Looking at – and seeing – the world
August 2, 2020 2 Comments
.
Motorbike in St Ives, Cornwall; 24 Apr 2012.
Despite having ridden one (badly) in my misspent youth, I am not any sort of motorbike fan or petrolhead, but these details caught my eye as we headed down through St Ives towards the harbour.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 170mm; 400 ISO; converted to mono with Silver Efex Pro 2.
.
.
.
July 25, 2020 13 Comments
.
Windblown poppy; Newquay, Cornwall; 11 Sept 2013.
I like Newquay. It is cheap, tatty and unpretentious, and there are so many establishments offering Full English Breakfasts that I could probably stay there for a whole month and eat in a different one each day. That said, I have the strong suspicion that most of these repasts would be of the pallid and rather tasteless variety but, still, anywhere with this number of breakfasts on offer can’t be all bad.
And, with its famous Fistral Beach facing out into the Atlantic’s rollers, this little town is a mecca for UK surfers – as well as being the pub, nightclub and “booze / drug yourself silly” capital of the west for youngsters intent upon a good time that they may not remember too much about.
We had a couple of dry days on our short break, but the westerly wind blew throughout and the great white waves smashed into the cliffs and headlands – not that we are in any way surfers, mind! For a start I can’t swim, and neither of us are at all into such energetic activities.
There was a ragged flowerbed in front of some kind of religious building sandwiched in between the Houses Of Hedonism along the main drag, and the gusting westerly was sending the flowers in all directions. The waving poppies stood out from the rest, and a quarter of a second at F29 gave this pale and Impressionistic result.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.
Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 400 ISO.
.
.
.
July 24, 2020 15 Comments
.
The prow of a small boat in Mevagissey harbour, in Cornwall, on a still morning; 24 Oct 2012.
I think this must be the most perfect reflection photo I’ve ever taken. Conditions were ideal – an overcast morning with barely a whiff of breeze. This boat was moored at the quay, and the rusting chain is its mooring line.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor at 240mm; 5000 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2.
.
.
.
July 16, 2020 8 Comments
.
I enjoy lounging around in holiday chalets and caravans. Its a wonderful opportunity to sprawl back in comfort and enjoy the moment – and also a good chance to watch how the light interacts with things as the sun moves across the sky.
Here, with lighting from the left, a chair at the bottom of the stairs throws its shadow onto a rough wall. The woodwork at upper left is part of the banister of the narrow stairway.
This photo is something of a departure for me as its one of the few times that I’ve used my 50mm lens: most of my images use focal lengths far above or below this “standard” lens, which roughly approximates to human eyes’ field of vision. I ought to use this lens more often. It has a very useful maximum aperture of f1.4 and so is good in low light situations, and using the D800 in DX (= APS-C) format, when focal lengths are magnified by 1.5, I end up with a very useful – inspiring, even – 75mm f1.4 chunk of glass.
Click onto this image to see a larger version in a separate window.
Technique: D800 with 50mm Nikkor lens; 3200 ISO; Color Efex Pro 4; 11 Apr 2016.
.
.
.
June 13, 2020 6 Comments
.
Herring Gull: winter plumaged adult at St Ives, Cornwall; 27 Sept 2012.
This individual is sitting on a wall, but I want to show nothing but the bird and its overcast backdrop and so have cropped the wall out. Mono simplifies the picture, and gives the impression of a tough and rugged individual used to enduring the dull, overcast, wintery conditions.
These birds have pure white heads in summer, but this one has the streaked head and neck that appears later in the year.
I like the detail in the feathering at lower left, especially the single feather sticking up from the rest.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – highly recommended.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 800 ISO; converted to mono with Silver Efex Pro 2, starting from the Antique Plate 1 preset.
.
.
.
June 4, 2020 8 Comments
.
Landscape near Newquay, Cornwall; 23 Oct 2012.
The lines of windblown trees first attracted me to this scene, and then there were the partly seen house and the bold, dark lines of the field boundaries.
Letterbox is an ideal format here, and I’ve used a pale vignette to suggest mistiness around the frame edges.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – highly recommended.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 400 ISO; converted to mono with Silver Efex Pro 2, using the Full Contrast and Structure preset as a starting point.
.
.
.
June 1, 2020 9 Comments
.
Selfie in the main street of Perranporth, Cornwall; 14 Apr 2016.
A rack of trendy sunglasses outside one of this seaside town’s many gift shops and The FATman – forever vain! – snapping his reflection.
And although we didn’t go in there and get our snouts in their trough, google tells me that Scoobie’s is a diner.
Click onto this image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.
Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 800 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Structure Harsh preset and selectively restoring colour; flipped to provide readable reflections.
.
.
.
June 1, 2020 8 Comments
.
Three views of me, in mirrors for sale outside a seaside gift shop in Mevagissey, Cornwall; 24 Oct 2012.
Landmarks? Well, my cap, which is actually a designer piece (tho not bought with any knowledge of that), and which I’m told makes me look like either a train driver or a Japanese soldier.
And then the lens that I’m wedded to – the 70-300. And lastly, left of center, my trademark paunch, without which I’d have to change my name – actually I do have to lose weight but that’s another thing!
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate windows – but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the nightmares!
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 70mm; 1600 ISO.
.
.
.
May 15, 2020 12 Comments
.
Someone of maybe my own years (and bulk?) gazes at a beauty stereotype in a slimming emporium’s window, in Penzance, Cornwall; 25 Sept 2012.
Here’s something that can get me reaching urgently for my dictionary of Anglo-Saxon profanity! We think we’re free but we’re certainly not. We want to fit in, we want respect and admiration – envy even – from our friends, neighbours and peers, and so we are prey to all the latest fashions, role models, celebrity recipes, diets, gimmicks, cars, buzzwords and other facile stereotypes.
Well, OK, this lady and I would very probably be healthier if we were slimmer – but as to fulfilling an envied role model ->>> this blog’s called FATman Photos isn’t it??? … not SLIMman Snapshots!!!
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.
Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 400 ISO.
.
.
.
May 6, 2020 8 Comments
.
Table and seats outside a fast food café in Newquay, Cornwall; 11 Sept 2013.
Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 135mm; 800 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2’s High Contrast Smooth preset.
.
.
.
