I’ve recently bought a proper Plustek 8100 negative scanner, which is damn slow as it only does one at a time, but the results especially when doing multiple scans of the same neg (a sort of analogue HDR) are much better than my flatbed.

Obviously, like any neg scan or darkroom print without any work, is pretty ‘flat’ but some work in Lightroom has given some good results.

This first selection are from Cheadle Bleachworks that I took in 2007. At the time I often shot on film (usually C41 process such as Ilford XP2 or Kodak BW400CN) and digital. I can’t remember why exactly, something to do with enjoying using film cameras and I used both for a good few years.

Cheadle Lower Mill to give it its full name was a proper ruin – what hadn’t been burnt out had collapsed of its own volition and was to, be blunt, a death trap. However, the strong afternoon sun made for some great shadows and I made some half decent photos.

The Lightroom work has been mainly contrast – both global and some local adjustments. I’ve also corrected some barrel distortion, an issue on the older lenses I used on my film cameras, and a bit of straightening and cropping.

The digital (colour) versions can be seen on The View From The North here.

This roof collapse was fairly typical of the place

If you’ve visited The View From The North, you might recognise this monochrome version of this image.

I wasn’t daft enough to go up these stairs  – I’d be very surprised if I’d have got past the first step without my foot crashing through the rotten wood.