The drama of Bosham

October 28, 2022

There are some types of light which just cry out to be photographed in black and white - particularly sunny winter’s days. When I visited Bosham back in February there was low winter sun in abundance, creating a glorious contrast of light and shadow in the church.

This sort of light is guaranteed to get my photographic juices flowing and everywhere I looked the church was bathed in a wonderful glow.

Click on any of the images to see them larger.

As I walked back through the churchyard to the car a couple more small scenes caught my eye, also enhanced by the winter sun.

Photos taken 25 February 2022

The colours of Llandovery

October 27, 2022

It’s been a long while since I posted anything here but I’m back! Over the coming days and weeks I plan to catch up on posting some of the photos I’ve taken this year. I’ve been out there with a camera, but my working life now includes so much more time on the computer for my music work that sitting down to write blog posts in the evenings has had less appeal. Of course, there’s no reason why I can’t let the photos speak for themselves a little more though and I’m keen to have an outlet for my images beyond Instagram. So let’s get started!

A couple of weeks ago I was back in mid-Wales for a music course and I was able to steal a morning of me time with my camera. Getting anywhere in Wales seems to take at least an hour so rather than heading for a big destination I stayed local and went into Llandovery. I had no specific idea what I was going to take photos of but gradually a theme emerged - colour. Even on a grey day Llandovery is quite a vivid place - lots of painted house in every colour of the rainbow so I simply followed my nose and snapped whatever took my fancy.

Looking back on my images, there are ones which stand alone, and others which seem to naturally fall into sets according to their colour palette so I’ve decided to share them that way here. Any of the thumbnail images will come up larger on your screen if you click on them so I hope you enjoy the colours of Llandovery!

Perhaps this one doesn’t quite fit the colour theme, but I was curious about the story behind the banner over what appears to be a private driveway!

Colour and texture…

Who can resist a brightly coloured front door?

Photos taken 14 October 2022

Streetlife

July 23, 2022

The last time I did any street photograph was early in 2020 and that feels like a lifetime ago. Since then I’ve bought my Fujifilm X100V which I always felt would be perfect for this genre - it’s just a shame the streets have been so quiet since Covid.

Finally today I found a chance to give my little Fuji a run out on the promenade at Littlehampton. The folks I encountered were in a relaxed holiday mood so I tried to be brave and capture some of the characters I saw. I always find it takes me time to build up some confidence and I often didn’t get in as close as I’d have liked.

Ultimately it was the animals of Littlehampton who offered the best photo opportunities - at least I know they’re not going to object to me taking their photo!

23 July 2022

The colour of summer

July 10, 2022

There are certain iconic film stocks which have a distinct look. For me, one of those is Kodak Gold - definitely a name which conjures up a sense of summer holiday snaps, with golden hues and vivid colours. When it was announced recently that Gold was going to be produced in 120 format as well as 35mm I knew I had to buy some to use in my pinhole cameras. The fact that it’s just two thirds of the price of Kodak Ektar (one of my favourite colour film stocks) was just a bonus!

Click on any of the thumbnails to see the photos larger

As soon as the film was available to pre-order I bagged a pack of five rolls but it’s taken me a couple of months to find the right moment to run a roll through my camera. That opportunity came with a warm, sunny day at the Culford School car show. The bright colours of the classic cars were just what I was after and the results have exactly the eye popping look I was hoping for. Pinhole photography requires longer exposure times than when shooting with a lens (although not very slow on a day as sunny as this), which often distorts the colours a little. The blues become even bluer and the other colours really sing.

On days with so much contrast black and white often works well too, so I also took the opportunity to use up some Fomapan film. This is about as cheap as things get with film - just £4-5 a roll, and I found it struggled a little compared to my usual monochrome film of choice - Ilford FP4+. Still, it provides a dramatic contrast to the colours of Kodak Gold and I know in future to stick with Ilford for super sunny days.

10 July 2022

Exploring Itchenor

May 16, 2022

Today brought a much needed day off and the chance to spend some time by the sea. I decided to follow my nose and ended up in Itchenor, where the tide was gradually coming in. Armed with my new welies I was able to wade into the water to get up close to the boats and find a different perspective.

While I was in the village it seemed a shame not to take a look in the church too - a haven of peace and tranquility.

16 May 2022

Minimalist photography

May 7, 2022

Back in February I bought myself a Holga 120N film camera on eBay for £21. I was curious to learn more about these simple plastic cameras as I know several photographers who love them. Having given it a first outing last month today I took it along for the ride when I headed into London for work.

With a single shutter speed of 1/100 of a second and only two apertures there are very few technical choices to be made with a Holga – instead it’s all about the composition. I took a few photos around Oxford Circus before heading east towards Tottenham Court Road. Here I found lots of inspiration around the new entrance to the tube station and the surrounding architecture.

As for the camera, I can see the attraction. Having one’s entire focus on composition makes you look more carefully and I found several images I really liked. I need to learn the sweet spots in the camera’s zone focus system better, but I can see I’m going to have fun doing so!

7 May 2022

Exploring Chichester Cathedral… slowly

February 14, 2022

I may have lived in Chichester for most of my life and I’ve taken endless photos around the Cathedral, but this set of photos is a first. I’ve spent hours exploring every inch of the building with a digital camera (helped by the fact that I worked in the Cathedral School for nearly two decades) but this was the first time I’d visited with my pinhole camera.

I was able to steal a quiet hour in the Cathedral before heading off to a rehearsal and I had the place to myself, aside from a couple of ladies who were refreshing the flower displays. Using a tripod in a building like this often marks you out as someone who’s likely to be making money from their photography so I wasn’t surprised when one of the vergers came and asked what I was doing. He seemed somewhat nonplussed at the sight of someone taking photos with a wooden box on a tripod and quickly decided I was doing no harm!

14 February 2022

St. Mary's Church, Itchen Stoke

February 9, 2022

Faced with a long drive home from Dorset I sought out somewhere to visit enroute. Looking on the Churches Conservation Trust website I found the delightful St Mary’s at Itchen Stoke.

The website said the best time to visit this small Victorian church was when the sun was shining, so as to see the best of the stained glass. As I set out the sun was shrouded by cloud, so I felt very lucky when it popped out, just as I walked into the church!

9 February 2022

Expanding my pinhole education on the Jurassic Coast

February 8, 2022

One of my photographic resolutions for 2022 was to spend less money on gear but instead to use the money I’d put aside for photography for education instead. That process began today with a one to one workshop with Paul Mitchell. Paul is primarily a landscape photographer but he has a love of pinhole photography and I first discovered his work by attending a Zoom talk he gave on the subject.

Our destination for the day was the Jurassic coast of Dorset, where I felt sure I’d learn from his expertise and come away with some photos I’d be proud of. We began the day on the beach at Lulworth Cove and I immediately made good use of the new wellies I’d bought for the occasion! They allowed me to get into the shallow waves to get closer to the action.

I spent most of the day shooting monochrome film in my 6x6 pinhole camera, but I’d also loaded up a roll of Kodak Ektar into my 6x9 camera for a different look. I always tend to gravitate towards monochrome for pinhole work, but these remind me I should sometimes explore colour opportunities more.

From Lulworth we moved on to Kimmeridge Bay, another location I’ve often seen in images but never visited before. Scrambling down onto the rocks by the waterline allowed lots of dramatic opportunities, while higher up the beach I found other photographic possibilities.

From Kimmeridge we headed for our final destination – Swanage. Here it was more a matter of looking for details and shapes than sweeping landscapes but I still found plenty of inspiration.

8 February 2022

An alternative view of Salisbury Cathedral

February 7, 2022

Hot on the heels of my digital photos from Salisbury Cathedral we have a more leisurely approach, shot on one of my pinhole cameras. I chose to use Ilford Delta 3200 so as to keep my exposure times shorter, but even so many of them extended into several minutes.