alan frost photography

Photographic books – not new camera gear!

Some time ago I remember reading on Eric Kim’s blog that many aspiring photographers would be better to invest their money in good books on photography as opposed to the latest camera gear. This comment struck a chord with me and whilst I can be accused of spending quite a lot of money on my Olympus Micro 4/3rds system last year, at the same time I have also tried to build up a small collection of books. Some cover camera technique and processing, others photographs of a certain genre, landscape for example, or and perhaps most importantly on the work of people I admire.

One such photographer is Michael Kenna, whose exhibition in London I visited recently. I am all too aware that there are many amateurs (and professionals) who have tried to emulate his style or worse still copy his work – plagarism I think its called, but in the photographic art world he is still seen as a master craftsman, creating superb images which can be enjoyed on so many levels.

I was therefore very fortunate to be given for Christmas his two ‘Retrospective’ books, both of which have been signed by him. I am sure he signed many copies, but for me it makes them rather special having his signiature on the inside.

They are beautifully produced and from what little I know about printing and publishing photographic art books, the ‘plates’ are truly excellent. This makes viewing each book (there are not many words to read) a real pleasure. With 130 plates in each ‘Retrospective’, there are many of his photographs to enjoy, study and learn from. Not so that I can be a ‘Kennabie’, as I think the expression goes, but to try and understand and apply some of the masterful techniques which photographers like Michael Kenna have spent a lifetime perfecting. Incidentally both Retrospective books were very efficiently supplied by the specialist photographic bookshop Beyond Words in Edinburgh, Scotland. My thanks to Bruce Percy who first mentioned this supplier when I was on his ‘Eigg’ workshop last year.

Given my love of black and white and the landscapes of the UK, I was also delighted to be given two other books, one on Wales called Pembrokeshire by David Wilson and the other on Scotland by Craig McMaster entitled Elements – The Landscape of Scotland. Although neither book has been produced to the standard of Kenna’s Retrospectives, they both have superb images which in my view truly capture the atmosphere and mood of both countries. These locations are also easier for me to visit. The chances of me going to Kenna’s Japan for example are almost non existent; so from an aspirational perspective these books make far more personal sense.

I have already greatly enjoyed all four titles. Yes, I acknowledge for different reasons but there is no question there is a lot that can learned by not just looking, but studying the works of the other photographers. Trying to apply these lessons to your own work is more difficult, but the latest camera or peice of kit will in my opinion never point you in the right direction! I will be a regular visitor to these books in the months to come, in the vain hope that given time the quality of my own work will improve as a result.

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Looking back on 2012

Without any question 2012 has been a good year for me photographically speaking; a year which had a number of highlights, so please forgive me for some self indulgence in the next few paragraphs.

Let me start by selecting my favourite image of the year. It would be all too easy to pick Sand Waves, as I have enjoyed a lot of success with this image during the year. However it was actually taken on a course with Bruce Percy in September 2011 and therefore it doesn’t qualify. So it has to be this one – Storm approaching East Head (shown below). I just love the sky and the last of the afternoon sun lighting up the dunes before the rain arrived. It’s perhaps no coincidence that I decided to use a crop of this image to be the header for my forthcoming website.

Storm approaching East Head

So what happended during the course of the year? Well, at my camera club back in May I was awarded four end of season trophies – Winner of the ‘B’ league for both Prints and Projected Images, the Most Improved Worker and last but by no means least the Best Projected Image of the Year – Sand Waves. As a result this image appeared on the front of this season’s programme. Fame at last! The consequence of this success was to be promoted to the ‘A’ league for all club competitions and I could now look forward to competing with the ‘big boys …. and girls’!

Havant Camera Club Programme

At about this same time I found myself taking, or to be more exact, converting the vast majority of my images into black and white. Did the success of Sand Waves inspire me to take this course or had it been happening sub consciously to me for some time? In truth I don’t know but its now very rare that I take and like a colour photo, as entries on this blog will testify. Am I therefore now a black and white photographer? Well I can’t answer that one either, but for the moment I have found a branch of photography which I really enjoy and over the next 12 months I want to learn more about what makes a good monochrome image and how to use post processing to produce the best results. I recognise that I have a lot of work to do.

Sand Waves

June was the month when I embraced technology and more specifically social media. As a relatively private person I was not sure about this at all but at the beginning of the month I decided to start a blog, this blog. I had never done anything like it before but several months later I am pleased that to have made the effort. For me its been a great way of recording what I have been doing, expressing some of my thoughts on this hobby of mine and I guess a way of showcasing some of my work. In the same month I also started uploading images to my Flickr account. Primarily it became an easy way to add images to the blog but inevitably I started to join in with the Flickr community, sharing comments and hoping that someone might think one of my shots as a ‘favourite’ of theirs. The statistics for both these online sites are readily available but more of this later. I also created a Twitter account – @ar_frost and started tweeting. Not sure what my family thought, but its a bit of fun if tweeted, sorry I mean treated, correctly! I am currently working on the design and content of my own website which I hope will be ready to go live during the early part of 2013. It will incorporate this blog, so effectively be a one stop shop for my photography and ongoing journal. The domain will be http://www.alanfrostphotography.co.uk so watch this space!

At the end of July I attended a ‘People and Places’ photography course at West Dean College in West Sussex. It was an excellent week and it definitely cemented my committment to black and white. It also gave me a reason to finally bite the bullit and buy the Olympus OMD EM5 micro four thirds camera. I had already bought the Olympus E-PL3 and one or two prime lenses earler in the year. I was so attracted to this format that the OMD had to be added to the kit bag. Its a great camera. Sadly the Nikon D90 DSLR which was my first serious camera purchased about 3 years ago is not getting much use and I need to decide whether or not it should be exchanged for other micro four thirds lenses. The temptation to go full frame is also there, but I’m not sure the capital outlay can be warranted. We shall see.

Olympus OMD EM5 with one part of the battery grip, Lumix 20mm f1.7 prime lens and Olympus 45mm f1.8 prime lens

One of my favourite images taken on the course – Fork or Fingers?

In August I had my first and very modest public exhibition of my work at the Bizzare Bazaar, a local event to raise funds for a new Church Hall in my local village. When I volunteered it was to give visitors something else to look at, never dreaming that I would sell any of my prints. Shock, horror(!) – I sold five prints and I was delighted to donate the proceeds to a good cause – The St Peter Project.

September soon arrived and the camera club season was underway again. At around this time I thought I would enquire about seeking a distinction either through the Royal Photographic Society or the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain. I opted for the RPS Licentiate Distinction and on 2nd December I went up to London for my panel of ten images to be assessed. I passed! I was and still am delighted. My aim is now to work towards the ARPS (Associate) distinction in 2013.

In November our club hosted its National Exhibition and three of my images were selected. Sand Waves (yet again) recieved a Highly Commended from the judges. This and Sea Swirl have also been chosen for the annual Southern Photographic Federation exhibition in Salisbury which starts on the 5th January, but that’s 2013 I hear you say. Yes, but the selection was made in 2012 ;o)

Back to statistics. I mentioned in an earlier entry entilted ‘Early Thoughts’ that it would be all too easy to get addicted to stats, how many views, how many hits etc, but it is a way of measuring traffic and I guess, interest and popularity in my work. As I intend continuing this blog I would like to be able to look back in 12 months times and see how the figures compare. So I have noted down the figures and will look at how they compare in a year from now.

As at today the most popular image on Flickr is ‘Full moon over Swanage Pier’. It’s also the first photograph to appear on Flickr in ‘Explore’.

Thanks to all of you who have visited this site or looked at any of my images on Flickr, particularly if you have added a constructive comment which is always welcome.

With my very best wishes for a peaceful and healthy New Year.

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Swanage Pier – a photo opportunity

Swanage is a small seaside town on the Purbeck coastline of Dorset. Although I had been to the town before I had not seen the pier, so a quick detour to our journey seemed like a good idea, despite the fact that we would arrive mid afternoon and the light would be fading fast. There wouldn’t be a great deal of time for photography but in many ways the short stop was to see whether or not another visit would be worthwhile when I had more time. As we parked the car I noticed a ‘Trompe L’oiel’ on a derelict building opposite the pier. In the bottom right hand corner was this inscription. An omen perhaps?

All the photos were taken using the Olympus OMD EM5 and Olympus 45mm f1.8 prime lens.

There are in fact two piers at Swanage. The remains of the original pier which was built in 1859 and the ‘new’ pier, which was built in 1895, the latter having undergone considerable restoration in recent years.

The original pier

As I walked along the pier I noticed that the vast majority of the wooden planks included a small brass plate with an inscription. In one or two cases a floral tribute had been left, probably on Christmas Day which only adds to the poignancy of the next two images.

Another floral tribute

There are many benches along the promenade looking out to the sea. On this particular bench was a pair of shoes and a single sock. I only hope the owner returned from his paddle, together with the missing sock, on what was a particularly cold day.

The magnificent trompe l’oiel I referred to at the beginning of this entry. The ‘photo opportunity’ inscription can be seen in the bottom right hand corner.

Trompe l'oeil on derelict building in Swanage

Another trompe l’oiel which has been painted on a shutter board in a window

As the light faded the full moon joined the sea gulls in the sky

Swanage Pier is definitely a ‘photo opportunity’ and one I hope to return to in the not too distant future.

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A little Christmas cheer

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-37077939-1’]); _gaq.push([‘_setDomainName’, ‘alanfrostphotography.blogspot.co.uk’]); _gaq.push([‘_setAllowLinker’, true]); _gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true; ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); My last entry was largely about a Cathedral, a place of worship, which is only appropriate at this time of year, after all today is Christmas Eve and tomorrow will be Christmas Day. Across the country there are lights adorning many houses and inside these homes there are beautifully decorated Christmas trees, with presents underneath, all wrapped, ready to be opened in anticipation and excitement.

I thought it might be a bit of fun if I took a few ‘close ups’ of some of the decorations on our tree.

They bring a little colour, light and cheer into our lives.

Happy Christmas!

All images taken with the Olympus OMD EM5 on a tripod, with the 12 – 50mm kit lens on the macro setting.

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The Cathedral City of Chichester

I am very fortunate to be able to call the ancient city of Chichester my home. Whilst our house is not in centre of the city, its not far from where I live, so its a place my family and I frequently visit. From a photographic point of view it has so much to offer but because it’s on my doorstep its all too easy to take for granted the splendour of it’s buildings, the Cathedral in particular.

I had a couple of hours spare about a week ago, and as it was reasonably dry and bright, I decided to walk around and take a few photographs. I concentrated my time on the Cathedral and in Priory Park which is still within the Roman City Walls but over to the North East corner. As well as taking some well known ‘tourist views’ I also took one or two more close up shots which also say something about the place.

When I came to post processing, I converted the images in Silver Efex Pro2 but thought it would be appropriate on this occasion to apply a slight sepia tone, which to me introduced a little warmth and softened the picture. All the shots were taken with Olympus OMD EM5.

As mentioned before Chichester has a wealth of buildings and subjects to photograph. Add in seasonal variations and I am all too aware that I have only scratched the surface, so I am sure there will more entries on Chichester in the future. In the meantime here is a selection of the images I took that day.

Chichester Cathedral from Canon Lane.

Chichester Cathedral spire taken from Bishops Palace Garden which is to the west of the Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral from Bishops Palace Gardens

Bishops Palace Garden – a fine place to relax and do The Times crossword perhaps?

The imposing statue of St Richard which greets everyone as they walk up the shallow set of steps from West Street on their way to main west entrance of St Richard’s Cathedral

The beautiful arches of The Cloisters

A bust of Queen Elizabeth II at the West Entrance to the Cathedral

A bust of the Duke of Edinburgh also at the West Entrance

Just one of the many attractive rows of houses in a side street near Priory Park

Priory Park and The Guildhall

A statue in Priory Park. Some think it is Moses, others Neptune, whilst it is also thought it could b a druid.

One final image of Chichester Cathedral

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