Monochrome Monday… Socially distanced picnic table

Redhill Quarry, January 2020Redhill Quarry, January 2020
Fujica GW690 + Y15 yellow filter – 1/125s, f8, – Foma Pan 400
Developed in Ilford Ilfotec DD-X at 1:9, 12 mins at 20°c.

An image from one of my last ‘pre-lockdown’ photographic forays…

Redhill Quarry, near Middleton in the Derbyshire Dales is now a nature reserve and picnic area and I had the place to myself on the bleak January day that I chose to visit (I was ‘social distancing’ before it was a necessity).

I can’t help feeling that the isolated picnic table has far more meaning now than when I photographed it…

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Single frame… Green Wood, February 2020

Green Wood, February 2020Green Wood, February 2020
Fujica GW690 + Y15 yellow filter – 1/125s, f8½, – Kodak T-Max 400
Developed in Ilfosol 3 at 1:9, 6 mins at 20°c.

An image from a recent ‘Photography Friday’ trip out with Rachel… This patch of woodland can be found to the north of the wonderfully named ‘Great Pond of Stubbing’ near Chesterfield in Derbyshire and we used a brief break in the rainy weather during half-term to explore it. It’s definitely a location we’ll be revisiting!

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Silver Birch trees (again)

Silver Birches, Jack Flat, January 2020Silver Birches, Jack Flat, January 2020
Fujica GW690 – 1/125s, f8, – Ilford Delta 400 Professional rated at ISO 800
Developed in Ilfosol 3 at 1:9, 14 mins at 20°c.

Another image of the Silver Birch trees (Betula pendula) in the area between Baslow Edge and the Baslow-Sheffield road known as Jack Flat, this time shot on film…

I’ve really caught the home developing bug!

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Wellington’s Monument, January 2020

Wellington's Monument, January 2020Wellington’s Monument, January 2020
Fujica GW690 – 1/500s, f8, – Ilford Delta 400 Professional rated at ISO 800
Developed in Ilfosol 3 at 1:9, 14 mins at 20°c.

Wellington’s Monument stands high above the Derbyshire village of Baslow. Dedicated to the Duke of Wellington it was raised by local dignitary Lieutenant Colonel Edward Mason Wrench (1833-1912) in 1866.

Not much else seems to be known about the monument, one story, probably apocryphal, suggests that it was built to commemorate a visit of the Iron Duke to the area while a guest of the Duke of Rutland. Or perhaps it was merely built to provide a balance for the monument to Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson on nearby Birchin Edge.

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Spiral staircase

Spiral staircase, New Year's Day 2020Spiral staircase, New Year’s Day 2020
Fujica GW690 – 1/30s, f4, – Kodak T-Max 400
Developed in Ilfosol 3 at 1:9, 6 mins at 20°c.

I’ve been developing film again… a roll of Kodak T-Max 400 that had been hanging around for a couple of weeks until I plucked up the courage to wrestle it into a developing tank (I find 120 film so much more fiddly to feed onto a spiral than 35mm).

I’m chuffed to bits with the results, especially considering the grotty weather the film was shot in on New Year’s Day!

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Port William, October 2019

Port William, October 2019Port William, October 2019
Fujica GW690 + Y15 yellow filter – 1/125s, f16, – Ilford Delta 400 Professional

Yet another image from last year’s Scottish holiday…

Port William is a fishing village on the eastern shore of Luce Bay in Dumfries and Galloway, founded by Sir William Maxwell in 1770.

Gavin Maxwell, who wrote the book Ring of Bright Water (1960) about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland, was a decendant of Sir William and was born in 1914 in the nearby village of Elrig.

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… Marie, Isle of Whithorn, October 2019

Marie, Isle of Whithorn, October 2019Marie, Isle of Whithorn, October 2019
Fujica GW690 + Y15 yellow filter – 1/250s, f11, – Kodak T-Max 400

Another Fujica GW690/Kodak T-Max 400/Y15 filter image from last year’s Scottish holiday…

Taken during a gentle stroll around the village between a full Scottish breakfast and a lunchtime pint at The Steam Packet Inn… Now that’s a holiday!

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.

Monochrome Monday… BA287, Isle of Whithorn

BA287, Isle of WhithornBA287, Isle of Whithorn
Fujica GW690 + Y15 yellow filter – 1/250s, f11, – Kodak T-Max 400

Finally got around to scanning the films from my recent trip to the Isle of Whithorn!

Just before the trip I invested in a Tiffen Y15 yellow filter for the Fujica GW 690 that I’ve (still… thanks James!) got on loan and it stayed on the camera all week.

I’m not sure, but this might have been my first time shooting Kodak T-Max 400… If so, why haven’t I used it sooner? I love the combination of this film and filter!

Epson 4870 Photo scan with minimal cropping and tweaking in Lightroom Classic CC.