Photography | alan frost photography

Posts from the ‘Photography’ category

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?!

Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk

We are very fortunate in England to have the opportunity to visit some truly wonderful historic buildings, many of which are in the care of The National Trust. One such property is Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, a 15th Century moated Manor House, built by the Bedingfield family and still occupied by the same family to this very day. As this magnificent building is surrounded by water there are some fine reflections to be enjoyed which always appeal to me from a photographic point of view. In the grounds of the Hall, there is also the Chapel of St Margaret and Our Lady, which dates from the 1830’s and inside there is a very fine framed altarpiece or retable. The Antwerp Triptych is constructed from 16th Century resources and dominates the small chapel and would not look out of place in a much grander Catholic Church or Cathedral.

Displayed below are a selection of images taken during our visit.

Old drawers

I came across this wonderful chest of old drawers recently and I started to wonder what each drawer had contained over the years? What secrets and surprises had this piece of furniture been hiding? Once opened of course the ‘magic’ would be gone, although the very act of opening a drawer might be followed by delight or disappointment. A bit like life I guess. None of us know what’s round the corner but there is a sense of anticipation and excitement particularly at this time of year. As we look back on the past 12 months, we reflect on the contents of the ‘drawers’ that have been opened and consider those that are still closed, but may open up and shape our lives in the forthcoming year.

From a purely photographic perspective what happened for me in 2014? Did I fulfil my objectives that I set out for myself a year ago?……and what are my hopes and plans for 2015?

Rosberg through Becketts
Probably my favourite shot from the Grand Prix.
Nothing is sharp, but there is movement both in the car and also in the sweeping lines of the track at Becketts corner.

I have to admit it feels rather bizarre writing this entry at the end of December, when this great sporting event took place back in early July. Perhaps it just sums up how busy the year has been.

Despite being a keen follower of F1 for many years, I had never been to a Grand Prix, so when my good friend suggested we might go, it was an opportunity too good to miss. It was a special occasion as it was also the 50th Anniversary of the British Grand Prix.

We attended all four days and to avoid the worst of the traffic (it can be notoriously bad) we arrived on Wednesday evening, pitched the caravan and didn’t leave until Monday morning. Whilst I took a fair number of photographs, this was never going to be an outing with my camera, as I wanted to enjoy the racing, the atmosphere, the people and the whole experience, which is what we both did.

The rain came and went, as it always seems to do during the British Summer of sport, but this did nothing to spoil the racing in fact it only added to the drama. For anyone who follows F1 you will know that Lewis Hamilton misjudged how quickly the track would dry out in qualifying, and others, including his own team mate Nico Rosberg posted quicker lap times, leaving Hamilton in 6th place on the grid, and Rosberg on pole. The tight duel between them was nicely set up for a thrilling race, which Hamilton won, much to the delight of the home crowd. He was of course helped by Rosberg breaking down with a gearbox problem which happened right in front of us. The partisan crowd around us rather unsportingly cheered loudly as Rosberg, with head looking towards the ground, walked away.

The tide had started to turn in Hamilton’s favour and the rest of the season is now history. Hamilton won his second Formula One Championship and joined an elite number of British drivers who had won the title more than once. The others being Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart. Only time will tell if Lewis Hamilton will go on to win more titles.

The photographs included in this entry hopefully capture some of the flavour and atmosphere of being at a Formula One race. Even with a 200mm (400mm equivalent) telephoto lens on the Olympus EM1, it is not easy getting close to the action, and even when you can, a wire fence will be between you and the track.