Blurred Blackwall Tunnel, London

click photo to enlarge
Though image stabilisation and improved high ISO performance has greatly improved the low-light and night-time capabilities of cameras, these conditions can still produce shots with motion blur. Low shutter speeds may result in blur caused by camera movement, and this is not usually an effect that a photographer wants (though it can be, and it can be deliberately induced to good effect). On my recent trips through London's Blackwall Tunnel several of my shots taken there exhibited this kind of blur, and it prompted me to try for photographs with the other kind of blur - focus blur - as an alternative to the sharp shots I'd been seeking. I've made quite a few exposures in recent years with the camera deliberately out of focus, and I knew that the night-time points of light against a dark background had the potential to be interesting and perhaps beautiful.

The image above is the one I took that I like best. If you didn't know what the subject was you might not guess it, so you'd judge it solely for its abstract qualities - colour, shapes, composition etc, and here, I think, the convergence on the cluster of bright points of light works well in this regard.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Blurred Blackwall Tunnel, London
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO:1250
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Blackwall Tunnel, London

click photo to enlarge
Today's photograph was taken on the 26th December, a day known to many in the Christian church as the Feast of St Stephen, and to people in the United Kingdom as Boxing Day. I've often wondered what visitors to our country make of this name for the day after Christmas Day. It has nothing to do with the pugilistic arts, but refers to the giving of a present (or "Christmas Box"), by wealthier people to their servants and tradespeople with whom they had dealings.This custom dates back to the seventeenth century but the name itself only became widely used during the Victorian period.

My visit to the capital was brief - only a couple of days - and was entirely devoted to family matters. However, I took a camera and decided to see what shots I could get on our trips under the River Thames and to the nearby play park. This photograph was taken in the Blackwall Tunnel, a pair of tunnels that passes under the river to the east of the centre of the city, between the edge of Canary Wharf and the O2 arena in Greenwich. It is one of a couple of dozen I took and the one that best achieves the convergence lines and colours that characterise driving through these underwater tubes. I should add that I was a front seat passenger when using my camera!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Blackwall Tunnel, London
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:1600
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

10th anniversary of PhotoReflect

click photo to enlarge
It was 10 years ago today - 23rd December 2005 - that I embarked on this blog. I needed a diversion from work, some self-made entertainment, a focus for my photographs, and a place to reflect on photography and other things of interest, importance and inconsequentiality. I thought it might last for a year, maybe two, but I had no idea it would still be going ten years and 2,107 posts later.

As I've said elsewhere here, I like to dabble, to try something and once I've satisfied my interest, to try something else. However, the blog has proved to be more than a dabble; it has kept going. Like many undertakings it has had its ups and downs. There have been periods, though not many, where I've stopped for a while. The most notable was when we moved house. There have also been, for me, lows where my photographic output has waned, and not been as good as I wanted. But, a few better shots, often inspired by the need to "keep feeding the blog", have usually lifted me and re-kindled my enthusiasm.

Earlier this year it was my plan to reach the ten year mark and stop. I intended to draw a line under the blog and try something else. Now I don't think I'll do that. But, the blog is likely to change. I need to reduce the amount of time I devote to it, so I imagine the posts will vary in length. The photographs will probably be presented without their "frames", and I may do one or two more tweaks. Comments are unlikely to re-appear because they take too much time. I deal with most of the emails I get, but apologies if my replies are somewhat perfunctory. So, as things stand at the moment, the blog continues. Not, however, not for the Christmas period. I'm abandoning it in favour of my family, and therefore I wish a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year to all visitors, whether regular or sporadic.

Today's photograph is, like the first post I made, a reflected self-portrait, though this time seasonal. I used an old Four Thirds f3.5 35mm Macro lens with a Four Thirds to Micro-Four Thirds Adapter. It produced a result that reminds me to keep using my newly acquired fish-eye lens!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm (75mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
ISO:5000
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Graffiti and murals

click photo to enlarge
From what I've seen of Portugal - the capital, Lisbon, and something of the coast and countryside nearby - the country has a problem with graffiti. In particular the "tags" that people spray on buildings and anywhere else that offers a flat, plain surface. On some buildings, particularly in and  around some residential areas, the surface up to a height of six feet is covered with years-worth of the stuff. Fortunately in public places it is usually much less prevalent. I've written elsewhere on this blog about my feelings on graffiti, so I won't repeat them here. I've also expressed my views on murals painted on buildings, saying that I prefer them to be on something attached to the surface rather than on the wall itself. That way the building doesn't have to suffer the years when the mural is in decay and has become an eyesore.

Of course, my view is founded on my experience of murals in the cities and towns of the regions of the UK, rather than in capital cities. And the fact is, I've seen very good murals in London, works that enhance an area and put a smile on the face of passers-by. It's hard not to agree that these are worth-while artistic and social endeavours that make a positive contribution to the cityscape. I've seen examples of this sort in Lisbon too, and today I post a couple of photographs of two murals on two elevations of the same building. The building is adjacent to the quay where liners tie up, a riverside area of strictly utilitarian buildings, somewhat neglected, where this mural adds a note of interest. When I saw the characters in the main photograph I had a feeling I knew them from somewhere: they looked familiar, with a hint of steam punk about them. However, I've been unable to turn up anything on the internet so I'll have to wait and see if anything eventually surfaces from the depths of my memory. The face on the smaller photograph made out of chipped render is particularly effective and unusual. Incidentally, some of the pervasive graffiti that I mentioned can be seen on the lower left of the building.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11mm (30mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.2
Shutter Speed: 1/2000
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Nativity and photographing stained glass

click photo to enlarge
When I first started photographing stained glass a tripod was a necessity. Today, thanks to image stabilisation and improved high ISO capabilities, that's not the case. As a subject stained glass presents quite a few challenges, particularly when it is in a church. Firstly there is the fact that it is usually above head height. This necessitates either raising the camera or correcting converging verticals. Then there's the very wide range of tones in stained glass, usually ranging from white through to black. How to expose them all correctly is the problem: usually some underexposure is necessary followed by selective post processing.

Stained glass is best photographed on bright, overcast days because sunlight on the window usually presents insuperable difficulties if you are seeking true colours. Windows near transepts and porches are a problem because the shadow of the building projection often makes one side of the window much darker than the other. I've never succeeded in satisfactorily overcoming the exposure challenge that this situation presents. The demands of the clergy and congregation often present problems. For example, the east window (often the most elaborate stained glass in the church) often has a sanctuary lamp hanging in front of it, resulting in a silhouette of the metal holder and chain. Other window sills are frequently used for vases of flowers and other objects designed to beautify the building.

However, these difficulties notwithstanding, I enjoy photographing stained glass, as this blog will testify. At the end of each year I search my collection for a nativity scene to use as the illustration on our Christmas card that we make. Above is this year's example, an example of Victorian glass from the parish church of St Denys, Sleaford, Lincolnshire.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 120mm (240mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
ISO:640
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Fog and The Haven

click photo to enlarge
I've written before about my liking for the transformative effect of fog: how bright colours become muted, silhouettes are emphasised, graduated fading is introduced, and landscapes are transformed by the masking of the usual distant objects. A recent brief shopping trip into Boston, Lincolnshire, gave me the opportunity to photograph the inshore fishing boats, usually a very colourful subject, in these foggy conditions.

As I selected a few shots I reflected on the name given to the River Witham between the Grand Sluice in the town and its exit into The Wash and the North Sea - "The Haven". Such a name clearly came about because boats leaving the turbulence of the sea and entering the mouth of the river would find the sudden calming of the water instilled a sense of safety - its shallows would indeed seem a haven from the dangers of the briny deep. In dense fog, such as that on the day of my photograph, that sense of sanctuary would be so much greater. Gone would be the featureless horizons of the open water to be replaced by the welcoming river banks that would usher them to anchorage on the quayside of Boston.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 19.5mm (53mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f4
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Royal arms in churches

click photo to enlarge
When Henry VIII, as crown, replaced the Pope as the head of the church in England one of the steps that he had enacted, to remind people of the transfer of power, was to insist on the royal coat of arms being displayed in all churches.These were usually made of painted wood or in the form of a fabric hanging that was fixed to a wall or sometimes hung under an arch. Many royal coats of arms can still be seen today in churches up and down the country. The particular design of the arms, which has changed down the centuries, tell of the reign in which they were made. Few exist from the time of Henry and Elizabeth 1, and in the period of the Commonwealth during the C17 many were destroyed by zealous Puritans. After the Restoration the element of compulsion regarding display was removed but many churches continued to erect royal arms. Eighteenth and nineteenth century examples are common.

Today's photograph is a detail of the very large, wooden coat of arms that hangs below an arch at the west end of the parish church in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. It dates from the seventeenth century, and is much bigger and more showy than many examples.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.5
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:2000
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Traditional Christmas trees

click photo to enlarge
The Christmas tree of today comes in many forms. However, to be described as traditional it must have, as its basis, a coniferous evergreen tree such as a  spruce. Furthermore the decorations should be bright, colourful and frequently reflective. If these attributes are present it can fairly be called traditional. If, however, there is a colour "theme": baubles of only one or two colours, it is more of a late C20/C21 "modern" design. In the home traditional trees frequently reflect the addition of successive items down the years, often including examples made by children. These, quite randomly decorated trees are the antitheses of the modern design and much to be preferred.

I've come across quite a few Christmas trees in the past couple of weeks. The "traditional" example above was photographed in the church at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. By way of contrast I also include quite the most depressing "tree" to be seen by me this year (and for many a year) that I saw in King's Cross railway station in London. It is made entirely of soft Disney character toys.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 17mm (34mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO:1250
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Fisheye King's Cross

click photo to enlarge
In the 1970s and up to the mid-1980s we travelled from our home to London fairly regularly. Living on the east side of the country we were able to make use of the East Coast mainline. Consequently our London terminus station was King's Cross. The main buildings at this station were designed by Lewis Cubitt and are a marvel of direct, honest, Victorian brick work, with the main facade expressing the interior in much the way that the west facade of a cathedral tells you what to expect inside. Over the years the various owners and operators of Kings Cross did their best to disfigure the main facade with corporate branding and other excrescences. However, in 2014 the whole station was given a makeover that sympathetically restored the famous face of the building and imaginatively added to the interior.

For many years, when I've needed to visit the capital we've driven there. However, on our most recent visit we decided to go by train. That gave me the two-fold pleasure of seeing something of the refurbishment of King's Cross, because once again we'd be using the East Coast mainline, and also it would give me an opportunity to try out my newly acquired Samyang 7.5mm fisheye lens. I was in two minds about buying this lens. On the one hand I enjoy wide-angle and I quite like the distortion that a fisheye lens can confer on a subjects. But on the other hand I recognise that for many it is a specialist, little used lens and might prove so for me.

My first reasonable effort with the lens is shown above. It doesn't really make use of the lens in the way I ultimately hope to, but it does show something of an area of the station that has been given a glazed roof supported by very striking net-like lattice steel tube.

photograph anf text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 7.5mm fisheye
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:500
Exposure Compensation: -0.3EV
Image Stabilisation: On

I was dumb, but now I'm smart

click photo to enlarge
I have an ambivalent view of technological advancement. So many new products seem to have so little reason for existence or worrisome potential liabilities attached - internet connected heating system or fridge anyone? That said, I've used computers since the early 1980s and I do have my share of hi-tech gadgets.

One device that I have managed to avoid has been the smart phone. I'm not a great fan of phones of any kind; I spent too much time using them in my work. But we do, of course, have a landline and I also had a dumb phone. You may recall dumb phones. They're the tiny ones that you could carry around that allow you to speak to people beyond shouting range and even send them little written messages, but do very little else. The disadvantage of even a dumb phone from my point of view is that you can be the recipient of these calls and messages too. I say I "had" one because it is no more and has been replaced, at my wife's insistence, by a smart phone. They're the bigger ones that don't easily fit in your pocket and cause people to bump into you on the street as they walk along watching the latest episode of heaven knows what (I don't watch much TV either). She's had one for quite a while and felt it would be useful for her and our extended family, if I had one too. So I bought a cheap one. I say "cheap" because, compared with my wife's, it is. However, it was more than I wanted, or wanted to pay. But I know when to go with the flow and so I'm no longer dumb but smart, and can do lots of things with my phone (but won't).

I noticed the thing has a camera so I took a shot of possibly the most reviled building in Spalding Lincolnshire, when we were out shopping. It's also one of the biggest buildings in this quite small town. The concrete frame and cladding used to be stained so I guess that put some people off. But, a few years ago, it had a new paint job and it looks fine now - not great, but O.K. That describes my photograph too - not great, but O.K. In fact it's a bit better than I expected. I guess the bright light helps. The shot was something of an experiment and it will probably be the only smart phone shot I post on this blog.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: No-Name Android Phone
Mode: Auto
Focal Length: Does it matter
F No: See above
Shutter Speed: Presumably
ISO: Ditto
Exposure Compensation: Didn't bother
Image Stabilisation: Perhaps. Or maybe not

Tower Bridge seen from London Bridge

click photo to enlarge
One recent cold and windy night we found ourselves in London Bridge station waiting for someone. We had about forty minutes to kill so we walked out onto nearby London Bridge. After photographing the big blocky office building on the nearby south bank we walked out onto the bridge itself. It was freezing! Definitely not the weather you'd choose for photography.

The temperature was low and the wind speed high making it colder and harder to hold a camera steady. And yet, there on the bridge, besides the usual tourists taking photographs with their phones, were a few hardy photography enthusiasts, some with tripods, some without. I joined their ranks, tripodless, and started to take a few shots of the illuminated Tower Bridge, nearby HMS Belfast and the lit buildings along the shore. It quickly became apparent that a bright lens and a reasonable focal length were required. I happened to have my current portrait lens with me, the Olympus 45mm 1.8, since I'd been photographing my grand-daughter earlier in the day. It proved ideal for the job. Reasonably sharp wide open and image stabilised by the camera body.

As I took my photographs I reflected on the time when I used Four Thirds cameras without stabilisation, and without the high ISO performance of current cameras. The quality that was possible today simply with my unsupported camera body and lens was impossible only a few short years ago. The metering too has improved in leaps and bounds and it took minimal effort to achieve what I consider to be the very satisfactory result in today's photograph.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm (90mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
ISO:5000
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On