York

Back in March I took my wife to York for her cough cough birthday, whilst she was getting pampered in the spa at the hotel I braved the elements and exercised the Xpan.  I’ve changed my scanner and instead of stitching shots together using a 35mm scanner (scanning 2/3 of a neg at a time) I now do 12 negs at a time on a flat bed.  As a result its no effort at all to scan Xpan negatives now, where as before it was all a bit too much effort. In the past I ended up looking at the negatives and only selecting 1 or 2 from a roll of twenty, now I have corrected the error of my ways.

Here’s two scenes from York on a very dark overcast day with moments of sun hitting the buildings.

York Harbour, York

The Yorkshire Herald, York

So I’ve now developed some more film (this time Ilford HP 5) following last week’s trip to York.  Here is a small selection…

Photographer and Piano Man, York

Remember the shot of a chap pushing a piano around the streets, well this is him the next day doing his thing.

Piano Man, York

Photographer seeking Direction, York Minster

Feeding Time, York

Not quite the shot I was after, but you get the gist.

Walmgate Bar, York City Walls, York

Whilst in York we walked the city walls (about 2 miles).  This is Walmgate, the last remaining gate to the city that still has its Barbican in place.

Some other non-street photographs of York during my recent trip to York  with my wife.  All a bit churchy….

York Minster

High Petergate, York

Look up!, York Minster

Church in Shadow and Light, York

The visit to York wasn’t all Hasselblad Xpan – the Canon G10 came along too!  Here are  one or two from that little camera.

Pigeons and a Chat, Museum Gardens, York

Expectantly Waiting, Museum Gardens, York

Not quite sure what this lady was doing just outside the Yorkshire Museum, but she was waiting for someone whilst staring off in to space.

Luckily for me Cartier Bresson is alleged to have said,  “Sharpness is a bourgeois concept”.  Great! That allows for all sorts of sins until I get my eye in to use the Xpan quickly in the street (as opposed to having it on a tripod and finely adjusting it and taking your time, as one does in landscape photography).  Like the photographs in York Street Photography Part 1, these were all shot with Ilford Delta 400.  The next series will be shot using Ilford HP5 (another 400 speed film)

Photographer and York Minster

Waiting opposite Aunt Betty's

The Hot Sausage Company

As mentioned before, I’m not really a street photographer.  Not for me the decisive moment, unless I’m on a hill top waiting patiently for the light to hit the right bit of the vista before me.  So, when the opportunity to visit York came up, I thought about carting around a tripod and doing architectural shots with my Hasselblad Xpan.  Instead, I set myself the challenge of doing some street photography with the Xpan, to see if I could get in to it and to explore the use of the panoramic format in environment other than landscape.   Here’s the portraits….all taken with Ilford Delta 400

Put your back in to it!

Socialist Worker and HSBC

One less Car

Sun Light on Stained Glass, York Minster (69/365)

Taken handheld on my Canon G10 I liked the way that the light from another window played across this stained glass window.

Stone Mason's Marks

Inside the Minster there was a sample of the marks made by the current stone masons working on the building.  I wonder if one of them is a Nottingham Forest fan?

Cholera Graveyard, York (27/365)

Between York Railway Station and the main city, lies this cholera graveyard. The area was acquired for the burial of some of the 185 victims of the 1832 cholera epidemic.  There are about 20 surviving stones – that said despite the numerous times I have passed here in the course of doing my day job, I always thought it had more stones than that.  So having a preconceived idea in my head of a bustling graveyard image, I had to change my plans on seeing only 20, of which fewer than that are actually standing.