places | alan frost photography

Posts from the ‘places’ category

‘People and Places’ at Glorious Goodwood

The end of July/beginning of August is traditionally the time for one of the most famous race meetings in the country – Glorious Goodwood. Situated on The South Downs the race course enjoys wonderful views of the countryside to the north and to the south, distant views of the sea and even the Isle of Wight on a clear day. I am not a seasoned race goer and definitely not a gambler buts its hard to resist the allure of Glorious Goodwood which attracts the famous, the not so famous and those that are simply there to win some money or have a good day out.

My reason for going this year was as part of a ‘People and Places’ photography course I was attending at West Dean College which is just down the road from Goodwood. I would thoroughly recommend West Dean College to anyone interested in an arts or crafts course held in a beautiful house set in quite superb grounds. The course was being run by Jacqui Hurst and in addition to myself there were five other participants. I will say more about Jacqui and the course in a forthcoming post.

At the outset of the week I set myself the objective of ‘seeing’ in black and white. We had to produce a portfolio of work by the end of the course, so however good some of the images might appear in colour the final selection would all have to be in monochrome. At Glorious Goodwood I wanted to capture the atmosphere of the place and its people, and whilst we were not in the ‘posh’ Richmond or Gordon Enclosures, the Lennox Enclosure would provide just as many photo opportunities.

I should just mention that a couple of weeks before attending the course I made the decision to buy the Olympus OMD EM5 with the 12mm to 50mm kit lens. The body and lens are weather sealed and having enjoyed the E-PL3 so much together with the three prime lens (12mm, 20mm and 45mm) I couldn’t wait to see how this new camera performed. Being on a photography course for a week was the ideal opportunity to find out. I can tell you now, I was not disappointed, to the contrary the results are quite fantastic and I am now wondering when the Nikon D90 DSLR will get its next airing?

Here are a selection of the images taken at Goodwood. They were all taken with the OMD and one of the prime lenses. Shot in RAW, imported into Lightroom with minor adjustments before converting to black and white in Silver Efex Pro2; a dedicated B&W plugin by Nik Software.

Racing to the line
Olympus OMD 20mm f8 1/500 ISO 200

Required reading for the day – The Racing Post

Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/2000 ISO200

Watching the race

Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/1600 ISO200

A family day out……could that be the winner of the next race?

Olympus OMD 45mm f3.2 1/2500 ISO400

Lining up to place a bet…..I’m happy with those odds

Olympus OMD 45 f3.2 1/640 ISO200

Typical headgear at Goodwood

Olympus OMD 45mm f3.2 1/1600 ISO200

Losing her shoe and losing her balance

Olympus OMD 45mm f4.5 1/200 ISO200

Fingers or fork?

Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/2000 ISO200

Candid portrait
Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 at f1.8 1/160 ISO 400

A day out at the races – fun for all the family!

Olympus OMD 45mm f4.5 1/800 ISO200

Entertainment from a steel band

Olympus OMD 20mm f8 1/125 ISO200

A band called Squinty McGinty play feet tapping music in the beer tent

Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/160 ISO400

……and Goodwood wouldn’t be the same without a Rolls Royce in the car park.

Olympus OMD 45mm f7.1 1/200 ISO400

Olympic Torch in Bognor Regis

16th July 2012 and the Olympic Torch arrives in the seaside town of Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Despite the prospect of rain the crowds turned out of force to line the High Street. The public gathered and waited; the torch bearer getting closer and closer, and so the rain came too and got harder and harder. What a summer! Union Jacks matched umbrellas in number as the torch finally came into sight. The crowd cheered, waved and I stood on a small set of steps, Olympus E PL3 in hand with the Lumix 20mm ready for the flame, still alight – well just.

The whole occasion was a great photo opportunity. The people of Bognor, colour and the sense of anticipation were very evident. I like street photography and this gave me some shots I enjoy. I hope you will enjoy them as well.

Olympic Torch bearer braves the elements

He’s here at last and everyone is soaking wet but enjoying themselves.

Olympus E PL3 20mm f1.7 at f3.5 1/320 ISO 320

Olympic Torch bearer braves the elements

Union Jacks for sale

Selling Union Jacks on the streets of Bognor Regis as the crowd get ready to greet the Olympic Torch Parade. Oh what a happy occasion!

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f4 1/160 ISO 200

The warm up act

The band play rock to entertain the growing crowd in Bognor Regis. The torch bearer is coming!

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f2.5 1/400 ISO 200

GB forever!

A patriotic lady has come fully prepared to enjoy this once in a lifetime event.

The Olympics grab the heart of the nation.

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f2.5 1/1600 ISO 200

No its not Christmas, but people arriving for the Olympic procession

It could only be Bognor Regis…….

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f2.8 1/250 ISO 200

Union Jacks for sale

C’mon buy a Union Jack……..it will make us both happy!

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f2.8 1/640 ISO 200

Will the torch be here soon?

It won’t be long now, we’ll wave our flag and then get a movie for you to watch.

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f3.2 1/160 ISO 200

Waving the flag outside Henry Adams

An estate agent joins in the with the spirit of the event.

Olympus E PL3 12mm f2 at f2.5 1/250 ISO 200

Union Jacks everywhere

This time they have a practical purpose as this couple shelter from the rain.

Olympus E PL3 20mm f1.7 at f2.8 1/250 ISO 200

The flame stays alight

The crowd are loving this; smiles, applause, cheering and waving – if only the sun was shining.

Olympus E PL3 20mm f1.7 at f3.5 1/320 ISO 320

The torch moves on

All over so quickly. An hour or more of patiently waiting as the heavens open and the Olympic torch heads towards its next destination.

Olympus E PL3 20mm f1.7 at f4.5 1/320 ISO 320

Apart from the photos of the torch bearer all the images were captured using the E PL3 and the Olympus 12mm prime lens. So sharp and fast, ideal for the conditions. It also allowed me to get quite close to my subject which is always necessary in a crowded situation.

This type of situation again made me start to think about my camera of choice for the future. The Olympus OMD EM5 would make great use of the prime lenses I already have and if purchased with the standard 12mm to 50mm kit lens, it would offer a weather proof option with even better quality than the E PL3. It would be ideal for situations like these, but then the E PL3 does a pretty good job already. It can be a little difficult to grip at times and the controls are fiddly and easily changed unknowingly but the results are very good for a small and discreet camera. Alternatively do I really push the boat out and just trade in the Nikon DSLR gear and buy the new Canon 5D MkIII with a selection of L lenses? Full frame, great quality images and just about every feature I could ever want. A tough decision, so I shall continue to dither and for now I will just enjoy the images from today.

Chichester Harbour – Dell Quay in June

Chalk writing on the blackboard outside the pub said quite simply ‘Coming soon – the Summer’. Sadly this was a rather optimistic statement or just wishful thinking by the landlord, as a number of camera club members gathered to try and capture this superb location. It was grey, not that warm for June and the light was poor. So often Chichester Harbour is bathed in glorious evening light – the golden hour – at least thats what we had hoped for, but not today.

Instead it became clear that a different approach was necessary so I thought about monochrome or black and white. The old boat yard should be a place to find some interesting relics and compositions. This was an evening when normally I would have said the light is too poor for photography, but forced into a situation where the camera had to go to work, it was a surprise to me what I could find. Not my normal approach to a subject but an interesting lesson in observation, tonal contrast and depth of field. I didn’t want to keep changing lenses so I stuck with the 45mm for all the shots with the exception of the last image when I used the 12mm.

I hope I have captured something of the atmosphere of the location particularly the boat yard itself. Yes, some of the subjects are rather typical of this type location but I think the black and white treatment brings out the texture and tonal values of the subjects.

All images were taken hand held with the E-PL3, shot in RAW and then converted into B&W in Lightroom. Some cropping, sharpening and levels adjustments to improve contrast and tonal range.