Christmas postage stamps

click photo to enlarge
I remember doing a quiz many years ago in which one of the questions was, "Which is the only country not to feature its name on its postage stamps?". The answer, of course, was the United Kingdom, the country that introduced the adhesive postage stamp, the "Penny Black", following the ideas of Rowland Hill. This method of paying for postal deliveries was adopted across the world. Designers and artists were tasked with devising designs for the stamps, and unwittingly their endeavours set in motion a hobby - stamp collecting (or philately) - that was eagerly pursued by children and adults.

I collected stamps as a young boy and was particularly pleased when the UK's Post Office started to produce a wider range of stamps than those featuring just the head of the reigning monarch. Many interesting and often beautiful designs in a variety of sizes have been produced down the decades. Moreover, each Christmas a distinctive and seasonal set of stamps is issued and reported on in the press. Perhaps its my age, perhaps its designers exhausting the possibilities, but I feel that stamp designs are less inventive than formerly. Today's photograph shows part of a sheet of stamps featuring this years Christmas design for the 2nd Class (i.e. slower and cheaper) postage. The paper cut snowman and surround are fine but lack the bold, jewel-like qualities that I remember from my youth.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: UK 2nd Class Postage Christmas Stamp 2016
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 60mm macro (120mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

That time of year

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In November the centres of our cities and towns enter what I call "that time of year" a.k.a. Christmas. November is, in my view, too early to think about Christmas, but commerce, ever eager to whip us into a spending frenzy in order to part us from our money, thinks otherwise. So after the interiors of shops start displaying their festive period goods in October, at some point in the second half of November the first trees and Christmas decorations start being hung in streets and market places. There they will be seen until mid-January. I find the drawn out nature of this annual spending binge quite depressing.

Today's photograph shows the view of Newark's wonderful market place from Bridge Street, one of the four roads that enter it at its corners. Above is a fine sky with clouds piled high, beyond the red and white striped market stall canopies is the fine eighteenth century town hall, the work of the architect John Carr of York. Other Georgian and Victorian buildings can be seen fringing the market square and on Bridge Street. The busy shoppers in the shady foreground add their silhouettes to the composition. What spoils it for me, however, is the wires crossing the street awaiting the decorations that will be strung from them, the five tall poles that are also waiting to be festooned with wires and Christmas paraphernalia, and the Christmas tree in between the columns of the town hall portico. These may not worry the casual viewer who will concentrate on the good things about this view. However, for someone like me, who feels photographically thwarted at this time of year every time I go around a town with my camera, they stick out like sore thumbs.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Market Place, Newark, seen from Bridge Street
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 16mm (32mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

10th anniversary of PhotoReflect

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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

Traditional Christmas trees

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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

Using up the left-overs

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I've never been a big fan of Christmas. The increasing commercialisation of it has made the holiday into an orgy of consumerism. The "12 days of Christmas" are long gone and now it seems to last for about four months, from the moment the first shop puts out Christmas items in September to the last of the decorations coming down in January, to be replaced by the chocolate eggs and hot cross buns of Easter. Some traditional Christmas food I like - cake, pudding, mince pies - but in general I prefer to spread my merry-making and celebrating throughout the year. The coming of grandchildren has softened my Scrooge-like demeanour somewhat, but on the whole I'm glad when Christmas has passed and the new year with all its promise is upon us.

In fact, I think I sometimes enjoy the aftermath of Christmas more than the event. There have been times when I've found the picked left-over turkey, cold, with cold sage and onion stuffing, in a sandwich, more appealing than the meal with all the trimmings. A cup of tea and the last of the mince pies appeals more than the first of them. The remainder of the Christmas cake goes down better in January and February with further cups of tea than it does during the season proper when it can't be fully appreciated among the other culinary riches. Yes, left-overs have something to recommend them. I was reflecting on this when I was scanning the rejects for posting from the past month or so. Sitting among them was the photograph I've posted today -  a left-over that I initially didn't think good enough. Well, the passage of time has changed my mind. I quite like the way the camera caught the light of sky and the water of the elongated pond rather grandly called Crowland Lake, the delicacy of the branches and grasses, and the subdued, almost sepia colour that suffuses the scene.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Bells, baubles and glitter balls

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I'd hate to be a professional photographer. The idea of taking photographs to order would, I am sure, remove all pleasure for me from the act of photography. In fact I revel in the ability to point my camera at whatever I like, whenever I like, and compose pictures just as I like. My photography is entirely selfish.

However, now and then I do take photographs to order though not for money. I once shot a wedding for a couple who couldn't afford a pro. I've photographed events for people as a favour, and I've done some portraiture on the same basis. My wife likes us to send birthday cards that feature one of my photographs, but I generally select these from my stock of existing shots. And, she likes our Christmas card to have one of my photographs on it too. But, selecting something appropriate for this purpose is much harder. It's on the run up to Christmas that I experience a hint of the external pressure to perform that I would resent were I a full-time photographer. The fact is, a few snow scenes and appropriate stained glass windows excepted, my photographic output doesn't usually include many shots that sit easily on the front of a Christmas card. This year's card was, once again, a stained glass window; rather a  nice one as it happens, featuring "The Flight into Egypt". It was only when we had produced and distributed the card that I came across the photograph above, a shot that I took in early December as I sat waiting for a meal. The centrepiece on our table was a basket with lots of metallic bells, baubles and small glitter balls in a variety of colours. When I filled the frame with the subject I quite liked what I saw, and I'm rather glad that I unearthed it from my pile of rejects. Maybe it will do for next year's card and save me the anguish of the frantic search for a suitably festive subject as 2014 comes to its end. Merry Christmas!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec
ISO: 640
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

And so this is Christmas

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Christmas has crept up on me this year. I noticed it coming on a few occasions, but deliberately put it out of my mind except when making and writing a few cards, buying some presents and doing the shopping. Then, suddenly, out of almost nowhere, it's Christmas Eve. My wife has done many of the necessaries required to make Christmas as it should be, and for that I am, once again, grateful. How she puts up living with Scrooge, I don't know!

The appeal of Christmas has declined for me over the years. It's the conspicuous consumption that it entails and the interruptions to my routine that it presents, but mostly because it rarely compares to the Christmases that I so enjoyed when our children were young. Perhaps - and I've just thought of this - Christmas makes me feel my age. Last year I quite enjoyed it and next year, well, who knows? Of course, I'm not alone in my ambivalence towards the festive season. Charles Dickens, whose books both celebrated and helped to define the modern Christmas also had this to say about it (through his character, Scrooge): "Every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart." If that sounds a touch too misanthropic (and I have to say I wouldn't endorse it!) let me make it even more so with Gore Vidal's Christmas greeting: "Meretricious and a Happy New Year", and Samuel Butler's prayer: "Forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those that Christmas against us."

Today's main photograph is the only shot I have from this year that has any connection with the festive season. The two Christmas trees with lights standing on the front of Inigo Jones' superlative building of 1616-19, Queen's House in Greenwich Park, London, are my excuse for posting this image today. However, when I think about it, this post could also be an example to support the thesis of my blog post of earlier this year, "Look behind you", because the shot of Christopher Wren's Old Royal Naval College (formerly the Royal Hospital for Seamen) of 1696-1712, were taken from precisely the same spot as the Queen's House photograph, but looking in the opposite direction

After the downbeat opening of this post perhaps a little uplift is required, so here, in conclusion, are four of my favourite Christmas jokes:

"I bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note attached saying, 'Toys not included'". Anon

"My mother in law has come round to our house at Christmas seven years running. This year we're having a change. We're going to let her in." Les Dawson

"Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of Santa?" Bart Simpson

"It will be a traditional Christmas with presents, crackers, doors slamming and people bursting into tears, but without the dead thing in the middle. We're vegetarians." Victoria Wood

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/13
ISO: 3200
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Christmas and tradition

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When I was young Christmas card pictures could, by and large, be grouped into three categories: the robin, religious themes and "traditional" scenes. The robin (Erithacus rubecula) was (and still is) popular because it's a bird that is seen more frequently in winter: it visits gardens more often at that time of year because food is scarcer in its usual haunts. Consequently, in many English minds it is thought of as a bird of winter and Christmas, though it is in fact a resident species. The religious themes were drawn mainly from the biblical story of the nativity. Since Christmas is at heart a religious festival it isn't surprising that such cards were, and remain, popular. Then there were the "traditional" scene cards. These showed a snowy Victorian setting, often at early evening. It would be populated with people in frock coats, top hats, bonnets, long dresses, mufflers and the like doing "Christmasy" things - carol singing, wassailing, going to or from a church that had glowing stained glass windows, welcoming Christmas visitors from a stagecoach, carrying lanterns as they visited neighbours etc. Such cards are still available, though not as popular as they once were.

It seemed odd to me at the time that a Victorian Christmas should be the one that we fondly gazed back upon. However, the rise of the modern Christmas owes much to that era. Christmas trees, cards, wrapping paper, multiple presents, and more were invented or popularised in the nineteenth century. Some details, such as mistletoe and the yule log were ancient customs, pre-Christian, but they too were brought centre stage at that time. It's often said that the great English novelist, Charles Dickens, invented Christmas as we know it. I think that is to overstate his influence. Through novels such as "A Christmas Carol" he tapped into a current that was already flowing quite strongly, and, though he certainly made a strong impact on how we see the festival (and is probably partly responsible for the "traditional" scene cards), his role was as a contributor, not an inventor .

Looking at my photograph of the centre of the small Lincolnshire village of Bicker set this train of thought in motion. The orange glow of the street lights, the light dusting of snow, the fast-fading light in the sky and the smoke from a chimney all brought to mind traditional scene cards. But it does need those cars to be replaced by a carriage and four!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/15
ISO: 3200
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Early thoughts of Christmas

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The 17th December is unusually early for me to be thinking about Christmas. In fact, it's unusual for me to be thinking about Christmas at all. My modus operandi in recent years has been to do what is necessary - cards, presents, food etc - quite near to the big day, suffer the event, then forget Christmas and look forward to the new year. But it wasn't always so.

As a child I liked Christmas - most children do. As a father with young children I loved Christmas because of what it meant to them. But, since my children left the nest and embarked upon the long journey that is adulthood, Christmas hasn't been quite the same. Until this year. What is different about 2011 you may ask? The answer is the arrival of a grandchild. So, I've been buying presents with more than usual interest, and I've even bought some strings of flashing LEDs to brighten up the hall and living room. Nothing excessively festive, you'll notice, but I am definitely showing much more willing than formerly.

Mind you, the early onset of Christmas in the shops nearly plunged me into pre-Christmas depression. Today's photograph was taken on 12th November. I don't know when these giant baubles were erected in Covent Garden, or when the large tree in the piazza was erected and decorated, but by my reckoning they will be on display for two months of the year - far too long. And yet on my visit any despondency that might have settled upon me was banished by the sight of my grand-daughter gazing in fascination at the colours, lights, and moving mirror-ball reflections. So, as a record and memory of the event I took a few photographs of which this is one of the better examples.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 104mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/00
ISO: 2500
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Merry Christmas

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Anyone who knows me well knows that I am lukewarm about Christmas. I don't especially look forward to the arrival of the festivities, and do tend to be glad when the calendar says January 1st. It wasn't always so. As a child I couldn't wait for it to be upon me - the special food, presents, and events all being something to relish. When my children were small I enjoyed it enormously through them, and always strove to make it something special. But, as I've got older it has palled somewhat for me. I really dislike seeing the arrival of Christmas merchandise in the shops during early October, the conspicuous consumption doesn't appeal, and the frenzied shopping in December is something to be avoided or endured rather than enjoyed. I continue to like some of the traditions, and the carols have an enduring attraction for me, but on the whole it's not my favourite time of year.

What also impacts negatively on my feelings at this time is the period between Christmas and the start of the new year, a sort of hiatus when the country has ground to a halt apart from "The Sales". That particular week is the only one in the year that I'm glad to see the back of. During those days I'm ready for January to start, ready for the chance to look forward and to plan rather than to look back, and I'm ready for the daylight hours to start to lengthen. If, after reading that, you think I must be pretty miserable at Christmas, let me say that I'm not. I don't ask much of Christmas - time with my family and friends, a few good films on television, and weather that lets me get out and about, walking with my camera, - that's all I require to be entirely happy.

So why, I imagine you may be thinking, does today's photograph show a lonely, frost covered bench in the unused corner of a frozen cemetery rather than colourful holly against a blue sky (last year's Christmas shot), a festive bauble (2008), or Christmas coffee (2006)? Does it reflect an end of year gloom that has descended on the Boughen household? The answer to that is a resounding no. The fact is I've simply been too busy to shoot anything more suitable, and this was the next image in the queue for posting!

So, as I take a break from blogging for a few days, let me say to everyone who visits on a regular or a sporadic basis, Merry Christmas to you and to your nearest and dearest, and I hope you have a splendid new year! Now I'm off to see when the 1951 film version of Charles Dickens', "A Christmas Carol", is on TV. Alastair Sim is the definitive Scrooge - my hero!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm
F No: f9
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO: 1000
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Merry Christmas

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"And the first tree in the greenwood, it was the holly"
from "Sans Day Carol"

A very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and healthy new year to all who pass this way regularly, sporadically, or even accidentally.

I've "shut up shop" - to use an English colloquialism - for a few days. Normal service will be resumed around the turn of the year (or maybe a little before).

Today's photograph shows some snow covered holly, with its bright red berries, against an afternoon sky that is blue turning to cyan. I post it for its seasonal associations (at least in Northern Europe and North America), and because in yesterday's post about Christmas carols I neglected to mention one of my favourites. The "Sans Day Carol" is a traditional song of Cornish origin. "Sans Day" is a corruption of St Day, the village in Cornwall where the song was first heard. This carol, like "The Holly and the Ivy", compares the qualities of the holly with aspects of the life of Christ. It has a particularly lovely tune that I have a fondness for, in part, because I have been known to teach the song in readiness for Christmas concerts.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 150mm (300mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On