Looking at – and seeing – the world
April 18, 2018 4 Comments
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In the harbour, West Bay, Dorset; 23 Apr 2015.
Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.
D800 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 800 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Low Key 2 preset.
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September 1, 2017 2 Comments
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Fulmar flying around East Cliff; West Bay, Dorset; 23 April 2015.
Looking very much like a seagull, this is in fact a true seabird that spends most of its life out on the open seas and only comes ashore to breed – the reason why this individual was around the cliffs at West Bay. It can at once be told from a gull by the little kink and ridge on the top of its bill that houses nasal passages, something that gulls don’t have.
Living out on the open seas as they do, and eating things like squid, fish and shrimps, these birds are up to their ears in salt – some of which they manage to get rid of by excreting it as a strong saline solution through their noses. And, should one of these beauties feel that you’re approaching it too closely on a cliff, they will vomit their foul smelling stomach oils over you – to give you a gentle hint …
And finally here’s a fascinating passage from Wikipedia: “Fulmars have for centuries been exploited for food. The engraver Thomas Bewick wrote in 1804 that “Pennant, speaking of those [birds] which breed on, or inhabit, the Isle of St Kilda, says—’No bird is of so much use to the islanders as this: the Fulmar supplies them with oil for their lamps, down for their beds, a delicacy for their tables, a balm for their wounds, and a medicine for their distempers. ….. James Fisher, author of The Fulmar (1952) calculated that every person on St Kilda consumed over 100 fulmars each year; the meat was their staple food, and they caught around 12,000 birds annually.”. But no, before you ask, I’ve never tasted one! And I recommend that St Kilda link – if only for the sounds of the sea! – I’ve never been there, but it was a constant and brooding presence, far off to the west, when I was on the Western Isles some years back.
There is another Fulmar image, and more context, here.
Click onto this image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.
Technique: D800 with 70-300 Nikkor used at 300mm in DX (= APS-C) format to provide 450mm; 400 ISO.
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November 21, 2015 7 Comments
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FANTASY: well, what the title says – with a desperate stab at modernity, “It does what it says in the title!“. And maybe its The Advertising Of The Future – after all, if you place your empty hoarding in front of what you’re advertising, you do away with the need for the actual advert …
REALITY: empty advertising / information display on the beach at West Bay, Dorset; 5 Oct 2005. Right from the moment I pressed the OM-4’s (wonderfully quiet) shutter release, the quest with this image was for unreality. And so, using my little telezoom (how I miss those tiny Zuiko lenses!), all else but the empty display, beach and sky was cropped out of the frame – and knowing that Fuji’s wonderful colour slide film was going to be push processed by two stops, I knew that the resulting colours might well be more … imaginative … than true …
And finally, a decade later, a little (but only a little) tweaking in CEP4.
If your eyes can stand it – no free sunglasses on this blog! – you can see a larger version of this image by clicking onto it.
OM-4 with 75-150 Zuiko at 150mm; Fuji Provia 400 colour slide rated at 1600 ISO; Color Efex Pro 4.
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October 11, 2015 20 Comments
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Adult Herring Gull, resting in glorious sunshine, beside the harbour at West Bay, Dorset; 21 Apr 2015.
Immaculate! An inveterate and highly aggressive and successful scavenger, thief and killer.
And, at the same time, a creature of vast natural beauty.
So what skews our judgement of him – if we are fit to judge – what he does or what he is? After all, if beauty is function, even the Spotted Hyaena is beautiful.
But of course – as regular readers of this blog will know – when it comes to gulls I’m biased!
D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 200 ISO; Color Efex Pro 4.
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August 20, 2015 6 Comments
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Fishing boat hauled up onto the quay; the harbour at West Bay, Dorset; 5 Nov 2008.
F6 with 70-300 Nikkor; Fuji Provia 400X colour slide, rated at 1600 ISO.
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August 2, 2015 4 Comments
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Carrion Crow around the cliffs west of West Bay, Dorset; 21 April 2015.
A large, intelligent and opportunistic killer and scavenger, widespread in pairs across Britain – and as much at home around these wild crags as in the soft and leafy suburbs of Bristol.
And the rocks? These are the honey-coloured cliffs of Dorset’s renowned Jurassic Coast – beautiful certainly, but with a dangerous beauty all the same, for these fossil-filled rocks are very loose and prone to collapse – no one climbs here, this natural beauty is best admired from a distance.
Click onto the image to see a larger version in a separate window.
D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 400 ISO; Color Efex Pro 4.
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August 1, 2015 6 Comments
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Reflection of a motor boat on the harbour at West Bay; 21 Apr 2015.
Click onto this image to see a larger version on a separate window.
The first image in this series – also of boats but in very different style – is here.
D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 170mm; 200 ISO; flipped.
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July 25, 2015 12 Comments
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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, quite deep underneath … I’m just an Old Softy ….
D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Spectrum preset.
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May 31, 2015 16 Comments
This image is best viewed at larger scale – click onto it to see a larger version in a separate window.
Fulmar flying around East Cliff; West Bay, Dorset; 23 April 2015.
Looking very much like a seagull, this is in fact a true seabird that spends most of its life out on the open seas and only comes ashore to breed – the reason why this individual was around the cliffs at West Bay. It can at once be told from a gull by the little kink and ridge on the top of its bill that houses nasal passages, something that gulls don’t have.
Living out on the open seas as they do, and eating things like squid, fish and shrimps, these birds are up to their ears in salt – some of which they manage to get rid of by excreting it as a strong saline solution through their noses. And, should one of these beauties feel that you’re approaching it too closely on a cliff, they will vomit their foul smelling stomach oils over you – to give you a gentle hint …
And finally here’s a fascinating passage from Wikipedia: “Fulmars have for centuries been exploited for food. The engraver Thomas Bewick wrote in 1804 that “Pennant, speaking of those [birds] which breed on, or inhabit, the Isle of St Kilda, says—’No bird is of so much use to the islanders as this: the Fulmar supplies them with oil for their lamps, down for their beds, a delicacy for their tables, a balm for their wounds, and a medicine for their distempers. ….. James Fisher, author of The Fulmar (1952) calculated that every person on St Kilda consumed over 100 fulmars each year; the meat was their staple food, and they caught around 12,000 birds annually.”. But no, before you ask, I’ve never tasted one! And I recommend that St Kilda link – if only for the sounds of the sea! – I’ve never been there, but it was a constant and brooding presence, far off to the west, when I was on the Western Isles some years back.
There is another Fulmar image, and more context, here.
D800 with 70-300 Nikkor used at 300mm in DX format to provide 450mm; 400 ISO.
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May 23, 2015 10 Comments
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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.
West Bay, Dorset; 21 Apr 2015; D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 300mm; 200 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Antique Portrait preset.
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