monochrome | alan frost photography

Posts from the ‘monochrome’ category

Churches Project no. 2 – St Materiana, Tintagel, Cornwall

I approached the church from Tintagel Castle along cliff tops with spectacular views out towards the Atlantic. The village of Tintagel is clearly visible in the background.

When I first arrived at St Materiana, I was greeted by a notice in the graveyard – ‘Beware Adders’. Needless to say I trod very carefully as I walked around trying to find the best position to photograph the exterior of the building.

The parish church of Tintagel is in the Anglican Diocese of Truro and county of Cornwall England. The Church was built between 1080 and 1150 and stands in an exposed position on Glebe Cliff overlooking the sea. St Materiana has been identified with St Madryn, a princess of Gwent, who, according to tradition, evangelised this area in about 500 AD. It is likely that the Church was built on the site of an oratory served in celtic days by the monks of Minster and later replaced by a Saxon style building. It appears to have been built on the site of intensive early Christian burial during the 5th to 7th centuries and the church today still retains an air of early Christianity.

The very large graveyard slopes away from the church, back towards the nearby village.

Click on any of the images to view a larger version.

To view a larger version of the featured image click on the thumbnail below.

Haytor – a chance to reminisce.

Haytor

I recently came home from a very enjoyable and relaxing family holiday on the borders of Devon and North Cornwall. On the return journey I wanted to take a small detour and visit the town of Bovey Tracey, which lies on the eastern edge of Dartmoor National Park, and more specifically to go and see the granite outcrop of Haytor. This is perhaps the most recognisable and accessible of all the Dartmoor Tors, so on arrival I was not surprised to find a visitor centre, car and coach park catering for the tourists. Fortunately the weather was inclement and the number of people clambering up the relatively easy hill to reach Haytor were few.

I wanted to return mainly for sentimental reasons. I have fond memories of family holidays in this part of Devon when I was in my mid teens, some forty plus years ago (take large gulp…… and ask how is that possible?) and had not been back since. Life moves on and sadly both my parents and my sister have all passed away in the intervening years. My wife stayed by the car to photograph the very tame Dartmoor ponies and I walked up the hill with my grown up daughter and our dog.

I was pleased that the rocks of Haytor were just as I had remembered them; exposed to the elements but to my eyes nothing had really changed. My memory of Haytor is now as it was when I was a teenager. Still proud and strong, still dramatic and still commanding spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. It felt good to be back experiencing this great location with my own family and for a few moments to stand quietly, touch the stone, and reminisce about past times.

It was also good to be reminded that some things change and some things remain the same, which is just as well, as we all need a ‘rock of stability’ in our lives.

Highland cattle – “O ye’ll take the high road, and I’ll take the low road……..”

Highland portrait

A few days ago I posted a single image of a highland cow, backlit against a dark background which gave me a ‘low key’ image. I was fortunate to be able to return to the same location a day or two later, but this time the weather and lighting could not have been more different.

Low cloud, drizzle and soft light combined to blank out any distractions, and to all intents and purposes gave me the equivalent of a white studio back cloth with minimal background detail. As a consequence and using different processing the same cattle have now been made into a set of ‘high key’ photographs.

Highland horn

Highland call

Highland stand

Arguably the ‘high key’ portraits are less dramatic than the ‘low key’ shot, but in my view they both have their merits. If nothing else this exercise only serves to demonstrate how the same subject can be photographed in the same location but in different weather and light to produce entirely contrasting results.

The ‘low key’ portrait can be seen by clicking in the thumbnail below.

Highland cow

These two alternative approaches and the subject matter reminded me of the lyrics in the song – The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond. – “O ye’ll take the high road, and I’ll take the low road……..”

Do you have a preference? If so please comment, as I would very much welcome your views.

Personally ‘I’ll take the low road…….”!

In loving memory of a Churchyard – St Thomas a’ Becket, Warblington

From an early age I have always been fascinated by churches and churchyards with their gravestones and crosses. I guess this interest was instilled in me by my parents when I was a small child. My father would want to stop and visit every church we came across, particularly when we were on holiday visiting a new area. If there was time he would want to do a quick pencil drawing of the church in a sketchbook, something which he always carried with him. He would note down the colours and when he returned home he would get out his brushes and water colours to paint the scene he had sketched, but also the one he remembered in his mind’s eye.

I am no different except I paint with light, using black and white photographs instead of some paper, pencil and paints. I will capture the scene and then in post processing apply the appropriate treatment to the image. It’s a creative but arguably selfish process, as first and foremost I want the result to please me but I always hope it may give some pleasure to the viewer as well, but primarily it’s my interpretation of a visit to a particular location.

The subject of this entry is the churchyard of St Thomas a’Beckett Church in Warblington, which dates back to Saxon times. It is situated in the Parish of Emsworth on the borders of West Sussex and Hamsphire, within just a few minutes walk of the sea,. As you might imagine the area is popular with walkers and those visiting this lovely church. The churchyard is about an acre in size and there is a much larger adjoining cemetery, so there is plenty to explore. Inevitably many of the inscriptions on the headstones have been worn away, now covered by lichen or ivy. Apparently the oldest memorial dates back to 1707. One of the most striking is the gravestone of William Palmer (above) which depicts the sinking of his ship, mast first, in Dublin Harbour in 1759.

I fully accept the subject of this entry will not be to everyones liking, but as I have already said these are fascinating places. They are a reminder of lives lost and the lives those people used to live many generations ago. Walk along the pathways and between the headstones and your mind starts to wander as you try and imagine what life must have been like for the people of Warblington in days gone by.

There are eight more images in this post ……… so do continue scrolling down.

All the photographs in this entry where taken with a Leica M Monochrom and 50mm Summilux lens, often shot wide open at f1.4 to give a very narrow depth of field. They were all processed in Lightroom and then imported into Silver Efex for some final treatment.

Please click on any of the images to view a larger version.

In times of darkness – let there be light

In times of darkness

So many churches are closed these days for security purposes. but venture out into the countryside away from the big towns and cities and the chances are you will find a small village church with its doors open, ready to accept those who seek a liitle peace for quiet contemplation and prayer.

One such church is in the tiny hamlet of South Stoke to the north of Arundel in West Sussex. One road in and one road out, this beautifully situated church lies close to the River Arun, as it weaves its way south through Arundel and on towards Littlehampton, where its waters meet the English Channel.

Inside the church it has the appearance that very little has changed for hundreds of years. The pulpit is lit during daylight hours by a stained glass window, but in times of darkness the flame of a candle would shine its light on the The Bible which already open for the next reading.

This shot was taken with a Leica M Monochrom and 50mm Summilux lens, then processed in Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro. Being a rangefinder and given the main subject of the picture was quiet close to the camera, I encountered the parallax issue, which means that what you see through the viewfinder is not what you get, because the viewfinder is not centred on the same plane as the lens. It was important for me to make sure that the candle was in front of the dark background and not the light coming through the window on the left. I had to adjust my position on a few occasions to get the composition I was looking for.