Looking at – and seeing – the world
May 25, 2018 2 Comments
Corrugated iron shed (its roof on the right) at the former Willows Garden Centre, near Westhay, on the Somerset Levels; 15 Jul 2005.
Minimal colour, not far from monochrome.
Technique: F6 with 80-400 Nikkor lens at 400mm; Fuji Provia 400 colour slide rated at 400 ISO; image rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
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May 24, 2018 8 Comments
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This is probably the last of my pictures from Church Lane in spring, at least for the present. And, concluding where I started, this is the image that started me off photographing there in the first place.
I was there on a beautiful spring morning, standing below the huge Horse Chestnut tree, and I looked through the viewfinder, saw this scene – and was instantly hooked on the exploding mass of greenery around me.
Other images from these two springtime morning shoots in Church Lane can be found via these links: with context, here; also here and here and here !
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Pro Neg Hi film simulation; Church Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol; 4 May 2018.
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May 20, 2018 10 Comments
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Field gate on Tealham Moor, south of Wedmore, on the Somerset Levels; 10 Apr 2014.
Early morning along Jack’s Drove, and a world soaked in dew. The silver cobwebs, with the rising light behind them, are everywhere. Here three struts in a gate provide the picture’s solid structures, and then the web is strung across the frame, and there are large drops of dew hanging from the gate at upper left.
This is a black and white image with much of its original colour restored, semi-faithfully. One of the reasons that such colour restorations appeal to me is that, since black and white is already far from reality, I don’t feel that I must necessarily restore the original colours accurately – put another way, since I’m already way out in the realms of unreality, a little more unrealness (is that a word???) won’t matter!
The bar at the top and the diagonal one are casting slim shadows, which is why the silvery web strands fade as they come near them.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Contrast and Structure preset, and selectively restoring colour.
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May 19, 2018 14 Comments
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Once again, up close and personal – in close with a long telephoto. I love getting in close like this to living things, both in terms of being there with them, and also of seeing the resulting very shallow depths of focus.
The expression is one of consternation and horror – well, its not unknown for me to have that effect. I like the curve of the body from the head out to the tail. Compositionally, viewing the image from left to right as we Westerners do, the sweep of the creature’s back leads my eye into the photo and up and on to the in-focus face.
Other pictures of these birds, and context, are here, here and here.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it yet again.
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm; 3200 ISO; Lightroom, using the Astia/Soft film simulation; Stanton Drew, near Bristol; 4 May 2018.
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May 16, 2018 14 Comments
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The Natural World’s great springtime outburst of growth and activity along a small lane on the outskirts of Bristol – there are further images, and context, here. There is another image here.
Above: the vast Horse Chestnut, shot with a 15mm (equiv) wide angle lens on the X-T1, which gives the impression of the tree spreading out – reaching out maybe – above and around the camera. Its worth clicking onto this image to open another version in a separate window, and then clicking onto that image, to fully get this effect. 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Astia/Soft film simulation; 7 May 2018.
Below: another image of this tree’s new leaves, backlit by the rising sun. X-T2 at 305mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Astia/Soft film simulation; 4 May 2018. This image can also be enlarged by clicking onto it, and then clicking onto the larger image that opens: recommended.
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May 15, 2018 10 Comments
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Three flowers.
One up close and personal: solid, real, in our world, in our face too maybe but, in any case, in the way we see things.
The other two are hazy, more remote; vague, they are imperfect impressions of reality, such as might appear in our dreams, or under the influence of myopia or intoxication. And yet these vague impressions reflect the human condition if not visual reality – one is damaged, wounded; the other marginalised and only partly seen.
And all are pallid, desaturated; they are pale representations of how the world ought to be.
Technique: this effect has been produced in Lightroom, by setting Vibrance to -100 and reducing Contrast. Today there’s mostly a trend towards either bright, attention-grabbing, vivacious colours or no colour at all – black and white. But between the two lie many possibilities – possibilities that I for one frequently forget to consider.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom; Stanton Drew, south of Bristol; 4 May 2018.
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May 13, 2018 14 Comments
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This is a totally ad lib shot that I took while sitting at the breakfast table (which sounds distinctly grand, doesn’t it, until you find out that it is in fact our only table …) to see if a camera was working properly. Just how honest and up front can I get??? I looked through the large and rather wonderful electronic viewfinder, liked what I saw, and snapped it.
This rather cluttered still life is lit by that most wonderful (and gratis) of light sources, window light, and it also benefits from the fact that this light is filtered through net curtains.
It is a totally natural (i.e. unarranged) still life, which has three main subjects. On the right is a lovely old chair, bought second hand at least 25 years ago, and probably originating in the generation before mine, if not earlier. Then there are two examples from my wife’s orchid collection, one in flower and the other looking rather ravaged and destitute, though with abundant aerial roots.
And finally, at the back, two pieces of pottery, the one at the front having been made by John Leach, the grandson of Bernard Leach, at his pottery in Muchelney, on the Somerset Levels.
I like this picture. Well, it is a part of my home, so I’m probably biassed. But what do I like most? Well, without a doubt, the light spilling over the warm colours of that old chair. The objects on the left of the picture are well lit and, in their way, visually interesting. But the chair is more snugly in the shadows, the light and shadow are washing over its surfaces, amplifying its wonderful old creases and textures >>> a metaphor for myself perhaps …..
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 83mm (equiv); 3200 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Chez Moi!; 3 May 2018.
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May 12, 2018 2 Comments
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Looking up, in Church Lane.
There are other images from Church Lane, and more context, here.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the image to enlarge it further – recommended.
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Astia/Soft film simulation; Church Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol; 4 May 2018.
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May 10, 2018 10 Comments
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A final shot of my wife’s glass of wine, this time in black and white with some restored colour; 16 Mar 2014.
Two earlier images in this series, along with more context, are here and here – recommended.
As always, mono simplifies the scene. The bright tips of the fork assume new prominence – a short and slightly sinuous line of bright points – and the wine’s restored colour resembles an inferno in a glass. Nuclear fission? Well, hardly, I mean its only rosé … but fill a glass, a bigger, balloon-type glass is best, with Moortgat’s Duvel or Westmalle’s Tripel (and drinking these delights at anything but room temperature is, of course, unthinkable) … and you might feel both shaken … and stirred …
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 240mm; 800 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Film Noir 1 preset.
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May 9, 2018 6 Comments
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Red car, parked near trees.
Or, then again, a camera … or an eye … looking only at you …
Click onto this image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.
Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film preset; rotated; flipped; near Temple Meads, central Bristol; 20 Apr 2018.
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