Walking in the snow

I made this picture about a minute after some idiot decided to put their foot down to overtake a slow moving tractor, thereby driving through a pile of wet, slushy snow on the side of the road closest to me and spraying it all up my legs in wet clumps. Lookily I’d worn some water resistant trousers and so the impact was reduced. Most people have grey matter inside their heads. Some people have brains resembling something of a different colour unfortunately.

Wet snow on wet roads
Plumes of heavy slush made by
Selfish car drivers

Holga & Ilford HP5+ (@800). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.

Taken on 14 January 2021

Standing in the rain outside Grand Central Terminal

After our visit to the WTC Memorial, we caught the subway back to midtown and got off the train at Grand Central Terminal. After grabbing a few snacks from the food court on the lower level, we decided head back to the hotel.

Upon approaching the exit we noticed people entering the building with umbrellas, or with significant signs of being caught in the rain, and upon exiting found that it was absolutely tipping it down.

While we waited for the rain to ease off, we sheltered under the road bridge outside the south entrance, and I took a few photographs, including this one.

I know many photographers who complain when it rains, but for me it’s always a treat to be able to get photographs in this sort of weather. The way the floor suddenly becomes a diffuse mirror for light and clolour, and the way people behave and take shelter makes for very interesing photos in my opinion. There’s obviously some work to be done to ensure you and your camera are not soaked, but the effort is definitely worth it, don’t you think?

Canon Sure Shot Z135  & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 26 May 2019

Stars and stripes and empty seats

Another photo from Times Square.

Now, you could argue that this is a picture that would work better in colour – primarily due to the huge illuminates Stars and Stripes display in the middle of the frame – but, well, I had HP5+ loaded in the camera, so that’s that. I do have some colour digital shots from the same location, but they won’t appear on here (and I’ve not loaded any onto Flickr as yet).

Anyway, despite the lack of colour, I still really like this photo. Once again, the rain makes it – the silhouette of the man with umbrella against the sign, and the wet, empty tables in the foreground work well I think. I also think that, despite the blazing colours all around, that Times Square suits black and white very well – possibly because it evokes older, classic shots of the location that I’ve seen over the years.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 28 May 2019

Rainy Times (Square)

I got back from a family trip to New York yesterday so it’d be a fair assumption to expect quite a few photos from there in the coming days (and weeks!). I shot six rolls in total: 2 x Kodak Portra 400 (135); 2 x Ilford HP5+ (135); 1 x Kodak Portra 400 (120); 1 x Kodak Ektar (120). I’m still waiting for the colour shots to be processed, so don’t expect I’ll see those until next week, but I’ve started on the two rolls of HP5 and have scanned a few strips already.

I’m looking forward to seeing the colour shots, but the black and whites I took in and around a rainy Times Square have come out pretty well.

I’d have loved to have spent days just wandering the streets taking photos, but it’s not really possible to do it freely on a family trip, so I just grabbed stuff wherever I could as we went about our holiday. I’d really like to go back and take more photos, but it’s a long way from home and I might never get to visit again – I think if we make another trip to the US we’ll probably aim to visit somewhere else.

Here’s one of my Times Square pics to kick things off.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 28 May 2019

Did I take that?

Sometimes, you get the negatives back and you think, “did I really take that?” – hopefully not in a bad way either. I think this is one of those shots. I’m very happy with this one.

Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 29 November 2017