Sorry, no time to say anything much today – been spending time dealing with a problem and have no time to write. Normal service (such as it is) will be resumed shortly.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
After yesterday’s photo of the gate with the “Keep Out” sign, here’s another gate which is unlikely to be keeping anyone out. Even in it’s supine state the undergrowth is still getting through, much less any man or beast who wants to pass through the gap it has left somewhere.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
A metal gate with handwritten “keep out” sign warns passers-by not to venture into this farmer’s field. Nothing to stop me photographing it from the roadside though.
I think, had I had my close-up lens with me at the time, a shot focusing just on the warning might have been more interesting. But I didn’t so this is what I got.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
This tyre was dumped in the verge of the road next to where I entered the field to take the photo I posted here yesterday. I spotted it as I entered the field and made a mental note that it might be worth making a picture on the way back to my car.
It was a little awkward to get a good angle on it without a lot of the road itself creeping into the shot, as you can see on the right of the frame (and I’ve cropped it a bit to remove even more). The best angle for a good composition would have been to stand on the road itself but the location is on a tricky bend on a slope and the risk of getting wiped out by an unsuspecting or inattentive driver wasn’t one that appealed, so I took the photo while standing on the verge instead.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
This abandoned farmhouse is an interesting subject to photograph, but you need to pick the right time of day, and I don’t think I did that here. At this time of year the sun is low in the sky and there is a wooded area beside the field where the structure stands (off to the right of the photo). As a result, the building had only limited direct light falling on it. Later in the afternoon when the sun will cast light directly onto the walled side of the building would be better, or even perhaps earlier in the day and photograph it form the other side.
I rarely have the luxury of picking what time I get to photograph such things unfortunately, and even then I’m at the mercy of the weather, so sometimes it’s a case of taking whatever I can get and making the most of it.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
A couple of people commented that this image looked like an overhead shot of rice paddies. It is an overhead shot, just taken from a couple of feet overhead, and it isn’t paddy fields, but a frozen puddle at the edge of a farm field. It’s odd how the brain interprets things sometimes, especially without the information that the photographer has regarding the actual subject matter.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
The spread of ivy on this tree gives it a strange, unbalanced, top-heavy appearance. It stands within easy eyesight of a road I travel sometimes and I’ve thought about photographing it on more than one occasion while driving past, but this was the first time I’ve done so.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
Almost four weeks ago I went out for a walk to get some fresh air and to try and clear myself of the cold I had (having read that light to moderate exercise could help). Being me I also took my Olympus Trip 35 with the intent of finishing the half-shot roll it held. The latter task was achieved. The cold-curing part didn’t work out so well and I had to take a couple of sick days, although I think that would still have been the case had I not gone for the walk. Even now I still have the cough and don’t expect to see tha back of it any time soon.
At least I got some photos, including the two shared here today. The first is the wooded area below the crags of Birchen edge, and I think this picture has turned out very nicely. The second was taken after I climbed atop the edge. On the edge of the rocks can be seen Nelson’s monument, a three metre high gritstone obelisk that was erected in 1810 to commemorate Admiral Nelson. The three large boulders to the right of the image are called the Three Ships, named after Nelson’s ships: Victory, Defiance and Royal Soverin, each of which has their name carved into one of the outcrops.
Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 2 January 2023.
This is one of those posts where I present my entry for whatever theme the monthly photo contest I take part in has selected. This month the theme is “Decay”.
I was starting to think that I might not get anything to enter – my output has been somewhat low over the past month or so – but on Friday, knowing I had a few frames remaining on this roll of Delta 400, I decided to get out the little mini-studio thing I have. It’s basically a collapsible lightbox into which you can put small objects to photograph them. It has a set of LED lights built in which provide plenty of illumination, plus a set of foam sheets in a variety of colours to use as backdrops.
It’s not very sturdy, but it didn’t cost very much either and I’ve found it to be useful within its limitations. It works better when I use a macro lens and a smaller subject as the edges of the backdrops can start to creep into the frame – as happened with this picture as the close-up lens I used on the Yashicamat doesn’t allow me to get too close and resulted in my cropping in to remove the “behind the magic” rubbish at the top, bottom, and sides.
It worked well enough for me to photograph this bunch of maple leaves that I picked up in the back garden.
Yashicamat 124G with close-up lens #1 & Ilford Delta 400 . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°
Taken on 20 January 2023.
Yesterday I posted about my encounter with what I thought was a wallaby. It actually turns out that it was a kangaroo!
After posting about it on social media, one of my friends alerted me to the fact that someone living not far from where I’d sighted the animal had reported their pet kangaroo missing. There were a whole series of photos of the creature spotted in various locations around the local area. The kangaroo is named Duncan.
Thankfully, by the end of the day he had been found and reunited with his owner, who I assume will now be re-visiting the security of Duncan’s enclosure.
As is becoming a bit of a habit, here are some photos that bear no relation to my story whatsoever…
Olympus Trip 35 & Ilford HP5+ . Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°
Taken on 2 January 2023.
Steel City Snapper photography 