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Pinterest…..an invaluable site for inspiration

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A little late to the party I admit, but I have now joined the millions of users of the ‘bookmarking site’ Pinterest….and what a valuable site it is. For those of you who have yet to discover the strengths of Pinterest, you start by opening an account and from there you can select images from the web and ‘Pin it’ to your page or a board you have created about a particular photographer, artist or subject. You can add a description to the ‘pin’ so as well as seeing the thumbnail of the image you have some information to refer to which relates to the image. Click on any of these thumbnails and it will take you to the site where you discovered the link in the first place. Your account, or a board itself, can be followed by other users and conversely if you discover an account or board which is of interest to you then you can also ‘follow’ and will receive email notifications when new ‘pins’ are added to that account or board.

Like all things that work well, Pinterest is incredibly simple, but very powerful and I have already made up a number of boards for photographers and artists I admire, including Michael Kenna, Norman Ackroyd, Chris Friel, Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt, Chris Tancock and so the list goes on. I shall be adding the wildlife photographer Nick Brandt and Ansel Adams in the coming days. In a short space of time I will have a single reference point on the web for all the photographs and works of art that inspire me. Given time I will also be adding boards for my own photographs as well.

If like me you want to build what in effect is a library of favourite or inspiring images then rather than bookmark the page, which just gets lost with the multitude of bookmarks already created, simply ‘Pin it’. As I said at the outset a highly useful site and one which I will refer to on a regular basis.

If you want to sign up and create a Pinterest account then click here.

My own Pinterest account is alanrfrost and can be found here.

I will also add the ‘PinIt’ button to my own photography website, as there might be one or two people out there who would like to ‘pin’ one of my images to their account. Much to my surprise I discovered by chance that one or two already have!

Happy Pinning!!

Exhibition success

Solitary Shell
Taken on the Isle of Eigg looking out towards the Isle of Rum on the West Coast of Scotland

My local camera club is currently staging it’s annual open photography exhibition, which closes this coming Sunday. I entered a number of images some weeks ago and two of the eight I submitted are on display.

‘Solitary Shell’ – was given a Judges Award in the Members Section whilst ‘Too Young to Smoke’ was selected for the National Category. There are a number of these event staged around the country during the course of the year but as this was the first time I had entered a National Exhibition, I was very pleased to have had one of my photographs accepted.

Here is one of the images on display.

and finally here is the image which was accepted for the ‘Open’ section.

Too Young to Smoke
Taken at the Goodwood Revival Meeting in 2012

100 miles along the South Downs Way and the 100th Blog Entry!

Firle Beacon, The South Downs

When I typed the words for my last entry ‘Less is more’ I realised two things. Firstly that it was time to conclude this series of entires about my walk along the South Downs Way and secondly that whatever the subject of the next entry, it would be the 100th post since I started this blog back in June 2012.

So it is rather fitting that this post should mark the conclusion of a 100 mile long distance walk alongside the fact that this is the 100th entry. When I started the walk I had a definite goal in sight. Quite simply to complete the walk in the planned period of time. The same cannot be said for this blog. What started as a whim, has turned into a regular and most enjoyable hobby. On average I post about five times a month, mainly at weekends, simply because this is when I can find the time to sit down, write the words and select the appropriate photographs having processed them beforehand.

This blog has proved to be a journal of my photography. The places or events I have been to and the images I have taken. Sometimes I will express my thoughts or write about the cameras, lenses and equipment I have used. But one thing is for sure – nothing is planned too far in advance. All the posts are a spontaneous reaction to an event, a particular photograph or series of images, or thoughts that have entered my mind which I have wanted to record and share with others – Sharing does of course assume that there are other readers, not just my wife and close family!

So back to the main reason for this 100th post. A photographic conclusion to a great experience. I shall never forget walking with my nephew Ian down the steep slope from Beachy Head and into Eastbourne, to be greeted by my family and his father. This varied selection of images were all taken on the walk and will always remind me of wonderful time enjoying the beauty of the South Downs.

Gates and Posts

Gathering Storm. Near Birling Gap

Downland Mist. Near Cocking

Towards east Meon

Windswept Tree. Near Ditchling Beacon

The Seven Sisters. Looking west from above Birling Gap

The finishing post after 100 miles.
Ian on the right and me on the left.

The other entries about our walk along the South Downs Way are as follows:-

Last leg first.

Windmills on the Way.

Less is more.

And so to the future – Another long distance walk perhaps? That I don’t know, but I will be starting work on my 101st entry very soon.

Entries for Open Exhibition – will any be selected?

In about six weeks time my local camera club will be staging its 43rd annual exhibition and in seven days time I will know which of my entries have been selected for display. In essence there are two sections. Firstly one for members only and second an open section for anyone outside of the club who wishes to enter.

I would hope that there would be a reasonable chance that some of my submissions for the members only category will be on show come the 23rd of November when the exhibition is opened to the public. The open section is more of a lottery as I will up against some very capable and experienced photographers. I have chosen four images for each section and my fate is in the hands of the judges who will consider all the entries next Saturday the 19th October. Last year I went along to witness the judging process and I plan to be there again next weekend.

It’s nerve wracking when your own photograph is displayed and rarely do the judges take long to mark the picture out of five. With three judges the maximum mark is fifteen. Twelve or more marks are likely to be needed to secure an entry.

The four images I selected for the open section are:-

…..and the four images for the members section are:-

Trying to decide which photograph went in to which category was quite a challenge in itself but having made up my mind and completed the entry form, I now have to see which ones are selected. With a little good fortune I would like to think that I might get one in the open section, but the standard is very high and whilst my work does well in club competitions I simply do not know how well it will do when competing against some the best images in the country. Well we shall see. Not long to wait now!

All of these images are on my own website – www.alanfrostphotography.co.uk

Designing a new home page for my website.

When I first designed my website – alanfrostphotography.co.uk I was very happy with most of the pages but the home page itself didn’t inspire me. I felt it needed a more contemporary look, and something which would more closely depict my black and white approach to photography. I also wanted it to be easier to navigate, so that anyone visiting the site could quickly get to a particular page.

So this past weekend I set about a re-design and here is the result.

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It still retains the traditional menu at the top but now each of the titled boxes link directly to the relevant page of the site. The original home page only showed one image unless you waited for the carousel to kick in, but by then my guess is that any visitors had either moved on to another page or left my site altogether, which is much worse!

I am pleased with the result and if offers scope to update the home page when I add new pages to the site itself.