The photo published here today is the only decent photo from the roll of Kodak Gold I shot recently that still looks good in colour. All the others had colour casts and I had to convert them to black and white. This one managed to avoid the weird colours. The colour here is quite subtle but I think it still adds something to the image.
Fujica GW690 & Kodak Gold . Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.
Taken on 21 January 2023.
One of the common nicknames for cow parsley is Mother-die. I learnt this from my grandma when I was pretty young and I remember spending quite a few years as a child being especially careful around the stuff, just in case. The name mother-die is thought to originate from rural villages and said that if a child picked the plant and brought it home then their mother would die. The rationale behind this is likely that, while cow parsley is edible, there are a number of very similar looking plants that are harmful, including hemlock.
Fujica GW690 & Kodak Gold (converted to B&W in Lightroom).
Taken on 21 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.
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.
Another in my set of unseasonably snowy November photos. The last in the set in fact.
This temprary bar forms part of the Christmas Markets (or did – I’m not sure if they’re still there) and is situated in the Peace Gardens beside Sheffield town hall (the building at rear left). The other building is the Mercure Hotel, part of the St. Paul’s Square complex that was built on the site of the old town hall extension.
There’s a fountain beneath where the bar is sat, so I hope it didn’t get unexpectedly turned on!
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 November 2021
This is the second version of this post. The first one was about how the short and gloomy winter days are getting me down somewhat this year, but it made for somewhat depressing reading, so I scrapped it.
The days can be very gloomy during the winter though – it’s just after 4pm as I write this and it’s almost fully dark outside. Normally this wouldn’t be the case for another hour at this time of the year, but we’ve got some heavy rain today and the clouds have blocked what little natural illumination we might otherwise have had.
We were due to go out shortly for a family meal, but one of my boys went out with friends last night and had a few celebratory drinks too many so we’ve had to cancel and re-book as he has had a hangover all day. With the wisdom of age I can easily preach to him about the foolishness of drinking too many beers and the price that comes with them, but I’ve got plenty of hangovers of my own under my belt from when I was young which prevent me getting on too high a horse. So the meal will take place tomorrow instead when hopefully we will all be in a fit state to enjoy it.
My other son will now be having some takeaway pizza instead which, from the look on his face when I told him, I think he prefers anyway. Not sure if the rest of us will have the same (or if Mister Hungover will want some – pizza is great at the end of a night out drinking, but I can’t remember if it maintains its allure the following day), but we shall see shortly.
Today’s picture is of Park Hill Flats, a sheffield architectural landmark that has featured here on the blog on a few occasions previously. I made this photo after the shot of the magick studio, and before the picture of the pigeons I posted yesterday. It was taken from the footbridge over the road and shot through the railings.
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+ (@800asa). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.
Taken on 27 November 2021
I was concentrating so much on getting the horse – which was moving around slowly – in sharp focus that I didn’t notice it was sticking it’s tongue out when I fired the shutter…
Standing in the snow
Making rude gestures to men
Making photographs
Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.
Taken on 12 February 2021
The final snowy Holga shot today, unless I make more We have had a snow warning for the coming weekend…
This water-side willow tree has featured a number of times previously in the blog. It (and a couple of other trees) tends to make a nice point of interest on this section of the lakeside, which is otherwise a little bland.
The ground here, despite it looking nice and snow-covered in the photo, gets very waterlogged, and I had icy mud pouring across the toes of my boots as I walked. Good job they’re waterproof! The geese were a little wary of my presence, and quite a few of them skedaddled out of the scene before I made the picture, but I still got enough of them in the frame, I think.
A snowy lakeside
Geese forage in the wet earth
My boots are soaked through
Holga & Ilford HP5+ (@800). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.
Taken on 14 January 2021
The penultimate image from the roll I put through the Holga in the snow. Taken at Rother Valley Country PArk, looking back towards two former railway bridges, remnants of the time when this was an area dedicated to coal mining. The foreground bridge is disused and, while you can get up on top of it without any restrictions, it just carries a track through the trees, the stonechippings on the ground a reminder that it once bore railway tracks.
The bridge in the background now carries the Trans Pennine Trail on the section heading south towards Chesterfield.
Many locos once
Carried coal across these spans
An industry lost
Holga & Ilford HP5+ (@800). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.
Taken on 14 January 2021
I think that this is my favourite shot from the roll I put through the Holga on the recent snowy day (although not the most recent lot though. We had another fall this morning that caused chaos for early morning drivers on their way to work – my wife included).
I like the way the birches lean across the path here and the snow adds a special touch. The lone figure further down the path is the icing on the cake.
Footprints and bike tracks
Evidence of exercise
On a winter’s day
Holga & Ilford HP5+ (@800). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 10mins @ 20°.
Taken on 14 January 2021
Steel City Snapper photography 