Walk to Town

02-06-18

I’m writing this feeling sorry for myself, I have broken a tooth and it aches. If you shook me there would be a rattle from all the painkillers. Hopefully on Tuesday when I go to the Dentist it will all be over, got a feeling it will be an extraction, the penalties of getting old (long in the tooth)

Took a walk to town last Thursday, the weather was a bit dull but I needed the exercise and the cats needed some treats.

Wild Roses on the Way

Into the Park

I’m so glad this park is on my route to town, all that Green is good for the soul.

A bit of Variegation

In The Pink

One of my Favourite Buildings in the Town

Palais de Dance

This was the premiere dance hall in the city from the 1950’s to the end of the 70’s. It’s derelict now and about to be converted into apartments. I only visited it a couple of times (not my scene) in the late 60’s and early 70’s, I remember the ceiling complete with the prerequisite glitter ball had lots of tiny lights that looked like a starry night sky.

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Canon 35MC

30-05-18

This is the third Canon 35MC that I have bought, the first two were really cheap off that auction site, neither of them worked very well, but I managed to make one goodish one out of the two, and was impressed enough with the lens quality to buy another from a dealer for £19.00 ($25.25 – 21.65 euro) The only thing amiss the dealer informed me was that the detachable flash wasn’t working, I have a working unit from one the others, not that I’m likely to use it. The camera looks brand new, with no signs of use. It needs two AAA batteries to work, at least these are easy to get. You set the film speed manually, there is a choice of, 64 – 100 – 200 – 400 – 1000 ASA, film loading and rewinding are automatic. The lens is a 35mm f2.8, 4 elements in 4 groups and focuses from 3 ft (0.9m) to infinity. It’s a clam-shell design so you slide the front cover (a la Olympus XA’s) to switch on the camera. The viewfinder shows the autofocus frame and a zone focus indicator which only registers the distance after you have taken the shot ! The automatic shutter runs from 1/8sec to 1/500sec, there is also a slow shutter speed warning lamp. The wind on motor is a bit noisy, typical of it’s era. What I like about it is the quality of the lens and it fits easily in a jacket/trouser pocket.

Loaded it up with some Fomapan 400 and took on a PhotoBuddies walk. I developed the film in Kodak D76 1-1.

Student Accommodation

Great Central

I remember catching a train from here to go to Nottingham Victoria when I was a lad in the 1960’s. The old Station building is being restored, and the area opposite is being developed (more student accommodation !!!!) and a Hotel.

PhotoBuddy

Not Sure What This Is

But I liked it.

Buddies, Beer and Bonneville

06-05-18

Got a call from a buddy of mine on Sunday asking if I would like to go out on the bike (Triumph Bonneville) on bank holiday Monday (yesterday), yes please I said, where shall we go, how about visiting our buddy who has recently moved out to Stamford, Lincolnshire. I dug out my crash helmet and old motorbike jacket, the crash helmet was good but the jacket was a tight fit, it must have shrunk !!!!!!! so I had to wear my windproof cycling jacket, it only has one pocket so was restricted to carrying my mobile and some cash. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been on the back of a bike and I was a bit nervous, but it was OK, my friend is a very experienced rider. The weather was great, and we had a good time. Stamford is a lovely town with some exceptional architecture.

Albert Bridge (1881)
  

High Street

The Pub & All Saints Brewery

Very tasty. 

Browne’s Hospital (Built In 1475)

I still don’t feel that comfortable using my phone camera, but it was better than nothing.

3 Film Cameras #2

27-04-18

Konica Off Road/Workman/Site Supervisor

I bought this camera over 10 years ago, ran a roll of film through it and put back on the shelf, I wasn’t that impressed with the images, they looked flat and grainy to me. So I thought it deserved another chance to redeem itself. The camera has a fixed 40mm lens protected from the elements by a permanently attached glass filter, and a rubber covered waterproof/shockproof body. I loaded it with some fresh Fuji C200 and took it with me on one of my walks to the local arboretum and into town.

Fresh Pine

Vapour Trail

Old Eyes

Yuk

I have changed my opinion about the Konica, the results this time were really good. A lot of this has to do with the developing and scanning by FilmDev  their service is excellent and very quick, I opted for the smallest scans for these images. So if it’s raining (most likely) when I go out, I’ll take the Konica with me.

PhotoBuddies Walk

24-04-18

Had a PhotoBuddies walk arranged for today, but the weather was really grey and dull with added rain, so we spent most of the time in a coffee bar, which was OK by me as I had been out twice over the weekend to see bands, and consumed more than my total normal months beer intake. I took along my old Olympus E620 digital and a film camera, only used the Olympus.

PhotoBuddies

Chevrons

New Builds

So much building work going on in the city.

G-rrrrrrrr

Old

With not so old TV aerial.

Eat – Drink – Furnish

No more beer – please – The pub is named after Lady Jane Grey.

Spring On The High Street

Was really good to get out of the house and meet the guys even if the weather was not being kind.

Quick Walk To Town

17-04-18

The weather took a turn for the better yesterday so I took a quick walk to town, cat treats and me treats were needed. Spring is definitely in the air, although today it’s windy and dull. 70 deg F promised for tomorrow, we’ll see. I managed to grab a few photo’s on my walk.

My Front Garden

I wish the rest of it looked like this.

Three Wheels

Spotted on the Park, I liked the colour contrast.

These Cheered Me Up.

Two Black & White Images From The City

The advantage of the weather being cooler today is that my cat Fleur is curled up on my lap while I’m writing this, she’s lovely and warm and purring gently, bliss.

Thursday Doors

24-08-17

Met up with my photowalk buddies this morning, the weather was good and we headed off to a part of town that I wouldn’t go to on my own.

There’s A Door There Somewhere 

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone pointing a camera at me while I was taking this, it was someone I knew but hadn’t seen for ages, he was trying out his new Fuji XT2.

One Up One Down

According to my buddy who knows a bit about the history of this forlorn little house, it’s the last example of a 1up 1down in the city. Of course they want to demolish it to extend a car park !!!!!!!!

It’s A Breeze

Former Pubs

Factory Doors

Belt & Braces

There’s an interesting brick relief on the building and an old painted sign, must get down to the reference library and try to find the history of some of the factories. All in all a good day, and according to my phone app I walked 6.43 miles. 

For more great doors click over to the excellent “Norm 2.0” Blog.