Tag: Viaduct

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

A touch of frost

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I had one of those situation where I had just a few shots remaining on a roll to be used. I generally prefer to finish an entire roll on the occasions where I’m taking lots of pictures, but sometimes it doesn’t happen, and I’m not the sort of person who likes to waste frames on subjects I don’t find interesting just for the convenience of using up the film.

So on this frosty morning I went out to shoot the four remaining frames (three of which can be seen below). The first two are at Ulley Reservoir, where the cold weather had formed a thin skein of ice on the water’s surface, and the third is at Penny Hill Wind Farm, which lies a mile or so up the hill.

Officially, these were my first shots of 2026, albeit not on a new roll of film.

Thin ice at Ulley reservoir
The other side of the reservoir
Two members of the Penny Hill windfarm

Nikon F80, Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD on Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 4 January 2026

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Closing in on the viaduct

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The railway viaduct that crosses Woodhouse Washlands is always a little disappointing, photographically speaking. The best vantage point is probably from atop the road viaduct, but there is no pedestrian access to that. From ground level, the railway viaduct becomes obscured by hawthorn trees and I think the shots included here below are from perhaps the best location, but still not ideal.

At this time of the year, bare trees allow a little more visibility that becomes lost when they’re full of foliage.

Railway lines and power lines
Under the arch

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

Taken on 11 February 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Bypass viaduct curve

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This viaduct is a familiar subject for my photographs (and this blog) it being only a mile or two from where I live, but it’s interesting enough for me to have taken a number of pictures at the location. I fully expect that I will take more, and that those will feature here on the blog also at some point.

I like the subtle curve of the roadway on this picture, plus I’m very happy that I didn’t behead that street light when composing the shot.

Incidentally, the location ///bypass.viaduct.curve is in the wilds of Siberia if you use the What Three Words app to look up the location that shares the three words of today’s post.

Beneath the bypass

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

Taken on 11 February 2024

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Beneath the viaduct

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I’ve spent this afternoon developing a roll of Ilford FP4+ that I shot last weekend, and also scanning a roll of Fujichrome Provia 100 that I also shot suring the same session (but which I had developed by my local lab as I don’t have the gear for developing E6). I’m pretty happy with the Provia scans, and they’ll start to appear on here after the weekend. The FP4+ negatives look nice too, although I can never truly tell until the scan appears before my eyes.

Today’s photo is another from the foggy morning’s walk a few weeks ago and was shot beneath the viaduct that featured on the blog a couple of days ago.

Beneath

Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (pushed to 1600asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 13mins @ 20°

Taken on 15 January 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Dimly seen viaduct

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Two quite similar photos today, both of the A57 viaduct where it crosses the River Rother and railway lines. There was thick fog on the morning they were shot and it just disappeared into the blankness. I’m not sure which of the two I prefer though. I like the composition of the first, which is quite clean and layered, but I like the interest of the foreground grasses in the second (although they’re maybe a little messy). Anyway, both here to see, whichever you prefer.

The viaduct
The viaduct

Yashicamat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (pushed to 1600asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 13mins @ 20°

Taken on 15 January 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Knaresborough viaduct

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The railway viaduct at Knaresborough carries the line to Harrogate across the deep valley containing the River Nidd. It opened in 1851 and cost £9,803 (which equates to around £1.4m today – a figure that seems nonetheless quite low. I wonder how much labour and other costs would otherwise inflate a modern day similar construction?). The viaduct had originally been intended to open three years earlier but it collapsed shortly before completion necessitating a complete re-build.

Across the river
Carrying passengers to
Harrogate and on

Knaresborough viaduct
Knaresborough viaduct
Knaresborough viaduct-2

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

Taken on 26 May 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

As wide as the Wicker Arches

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The Wicker Arches is a railway viaduct on the edge of Sheffield city centre. It was built in 1848 and the 41-arches span the Don Valley. Most of the arches are now blocked, with various businesses occupying the spaces, but the main arch across the Wicker, with decorative pedestrian arches to either side, remains a busy route into the city, and Effingham Road also passes beneath the viaduct further east. The arch beneath which the River Don passes now forms part of the Five Weirs Walk with the route taking the form of a suspended metal walkway named the Spider Bridge (it’s even decorated with large silver arachnids with illuminated eyes).

Passenger rail services across the viaduct ceased in 1970 when Sheffield Victoria Station, which was situated atop the viaduct, closed, and all rail traffic had stopped by the 1980s.

The phrase “as wide as the Wicker Arches” has been regularly used by people in Sheffield to denote someone who was a bit crafty or a smartarse.

When I was cheeky
“Wide as the Wicker Arches!”
Would come my mum’s cry

As wide as the Wicker Arches

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 9 May 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

A willow, a viaduct, and a train

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Two photos of the same scene today. The first was made while I ummed-and-ahhed about whether to use a wider lens, only for the train to appear, so that clearly needed to be photographed while the opportunity was there. The second picture was made a minute later with the 50mm switched for the 28mm. I like both shots a lot, but the one with the train pips it, I think.

Distant viaduct
Brick-built arches framed by a
Willow in the field

A willow and a passing train
Without the train

Olympus OM-2N, Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8 | G-Zuiko Auto-W 28mm f/3.5 + orange filter & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 25 March 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Velvia flyover

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Back when I got my GW690 it arrived with a roll of Velvia 50 already loaded with a single frame shot by the previous owner. Keen to try out my new camera I hurried out on the first opportunity and shot the remaining seven shots on the roll. They were all disappointing.

Velvia is a beautiful film, but you need to treat it properly. Rushing about on a slightly overcast winter day is not the best way to get quality results. It showed, and I wasn’t happy with what I had made. My next few rolls through the camera were black and white, I took greater care with what I was doing, and the camera started to show me what it was capable of.

The disappointing Velvia photos went in my negatives (or in this case, positives!) binder to be quietly forgotten.

Yesterday, because I’ve just bought some more expired Velvia (and Sensia) reversal film, I was looking through my older E6 images and came across the GW690 set. While I still think most of them are disappointing, one of them looked like it might have some potential, so I decided to see if I could breathe some life into it, and the result is presented here today.

It’s not the best photo, but it has a nice early winter morning feel about it and I like the light on the grass and the hazy sky. I’m not one-hundred percent sure about the yellow sunlight on the bridge supports, but it was catching a warm early morning glow so perhaps they’re not too far off the mark. Anyway, here it is for you to make up your own minds. Was it worth the effort do you think?

Don’t rush with slide film
Treat it with care or you’ll risk
Fujichrome failure

Morning light flyover

Fujica GW690 & Fujichrome Velvia 50.

Taken on 1 December 2020