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Posts tagged ‘Alan Frost’

The Dunes – requests for a mono conversion

A few weeks ago I posted this image of The Dunes at East Head in colour. You can view it here. I had a number of comments, for which I am always grateful. They all had one thing in common – they expressed a desire to see a black and white version. Well here it is and I am pleased with the result, so thanks everyone for the suggestion.

I guess my only disappointment is that it was taken using an iPhone – nothing wrong with camera phones these days but when I came to processing the photograph, I just wish I had been able to work on an 18MB RAW file from my Leica Monochrom. The flexibility, dynamic range and the depth of detail from a full frame file would have been a joy to have at my disposal.

When the forecast is right I shall return with the Leica but I always remember that any photograph is capturing a moment in time which will never be repeated – and that’s why this hobby has such an enduring interest, as no two photographs can ever be the same.

Churches Project no.17 – St Peter’s, Hascombe, Surrey

Regular readers of my blog will know that the vast majority of my work is in monochrome and this particularly applies to my Churches Project. Today though I have to make an exception, so I am including a set of colour images as well as their monochrome twins. The church featured is St Peter’s, Hascombe in Surrey. The exterior is in the style of a 13th Century church and was constructed of bar gate stone in the mid 19th Century to replace a derelict church.

In complete contrast to the relatively plain exterior, the interior of the church is a very rich blend of gilding and painting, particularly on the roof, the screen and the reredos- it is quite extraordinary and not what you might expect to find in a church in a small village in Surrey. Whilst I can appreciate the beauty, for me it is far too ornate…….I personally much prefer a simpler or can I say quieter environment. Nevertheless it has to be admired and appreciated for the skill, the craftsmanship and the time it must have taken to create.

And now for a matching set of monochrome images –

Do click on any of the images to view a larger version which will open in a new window.

Agapanthus – simply beautiful

Agapanthus

In a break from my usual black and white photographs, I couldn’t resist posting this image of some flowers in our garden. I don’t profess to be a gardener but these plants are quite stunning and have given my wife and I a great deal of pleasure this year.

Agapanthus are an architectural plant originating from South Africa. These are growing in three pots on an area of decking immediately outside our living room. Without a great deal of care, they have produced forty stems, each about two to three feet long, topped with a ‘ball’ of intensely coloured flowers. They have such a long season of interest, from the moment the first stems start to appear, through to when their attractive seed heads form later in the year.

Simply beautiful and without question one of my favourite plants.

For those who are interested in the technical details, this photograph was taken with a Leica M9P and 35mm Summilux lens. It was shot at f2.0, 1/3000 sec at ISO 160. Cropped and with some processing in Lightroom, but the colours are just as the CCD sensor recorded them.

Churches Project no.16 – A return to North Stoke, West Sussex

There is something to be said for returning to a location or indeed a church which I have previously visited. The benefit of familiarity and the knowledge of the images taken before, help me to see things with a fresh pair of eyes, to explore new angles and find fresh compositions. The light can of course be different even in the interior of a church building, so a return visit can hopefully yield some new images.

This was certainly the case when I went back to St Mary the Virgin in North Stoke last week. It’s a particular favourite of mine so whether or not I was able to make some more images didn’t really matter, as I was more than happy to be in this historic and rather timeless place of peace and solitude. I hope the four images in this post help to convey this feeling.

Cared for by The Churches Conservation Trust, the church is no longer used for regular worship but is still consecrated.

If you would like to read the original entry about North Stoke Church and see more photographs then please click here.

As always do click on any of the images to view a larger version which will open in a new window.

Churches Project no. 15 – St Andrew, Winterborne Tomson, Dorset

For such a small and simple church, there is so much to admire and enjoy here. For starters the very location of St Andrew in the tiny hamlet of Winterborne Tomson is a delight. Rural and unspoilt, the church backs onto a dairy farm and I like the way the farm building behind the church echoes the shape of the church itself. There is a manor house on the other side of the narrow road which leads down to the church plus a thatched cottage for neighbours.

It’s not until you enter through the west door that the simple beauty of this church reveals itself. Built of flint and stone in the 12th Century, this single cell church has a most unusual apsidal east end with a plastered wagon roof of slender beams and decorative bosses. All the bleached oak furnishings which include box pews, the pulpit and sounding board above, the screen and altar rail, have turned silver grey over the years. They date from the 18th Century and were provided by William Wake, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 to 1737. He would worship in this church when staying with his family who lived nearby. Apparently he loved the simplicity of the church compared to the grandeur and opulence of the cathedrals. I can empathise with his feelings and for me this place reminded me of another church in Warminghurst in West Sussex which you can read about here.

It’s hard to believe that less than 100 years ago the church was used by the local farm for pigs, fowl and other animals, but very fortunately was saved from complete ruin in 1931. Money was raised from the sale of some Thomas Hardy manuscripts by the The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and this was used to pay for much needed repairs. The work was overseen by the architect A R Powys, who was Secretary to the Society. On his death he was buried in the churchyard and a plaque can be seen inside the church, commemorating his work. Given its history it’s perhaps no surprise that this church is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust, and whilst still consecrated, is only used on a handful of occasions during the year.

Lastly and to put this church in the context of its setting I have included an image taken just yards form the church itself.

Dorset is providing a rich source of lovely churches, so I will certainly be back there in the future so that I can add to my ‘Churches Project’ collection.

Do click on any of the images to view a larger version in a new window.