No Empanadas, No Life

March 3, 2025 fishyfisharcade5 Comments

So says Diego Maradona, apparently.

Something good that happened today…

It’s that time of year when I take a day off work and watch the Oscars. Because they are broadcast live in the early hours of the morning here in the UK (and as I pretty much always have a need to get up early the next day, even if I have the day off it seems), I resort to recording the show and then watching it the morning after. This requires a careful media blackout when I wake up to avoid spoilers, but I usually manage this successfully, and this year was no exception.

I didn’t start watching it until 9:30am and, because it’s such a long show, it didn’t finish until 1:30pm (taking into consideration my fast-forwarding through some of the breaks, but also pausing it to get drinks, snacks, and lunch).

Of all the main nominated films this year, I’ve only gotten around to seeing two of them – Dune Part 2, and The Substance – so will have to try and catch up on the others when they appear on one of the streaming services. Sadly I don’t get to the movies as much as I once did – before we had kids we’d regularly see two or three films in a week at the cinema – and don’t really get enough time to watch that many at home either (not without sacrificing other activities, at least). Maybe one day, when I’m retired, I’ll have enough time to do all the things I’d like to…

Olympus OM-10, E-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 20 December 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A tiring day

March 1, 2025 fishyfisharcade7 Comments

It’s been a good day today. Not only did I have the time to take an outing with my camera(s), the weather was also perfect too. This sort of alignment of the fates is a rarity!

I decided to take a day trip to Lincoln. Lincoln is a nice city to wander around with plenty to see and photograph, and it has the added bonus of only being about an hour’s drive away.

The weather forecast had given the impression of clear blue skies which, while better in many regards to flat grey skies, can also be a little uninteresting, but I was blessed with blue skies full of streaks of thin high-altitude cloud, meaning I got the benefit of the good light with the bonus of interesting textures.

I managed to shoot three-and-a-half rolls of film – two-and-a-half colour, and a roll of B&W.

Although it was a great day, there was one small hiccup – I forgot to change the ASA dial on my Olympus OM-10 and shot the entire roll of Agfa APX 100 at 400ASA. This normally wouldn’t be a problem as I’ve pushed film on many occasions before (even if this time it was accidental), but it seems there is very little data out there on pushing Agfa APX 100 beyond 200ASA.

It looks like I can develop it for 25 minutes(!) in Rodinal 1+50, but there are no times for Ilfotec DD-X. There are calculations that can be used to get a rough idea of how long to push films, but I prefer to use tried and tested methods – I think there will be some nice photos on the roll and I don’t want to ruin them with ham-fisted experimentation.

Other alternatives include stand or semi-stand development (but, again, it’s not something I’ve done before, and I’m a bit worried about maintaining the temperature to avoid bromide drag), and splashing out on a bottle of Ilford HC (or HC-110, or one of the other variants) – which also has a recipe for pushing the film two stops. Or rather for pushing Kentmere 100 by two stops (I believe they are the same film stock).

Anyway, I’ll be sure to let my reader know what I decide to do and how I fare. Wish me luck!

Olympus OM-10, E-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 22 December 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

El Caganer

February 27, 2025 fishyfisharcade2 Comments

My wife and I took a trip to Barcelona the weekend before Christmas. The main reason for the visit was to go see the festive markets, although this actually didn’t take up much of the three nights we were there.

The markets were nice enough, and importantly, different to those that we tend to get in the UK so there was some novelty in seeing different types of stalls. This being said, there was a lot of duplication in the stall types in the Barcelona Christmas Markets, with there being a lot of repetition of decorations, miniature nativity figurines and dioramas, and El Caganer figures.

The latter were something I’d not experienced before. El Caganer is roughly translated into English as “The Pooper” and is a peasant figure in traditional dress squatting down to poop (with a significant deposit made!). In Spanish Nativity scenes (which can be large dioramas depicting entire towns, rather than just the stable scene), the figure is positioned somewhere out of the way to be discovered (I expect it might be frowned upon to place him beside the manger…). While the original figure wears traditional garb, the tradition has also evolved to take account of the multitude of celebrities and mascots we have in modern times, and you can find pooping figures in the guise of almost anyone: pop stars, movie characters, videogame figures, royalty, politicians – including one stall which had a crapping Donald Trump complete with a bleeding ear from the assassination attempt! – and more. The range was certainly considerable and diverse!

You can browse a range of Caganer figurines at the official website even.

Today’s picture is of a Caganer stall at one of Barcelona’s Christmas Markets.

Something good that happened today…

I think I might rest this section of my daily blog. Not because it’s a bad idea – I fully intend to keep recognising the good things in my life – which is a good thing to do. But I’m considerate of the fact that sometimes they can maybe feel a little trivial to post about, so I think I’ll save these bits for when the “something good” is a bit more notable than my having eaten a nice pastie for lunch or something.

Olympus OM-10, E-Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 & Kodak Ultramax. Lab developed, home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 21 December 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Pigeons

February 12, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Well there’s the rule of odds out the window, eh?

Something good that happened today…

While browsing Reddit earlier I came across a post about an old British children’s programme called Spider. Spider wasn’t something I watched as a child – I predate it by quite some time – but my oldest son had an episode of it on a VHS tape back in the 90s which contained a compilation of single episodes from various children’s animated shows, and we watched this one together on numerous occasions. Seeing a single image of Spider on Reddit instantly brought back the song, lyrics and all, that featured in this episode, titled Spider in the Bath which I’d stored somewhere in my memory banks awaiting something to trigger it one day. Today was that day…

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

Taken on 25 October 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

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Table 6

February 10, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

A very short walk from the Impressions Gallery in Bradford is a cafe called The Cake’ole (“cake’ole” being slang for “mouth” – the hole where you insert cake 🙂 ). I ordered a sandwich and a coke, and was very happy with both the food and the service. Next time I visit the gallery I’ll almost certainly pay a visit to The Cake’ole again too. Maybe I’ll try one of the nice looking cakes next time. I took the picture below while awaiting my sandwich.

Something good that happened today…

Back at work after the weekend on a gray and rainy Monday (it’s February in the UK, so this is perhaps to be expected). But I had another day that felt productive and that always gives me a satisfied feeling when the working day is over.

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

Taken on 12 October 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

In Bradford

February 9, 2025 fishyfisharcade4 Comments

The photos shared today were taken when I visited the Impressions Gallery in Bradfordfor the photobook fair and the Cafe Royal exhibition.

I’ve only been to Bradford on a handful of occasions, and every visit has been for a specific purpose with little time to explore, but I think I will make some proper time to do so one day as there is a lot of interesting stuff to be seen.

Something good that happened today…

I went out for Sunday Dinner with my wife and had a very nice steak and ale pie served with chunky chips and proper mushy peas. All washed down with a pint of cider.

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

Taken on 12 October 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lounging

February 7, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Outside Leeds Art Gallery there are a number of brightly coloured “loungers” for people to sit and, well, lounge upon. I took a couple of pictures, but the first is the best because the couple on the red lounger make a nice counterpoint to the Henry Moore “Reclining Woman” sculpture on the plinth above.

Something good that happened today…

It’s Friday, which is almost always good, so I’ll go with that today.

Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 October 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Around the courthouse

February 6, 2025 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

These four photos were all taken around Leeds Combined Courts Centre. I found the brickwork and the architecture made for interesting photographs, and the nice weather didn’t hurt where the expired slide film was concerned, either.

Something good that happened today…

I’ve had a busy day at work, mostly taken up with meetings. Sometimes days like this can be frustrating because there’s insufficient time between calls to get on with the work I need to do. While that was still the case to an extent, all the calls I was on felt productive, and I came away from them feeling like something had been achieved, which is good.

Olympus OM-10 & G.Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 on Kodak Elite Chrome 200 (expired 2004) . Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 October 2024

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Man of brick

February 5, 2025 fishyfisharcade3 Comments

This sculpture was stood in a corner of the main entrance gallery in Leeds Art Gallery. It would be incredibly impressive in scale if those were full size bricks, but in reality the figure is not much larger than a normal person. It was a photogenic looking character though, regardless of size.

Something good that happened today…

The robin was on the garden this morning again while I sorted out the cat litter tray (always a delightful task…). Today it flew over an alighted on the wall a couple of feet from where I stood, before quickly shooting off to hide in the laurel bush. At this time I hadn’t yet put out any bird food (the current breakfast for them is a selection of sunflower hearts and toast crusts) and in my mind I imagined that this small display of bravery was a polite nudge for me to hurry up and put some food on the grass.