Tag: Derbyshire

Single frame… Adventures with half-frame, part 1

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Alleyway, DerbyAlleyway, Derby
Olympus PEN EE-2, – O.O.D. Kodak 400 rated at ISO 200, converted to black & white in Lightroom

A few months ago I picked up my first half-frame camera in the shape of an Olympus PEN EE-2. It’s a gorgeous little beast, simple, elegant and tiny.

The above shot is from the first roll I put through it, an incredibly out of date roll of Kodak 400 colour negative film that’s been lurking in my fridge for ages.

The image quality offered by the small 18x24mm negative and fixed focus lens are certainly not helped by dull conditions and very out of date film but I’m quite pleased with the results even so…

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking (and black & white conversion) in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Steamboat on the Trent & Mersey Canal

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Steamboat on the Trent & Mersey CanalSteamboat on the Trent & Mersey Canal
Nikon FE2, Tamron Adaptall-2 35-70mm f/3.5 at 70mm – 1/250s, f8, – Lomo Lady Grey 400 rated at ISO 320

Another shot taken with a charity shop find Tamron Adaptall-2 35-70mm f/3.5 lens mounted on my Nikon FE2. A steamboat chuffs its way along the Trent & Mersey Canal at Shardlow during a recent(ish) ‘Photography Friday’ jaunt.

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Rainbow Bridge, Shardlow

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Rainbow Bridge, Shardlow, June 2018Rainbow Bridge, Shardlow, June 2018
Nikon FE2, Tamron Adaptall-2 35-70mm f/3.5 at 35mm – 1/250s, f8, – Lomo Lady Grey 400 rated at ISO 320

A couple of boats at Dobson’s Boatyard on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Shardlow… Taken during a recent ‘Photography Friday’ jaunt and the first outing for a charity shop find Tamron Adaptall-2 35-70mm f/3.5 lens… a bargain at a fiver!

Scan by AgLab with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Single frame… Crich Stand

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Crich StandCrich Stand
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 24mm, 1/220s, f11, ISO 400

High above the Derbyshire village of Crich and 1,000 feet above sea level, is Crich Stand, a memorial to the soldiers of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment who died in World War I, World War II and in conflicts from 1945 to 1970. It also commemorates those who died serving the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters Regiment from 1970 to 2007 and the Mercian Regiment since 2007.

A peaceful spot to remember my wife’s father who served in the Sherwood Foresters during World War II…

Single frame… Large White butterfly

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Large White butterfly (Pieris brassicae)Large White butterfly (Pieris brassicae)
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 135mm, 1/200s, f8, ISO 200

A much shorter ‘Photography Friday’ today with far fewer pictures taken.

This Large White butterfly (Pieris brassicae) rested briefly on the Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) growing beside the Chesterfield Canal at Tapton Lock Visitor Centre.

The shot is massively cropped from the original… I was doing my best to not fall in the canal!

Single frame… North Lane

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

North Lane, July 2018North Lane, July 2018
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 59mm, 1/80s, f11, ISO 2500

A view south along North Lane near Belper in Derbyshire, part of an ancient route known as ‘The Portway’ and believed to be of Roman construction… Also a wonderfully cool place to be on a hot summer evening!

Photography Friday… Lumsdale Valley

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Another Photography Friday trip today, this time to the Lumsdale Valley near Matlock in Derbyshire, a scheduled ancient monument and one of the best water-powered industrial archaeological sites in Great Britain.

Lumsdale ValleyLumsdale Valley
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 26mm, 1s, f11, ISO 200

Long exposure was the name of the game in the cool shade under the trees beside Bentley Brook and after a little bit of a wrestling match* Rachel got the hang of setting up a tripod!

I’d not been to the area for many years and was pleasantly surprised to see that little had changed since my last visit, the owners of the valley, The Arkwright Society are doing a fantastic job of preserving the site without spoiling its natural charm.

WaterfallWaterfall
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 116mm, 1/3s, f8, ISO 200

* That is to say, a wrestling match between Rachel and the tripod… I wasn’t involved.

Photography Friday… Shardlow

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

The Trent & Mersey Canal, ShardlowThe Trent & Mersey Canal, Shardlow
Nikon D5500, AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 G II at 30mm, 1/160s, f11, ISO 125

In recent weeks Fridays have become ‘Photography Fridays’ with myself and my camera finding friend Rachel taking ourselves off out for the day with far more photographic equipment in tow than is sensible…

Today we ended up in Shardlow in Derbyshire, a village on both the River Trent and the Trent & Mersey Canal, and spent the day snapping and ‘Gongoozling’ (and managed a pub lunch!)

These shots are pretty much as they came out of the camera (my wife’s Nikon D5500) but I also managed to get through a roll of film in my Nikon FE2. Rachel was also shooting film (a new thing for her) and somehow (on such a glorious day, with such a colourful subject) we both managed to have black & white film loaded!

Narrow boats, The Wharf, ShardlowNarrow boats, The Wharf, Shardlow
Nikon D5500, AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 G II at 26mm, 1/200s, f11, ISO 125

Wordless Wednesday… Water Wheels (WWWW)

~ freelancewastrel ~ Leave a comment

Water wheels, Cromford Mill, June 2018Water wheels, Cromford Mill, June 2018
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 18mm, 1/5s, f22, ISO 200

A dull day here in Derbyshire today but madam dragged me out for an ‘airing’ after she finished work and we ended up at Cromford Mill, part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

This pair of waterwheels caught my eye… the one on the left is an ‘breastshot’ type and the other an ‘overshot’ type. For more information on the different types of water wheel, their design and use, check out this Wikipedia page.

Built between 1771 and 1791 Sir Richard Arkwright’s Mills at Cromford were the world’s first successful water powered cotton spinning mills… almost 200 years later I began my working life just down the road at Sir Richard Arkwright Yarns’ Belper West Mill, now disused after Courtaulds UK Ltd closed the site down in 2016, ending an association with Belper dating back more than 200 years.