Meteorologically speaking we are now in autumn and, despite the perils of the ongoing pandemic, I managed to have a great summer shooting black and white film. I have spent the last 2 summers learning about black and white film, how to shoot it, how to develop it etc. It's been a very enjoyable experience and helped make the last 18 months pass more easily than it could have done.
I have also begun to enjoy myself a lot more as the repetition of staying local has improved my ability to read the light. I have my little cheat sheet for sunny 16, but haven't looked at it for a while, trusting instead on my instinct. It's taken a while, but that seems to have stayed put in my memory bank. I couldn't have said that 2 years ago.
The recent easing of travel restrictions gave me a chance to go further afield and visit family, so I made some arrangements with my daughter who lives across the Pennines in Yorkshire. I loaded my OM-2 with FP4 and packed my D90 as there are some nature reserves not far from her home, but I didn't get to visit those. Instead I was treated to the local park which was a very pleasant surprise indeed.
Brickyard Ponds in Bolton-Upon-Dearne is an open space managed by the local council and caters for fishing in the ponds that were once clay pits for the Brick Works that stood on the site. I'm told there are some large Carp and also Tench, Bream, Perch and Roach. It's a popular spot for Anglers on a sunny summer afternoon.
There was also a family of Swans who allowed me to get close enough to take a few photographs as they foraged on the grass a few feet from the bank. I felt really privilleged to get close to them and took a few shots on film and digital before deciding not to push my luck further and left them in peace.
I didn't get to finish my FP4 this week so I will have to get it done and developed ready for next week's blog. Here's a couple of digital images I took and the rest are in an album on Flickr you can enjoy by clicking the link below.
Brickyard Ponds Flickr Album
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