I left it late in July for this month's roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 in Baldy the Baldax and got out for a walk on a gloriously sunny afternoon in the final week of the month. I had to go into town and decided to take a slow walk back home along the Leeds - Liverpool Canal to see what I could find. I took my Gossen Trisix light meter, but to be honest I didn't really need it. It was so bright I was using the fastest shutter speed of 1/300th of a second and alternating between f/16 and f/22. There wasn't much more I could do about it, Baldy the Baldax was pretty much maxed out.
I took a long shot looking along the canal to Wigan Pier and Trencherfield Mill before making my way under Seven Stars Bridge and onwards towards home. I was hoping to see a canal barge on my walk, but the canal was only being used by Ducks, Geese and people walking and cycling. I got a couple of shots of a Crane, the mechanical thing not the bird, on the other side of the canal and continued enjoying my walk in the sunshine.
Canada Geese get everywhere! I saw two small gaggles of them and didn't get hissed at. The first gaggle must be so used to people they don't even bother doing their finest "Hissing Cobra Chicken" routine anymore. The second gaggle slipped onto the canal and took a swim before I got near them. I got a couple of shots of the first lot and a shot of a compass carved into a paving slab on the path. I checked it with the compass on my phone and it does indeed point North. I wonder how many times people have walked over it without even noticing it's there?
The Brick Community Stadium, home of Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club and Wigan Athletic Football Club is always worth a photo, even when the sun is high overhead and it's mostly back lit. It's been the home of both clubs for 25 years and is a decent stadium with a great atmosphere, especially when there's a big crowd in attendance. I took the shot and walked on towards home.
I was really enjoying my walk home and I came across a boat which looks like a Canal maintenance tug and took a photo. When I got to the last canal lock at Woodhouse Lane, I had two shots left. Sadly there were no more boats on this stretch of the canal from Wigan Pier to the bottom of Beech Hill, but I wasn't too disappointed. I enjoyed the fresh air and soaked up vitamin D from the bright sunshine. I finished my roll of film, turned off the canal path and made my way up the hill towards home.
I developed my roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 the next day in HC110, 1+31 dilution B, for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.
Baldy had a few light leaks again this month. I have got used to it and will sort it eventually, but it's such a nice camera I don't want to take it apart and break it. I know there's good photos waiting to come from this camera and I shall keep tweaking it until the end of the year. Here's a few of my favourites from my July roll of Ilford HP5 that I shot with Baldy the Baldax for the Frugal Film Project 2024. I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2024 - 120 medium format album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
Frugal Film Project 2024 - 120 medium format
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