Country store (no more)

The light falling on this shopfront – a combination of contrasty tones and shadows from the trees to the left of frame – attracted me to make the picture. It’s a shame that the shop is not trading, but I guess that’s the way the country is changing. Demographically, villages like this are altering, and combined with that a change in shopping habits and the introduction of online shopping, means that trading conditions have become much more difficult for such stores. Hopefully it will re-emerge in some new guise.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Broken gate and crumbling wall

Two individual frames of the same scene here today. Both shots are opportunistic – I sometimes like to just go out in the car and drive along roads I’ve never travelled in the hopes of spotting something I think will make a good photo. The gate and the crumbling drystone wall in the field behind it were one such random find.

Sometimes such trips can reap dividends, sometimes they turn up dry or (potentially more disappointing) great shots but with nowhere to pull over and take the shot. But even the latter case still records an entry in the memory bank for a possible (better prepared) future visit.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Lines in the sky

It’s been a while since I posted a photo of powerlines on the blog, so let me rectify that…

There were two things that attracted me to this shot. The foreground and distant pole providing a sense of direction and travel through the scene were the first thing that caught my attention as I approached in the car. Then, after parking I noticed that the best angle to make the picture would also result in the contrail mirroring the track of the powerlines.

I don’t think the picture works as well as I thought it might, mostly because the foreground fence is a bit of a distraction. Unfortunately, given the focal length of the camera and the available places where I could position myself to take the shot meant I couldn’t avoid this. I tried cropping the fence out, but the result didn’t look right.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Edgefield Obelisk

This obelisk sits on the hillside above Low Bradfield. It covers a roadside spring and stands in memory of a child who drowned at the site in 1832. The shed behind the obelisk is connected but is a later addition.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Vintage prestige

A couple of shots featuring vintage prestige cars (a Rolls Royce, a Bentley, and a Jaguar).

I had intended to go out and shoot a roll or two of film this morning, but when I arrived at the location the weather had changed from sunlight to overcast, which put me off. The nail in teh coffing though was the fact that my lightmeter – a Sekonic L-308s – was displaying an error message an wouldn’t work at all. I’ve not got to try and get it repaired and hope I don’t have to buy a replacement (I’d quite like a combination spot / incident meter, but they seem to cost an absolute fortune!). It’s not the end of the world though as I still have my original L-208 Twinmate meter which will work just as well. It’s just that I do like the digital display on the 308.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

House reflected (once more)

Today’s picture shows the same house I posted a photo of a few days ago. This shot was made on the same day, although mybe half-an-hour of so later. It was also shot with a different camera and film, and from a different vantage point – this one involved me venturing into the edge of the river (thankfully not deep or fast!) to get a composition I liked.

A little downstream from here is a small weir and I ventured down past it to try and get a picture of a bridge. The picture didn’t really work as the weir kinda seperated the foreground of the scene too much in the frame, but it did result in an amusing experience when a duck, just upstream of the weir, spotted me and swan towards me – perhaps expexting some food – and just nonchalantly paddled right over the edge and into the water below with a “plop”.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Still no-one bowling

Photos of the bowling green and pavillion at Low Bradfield again today. There’s still no-one bowling but the solitary bird in the colour picture I posted a few days ago has been seen off by a trio of pigeons.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 30 April 2022

Porter Pets

I photographed this traditional pet shop when we visited Sharrow Vale market a few weeks ago. Although you can’t tell from the image, there were a lot of people about and market stalls just out of shot.

It’s a very interesting looking shop, the sort of which there are fewer and fewer examples of, and one that I think would benefit from a re-visit one day, perhaps with a larger format to capture the detail better.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 24 April 2022

Odd tree

When my wife and I visited the Sharrow Vale market last month we wandered into this yard where there were a collection of antique and art shops. In the yard itseld, amongst a whole host of brik-a-brak, was this, erm, “pineapple tree”, complete with a pair of disco shoes and, if you look carefully, a pair of socks. Odd, the things you see sometimes…

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 24 April 2022

Further views of Monsal Dale

I think that today’s three photos will be the last of the batch from my trip to Monsal Dale (and Asford-in-the-Water). I have a few more images but none that really stand out as worth posting here. For some reason a number of frames from this roll came out a little underexposed – I’m not sure if it was the way the XA3 metered the scenes, or (more likely) that I under-developed them or something. Nonetheless, I’ve managed to get them looking pretty nice (if a bit grainy), I think.

Olympus XA3 & Kodak Tri-X. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 19 April 2022