Light trails

I posted last week about my ill-fated attempt to photograph some light-trails for a photo competition entry. The following evening I made a second attempt and, thanks to removing the dark-slide this time, this one was successful. I made three exposures and like the one here the best (the first two are very similar to one-another, but you can’t see the mororway snaking into the distance as well as you can on this one).

I exposed the film for 8 seconds at f/22. I used a digital camera to meter the scene which gave me a 4 second exposure, but I had to factor in some reciprocity failure for the HP5+. I calculated it as requiring 6 seconds, but the ETRSi only had 4sec or 8sec setting, so I erred for the longer exposure and it seems to have worked pretty well.

If I’d had enought time to get ist developed before the competition closing date I’d have used colour film instead, which would have been much more effective, but beggars can’t be choosers and I’m pretty happy with the results I got in the end.

Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°

Taken 24 February 2023.

Feeling deflated

I went out this evening after work with the intent of taking some long-exposure nighttime photos (for the photo comp I participate in that I’ve mentioned on here a few times). I took the Bronica loaded with some HP5+ with the intent on getting some light trails from traffic a busy road. I’d have preferred to shoot colour but I wouldn’t be able to get it developed in time to meet the end of the month closing date.

I drove out to the location, set up the Bronica, used my digital camera to work out a suitable exposure time and set up everything, including screwing in a cable release. It was too dark to focus with the waist level finder so I just set the focus to infinity and chanced it. Because the exposure was going to come in at a few seconds, I attempted to allow for reciprocity failure, deciding on an 8-second exposure. Feeling happy with all this I took three pictures. The first one I forgot to use mirror lock-up, so re-took it, just in case. Then the third shot I took was a different composition.

After this I packed everything up and set off back. It was only when I was almost home that I realised that I’d not removed the dark-slide when taking the pictures, meaning all three of them are going to be blank wasted frames! This was even more annoying because, normally, the camera won’t fire if the dark-slide is inserted, so I can only assume that using a cable release bypasses this somehow. Whatever the cause, I’m feeling somewhat pissed off about it. Partly because of the wasted film, but mostly for the fact that I now have to repeat the exercise again tomorrow.

Here’s a picture of some balloons I took earlier this month. I feel like the middle one right now.

Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°

Taken 5 February 2023.

One of those photos

Today’s post features one of those picture which I find oddly appealing. Something about it catches my eye despite it maybe being something that no-one else will glance at twice. I think that, in this case, it’s the light and the way it’s casting shadows across and onto parts of the scene. It had a nice three-dimensionality to it, I think.

I am wondering if I should have cropped it a little at the top to remove that bit of the hotel logo though…

Bronica ETRSi & Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9 mins @ 20°

Taken 5 February 2023.

Four garage doors

Posh looking modern homes in Little Kelham. Front gardens are limited in scale though…

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 February 2023.

Through Little Kelham

I’ve wandered around Kelham Island in Sheffield to take photos on many occasions and I still manage to find things I’ve not photographed before. This view east through Little Kelham is one such composition. The skyline will no doubt look different again before long once the cranes in the distance finish their work.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 February 2023.

The other side of the Don

Behind the fence and trees flows the River Don. Across the river stands New Testament Church of God (formerly Holy Trinity Church). The chimney and large brick building to the left of the frame is Aizlewood’s Mill, which I wrote about the other day.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 February 2023.

Little boxes

There’s a definite appeal to these block-like houses. It’s like someone has taken a cube of fresh clay, imprinted a brickwork pattern, and then cut perfectly angular upenings into the material. Despite the very up-and-coming nature of this part of town, I’m not sure I’d want to live in a home that people can walk so close in front of, and I’m unsure if they have any sort of green space such as a garden (although it could be atop the flat roofs for all I know). Photographically though, I find them very attractive.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 February 2023.

How’s this for heartbreak?

So says the graffiti art on the wall beside this derelict building.

I seem to have got quite a lot of grain on this roll of Fuji Pro 400H. More than I recall seing when shooting it previously. It’s been develepoed at the same lab, and shot with the same camera as my last roll too. The main differentiator is that these were scanned on an Epson V700 rather than the V550 I’ve used previously. I’m not sure if that’s the cause though.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 February 2023.

Aizlewood’s Mill

This building is Aizlewood’s Mill, now a business centre, but originally used to mill grain harvested in Lincolnshire to the east. The building was directly adjacent to Sheffield’s first railway station, making offloading of the grain a case of carrying it across a bridge from the goods yard and straight into the mill.

The building was constructed in 1861 and remained in industrial use until the 1960s. The building was sold to Sheffield Co-operative Development Group Ltd for £1 in 1985, leading to it being re-developed for current use as a business centre.

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 PE & Fujifilm Pro 400H. Lab developed. Home scanned and and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken on 5 February 2023.

Further fungi

When you shoot at f/2.8 with a medium format camera there’s not mushroom for mistakes when it comes to nailing the focus. Ho, ho, ho. 🙂

Bronica ETRSi, Zenzanon 75mm f/2.8 & Kodak Yri-X (expired 2013). Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°

Taken on 3 November 2022.