Posts tagged ‘black and white photography’

If at first you don’t succeed…..

……..then try, try, and try again.

Milton Abbey

It goes without saying that any outdoor photography is weather dependent. Sometimes the conditions are just right, and at other times they work against you.

This was very much the case during a recent workshop in Dorset with another photographer – Anthony Blake. Throughout the day it had been overcast and misty. As we approached our final destination before the sun set, we walked up a hill to the site of St Catherine’s Chapel in the hope that we would enjoy a great view of Milton Abbey through the trees. On arriving unfortunately the Abbey was nowhere to be seen. A veil of mist had descended in the valley and obscured its view. We waited a while but if anything the mist was getting worse not better.

We returned to the car and drove around looking for different viewpoint without any success. Unfortunately the light was fading fast but we decided to try one more time and return to the first location in the wishful hope that the mist might have lifted.

Much to our surprise and delight the Abbey could now be seen and you can see the result in the image above. An ethereal view of the Abbey with the mist hanging in the valley but with a clearly visible outline of the hills in the distance. I was very fortunate to capture this view…….and in doing so I couldn’t help but be reminded of the saying which I have used for the title of this post.

 

The Beech Avenue at Kingston Lacy

Beech Avenue

It’s been quite a while since the last entry on this blog. Regular readers will know that I had my first exhibition last month and I will be writing about the experience very soon. For now I thought I would share with you some images taken and made just before the exhibition took place back in the early part of November.

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Bracken – when an overriding instinct prevails


As hard as I try I can’t break out of my comfort zone. Whenever I find myself in a beautiful location which is full of colour, my instinctive monochromatic mind gets the better of me. As I explore the autumnal woodland of Arne Nature Reserve, near Wareham in Dorset I have a perfectly acceptable colour subject in front of me but in visualising and later processing the image I soon strip away all the colour, and work on a black and white conversion, and here is the result. A shot of ‘Bracken’ in amongst conifers.

I am not colour blind but I do seem to see the world in black and white and of course all the shades of grey in between. I am drawn to a pleasing composition, shapes and lines, strong textures and different tones. I believe my creativity improves once the distraction of colour is removed from the frame. I start to see things more clearly and whilst you cannot tell by looking at an image on a screen, a well printed black and white image on a suitable photographic paper is hard to beat.

 

Do click on the image to view a larger version and truly appreciate the level of detail in this shot.

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Dorset – A new Gallery Page

Clavell Tower, Kimmeridge

Yesterday I posted a few of my most recent images of Dorset. You can see this post here. I soon realised that I had not created a ‘Gallery Page’ for Dorset, so this morning I have done exactly that – click here to visit this new gallery.

As a taster here are a selection of images, some of which were taken a few years ago.

I have enjoyed revisiting them and I hope you enjoy them too.

Fields of Barley

 

Evening Light at Purbeck

 

St Oswalds Bay

Three very different views of the Jurassic Coast

Jurassic Coast-3

Charmouth – Reflections of Light

Apart from my home county of West Sussex there are two other places I most like to visit. Top of the list is Scotland. Unfortunately it’s the best part of 400 miles just to cross the border, let alone reach the Highlands; not to mention the journey time by car of at least 6 hours and that doesn’t include hold ups or any stops. It’s therefore not very practical to go there on a regular basis.

Much closer to home is the county of Dorset and my wife and I are regular visitors. It offers a wonderful combination of varied countryside and a truly majestic coastline – or in other words The Jurassic Coast, which has been a World Heritage Site since 2001.

Photographic opportunities are in abundance. Here are just three images from our most recent visit to the area.

Jurassic Coast-2

Charmouth – Towards Golden Cap

Jurassic Coast

Jurassic Clifftops from White Nothe

Spectacular scenery and in many ways a more than adequate substitute for Scotland……and I can get there and back in one day, very comfortably!

Here are links to a few other posts which feature Dorset.

Portland Bill Lighthouse with the Leica M9-P

Colour of light on The Jurassic Coast

Alone on The Cobb