black and white | alan frost photography

Posts from the ‘black and white’ category

A ‘Folly’ known as Racton Tower

Standing proud on a hill to the north of Emsworth and to the west of Chichester is Racton Tower in Lordington. This monument is in fact a folly and now a ruined tower. Thought to have been built in the late 1700’s, many say it is haunted. Surrounded by trees the place certainly has an eery feeling to it and as I left the site to return to my car, the sun was setting and I for one would not want to be there at night time. Judging by the graffiti it is almost certainly a venue for drunken parties!

Taken at different times but all on the same day, the shots of the monument with dramatic clouds as a backdrop were taken around lunchtime, whilst the ‘close up’ shots were taken later in the afternoon when there was more cloud cover and as the sun started to set.

All images were shot with my Olympus OMD EM5

The sun lights up the tower itself and I just cant resist photographing these wonderful cloudscapes
Panasonic 45-200mm lens @51mm f8 1/1600 ISO 200

The late afternoon sun on Racton Tower
Panasonic 20mm prime lens f3.2 1/640 ISO 200

Dramatic clouds move around in the sky
Panasonic 45-200mm lens @67mm f8 1/1000 ISO 200

Looking up from inside the tower. Sadly the graffiti is clearly visible but does add its own character
Olympus 12mm prime lens f5 1/20 ISO 200

Again dark clouds add to the dramatic nature of the location
Panasonic 45-200mm lens @61mm f8 1/1000 ISO 200

Looking up……..
Panasonic 20mm prime lens f2.5 1/3200 ISO 200

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LRPS Assessment Day

Having enjoyed some success and recognition at my camera club during the past year, I decided a few weeks ago to set myself the goal of submitting a panel of work to the Royal Photographic Society or RPS, for Licentiateship. I thought six months would be a reasonable length of time in which to prepare.

Another club member, who has the distinction of being an ARPS or Associate, gave me the confidence to believe that my work is worthy of a submission and that he would be prepared to be a mentor and guide me through the process.

Believing there was no rush, as the first available date was not until April 2013, he suggested it would be a good idea to attend an assessment workshop in November. I booked myself a place and I will look forward to the day.

In the meantime I checked the RPS website for their guidelines and what would be required come the big day. This was something of a mistake, as I noticed they had added an extra assessment date to their calender…..at the beginning of December this year!

Do I or don’t I, I asked myself? Believing there is no time like the present I completed an application form, sent it in the post with my entry fee, and the following day received email confirmation that my application had been accepted.

Now the hard work really begins. In the space of the next few weeks I have to select ten images, decide on a layout, print and mount them. The printing and mounting are hopefully fairly straightforward, but before I reach that stage there is plenty of ‘dithering’ to be done. I have chosen a short list of about 25, images although in truth I think there are only fifteen of the standard they are likely to require.

If the number of entries to this blog reduce in number in the next few weeks then I hope you will understand why!

I have added an image which might just make the final ten.

Sea Swirl taken on the Isle of Eigg last year.

South coast seafront

I am very fortunate to live and work close to the sea, so the opportunity to take some coastal shots when I have a few minutes to spare are most welcome. A few days ago I took some photos of Bognor Regis seafront, although on this occassion I mainly concentrated on the Pier. Like many in this country the pier is always in need of repair. The constant ravages of the salt water, wind, rain and even the sun, all take their toll as the seasons pass by. From a photographic point of view they also make good black and white subjects.

When I have more time I will take some images of other piers along the South Coast. They are a relic of a bygone era, and whilst many still survive others have sadly been lost forever.

Here are a few shots all taken with the Olympus OMD EM5 and Panasonic 20mm f1.7 prime lens. On this occasion the mono conversion was carried out in Lightroom 4 and not in Silver Efex Pro 2. I have also set up a preset in Lightroom which allows me to quickly batch process a series of images into black and white, using my preferred settings. These are mainly, adding contrast, clarity and sharpening, as I always shoot in RAW.

As it’s the end of October I suspect this may be the last time the ‘Bouncy Castle’ will be inflated this year.

The rain was being blown in from the west….ready to inflict some more damage on the fabric of the pier.

They really are extraordinary structures……………

…..and something has to hold them up.

The caption for this last shot might be……..

‘Only survivors will be prosecuted!’

Aston Martin DB9 driving experience

This was not really a photo opportunity, but a chance to drive an Aston Marin DB9 on a test track at Longcross in Surrey, courtesy of a belated Christmas present and 6th Gear Driving Experience. I was booked in for three quick laps; me at the wheel and a trained racing driver instructor in the passenger seat. No speed limit, no speed cameras, no traffic police but some nerves which would prevent me from doing anything too dangerous, particularly as it had not stopped raining all day and the track was very wet.

I was unsure what to expect when I arrived at Longcross. There were a lot of people waiting their for turn to drive a range of supercars. Audi R8, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Ariel Atom and of course the Aston Martin amongst the marques. I was scheuled to drive at 3.30pm but after a long wait under an umbrella my name was finally called, about an hour later. I was introduced to my instructor and shown the basic controls, including the ‘flappy paddles’ for changing gear. He told me he would instruct me when to accelerate, brake, change up or down and where to position the car on the track. It felt a very controlled situation but perhaps it had to me given how powerful the car was, the track conditions and the fact there was very little run off. Most of the track was enclosed by unforgiving trees so a small mistake could be costly to both man and beast…..not that the DB9 could be called a beast……more the beauty then the beast.

I soon overcame any nerves and it was not long before a Lamborghin Gallardo appeared ahead of us on the track going more slowly. I was delighted when we reached a section of straight…..the instructor checked the mirrors, no one close behend, so he gave me the word to plant my foot on the accelerator and overtake. The sound of the V12 engine came to life as the revs increased. In no time at all, I had hit nearly 90 miles an hours, passsed the Gallardo, only to be told it was time to brake before the next corner. An experience to remember.

The three laps were thrilling but over all too quickly, so out came the Olympus OMD and the 45mm to 200mm Panasonic Lumix zoom lens to record the event. The rain still came down so whilst the light was terrible, the reflections off the tarmac surface made for some interesting reflections.

Aston Martin DB9….ready and waiting
Olympus OMD 45-200mm @ 109mm f9 1/20 ISO 1250

Aston Martin DB9 preparing for a few more laps

Aston Martin DB9….on the track
Olympus OMD 45-200mm @ 45mm f4.5 1/60 ISO 1600

Aston Martin DB9 in the rain at Longcross

Lamborghin Gallardo Spyder
Olympus OMD 45-200mm @ 103mm f9 1/60 ISO 1250

Ariel Atom and the spray
Olympus OMD 45-200mm @ 61mm f9 1/20 ISO 1600

Ferrari 458
Olympus OMD 45-200mm @ 115mm f5.6 1/20 ISO 1250

Although I have not had many reasons to use the 45-200mm lens very often, I am impressed. But what impressed me more was the built in 5 axis image stabilisation of the OMD. Although the 45-200 has built in IS, it was turned off, as I assumed it would be fighting the Olympus IS. If you look at the exif data on some of these shots, take the Ferrari above for example, this was taken at 1/20 second and is as sharp as you could expect given the conditions. The 35mm or full frame equivalent of 115mm is 230mm, so to hand hold this camera and lens and still be able to shoot at such a low shutter speed just demonstartes how good the Image Stabilisation is in the OMD. Well done Olympus!

‘People and Places’ course at West Dean – the last entry

Back in the Summer I attended an excellent photography course at West Dean College in Sussex – People and Places with Jacqui Hurst. It now seems like a long time ago, so I ought to wrap it up with one last and very overdue entry. The two previous posts realting to this course can be found by clicking on these links – Glorious Goodwood and Littlehampton Seafront.

I have mentioned it before but at the beginning of the course all the participants were asked what they wanted to get out of the week. My reply was quite simply to see in ‘black and white’ and to produce a selection of images all in monochrome. I was certainly true to my word as the images below and on the two previous posts will testify.

Since the course I have almost exclusively shot black and white. My starting point is to shoot in RAW and then convert to Black and White. I did go through a short period when I set the camera to shoot RAW and a B&W jpeg, but this just filled up space on my hard drive. There were more photos to sort and delete, which I am not that good at doing in the first place.

If the shot is poorly composed, not a good subject or the lighting is poor…..I could go on; then whether or not it’s in colour or black and white is not going to make that much difference. In my view I should still be htting the delete key and only processing something which is really worth the time and effort of looking at a computer screen.

I did not take my DSLR on the course, so all the photographs were taken using the Olympus OMD EM5 and a variety of prime lenses. Although I had only purchased the camera a week or two before the course, by the end of the week I was reasonably familiar with its functions and menu systems. Some reviews have said the menu system is quite complicated and not that intuitive. I cant agree, with a little time the camera settings can readily be changed to whatever suits your style.

The trombone clown
Olympus OMD EM5 12-50mm @ 26mm f5.2 1/160 ISO 1600