SOMERSET LEVELS 464 – EARLY MORNING MIST, SWANSHARD COTTAGES

 

 

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Early morning, and I was in Swanshard Lane, a small, meandering back road on the Somerset Levels north of Glastonbury.  It was misty, and most of my photographs were of the flat landscape – I love taking pictures in murk!  But by the little bridge over the River Sheppey there are a couple of old houses and, as I looked back at them, the rising sun broke weakly through the mist and provided some weak side lighting on their old walls and their tiled, mossy roofs.

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: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens used in DX (= APS-C) format to give 450mm; 3200 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Portrait v2 profile; Swanshard Lane, on the Somerset Levels southwest of Wells; 2 Aug 2019.

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OUTER SUBURBS 230 – PARKED CAR 13 (MONO)

 

 

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There are earlier images in this Parked Car series here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the B&W 04 profile; south Bristol; 16 Jan 2019.

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OUTER SUBURBS 225 – PARKED CAR 12

 

 

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Looking at a BMW, not in any envious or possessive way, but rather seeing this confection of glass, metal, plastic and rubber more as a still life, looking at its shapes and lines, seeing how it reflects the light.  And so to processing the image, and to two crops.  The one above is more conventional, whereas the one below looks at just a part of the upper image and is more Minimalist.

There are earlier images in this Parked Car series here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 800 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 26 Apr 2020.
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ARCHIVE 482 – PHONE BOX

 

 

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Telephone.

Extreme wide angle – we are inside the box, about to use the phone, looking out at the surrounding buildings.

The windows are dirty and scrawled on, inside the box is grimy – this is city life.

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

Technique: X-T2 with 10-24 Fujinon lens at 15mm (equiv); 200 ISO; Lightroom, using the Pro Neg Hi film simulation; Lewins Mead / Rupert Street, central Bristol; 11 Aug 2017.
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OUTER SUBURBS 223 – MODERN HOUSING 11 (MONO)

 

 

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Walking in the lockdown.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 400 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Film Noir 3 preset and adding a light Coffee tone; south Bristol; 5 Apr 2020.
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ARCHIVE 471 – HEADING WEST IN FILTHY WEATHER (MONO)

 

 

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Heading west in filthy weather over North Moor, on the Somerset Levels, southwest of Wells; 27 Oct 2011.

Damp and murk on the Somerset Levels: strong winds, rain cascading from dense, dark overcast, and puddles building up along on the roadside –  a mile or so ahead, the road is completely awash.

I hope this photo conveys some of the wildness of that dark morning.  I’m safe and dry in the car of course, and the illuminated dials on the dashboard convey something of being on the inside, looking out.  The two dark, antenna-like structures protruding from the bottom of the windscreen (roughly on either side of the road as we look at them) are the bases of the frantically flailing wipers, and the headlights are on full beam to light more of the scene.

Two technical points.  The astonishing D700 is working at 25,600 ISO – how I love the abilities of this truly gutsy camera!  And, although the (image stabilised) wideangle is wide open at f4 (and 1/20th second), the 16mm focal length still provides sufficient depth of field the render both the dashboard and the road reasonably sharp.

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

Technique: D700 with 16-35 Nikkor lens at 16mm; 25,600 ISO; converted to mono in Silver Efex Pro 2.

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BRISTOL 168 – STREET SCENE 8

 

 

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Other images in the Bristol Street Scenes series are here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .  Searching on the “street” tag (below here) will also find these posts.

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

Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 135mm; 1600 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Dramatic profile; central Bristol; 29 Nov 2019.

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OUTER SUBURBS 212 – CAR BESIDE FENCE, EARLY LIGHT

 

 

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Walking the locked down suburbs:  sunrise, a new fence and a car.

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: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 400 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 31 Mar 2020.

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OUTER SUBURBS 210 – PARKED AT NUMBER 94 (MONO)

 

 

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A clear morning; bright, cold sunshine; everything still, quiet and locked down – and a car parked at Number 94.  For obvious reasons no doubt, I have been experiencing something of a photographic block recently, something of an unwillingness to raise the camera and look at things, but the glorious sunshine – even though not seen here –  got to me.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the B&W 12 profile; south Bristol; 31 Mar 2020.
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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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