (while it’s still here)

December 6, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This is the signal box at Beighton Station, not far from where I live. Although it’s named Beighton Station, no station has been present since the 1950s when passenger services ceased. There have been recent rumblings about building a new terminal suitable for tram-train services however.

The signal-box is currently scheduled for demolition in 2021, much to the displeasure of locals who see it as a landmark, and there are campaigns looking to try and save it.

More photos of the signal box can be found in my blog posts here, here, here, and here.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 50mm f/2.8 MC & Fujifilm Superia 100 (expired 2008).

Taken on 8 November 2020

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Out of the shadows

November 29, 2020 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This was just a grabbed shot made when I noticed the way the buildings at the top of the street were lit by the sunshine. I like how the buildings to either side cast the foreground into shadow, taking us out of the darkness and into the light. The car is nicely placed and is mirrored to an extent by the lone person across the road. And, while I didn’t notice it at the time of making the picture, I’m quite happy about the letting sign that says “Sun Casa”, which also feels like it fits.