black and white photography | alan frost photography

Posts tagged ‘black and white photography’

After dark in Chichester

Gravestone
In the grounds of Chichester Cathedral
1/180 sec.

There is one particular advantage to the short days of winter, it gets dark very early. Obvious I know, but when I decided a few days ago to take some shots after dark, I was able to do so at a civilised hour, in fact shortly after I had finished work. I very rarely take photographs after the sun has disappeared below the horizon, so I took my Leica M Monochrom to work and on the way home stopped in the centre of the City of Chichester to see what I could find. I limited myself to an area very close to the the Cathedral, as I only had an hour to spare.

I set the ISO to 6400, and the 50mm Summilux lens to f1.4, its widest aperture opening. These settings gave me fairly fast shutter speeds, which allowed me to comfortably hand hold the camera without having to resort to using a tripod. Just as well really as I didn’t have one with me and even if I had, I wouldn’t have wanted to use it. This exercise was more for fun. It was a test to see how the Monochrom worked in very low levels of light, even though I did make use of the artificial light sources available, including the flood lights which illuminate the Cathedral.

This exercise has made me think what might be possible shooting after dark. The joy of being free from a tripod is quite liberating and having looked at the exif data I could easily have used a lower ISO setting. Nevertheless the grain or noise at ISO 6400 does not in my opinion degrade the quality of the image, but on reflection ISO 3200 might have been more appropriate.

All the photographs were processed in Lightroom, and to finish I applied a tone to give the the images a little more warmth.

West Street, Chichester
1/1000 sec

The young couple
1/90 sec

Alley car
1/500 sec

Old glass window
1/250 sec

St Richard
1/750 sec

Sailing in the Solent

Sailing in the Solent

Because I live near the south coast, I have lost count of the number of people who over the years have asked – “Do you sail?” To which I reply – “No, I don’t”. I prefer to look at the sea and not be either in it or floating in a boat on it. Having said that, if a sailing friend offers a trip on the water then subject to the weather being reasonably calm, I will more than likely take up the invitation.

My wife and I accompanied some friends last year and we sailed from Chichester Harbour across the Solent towards Bembridge on the Isle of Wight. We anchored in the bay just off Bembridge to enjoy a very pleasant lunch before setting sail for the return journey. I know I like it to be calm when on the water but on this occasion there was hardly a breath of wind and what liitle wind there was to be had, was apparently blowing in the wrong direction. So the engine was fired up and eventually we arrived back in the sheltered waters of Chichester Harbour. The calming influence of sailing was rather spoilt by the constant thrum coming from the outboard motor not to mention the smell from the fumes of the diesel engine. Nevertheless it was a very pleasant way to spend the day and we kept dry, which is always a blessing.

It was late September and the light was beginning to fade. There were clouds gathering but the late afternoon sun danced on the water as I looked back towards the Isle of Wight and took this shot. A reminder of a very good day out and I can understand why sailing appeals to so many people, but I think I will stick with my hobby – photography.

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?