Dungeness, finally

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Rachael

16mm, f/11, 1/6, ISo 100, .9 soft grad.

Having holidayed in the mountains this year, I have been feeling in need of a coast ‘fix’. So, on Thursday, Jen and I made an evening dash south. We chose Dungeness, honeypot location for landscape photographers. Having lived in the south of England for most of my life, I am not sure how I managed never to go to Dungeness before!

102mm, f/7.1, 1.6″, ISO 400

The forecast predicted changeable weather and dramatic skies so we had high expectations. We should have known better. There was a small amount of texture in the sky on our arrival and the promise of some lightning, but in the end the rain washed in and the sky smoothed over.

200mm, f/8, 0.8″, ISO 400

I took all the usual shots anyway. The scene below is particularly oft-captured, as I know only too well from my evenings judging at camera clubs. But, hey, I’d never been there before! Had to take The Shot. Would have been rude not to.

58mm, f/11, 2″, ISO 100

When the sky gets boring, the long lens comes out for some detail work. Dungeness certainly offers lots of potential there. It’s not my usual style but I enjoyed capturing some images of the netting against the hut.

200mm, f/11, 1.6″, ISO 400

I am thinking these two might make a nice diptych.

200mm, f/11, 5″, ISO 100

I liked the texture of the partially burnt hut wall.

200mm, f/7.1, 3.2″, ISO 400

I can finally see what everyone else has known for ages: Dungeness is cool – weird, but definitely cool. I will be back.

blend of 5 exposures, 200mm, f/2.8, 1/4, ISO 800

Mountain weather

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Rachael

Last month we were in the Canadian Rockies, one of my very favourite places. While we were in Banff we had changeable weather. This was great news for the locals as it helped fight several serious wildfires. It was also great news for me for a less serious reason, as it added drama to my photos. They say that if you don’t like the weather in the Rockies you only need wait 15 minutes and it will have changed. Makes sense to me.

Three from Thurne

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Rachael

During my trip to Norfolk last month, I had the chance to spend a large part of one day at Thurne wind pump. I took many of the usual, landscape type shots but I also enjoyed the chance to use my long lens and capture some graphic black and white details.

My photographic eye tends to veer automatically to the large vistas but I want to start catching more intimate aspects of the landscapes I visit too. It’s a new project for 2015.

Do you think your eye tends to favour one sort of composition to the detriment of others and is there another you’d particularly like to master too?

Carrelets in detail

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Rachael

365/48

Taken on this day last year, these images are studies of the little stilt fishing huts, or ‘carrelets’, that abound in this area of France. For more images from this trip, click on the tag ‘Gironde’.

365/48

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

Deer in frost

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Rachael

Another picture from Friday’s fantastic, frosty day out. As I was taking a landscape shot, two deer took flight across the meadow. Of course, my wide lens hadn’t a hope of catching them, but I quickly changed to my 70-200mm lens and hoped I’d find more. Luckily, I did.

Yesterday, I shared the colour version of this shot, also from Friday but I rather like this tinted black and white edit too. And it is a handy segue from frost to black and white to my 365/25, from this day in 2009:

365/25

Newark Priory

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Rachael

365/18

I spent this afternoon teaching a student on the Wey Navigation towpath near Newark Priory. Imagine my surprise when I got home and started to look for today’s 365 redux image to find that on 18th January 2009 I was at exactly the same place! The Priory was founded in the 12th century by Augustinian Canons, also known as ‘Black Canons’ because of their black cloaks and cassocks. At one point, the prosperous Priory housed a community of 200. Henry VIII had it sacked during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; according to one story, a cannon was placed on the hill above it to bombard the buildings. It was subsequently plundered for its building materials and fell into ruin; all that is left now is part of the church. A Grade I Ancient Monument, the Priory was placed on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk register in 2007. I can’t offer an image of it from today as I do not make my own pictures when I am out with students. The original of this image (before the fancy editing) was featured as the cover of six local interest magazines in 2010.

More fisheye adventures

Posted on January 16, 2015 by Rachael

f/5.6, 1/10, 8mm, ISO 400

Two more shots from my adventures with my Samyang 8mm fisheye last Saturday. A trip on London’s public transport just got a lot more fun.

f/5.6, 1/70, 8mm, ISO 400

For my 365 redux, I have had to resort to 2009 once again, the year of my original 365. I am looking forward to getting past winter so I have more images from which to choose. Anyway, the reality of 365’s demands was just settling in back in 2009 and, on the upside, it was beginning to force me to look hard for images everywhere I went, including the top of the local supermarket’s carpark, and the lights on the ceiling of my kitchen.

365/16

365/15

Dubai, colourless.

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Rachael

365/2 – Dubai Divers

This day last year, we were in Dubai, having stopped off on our way back from Australia. I wish I could say I loved Dubai. It’s just not my kind of place. In fact, it reminded me strongly of my least favourite place in the whole world, Las Vegas. I did quite like this sculpture of diving figures in the otherwise overwhelming temple of excess that is the Dubai Mall.

We thought it might be interesting to take a tour into the desert, but the more than 3 hours round trip just to get to a scrubby bit of dirty sand and some very smelly camels inside a wire fence did rather take the gloss off the experience. Still, I liked these strange little bushes with their roots exposed. They looked as if, at night, they might secretly tiptoe across the sand.

365/2 – Dubai desert

A new year, a new project, and getting back to blogging

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Rachael

The arrival in my mailbox of WordPress’s Year in Review prompted me to reflect on what has been a very patchy year of blogging. When I first started Focused Moments, back in April 2012, I wrote a new post every day, and kept that up for the best part of a year. But, during 2014, the flow of posts somehow dwindled, and dwindled… 2014 was a year with challenges, but that’s no excuse. There’s no point in promising to do better; you’ve heard it all before. I should just get on and do it; less talk more action! After all, WordPress is a great platform, and some recent enquiries and sales have reminded me that it is also one that does every well in search rankings. So, time to get back on that horse.
To start with, I am beginning a project 365. After I completed the usual one-new-image-a-day project back in 2009, I swore I’d never do it again. But this is going to be different. I don’t need motivation to go out and take new images; I can hardly help myself. But I have a massive, sadly disorganised and neglected back catalogue. So I am going to post a ‘this day x years ago’ image every day this year, and it has to be a new edit or an image never before shared. Not only will I be forced to trawl through those forgotten pictures, I will also be forced to log in and do something on Focused Moments. And, once I’m here, I might as well post new stuff too. We’ll see.

Dartmoor National Park 365/1

Anyway, here’s image 365/1, from a bracing New Year’s Day 2013 spent exploring Dartmoor National Park. I’d love to spend more time in this atmospheric location. I have a couple of windows of opportunity for exploring more of the UK this year and Dartmoor, with its windy tors and lonely, tortured trees, is definitely on the shortlist.

Focused Moments

A professional photographer's life

Tag Archives: black and white photography