chichester Harbour | alan frost photography

Posts tagged ‘chichester Harbour’

It’s summer and I am not going to complain…..but…..

Tree in Winter’s mist

As I look out of the window and type these words, I can see a blue sky; the sun is shining; a gentle breeze moves through the trees and I know if I stepped outside I would be greeted by a pleasant temperature of about 20c. Not hot, but quite acceptable for the middle of August.

What’s not to like?

Well I don’t want to complain or come across as if I am wishing my life away, because neither of these statements are true. However at this time of year I do start to look forward to the autumn and indeed to the winter. These seasons suit my photographic style so much better. The days are shorter, the sun is much lower in the sky, the trees have lost their leaves and the weather has the potential to be so much more atmospheric.

This photograph – ‘Tree in Winter’s mist’ – is typical of the conditions I like. The sun has yet to penetrate the early morning mist, and the tree is bereft of its summer clothing, revealing its winter skeletal form. Nor did I have to get up at 4am to find the sun this low in the sky. A distinct advantage as far as I am concerned!

As I come to the end of this short entry, the sun is still shining outside and the garden looks as though there is work to be done. So out I venture with a trowel, shears and a garden fork. In a few weeks time I am more likely to be tempted to grab my bag, select a camera and a couple of lenses and see what the autumn season has in store. I can’t wait, but in the meantime I shall enjoy the rest of the summer and tidy the garden.

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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.

Photographic projects – and how I have come to appreciate their importance

In recent weeks I have been considering how and why my photography has developed over the past couple of years. In doing so I have come to appreciate the importance of projects. In this post I will write about a few examples and illustrate how they have impacted on my photography and how they might help you in the future.

The age old expression that ‘every picture tells a story’ may still hold true, but with millions of photos being uploaded to the web on a daily basis, via Instagram, Flicker, Facebook, Twitter (I could go on) ….. the world is now saturated with images. Whilst I still enjoy making and sharing ‘single’ shots’, my own feeling is that there is much greater value in a body of work which includes some form of narrative; hopefully a story contained within a set of images which makes viewing the work more meaningful and dare I say it, more pleasurable for the viewer. A story behind the image is far more difficult to achieve from just a single back lit picture viewed on a screen in the space of a few milliseconds, whereas a printed body of work is likely to hold the attention of the viewer for a longer period of time. These bodies of work may take the form of a panel, a photographer’s portfolio, part of an exhibition or published in a book.

Yours truly at the recent ‘New Art of The South Downs’ Exhibition

It’s great to have my Monochrom back!

A couple of months ago I discovered I had a problem with my Leica M Monochrom. In essence a new sensor was required. You can read more about the issue by clicking here.

Just over a week ago I returned the loan camera to The Leica Store, Mayfair in London and collected my trusty camera; fully serviced and with a new sensor, all at no cost to me. The service had been excellent and I have nothing but praise for the way the whole thing was handled.

It’s strange but the loan camera just wasn’t the same; perhaps the feel of the shutter was slightly different, but for various reasons it was hardly used in the 8 weeks my camera was away in Germany.

Delighted to have the Monochrom back in my hands, I went down to Chichester Harbour and took a few shots – nothing special; more of a test to see that the camera was behaving itself , which it definitely is!

Do click on any image to see a larger version which will open in a new window.

Leica M Monochrom – the good news, bad news sandwich!

Clouds over Prinsted

Shortly after I acquired my Leica M Monochrom, I became aware of an issue relating to the CCD sensor; not only to this camera but also the M9 and the ME. The problem was one of corrosion on the sensor which could manifest itself at any time. Leica was quick to respond to this news when it broke a few years ago and guaranteed that for the lifetime of the camera a faulty sensor would be replaced. In fact they went further and said that even if a sensor was replaced the guarantee would apply to the new sensor as well.

This is old news really, but aware of the issue I have always been on the lookout for the problem. The good news being that I had comfort in knowing that if ever I discovered any sign of corrosion, the camera could and would be repaired at no cost. But I would of course have to suffer the inconvenience of being without the camera for several weeks as the work can only be undertaken by Leica in Germany.

When processing the above image of ‘Clouds over Prinsted’ I was cleaning the picture for sensor spots and noticed a number of marks which were not typical of dust on the sensor. In fact they were more like ‘flying saucers’ – a dark spot with a light and dark halo. (See the screen grab below of the offending article – just above the tree line).

The mark on the sensor which is almost certainly the sign of the corrosion issue.

Fearing the worst I did some research which only confirmed that the dreaded ‘corrosion on the sensor’ issue had finally reared its ugly head. Yes, I could clone out the marks, but assuming the corrosion might spread the camera would have to be repaired. Bad News!

I rang the Leica Store in Mayfair in London and they said that whilst the camera could be collected by courier, if I took the camera in personally, they would provide me with a loan M Monochrom for the duration of the repair at no cost. They informed me the turn round time would be approximately six weeks. Having access to a replacement camera was Great News! I would have it for my planned trip to Pembrokeshire in Wales which comes up shortly and by the time I travel to Scotland the repair should have been carried out and my Monochrom would be back in my hands.

Leica M Monochrom with 50mm Summilux and 28mm Elmarit lenses

So yesterday I caught the train up to London, swapped cameras at The Leica Store in Mayfair and took the opportunity to visit Tate Modern, specifically to see The Radical Eye exhibition. A superb collection of photographs owned by Sir Elton John. I will write about this exhibition in a future post. All I would say is that if you can get to London do go – it continues until 21st May 2017.