ARCHIVE 501 – PEOPLE LAUGHING (MONO)

 

 

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People laughing; 24 Mar 2012.

Guests at a party, laughing at a speech.  My gaze is taken into the photo, down the “narrowing corridor” formed by the four, nearer faces, and ending up on the woman and partly seen man sitting up against the wall. 

I especially like the couple in the “second row” of these faces.  They are a couple and thus know each other well >>> and the person making the speech has just said something that has made the man explode with laughter >>> so that his partner is looking over and smiling with delight at him – a wonderfully human moment.

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

Technique: D700 with 24-120 Nikkor lens at 24mm; 400 ISO; diffused, bounced flash;  converted to mono and further manipulated in Silver Efex Pro 2.

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ARCHIVE 481 – SELFIE OF YOUNG LOVE (MONO)

 

 

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Something heartwarming, something very good to see; West Bay, Dorset; 21 Apr 2015.

Strolling on the harbour wall at the diminutive Dorset resort of West Bay, with the damned great Nikon and zoom perched on my paunch – when over left a selfie was fired off – and I was just not quick enough to capture the action, although I did get a shot of them examining the result immediately afterwards.

And so, and not for the first time, I cursed my lack of alertness and speed – when they squared up for another shot at it – I mean, them – and this time I was ready.

Well, its truly candid, and as an image I like it.  Presentation in black and white removes the distractions of colour and takes us in solely to them and what they’re about.

But those thoughts only scratch the surface on this one.  I started off by describing it as heartwarming and I stick by that.  Its a moment of togetherness and affection, a moment shared – and that’s good to see.  Who knows what the future will bring for them?  Not knowing them at all, I wish them good luck and happiness.

See?  Underneath … well, actually, really quite deep underneath … I’m just something of an Old Softy ….

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

Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Spectrum preset.

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ARCHIVE 479 – FISHERMAN (MONO)

 

 

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Fisherman in early morning mist, Herons Green, Chew Valley Lake, near Bristol; 6 Apr 2015.

The morning was very misty but, in pursuit of Minimalism, I’ve added a pale vignette to further reduce detail.

And this all enfolding mistiness also serves to enhance the impression of a lone individual pursuing his passion early on a calm morning, surrounded by the gentle sounds of water, birds, and the lightest of breezes.

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

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

Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Classic Portrait preset.

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ARCHIVE 473 – WAVE MEETS MAN (MONO)

 

 

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FANTASY: a wave, furrowed, swelling, dark, and with a thin, foaming apron of silver, rolls in towards the beach and meets a man.  And there is a communion – something passes –  between the moving water and that rigid figure with his dark suit, bowed head and tightly clenched fists.  

Is he bowing to the turbulent and rising water, acknowledging it perhaps as a living thing?  Or, in a moment of shock and revelation, is he realising his own inadequacy in the face of this endless, remorseless and energetic swell?  And, equally, in what way is the wave responding to him?  Indifference, perhaps?  Or, however muted and distant, is there some acknowledgement of another feature of this planet’s surface?

And because this is an interpretation that exists only in my mind, I have used a pale vignette to separate this imagined interaction from the solid and all too permanent reality all around – the mist shifts, and we are granted a fleeting glimpse into a daydream.

REALITY: a man, not a young man as I remember, walked down the beach in a dark blue suit, brown shoes and a wide brimmed hat, and remained standing there in the harsh sunlight, apparently transfixed by the sand and pebbles at his feet. 

What was he actually doing?  His fists appear to be clenched but, magnifying things substantially, I think that his hands are in fact full of beach pebbles – and fossils too maybe on this famous Jurassic Coast.  And he’s gazing down at the beach’s debris, hoping to add more to his collection.

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

Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Antique Portrait preset; West Bay, Dorset; 21 Apr 2015.

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ARCHIVE 466 – FISHERMAN AT LAMU

 

 

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Fisherman, with the last of his catch for sale, on Lamu Island, Kenya; July 1978.

I wondered about using black and white here, but the colours of the man’s clothes really jump out of this image’s otherwise quite muted palette.  Not that a muted palette is necessarily a bad thing – I’ve often thought that some of the more successful colour images are those with the least colour – but here I like the contrast between the shock and glow of those clothes and the rest of the shot.

Technique: OM-1 with 28mm Zuiko lens; Agfa CT18 colour slide, rated at 64 ISO.

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OUTER SUBURBS 214 – EAST STREET: A TRADITIONAL BUTCHER

 

 

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Years ago, when I was a boy (no, no … not in Victorian times! … more recently than that … ) there were different types of shops for different commodities, and so to fishmongers, bakers, grocers, greengrocers and, as here, butchers.  Now of course, most things can be found in supermarkets and, although convenience is undeniably there to cater for today’s treasured “busy modern lifestyle”, supermarkets can be extraordinarily blank and characterless – as opposed to smaller, more personal shops like the one above.

What can I remember from the 1950s?  Well, we lived at the top of a long, steep hill, and affected some sort of well off, middle class lifestyle.  But my mother didn’t drive and in any case Dad took  the car to work, and so, to get groceries, she and I took the bus to the bottom of this long hill, and (aged around 5 or so) I tried to amuse myself as best I could in Mr Harvey’s grocer’s shop (its a hair salon now), as Mum read to Mr Harvey from a long list of necessaries while he, in a spotless white coat, went here and there in his shop, getting the items and arranging them all on the counter.  My mother then paid him, and arranged when he would bring the big box of groceries up the long hill in his van, and deliver them to us.  And we didn’t have a fridge, and so Mr Harvey delivered no chilled or frozen goods.  Ah, a bygone age … halcyon days(?) …  far, far away …

And I have a more personal connection here as my errant father, before he left us for pastures new, was also a traditional butcher like the one above, and I remember happy Saturday mornings spent playing in the abattoir.  LOL! he was also convicted of black marketeering during the war but, well, no one’s perfect … 🙂 …

The first photo in this East Street series, with context, is here . Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 . Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Portrait profile; East Street, Bedminster, Bristol; 21 Jan 2020.
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ARCHIVE 453 – TREE MEETS MAN

 

 

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An Oak meets me in the autumn garden; 18 Nov 2013.

I’m freely mobile but the tree is not – and I can speak but, as far as I know, the tree cannot – and therefore I must be the one doing the meeting and greeting?  

How did Gershwin put it? … ” It ain’t necessarily so … it ain’t necessarily so …”.

Technique: D800 with 15mm Sigma fisheye lens; 800 ISO; Color Efex Pro 4.

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PEOPLE 395 – CHRISTMAS CHEER

 

 

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Contemplating cold reality in the Season of Good Cheer: waiting for a bus in the morning rush hour.  Christmas seems so long ago now, and as far away and inaccessible as this tree is – inside the glass in the warm – from this man, who is outside the glass in the cold. 

Still, the only way is forward – as I read on blogs this morning, we should try to concentrate on the here and now and not be brought down by the prospect of what may be ahead.  This seems good advice.  Some recent thoughts on coronavirus are here .

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

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 6400 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Astia/Soft profile; central Bristol; 15 Dec 2017.
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PEOPLE 393 – GOING TO WORK 103

 

 

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The bus to work in winter: everyone wearing heavy, bulky, overwarm, outdoor clothes; the atmosphere inside the vehicle humid, close; the windows steamy.

In this picture, I’m using the black surround of the bus’s window as a frame.  But the corners of this surround are rounded, so that small areas of the bus’s grey bodywork show in the corners – but actually I like these, to me they add to the feeling that this is not in fact a real scene, but rather a picture hanging on a wall (in the home of a public transport enthusiast??? 🙂 ).

Click onto file to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 6400 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Velvia/Vivid profile; central Bristol; 1 Dec 2019.

Recent Going to Work posts are here: 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 . Each will open in a separate window. (Post 100 contains selected images from the first 99 posts.)

GOING TO WORK: THE EARLIER POSTS: 1-92.

You can see a summary of the Going to Work series here .

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 89 90 91 92 . Each will open in a separate window.
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ARCHIVE 437 – ON HOLIDAY, TOGETHER

 

 

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A couple strolling over the rocks at St Ives, Cornwall; 27 Sept 2012.

Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 400 ISO;  this picture was produced by dragging the midpoint tab on Levels & Curves quite radically to the right, which has had the effect of darkening the image’s darker tones – in fact it has reduced them to black. The paler tones are relatively unaffected – and I’ve given them a lot of warmth in Capture NX2, to boost their colours.

Reality?  Definitely not!  But do I like it? Yes!
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