Self-portrait with pink chair

click photo to enlarge
Walking along a street in Greenwich, London, recently I came upon a shop with goods spilling out on to the pavement in front of its window. It was the sort of shop that sells a wide range of eye-catching items for the home at relatively low prices.

Two items caught my eye. The first was the eye-wateringly pink (and gold) chair. I tried to imagined the rest of the room in which that might stand but immediately gave up under the influence of the waves of nausea that it provoked. Then I saw the glitzy mirror and immediately knew that the owner was trying to sell a collection of items that would complement each other in the room that my mind's eye briefly conjured up.

As I stared at the mirror, transfixed by the glass pimples that bordered it, I saw myself, headless, and decided it was time - in fact, well past the time - for another obscured, reflected, self-portrait. So, positioning myself to create a composition with depth, confusion and anonymity, I pressed the shutter.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 27mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Pink and black

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Pink always seems to me to be the right colour for carnations (Dianthus) because their colloquial name is "pinks". These flowers come in a range of colours yet pink, to my eye, is just the right colour to go with the blue-tinged green of the stalks, thin leaves and buds.

I think I've said elsewhere in this blog that pink is a colour that I never especially liked but, as I've aged, it has grown on me. It's a colour that cries out to be paired with another colour. I like to see it with turquoise or grey though I'm not fond of the popular pairing with red or purple. When I came to take this photograph of some pink carnations in a vase in our hall I opted for a black background. Pink and black are often put together quite successfully. In this instance it allows the relatively muted colour to display an intensity that it loses when other colours are paired with it, and makes the most of the outline of the blooms. The trouble is that that pink and black have a particular association in my mind, one that I can't shift. Such things are very powerful and can prevent one seeing something for what it is. For example, I can't see the colour mint green alongside brown without thinking of a dessert (pudding) that we had in primary school - chocolate sponge with mint flavoured (and coloured) sauce.

So what association pops into my head when I see pink and black. Nothing less than Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts, a sweet of my childhood, still available today, though one I haven't tasted for decades!

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm macro
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: Off

Over-exposure, memory and cyclamen

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I use a computer diary to keep track of what I'm doing and when. I also use Windows' built in "sticky notes" that mimic "post-it" notes for lists and "to do" items. By and large these two aids supplemented by my wife's calendar and diary mean that we have most things covered. That's not to say that events and activities don't, very occasionally, get missed: we are only human!

What I'm not good at - actually, I'm hopeless at - is keeping track of photographic approaches that I mean to use more. Things such as motion blur, my "lines in the landscape" project (see recent post), photographing from very low viewpoints, over-exposing appropriate subjects, and much else. I really need to establish a way to make sure I shoot in these ways at least once a week. What happens at the moment is that, out of nowhere in particular, a little light bulb occasionally comes on in my head and I think - "try this one with some positive EV".

That happened recently when I was photographing the cyclamen that we grow in our garden room and in the front porch. I've tried a few approaches to photographing the plants and I've been reasonably happy with my shots. However, I haven't yet produced the "Wow" shot that I think must be possible with these very showy blooms. But, looking through the viewfinder at some pink specimens of the plant the lightbulb glowed once more saying "try an overexposed shot", so I dialled in +1.0 EV. I liked it! When I reviewed the shots on the computer I increased the effect a little more. The combination of over-exposure and the macro lens wide open at f2.8 has produced a "dreamy" look that appeals to me. It's not my usual style, and it isn't the elusive "Wow" shot, but I like the water-colour, wet look of it and it's something I'll try again.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm macro
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  +1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Cyclamen petals

click photo to enlarge

There are 20 species of cyclamen that collectively flower during every month of the year. Combine this with the striking, colourful, five-petalled flowers, the beautifully figured leaves and the reason for their widespread popularity becomes obvious. I've photographed them on a couple of occasions and each time managed to secure an image that was different from my usual flower shots. One of the blog posts - of a plant that had gone a touch "leggy" due to too much warmth - was where I first used the Marc Chagall quote that I repeated the other day. The other was a semi-abstract image of a single flower head reflected in a mirror.

We've had cyclamen as indoor pot plants for years, and we've valued the fact that they are not only long-flowering, but also provide winter colour for our window-sills in the cooler rooms of the house. However, there are species of cyclamen that will grow outdoors in the garden too, and a couple of years ago we planted some in our rockery. They are thriving, though whether through the activity of birds or due to weather and gravity, some of them have moved downhill and are flowering in the edge of a lawn.

The photograph above is a macro shot of some of our blooming indoor cyclamen. It was taken hand-held, rather speculatively, but turned out better than I expected. Reviewing the shot as it filled my computer screen the petals looked like turbulent waves on a pink sea. Reproduced on a small scale it has less impact, but still offers something I think.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO: 2000
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Cool pink rose

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Yesterday I went with a group from the local garden club to view a selection of church flower festivals. As well as seeing some fine arrangements of flowers based on themes, and having the opportunity to look around churches that are usually closed, this is also a chance to grab a few close-up shots of flowers. The LX3 is a good camera for this. The dark interiors of churches need its bright f2 lens, the image stabilisation allows hand-holding and renders the tripod redundant, and the excellent macro facility makes securing the images relatively easy.

I took quite a few shots, some of which will be used on the garden club's blog, and a couple that I'll feature here. The churches usually display their flowers for a week, and our visit was a little later than in the past two years. Consequently some of the blooms were starting to wilt. Coming upon a display of dusky pink roses I noticed that they'd been misted with water in an attempt to prolong their radiance, so I took the opportunity to feature the water droplets that were glinting in the light from a stained glass window. The cold light from the shadows gave the rose a cool tint that quite appealed to me. This isn't a fresh, bright, joyous "first rose of summer": the coolness gives it a melancholy feel, but it's a touch that I quite like.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2
Shutter Speed: 1/80
ISO: 160
Exposure Compensation: -0.66 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Pink and the poppy

click photo to enlarge
Pink is a colour we associate with girls. Look at Barbie, My Little Pony, the clothes made for girls (small, big, young and old!) and you see it in profusion. However, it wasn't always so.

It seems that, from about the 1920s until the 1940s, in western societies, pink was deemed a suitable colour for boys. Yes, I know that it is favoured by some boys and men today, but we're talking in general terms here! During those decades it was seen as a colour close to red which was thought a strong and assertive hue, masculine in character, perhaps by association with blood and military uniforms. Interestingly, at this time blue was considered a more delicate colour (despite the uniforms of that colour!) and felt to be perfectly appropriate for girls. As far as I'm aware no one has come up with a cogent reason for pink's gender shift, and it is still, in the main, considered a "feminine" colour that is light, frothy, frivolous, playful and showy.

A group of pink poppies have recently been blooming in one of the borders of my garden. Collectively they have exuded that showy lightness that we associate with the colour, and have been a useful companion colour for the blue and purple cornflowers, irises, and clematis that are nearby. However, when I took this close-up photograph of the centre of one of the flower heads, giving emphasis to the black centre and black radial markings, the colour seemed to lose its cheery connotations. In fact I was reminded of some Victorian funerary designs I've seen that combine black with dark purple and dusky pink. You'd think that black alongside pink might bring to mind Liquorice Allsorts, humbugs, or 1950s women's polka dot fashion, but no. Perhaps it's the association of the poppy with opium, and that Victorian cure-all, laudanum. Whatever this colour combination and flower triggers in my mind it's certainly nothing to do with frivolity.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 200
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On