Four photographs today that I made at Shireoaks railway station a few weeks ago. My wife popped into a nearby shop, so I decided to finish my roll of HP5+ at the nearby empty station.
It was a hot afternoon and the wrong time to be making photographs. The wrong time if you base everything you do on “rules” that is. It’s generally accepeted that midday is not the best time to make photos. This time of day, particularly in mid-summer, means the sun will be high overhead casting harsh illumination onto scenes. The light will be very bright, with harsh highlights and shadows. But is this always necessarily a bad thing?
It’s all very well seeking out golden hour, when the light can be undoubtedly beautiful, and I’m a great lover of low sunshine and the warm light and long shadows it provides, but sometimes it isn’t possible or desireable to catch these conditions. And what if you want a photograph to depict bright midday conditions?
While these photos are of a mundane scene – a small, modernised, rural railway station devoid of travellers – they record the time I was there perfectly. Maybe there will be better images to be had in different light or circumstances, but these provide a visual record of my memories of the time. and looking of them I can feel the heat of the platform, the smell of warm concrete, the whole sense of a hot day. I’m glad they were taken in the “wrong” light.
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+.
Taken on 12 July 2020
Steel City Snapper photography 
These are great shots. When shooting most black and white film stocks, I actually prefer shooting in harsh midday sun (T-MAX 400, P3200, and Delta 3200 excluded). I like the contrast and the blazing highlights on metallic surfaces; clouds tend to be much more interesting than earlier or later in the day too.
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Definitely agree about the contrast. Given my penchant for B&W it’s something that I actively embrace. 🙂
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