alan frost photography

Posts tagged ‘black and white’

Scotland….. it has been too long!

Morning light near Salen on the Isle of Mull

I am not alone when I say that the landscape and light in Scotland can be quite breath taking. My photographic eye cannot fail to be inspired by the scenery and the ever changing weather, whatever the season.

My wife and I last visited Scotland back in the spring of 2019. The Isles of Harris and Lewis was our chosen destination. Because of Covid, Lockdown restrictions and for other personal reasons we have not ventured very far since then, but back in October we finally threw our bags in the car and returned to the Isle of Mull. A favourite place for us to go and one of the islands that form part of the Inner Hebrides. We stayed in two locations on Mull and spent another week on the mainland at Morar which is just south of Mallaig.

It’s has taken a little while but at long last I been through and processed a selection of the many photographs I took during our three week stay, and I would now like to share some of my favourite images with you.

This will be the first of a number of posts from our trip to the west coast of Scotland. I shall include captions about some of the images and their locations etc, but essentially I would like the images themselves to tell the story.

First off …… the Isle of Mull.

Salen Pier
Looking south across Loch Na Keal towards Balnahard
Glen Aros Layers
The White House of Aros to the north of Salen Bay
Hills near Salen
Rubha Nan Gall lighthouse (the name means ‘Stranger’s Point) by the Sound of Mull near Tobermory
The old bridge which crosses the Coladoir River near to Loch Scridain
The view across Loch Tuath with Ben More in the distance
A lone tree on the bank of Loch Ba
On the ferry crossing from Tobermory to Kilchoan on the Ardnamurchan peninsular

I shall be posting more images from our Scotland trip in a few days time.

‘It’s not all Black & White’ this Christmas.

I live near the Cathedral City of Chichester in West Sussex. It’s a largely affluent place in an affluent county. According to the Land Registry in July of this year the average price of a property in the City stood at £390,559 compared to £248,611 across England as a whole.

I was in the city just before Christmas – a last minute shopping trip.  Being the last Saturday before the 25th December there were plenty of people carrying bags, doubtless full of presents for family and friends or things to eat  over the festive period.

I found it difficult to concentrate on spending money, my mind was in conflict, for what really struck me was the number of homeless people in empty shop doorways.

I then came across some large black and white portraits on a section of hoarding outside the cathedral. I was also drawn by its title – It’s Not All Black & White’. I crossed the road and stopped to find out what it was all about.

‘It’s Not All Black & White’ is a specially curated photographic exhibition made up of nine portraits by the acclaimed photographer Dan Stevens, telling the story of some of homeless people who have been helped by a local charity called Stonepillow.

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Basic ingredients – another still life.

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A few weeks ago I made my first still life image. Whilst I prefer outdoor photography I am really enjoying using things which I can find around the home, arranging them to form a pleasing composition, lighting them in a sympathetic way and then processing the picture mainly in Silver Efex Pro.

These basic ingredients can be found in almost any house. A loaf of bread, an apple, a slice of cheese and a drinking vessel, in this case an old wine goblet. Do we take these things for granted? We probably do. Perhaps this image reminds us that there is a simple beauty in all things, even the most basic of food ingredients.

Other ‘Still Life’ entries can be found by clicking on the links below.

Learning from Still-Life

Three vessels and a tulip

More ‘Still Life’ – further experimentation for the fun of it!

Exhibition deliberations……..it’s nearly time to make some key decisions

Jetty posts at Dell Quay

It’s now less than four months before my exhibition takes place at The Oxmarket Centre of Arts in Chichester. As a consequence my deliberations are intensifying, as the time is fast approaching when decisions need to be made. I settled on a theme for the exhibition a while ago – all the images would be of Chichester Harbour. I did waiver recently when I thought I might want to display a more eclectic mix but I soon returned to my original intention to show a body of work centered on one topic. I am pleased I have done so, particularly as the subject matter is local to where the exhibition is being staged.

As I am sharing the gallery with five other photographers, allocation of hanging space is all important as this will help me make a number of decisions. Firstly the number of images I will have room to display, secondly their size and finally their placement. I already know that I do not want to hang as many pictures as I first thought. I believe a viewer can quickly be overloaded by too many photographs, so I am of the opinion that a smaller selection of the very best images will prove to be more effective. However this means that my proposed short list will have to shrink even further before the final choice of pictures can be identified for printing and framing. This process is already proving more difficult than I thought, but my deliberations can only continue for so long. Trouble is, I also want to display two sizes. I know the respective measurements but which ones should get star billing?

Choice of photographic paper has been made and soft proofing already undertaken to ensure the quality of each print meets my expectations. I have not out-sourced the printing as I like to maintain complete control, although framing will be done by a local professional.

This image ‘Jetty posts at Dell Quay” is on my short list and very soon I will have decided whether or not it will appear at the exhibition, but in the meantime I would like to share this picture and my ongoing thoughts with you.

As always do click on the image to view and appreciate a larger version.