Lonely sea

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Rachael

Outdoor Photography is my favourite photography magazine. In December, I plucked up the courage to send them a selection of my black and white images. I was surprised and delighted when they contacted me to say one of my images (above) had been accepted. It has just been published, with the following blurb:

“This was taken at Fistral Beach in Newquay. While my family surfed, I had a very happy couple of hours pottering about the shore with tripod and filters. This is a blend of two exposures, two minutes to smooth out the water and create space, and a faster one for the yacht. I wanted to capture a sense of the tiny yacht being dwarfed by Nature.”

My first 365/42 is from 11th February 2010. I had gone to the RHS gardens at Wisley to photograph the butterflies in the glasshouse but it was this cheeky little robin, encountered as I walked towards the glasshouse, who ended up capturing my fancy.

365/42

Strangely enough, I discovered that on 11th February 2013, I was at Wisley photographing the butterflies again! Here’s one from that day, actually of a butterfly this time.

365/42

My 365/43 is from 12th February 2009. Although last year’s floods were extreme, there is often winter flooding on the Thames. In 2009, it was strong enough to beak this boat from its moorings and cast it up onto the banks of Desborough Island.

354/43

Finally, it’s back to the 2014 floods for my 365/44: Walton Bridge with its feet in water.

365/44

Inundation

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Rachael

This time last year, my local area was affected by unusually heavy flooding. The Thames burst its banks on a scale we hadn’t seen since 1947. I captured as much of it as I could, fascinated by the changed landscape. My 365/40 and 41 are images not previously shared here, of Walton Quay (41) and the Thames towpath between Molesey and Hampton Court (40).

365/41

365/40

365/40

I had to include one more picture, even though it has appeared on Focused Moments before. This last image, snapped as the flood water came rushing in, was the closest I have come to having an image go ‘viral’ on social media. It was shared 450 times on Facebook alone with views well into 5 figures. The view seems innocuous enough but to people who know the area, it was a unique sight.

Surf’s up

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Rachael

f/11, .5″, ISO 100, 200mm

On Friday, Jenifer and I found time to head down to the coast. Despite the bitter cold, we had loads of fun capturing the surf at Climping Beach. A longer post from this shoot is in the pipeline, all about shutter speeds and waves.

Time to catch up with my 365 redux. 365/37 and 39 are from 2009. Neither awfully good, but it seems I don’t take many pictures on 6th and 8th February in any year except for the year of my original project 365. In keeping with my ‘rules’, I have attempted a better edit at least. 365/38 is from 2014. I enjoy flipping reflections and cropping out the ‘original’.

365/37

365/38

365/39

Birch and pine

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Rachael

I thought I’d share some more pictures from my walk in our short-lived snow, on Tuesday morning.

No canoeing today!

Chatley Heath is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and it is managed as a nature reserve by Surrey Wildlife Trust.

Birch and pine

In its efforts to restore Surrey’s lost heathland, important habitat for several species at risk, the Trust has to do battle with birch and scots pine, the county’s dominant trees.

They self seed freely in the sandy soil. I have to say, however that they do look well together under a dusting of fresh snow.

I did find a few beech trees too, some still hanging onto autumn foliage. And one or two venerable oaks.

My 365 is from this day in 2009. I foolishly let on to my daughter’s headmistress that I took photos. Next thing I knew I was doing all the photography for the school’s new prospectus. It was a challenge for me, especially as at that time I had only a very entry level DSLR with lousy noise levels at ISOs above 400, no flash and little experience. But I enjoyed every minute of it. This image is from my first shoot at the school.

365/36

Snow, reflections and the English winter

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Rachael

f/7.1, 1/40, 35mm, ISO 400

Another shot from yesterday’s foray into the snowy landscape. The snow is gone now; it doesn’t last long here. Back to grey and wet today, but it was fun while it lasted. Looking back to this day last year for my 365 redux project, I found images of golden light and blue skies. This little island is known for its variable climate; discussing the weather is practically a national sport. Last year we had one of the wettest winters since records began and nary a single flake of snow.

365/35

Snow, then and now

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Rachael

Finally, some snow. Circumstances (traffic and trains) were against me this morning and it was late before I managed to get out into the landscape. The thaw had begun, but I made the best I could of it all. I was attracted to the bright stems of these coppiced trees against the white.

On this day in 2009, I was also out photographing snow. My 365/34 was captured just 200 yards from my home. Situated south of London and within the M25, we rarely see temperatures low enough to form icicles like these, so they were a novelty I had to snap.

Snow day

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Rachael

365/33

My 365/33 images are from this day in 2009. Overnight, we had experienced an unusually heavy snowfall. The children were delighted to have their first ever snow day. I must confess, I was quite excited too. We enjoyed a long walk, between snowball fights, and I snapped these on the River Thames towpath between Weybridge and Shepperton. in editing, I have deliberately over-exposed the images, trading texture in the snow for a light, airy look.

365/33

‘God rays’ in a Godly place

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Rachael

f/11, 1/125, 35mm, ISO 100

More pictures of the dramatic light we enjoyed on Friday’s photoshoot at St. Martha’s-on-the-Hill, Chilworth, Surrey. My title is a little tongue-in-cheek as I am ambivalent about the expression ‘God rays’ which seems a simplification, with hints of dumbing-down, of the perfectly adequate term, ‘crepuscular rays’. I wrote a post about these rays and you can see it here. As I discussed, one can understand why these spectacular rays have over the centuries been associated with a higher power.

f/11, 1/8, 90mm, ISO 100

St. Martha’s is a lovely little church perched on the top of a hill with a panoramic view of Surrey. A local ‘tall tale’ is associated with the spot, in which St. Martha’s church and St. Catherine’s chapel, across the River Wey valley, were built by two giants, sisters named, of course, Martha and Catherine. According to the story, they had only one tool, a hammer, which they shared by tossing it across the valley.

f/11, 1/30, 35mm, ISO 100

My 365/31 is from 2009, a detail from the interior of a local cafe, Il Siciliano, now under different ownership, name and decor. The Scarface mural didn’t last long and I speculated that perhaps they’d run foul of copyright issues and had to remove it. While I do not condone the breach of copyright, I must confess that the mural was nice while it lasted.

365/31

My 365/32 is also from 2009. I had a lovely Sunday walk with my camera that afternoon. The evening was bitterly cold, and overnight we had one of the heaviest snowfalls I could remember in the South of England. Needless to day, I was obliged to go out the next day and shoot the same views all over again, transformed as they were by their fresh blanket of white.

365/32

Felicitous Friday

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Rachael

f/11, 1/30, 33mm, ISO 100, .6 hard ND grad, circ. polariser

Last year, Jenifer Bunnett and I went out ‘shooting’ together most weeks and Tuesday eventually became our regular day. This year, we have added a second day, Friday. So far, our Fridays have proved felicitous and we have been blessed with interesting light. Today was no exception. An early morning hike up St. Martha’s Hill brought some glancing rays and the remains of the previous night’s snowfall. The evening’s sunset at Newlands Corner yielded an interesting cloud formation over distant St. Martha’s Hill, where we had been in the morning. As with last Friday, I have a lot of images to process and will share some more over the next few days.

f/11, 0.8sec, 24mm, ISO 100, .6 hard ND grad

Catching up on my 365 redux project, 365/30 is a shot from this day in 2011, seeds of the wild clematis, also known as Old Man’s Beard or Traveller’s Joy. 365/29 is from 2009; the colour version was one of the first images I licensed with Getty and it has done well for me over the years.

365/30

365/29

Weather repeats itself

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Rachael

365/28

Today we have had dramatic skies, glancing light and scattered showers, the sort of changeable weather that landscape photographers love. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go out and capture it. But, on this day last year, we had exactly the same weather, and I was lucky enough to be out in it then. Here are three pictures from that very enjoyable day out in the water meadows and on the Wey Navigation towpath near Send, Surrey.

365/28

My 365/27 is also in black and white, a picture of the orchard at RHS Wisley, taken on an unusually sunny 27th January 2009.

365/27

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Category Archives: photography

Lonely sea

Inundation

Surf’s up

Birch and pine

Snow, reflections and the English winter

Snow, then and now

Snow day

‘God rays’ in a Godly place

Felicitous Friday

Weather repeats itself