ARCHIVE 405 – THE VIEW SOUTHEAST FROM EASTWATER LANE (MONO)

 

 

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Looking southeast from Eastwater Lane, high up on the Mendip plateau in Somerset; 4 Feb 2014.

In their central and western reaches, the Mendip Hills are a steep sided and formidable, west-east barrier of hard, old (Palaeozoic) rocks.  They have the Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian period in their cores, and the Carboniferous Limestone all around.  But especially in their central area, these precipitous slopes give up onto a flattish or gently undulating plateau, with sturdy farms huddling amongst windbreaks, and pubs with evocative names – names that recall my youth and things that have always been a part of my life – the Castle of Comfort, the Miner’s Arms and Hunters Lodge.

Wondering about floods, I drove up onto Mendip yesterday, and spent some time in Eastwater Lane – a favourite place because it is a dead end and so has no through traffic.  I was also around the village of Priddy.  It was a cold, damp day, initially lit by pale, glinting sun, but with dark clouds and spitting rain all too soon coming up on the gusting southerly.  There were flood warnings in several places, but the waters had either subsided, or were only thinly masking the little roads – although all of that may have changed with the storm that hit us later yesterday afternoon and overnight – and today too.

I walked along Eastwater Lane, enjoying  the sight and atmosphere of the Bronze Age round barrows on the hill crests, and seeing where streams running down from the sandstone hilltops disappear underground into caverns as soon as they encounter the far more soluble limestone.

Here was Eastwater Cavern, that I descended as a plump, pudgy teenager, and I tried to recall if I’d become stuck in it or not.  Yes, is the probable answer, as I had to be helped through many a difficult cave by my school friends – but the vast Swildons Hole, from which the Mendip Cave Rescue had to come out and extricate me, is off towards Priddy.  I made the local papers – I think I was 16 at the time.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: D800 with 80-400 Nikkor lens at 400mm; Silver Efex Pro 2’s Film Noir 3 preset.

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OUTER SUBURBS 72 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 6

 

 

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Another functional and not unattractive pathway through modern housing, and something very different from the previous one.  Unusually for me, colour and mono images here – for me the black and white gets it – and I think its worth enlarging >>> click onto it to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it yet again.

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Earlier pictures of a paths through modern housing are here: 1 2 3 4 5 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Orange preset and adding a light Coffee tone; south Bristol; Jan & Feb 2019.
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PEOPLE 365 – GOING TO WORK 89 (MONO)

 

 

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GOING TO WORK: THE PROJECT

This project has been running, on and off, for sometime now – the first post (number 1, below) was in July 2016.  For those not familiar with the earlier posts, this project is now in three parts.

First there is the great bulk of posts in the earlier stages: numbers 1 to 86 below.  This really came about for two reasons.  First, having retired in 2013, I became increasingly interested in the work phenomenon, and a single photographic look at Bristol’s early morning rush hour ramped this interest up to the level of a fascination for a twice daily event – a twice daily tide –  that, until recently, I had been a part of.  And such long, early morning visits to the city centre were considerably facilitated by the excellent, lighter and smaller Fujifilm mirrorless cameras (X-T1 and X-T2) that gave me a break from my also excellent but bigger and heavier Nikon DSLR gear.  In some part I felt (and feel) that commuting and city centre working can be something of a pressurised and dehumanising experience; as I recall from two bouts of overwork and stress-related illness.

And then part 2 of this project is a single picture (number 87) taken in heavy rain with the Olympus TOUGH TG-5 camera.  I’d bought this camera with the aim of looking at the rush hour in atrocious weather conditions, but that aim has yet to be fulfilled – >>> the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak???  🙂  But the TG-5 has  instead proved itself very flexible and useful in the Outer Suburbs project, which makes up the bulk of my posts these days.

And, last week, I found myself with the TG-5 in the morning rush hour in Bristol’s Bedminster suburb, and so to a few more images, part 3 of Going to Work, starting with post 88.

But where this project will go from here – as usual – I have not the slightest idea!!!

POST 89

Alone on a cold, damp morning.  Overcast, and going to work.

Earlier images from this series can be found here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,  29, 30,  31,  32, 33  34  35  36 37  38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45  46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Contrast and Structure preset; St Luke’s Road, south Bristol; 29 Jan 2019.
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OUTER SUBURBS 67 – MODERN HOUSING 9

 

 

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Bees around a sunflower.  And – unseen – imaginative south Bristol inhabitants.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 29 Jan 2019.
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OUTER SUBURBS 60 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 5 (MONO)

 

 

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To be more inside this image, to better imagine being there, its best to enlarge it.  To do this, click onto it to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Walking along a path, walking along a modern suburban canyon, in the early morning.

This is the path also shown, from a slightly different viewpoint, in image 1 on the next line.

Earlier pictures of a paths through modern housing are here: 1 2 3 4 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Natural film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Dynamic Harsh preset and adding a light Selenium tone; south Bristol; 13 Dec 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 58 – MODERN HOUSING 8 (MONO)

 

 

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Sunrise.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to further enlarge it – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm(equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Landscape preset and adding a light Coffee tone; south Bristol; 1 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 56 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 4

 

 

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Path between houses, in the early morning, just after dawn.

Earlier pictures of a paths through modern housing are here: 1 2 3 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 43mm (equiv); 2500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Natural film simulation; south Bristol; 12 Dec 2018.

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OUTER SUBURBS 52 – MODERN HOUSING 7 (MONO)

 

 

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Modernity.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 80mm (equiv); 640 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Harsh preset; south Bristol; 20 Aug 2018.
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STANTON DREW 54 – THE DAY BEGINS

 

 

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Up early on a clear and very cold, frosty morning.  Scrape the frost off the car and, in the darkness, get into the main road’s already busy traffic – in which the urge to get to the workstation asap turns everyone – I mean, you know, ordinary, mature, otherwise common sensical people – into wannabe racing drivers.  This is the bit I dislike most about such early morning sorties, barrelling down a main road in the darkness, with a lemming, cliffbound, almost touching my rear bumper, and other lemmings coming at me with blazing headlights and a far, far too optimistic opinion of what constitutes a safe overtaking distance, into the face of oncoming traffic, in the dark.

But, mercifully, I’m soon at the turn, breathing a sigh of relief and driving carefully down a fairly narrow, country lane.  On the other hand, I’ve certainly not left the race track behind, as those coming into Bristol from the countryside to work in the early mornings can drive even faster than in the denser traffic on the main roads, but at least these drivers are more used to the narrow lanes and, at least for the most part, mercifully aware that it really is best to slow down when the gap between cars travelling in opposite directions is only a matter of a few inches.

And then distinctly greater solace: I reached the turn off into the little village of Stanton Drew, and the few cars coming at me are moving/driving more slowly still.  I drove through the village, got to the car park beyond the pub and – it was still dark!  Over enthusiastic I may be, but even I could see that, as a photographer, there was little point in going out into the darkness!  And I was parked below a small rise, another part of the car park, that would give a view of the eastern horizon when dawn got its thing going.  I sat, huddled for warmth, in the car.

And then that magical time, the eastern sky started to faintly lighten, and I was out of the car, pulling on Wellington boots, and muffling myself in layers of warm clothing.  I walked up to look at the horizon, quite quickly lost all feeling in my frozen feet –  and found not one but two beginnings.  For, as well as the dawn, across a field from me, the occupants of a large house were also readying to meet the day: several windows were ablaze with warm, welcoming light.

And so to this scene.  The first colours of sunrise bathe the sky while below, in the still dark countryside, the house wakes up.

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 300mm.  The scene was dark.  I used the spot meter to take an exposure reading from the house’s illuminated windows but, even at 12,800 ISO, I only managed 1/150th at f4.8.  Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Stanton Drew, in the Chew Valley south of Bristol; 14 Dec 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 48 – MODERN HOUSING 6 (MONO)

 

 

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Modern housing near the school mentioned in the previous post – number 47 in the list below.

This may possibly be meant to be a pedestrian lane, but the nearest road access to the front of the first few houses on the left seems to be by the white house in the far distance, and there is a vehicle just visible in the front garden of the first house on the left.  The stout, uncompromising metal bars in the foreground stop four-wheeled motor vehicles (at least) from accessing a green space and children’s play area behind the camera: all entrances to this green space are protected in this way.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Monotone film simulation; south Bristol; 4 Oct 2018 >>> I must be slipping, using Lightroom to produce black and white when I have Silver Efex Pro 2 available!  But Lightroom does a job for basic things like this, although I don’t rate its black and white presets at all.  I’m sure I’m guilty of a certain amount of snobbishness here, and laziness too, but for me SEP2 gives such a raft of possibilities that, in the great majority of cases, its unthinkable to use anything else.  That said, Lightroom does have the various Acros black and white film simulations for the Fujifilm X-T2 and they’re quite good.

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