alan frost photography

An Antiquarian bookshop – which harks back to another era

Antiquarian bookshop

A couple of days ago I was in the lovely town of Lewes in East Sussex. My brief visit had nothing to do with photography, but I did have my camera with me. There wasn’t the time to explore the town, but I was struck by the number of secondhand bookshops there were.

This image of ‘A & Y Cumming’ takes me back to another time. This photograph could have been taken many years ago, as so little has changed. The only modern item clearly visible is the alarm box in the top left hand corner, but even this is relatively old if compared with what might be installed today.

In these days of Amazon and ‘online shopping’ etc, it’s rather appealing that a shop like this can still trade and survive. Even its opening hours are hardly 24/7. The sign writing on the door informs you the shop will open at 10am on weekdays and close at 5pm. On Saturday it stays open an extra half an hour until 5.30pm but not surprisingly it’s closed on Sundays. How very civilised.

The sign writing above the door is old fashioned, but befitting of what’s on sale. The telephone number simply says Lewes and does not display the area code, so you would have to know what this is if you wanted to ring the shop from outside the area. It’s all very quaint and says a lot about Lewes as a town. Yes, it has a large Tesco superstore, a Waitrose and other well known shops, plus a number of independents, but none of these has the charm of a Antiquarian and Secondhand bookshop which harks back to another era.

Long may shops such as these continue to exist and thrive in the future, helping to preserve a little bit of history in the process.

Looking through the archives – Welsh hillside

Welsh hillside

I always enjoying looking back through photographs that were taken a few years ago, partly because it’s a fun thing to do and secondly to see whether or not a colour image taken before I decided to concentrate on monochrome, would convert well to black and white. This particular shot of three sheep on a Welsh hillside in Ceredigion was taken back in August 2010 – a very typical grey day during a Welsh Summer!

The second shot is of a Welsh track taken on the same walk. The pathway leads the eye to the rain clouds ahead.

Welsh track

Fortunately I will be visiting Wales again later this year. Snowdonia this time. It’s an area I do not know at all but it has great photographic appeal. The combination of mountains, lakes and dramatic skies is right up my street. Yes, I am sure it will rain but that just adds to the atmosphere. I can’t wait!

Both shots were taken with a little Panasonic LX3. A camera I still own although it rarely gets used these days.

After dark in Chichester

Gravestone
In the grounds of Chichester Cathedral
1/180 sec.

There is one particular advantage to the short days of winter, it gets dark very early. Obvious I know, but when I decided a few days ago to take some shots after dark, I was able to do so at a civilised hour, in fact shortly after I had finished work. I very rarely take photographs after the sun has disappeared below the horizon, so I took my Leica M Monochrom to work and on the way home stopped in the centre of the City of Chichester to see what I could find. I limited myself to an area very close to the the Cathedral, as I only had an hour to spare.

I set the ISO to 6400, and the 50mm Summilux lens to f1.4, its widest aperture opening. These settings gave me fairly fast shutter speeds, which allowed me to comfortably hand hold the camera without having to resort to using a tripod. Just as well really as I didn’t have one with me and even if I had, I wouldn’t have wanted to use it. This exercise was more for fun. It was a test to see how the Monochrom worked in very low levels of light, even though I did make use of the artificial light sources available, including the flood lights which illuminate the Cathedral.

This exercise has made me think what might be possible shooting after dark. The joy of being free from a tripod is quite liberating and having looked at the exif data I could easily have used a lower ISO setting. Nevertheless the grain or noise at ISO 6400 does not in my opinion degrade the quality of the image, but on reflection ISO 3200 might have been more appropriate.

All the photographs were processed in Lightroom, and to finish I applied a tone to give the the images a little more warmth.

West Street, Chichester
1/1000 sec

The young couple
1/90 sec

Alley car
1/500 sec

Old glass window
1/250 sec

St Richard
1/750 sec

Sailing in the Solent

Sailing in the Solent

Because I live near the south coast, I have lost count of the number of people who over the years have asked – “Do you sail?” To which I reply – “No, I don’t”. I prefer to look at the sea and not be either in it or floating in a boat on it. Having said that, if a sailing friend offers a trip on the water then subject to the weather being reasonably calm, I will more than likely take up the invitation.

My wife and I accompanied some friends last year and we sailed from Chichester Harbour across the Solent towards Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. We anchored in the bay just off Bembridge to enjoy a very pleasant lunch before setting sail for the return journey. I know I like it to be calm when on the water but on this occasion there was hardly a breath of wind and what liitle wind there was to be had, was apparently blowing in the wrong direction. So the engine was fired up and eventually we arrived back in the sheltered waters of Chichester Harbour. The calming influence of sailing was rather spoilt by the constant thrum coming from the outboard motor not to mention the smell from the fumes of the diesel engine. Nevertheless it was a very pleasant way to spend the day and we kept dry, which is always a blessing.

It was late September and the light was beginning to fade. There were clouds gathering but the late afternoon sun danced on the water as I looked back towards the Isle of Wight and took this shot. A reminder of a very good day out and I can understand why sailing appeals to so many people, but I think I will stick with my hobby – photography.

West Bay – A Dorset fishing harbour

Harbour wall
It was low tide so the full height of the harbour wall was visible. I don’t know how old the harbour wall would be, but for many, many years, the water has risen and fallen with the tide, covering the old ladders, wooden posts and exposed brick and stonework. The buoys and reflections of the wall in the water, together with the wall itself I think make an interesting image.

Fishing harbours are wonderful photographic subjects, where the eye is inevitably is drawn to the fishing boats, clusters of old rope, endless rusty chains, small mountains of lobster pots, and piles of decaying painted wood – the list goes on and on.

Back in December when I visited the fishing village of West Bay on the Dorset coast (now famous as the back drop to the crime series ‘Broadchurch’), I tried as hard as I could to avoid the obvious, which in this type of environment is a rather challenging thing to do. Whether or not I have succeeded is hard for me to judge but whatever the results, I spent a very happy hour or two walking around this most attractive location in relatively warm winter sunshine, with a camera in my hand looking for things to photographic. What could be better?!