Giving the Holga some light

July 1, 2025 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

My Holga has sat unused (but not unloved) for quite some time. I almost always like the lo-fi results that it produces, so I really should shoot it more often, but I guess having a bunch of different cameras means that some of them have to wait awhile to get their time in the sun (or overcast).

Fellow blogger Dave Whenham posts Holga pictures on a fairly regular basis, and it’s from reading his posts that the urge to Holga took hold.

Here are the results from a roll of Fomapan 400 I shot back in March. Apart from one picture that I wasn’t happy with, it’s the full roll. I don’t think this represents my most successful outing with the Holga, and there’s some element of shooting stuff because it was there rather than being more careful in my choice of compositions, but there are a few that I really like, such as the Thai Boxing gym, the underpass, and the church.

I’m also very pleased with the results of the semi-stand development. I sometimes find that Fomapan 400 needs more light (something you can’t particularly control with the Holga), but the Rodinal has pulled out a full range of tones from every image. I’ll certainly semi-stand Foma 400 again in the future.

Holga 120N & Fomapan 400. Rodinal 1+100. 1 hour semi-stand development.

Taken on 28 March 2025

Digital · Photography

Uncovering a hidden river

May 10, 2025 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

Sheffield has several rivers. The main river is the Don, but there are a number of smaller rivers that join it along it’s course, including the Loxley, the Rivelin, the Porter, and the Sheaf. The latter is where Sheffield derives it’s name: Sheaf Field.

For much of it’s length through the city centre, the Sheaf is subteranean, flowing through a series of man-made culverts and tunnels. One of these, named the Megatron, sometimes has guided tours!

The section of the Sheaf just above where it joins the Don is being uncovered as part of a new park on the site of the old castle site, and it can be seen in the photograph today beneath the ladder-like series of supports in the lower part of the image. The area to the left of the picture will form the park when the work is complete, and the river will act as a border and feature of the landscape.

Ricoh GRIII

Taken on 10 May 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A four-day week and other musings

May 5, 2025 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

The end of the three-day May Day bank holiday weekend is drawing to a close and I’ll be back at work again tomorrow. A number of businesses in the UK have trialed four-day working weeks recently, in most cases very successfully, but I don’t think my employer has any inclination to offer the same. Perhaps in time, as more places start to provide employees with these types of flexible working options, it will happen, but I’ll probably be on brink of retirement by the time it does.

A four-day week certainly sounds appealing though, even if it means working longer hours on the days I work. I could do a lot with an extra day, and it would expand the time I have for leisure, certainly. It would be like having a bank holiday every week!

I went out for a walk with a camera on Saturday, but nothing particularly focused – I needed some more DD-X developer, so went for a lengthy walk around town, snapping anything that caught my eye, although I only shot ten or eleven frames. I got my DD-X though, plus three rolls of 120 black and white film (I still have a huge stash of film to shoot but very little medium format B&W left, which is something I use quite often, so I got a few rolls to tide me over).

No photography related stuff today (unless I include uploading some new pictures to Flickr and posting here), but I went to see Thunderbolts* with my wife, which was good fun. Back to the 9-to-5 tomorrow.

And here’s a random picture of a building…

Nikon F80 & Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD. Ilford HP5+ (@800), Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°

Taken on 22 February 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Wharf buildings

April 11, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The canal basin at Victoria Quays is another place I’ve photographed on multiple occasions. This is because 1) There are many interesting subjects to photograph, and 2) It’s right beside a car park with cheap rates that I often use if I’m exploring this part of town.

There are probably other pictures of these buildings on my blog already, but these are two new(ish) ones, which turned out nicely.

Yashica Mat 124G & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 for 8 minutes @ 20°

Taken on 2 February 2025

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Remembrance

February 22, 2025 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

In a perfect demonstration of the finger-on-the-pulse, timely nature of my blog, today’s pictures are of last year’s Remembrance event at Barker’s Pool in Sheffield which I photographed while I was in town on the 10th November. It was very busy and not really possible to get a good viewpoint amongst the crowds, but I particularly like the picture of the poppy seller, and the Kodak Ultramax has produced some nicely vibrant colours.

Something good that happened today…

I had planned to drive to Lincoln today but a poor night’s sleep meant I didn’t get up in time. Instead I drove into Sheffield city centre and then took a long hike up towards the Woodseats area before dropping down to Abbeydale Road and back into town again, where I wandered around further.

My plan was to try and finish off the remaining frames from the roll of Ilford HP5+ that I started shooting last weekend, but also (if possible) to finish the Kodak Gold that was loaded in the Kodak H35N half-frame camera that I received at Christmas from my generous Secret Santa. In the end, I achieved both goals and now have the HP5+ to develop, while the Gold has been posted off (along with a previously exposed roll of Lomo CN400) for processing at a lab. I’m not sure if there are any prize winners from the H35N as it was the first roll I’ve shot with it, so it was a bit of a test, but fingers crossed.

The walk was a good one and I recorded over 13,000 steps, so I treated myself to a latte and a (rather large) cinnamon bun in a cafe. I felt I’d earned the treat so it was very pleasant to take the weight off my feet for a while and enjoy the coffee and bun.

Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 10 November 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Around Park Hill flats

February 11, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A quartet of pictures I shot one morning on my way into the office.

Park Hill Flats are a notable (and some might say, notorious) landmark in Sheffield, being one of the major landmarks visible when entering the city by rail or by road down the main arterial route from the motorway.

When originally constructed in the late 1950s, / early 1960s they replaced older back-to-back tenement housing and gave the residents the luxury of their own private bathrooms and heating. Due to the construction on a hillside it was possible to reach every floor apart from the highest from somewhere at ground level and the wide frontages to the flats were wide enough for electric milk-floats to be driven, and the name “streets in the sky” was coined.

Over time, a mixture of poor maintenance, and rising antisocial behaviour and crime blighted the development. Over time it became more difficult to house tenants on the site. In recent decades, a part-privatisation of the development has taken place, with the blocks being gradually refurbished and improved into a mixture of upmarket housing, social housing, and business units, and there are now much improved facilities on the site.

Whatever your thoughts on the brutalist architectural design, the place is certainly striking, and for a photographer provides ample opportunities for interesting pictures to be made.

Something good that happened today…

I heard today that one of the people in our team impacted by the recent redundancies has secured himself a new role, so I’m very happy for him. He’s a great young man with a lot of promise and deserves every opportunity.

Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 @ 20° 9mins.

Taken on 25 October 2024

Digital · Photography

Inconvenient

February 8, 2025February 8, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

The archway in the picture shared today was the entrance to the ladies public conveniences that formed part of Sheffield Town Hall. In less conscientious times, when the needs of disabled people were perhaps not considered in the same way they are now, access to the toilets was down a flight of steps. While it’s possible that I might have passed through the arch when I was a small boy and needed a toilet escort from my mum, most of my recollections are of standing at the top of the steps waiting for her (or sometimes my nan, and later my wife) to come back out.

A similar set of toilets exists for males around the other side of the building on Surrey Street. While the Gent’s didn’t have the fancy arch of the Ladies’ conveniences, if did had two separate entrances / exits, both with the same sets of disabled-unfriendly steps.

Both sets of conveniences closed for public use many years ago, so are now inconvenient for that use. While the Ladies’ are, as far as I know, completely unused, the Gent’s has been converted to an underground bar. I expect they have a customer toilet.

Something good that happened today…

I’ve spend the day with a mixture of lounging around watching TV (this morning) and then helping clean the house and then visit my dad (this afternoon). As one of my sons has gone out for his leaving do from his previous job, we got a takeaway for his twin brother (and me), and the large kebab that I chose is currently filling my belly as I type this. I’ll take that as today’s good thing, although the other stuff (maybe excepting the cleaning) was good too.

Ricoh GR III

Taken on 20 June 2024

Uncategorized

On a corner

December 5, 2024 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

My son had a job interview this morning, which was good. I offered to drive him there as it would be at rush-hour and I thought it would allow him to prepare during the journey rather than being focused on driving. The traffic was quite heavy, but we got there with plenty of time to spare.

He was in the interview for over an hour, including a walk round the place of business, which felt like a good sign to me. Now it’s a case of waiting to see if he was successful and also if it’s a role for him. He’s hoping to apply for another vacancy that he’s been told about, so hopefully he will have a choice of options. My fingers are crossed for him.

As for today’s picture, there was something that caught my eye about this scene. The colour of the building. The interesting exhibition poster. The windows and signage on the building. And in the background, the street art.

Ricoh GR III

Taken on 16 August 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Feeling a little down

November 16, 2024November 16, 2024 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

Following yesterday’s bad news, I’m feeling a bit low at present. Doing all you can to ensure your kids (no matter their age) are happy is a massive responsibility and driving force of being a parent, so until the current situation around my son’s future job situation is resolved I expect that I’ll likely be unhappy to some degree.

At present, there is a lot of things that are unknown, especially because it is the weekend, and I really don’t like uncertainty. Once a plan is in place to get things back on track – and most importantly of all, my son is happy – I think I’ll start to feel better. Although I’m somewhat shell-shocked about it all, I’m positive for his future and will continue to reassure him that everything will turn out ok, because I’m certain it will.

I’ll still hopefully post here each day, but there may be pictures only more often than not. As much as I love photography, it’s importance to me is as nothing compared to the welfare of my children, and it feels difficult to give it much attention right now.

In an attempt to publish something bright and cheerful, here’s a colourful red classic Cadillac.

Fujica GW690 & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 August 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Not the best end to the week

November 15, 2024 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

I decided to go into the office today, rather than working from home as I usually do. This afternoon I received a phone-call from my son asking if I was at home as he’d left work early and not taken his key. After explaining that I was out but that his mum was at the local shops, I asked him why he was home early, to which he said he’d tell me later.

A short while after, my wife called me. It turns out that he’s been told that he will not be kept on when his apprenticeship ends next month. He’s been there for over two years and done good work, making friends and getting on well with his colleagues, and achieving a Distinction pass for his apprenticeship course work. There was no indication that his contract would not be made permanent. Apparently the business has decided that they want someone with a higher level of experience to fill the role.

He’s obviously pretty upset about this. Not only does he now have to start looking for a new job, he’s also sad that he will be leaving the friends he has made. While there is some possibility of him finding another role at the same company, I’m not sure if this will happen or not, or if any vacancies there will suit his skills or be what he wants to do. I feel aggrieved and angry that someone has upset him in this way.

I feel absolutely heartbroken for him. I remember how happy he was when he first found out he’d been successful interviewing for the apprentice role. This was just after covid, and he was pretty anxious about things. He was also anxious when he first started in the role – unsure about what it would be like, or the people he would be working with – but he soon settled in and we were very pleased and happy for him that he had landed a good position. Now he will have to start the process again.

Of course, he now has two years of proper work experience under his belt, both in terms of the specialist area he’s been working in, and also his general on the job experience and skills building – something which is very valuable – so I do think he’ll be able to find another job without too much difficulty. He has also been promised help and support from his manager and colleagues (who are not responsible for the decision to not employ him in his current role). I just wish he didn’t have to go through the stress of this.

No matter how old or independent your kids are, you never stop being a parent. You just want to hug them and kiss them and make everything all right.

Apropos of nothing, a picture of a car.

Fujica GW690 & Lomography Color Negative 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 18 August 2024