Steel City Snapper photography
35mm, medium format and large format film photography (with the odd bit of digital every now and then…)
Various pictures of Chinese dragons from the Chinese New Year celebrations in Sheffield city centre.
It’s a shame about the scratched roll of film, and the X-300 wasn’t the easiest to use on fast moving mythological beasts, but it was still good to be there and get a few photographs.
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 February 2026
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 February 2026
Shot in Sheffield’s Millennium Galleries on the day I visited the Taylor Wessing Portrait Exhibition.
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 February 2026
This was taken very quickly as I was in a bit of a hurry, so I didn’t take the time to read what each of these balls was about (although I would assume the slave trade in this case). I don’t think the woman in the background was a nun, but she very much looks like one given the shallow depth of field and the nature of her dress.
I like the photo a lot, but it’s marred (as was much of the roll) by bad scratches. I suspect these are my own fault as I think I might have used the bulk-loader incorrectly and forgotten to open the gate when winding it into the canister, dragging the emulsion across the light trap in the process. Hey, you live and learn, I guess…
Minolta X-300 & Minolta 50mm f/1.7 MD on Fomapan 400 (@320asa). Ilfotec DD-X 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 21 February 2026
Three photos taken in the area near the top of the funicular in Capri Town.
There were huge queues for the funicular so I suggested to my wife that we walk up instead. Surely it can’t be that far? I remember there being groups of exhausted looking people at regular points of the ascent in little areas that were akin to base-camps. How my wife laughed…
And then, because we didn’t want to miss out boat off the island, we ended up walking back down again later. At least we had gravity on our side for the descent…
Olympus OM-1 and G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 on Kodak Ektar. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 21 August 2018
This weekend marks the seventh Photo North festival, and the fifth of which I’ve attended. As usual it was a great mix of lectures, exhibits, and retailers.
Apologies that this is quite a short post – I’ve been out of the house for the entire day and don’t have it in me for a detailed recap, but suffice to say that if you get the chance to attend, then please do. It’s well worth the visit, and it’s on until Sunday, with a different selection of talks and speakers on each day.
https://www.photonorthfestival.co.uk/festival
Ricoh GRIII
Taken on 13 March 2026
My wife and I visited the Wakefield Rhubarb Festival today. It’s the first time we’ve been and it was an enjoyable few hours out.
Wakefield is one of the towns that delineate the area known as the Rhubarb Triangle*, famed for producing forced rhubarb, a method of growing the vegetable in dark sheds which encourages the plants to convert carbohydrates into glucose, forming stalks with a sweetly sour taste. Rhubarb has many uses, but is often served in sweet pies and crumbles,sometimes accompanied by other fruits. Wakefield Council holds the annual festival each February.
The event itself was somewhat akin to a Christmas market and I was surprised at how many stalls were present, along with various activities taking place, and local bars, cafe’s, and restaurants also laying on rhubarb themed food and drinks. We bought a number of items, including some orange and rhubarb marmalade (I’m on a bit of a marmalade voyage of discovery at present, having it with toast for breakfast several times a week), some rhubarb candles (which my wife will gift to a friend), a sausage and rhubarb focaccia (to be eaten tomorrow!), and some fresh stalks of rhubarb (some of which we ate with custard this evening).
As well as the stalls, there were a number of other events taking place during the event (which ran from Friday until today), including live music, arts and crafts, cooking demonstrations, various performers in rhubarb costumes, and no less than three different morris dancing groups (or sides, as I believe they are known) .
*the legal definition of the Rhubarb Triangle is apparently as follows…
“from Ackworth Moor Top north along the A628 to Featherstone and Pontefract. Then on to the A656 through Castleford. It then goes west along the A63 past Garforth and West Garforth. Head north passing Whitkirk, Manston and on towards the A6120 by Scholes. Follow the A6120 west, round to pass Farsley which then leads south west via the A647 onto the A6177. Pass Dudley Hill to pick up the M606 south. At junction 26 take the M62 south to junction 25 head east along A644 toward Dewsbury, passing Mirfield, to pick up the A638 towards Wakefield. At Wakefield take the A638 south to Ackworth Moor top.”[
Ricoh GRIII
Taken on 22 February 2026
The last of the pictures from Ciutadella that I’ll post (although I might put out some of the digital shots I took at some point).
I’m quite fond of this one because of the placement of the figures; the man reclining on the bench; the couple looking at directions; the mannequin in the shop window; and, most of all, the bewigged individual watching us from the doorway.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 October 2025
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 2 October 2025
One evening on our holiday we walked to the nearby lighthouse (pictures coming tomorrow!). It had rained heavily earlier and the sky was still full of impressive clouds. On the edge of this road lay a large scimitar, or crescent shaped puddle, and I grabbed a quick photo of this couple reflected in its surface.
Olympus 35 RC & Fuji Superia 100 (expired 2008). Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 29 September 2025
Steel City Snapper photography 