Morning on the southern Malverns

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On one of our regular visits to Herefordshire we stopped off at a spot that I've long intended to visit. The Malverns is a chain of low hills that rise up from a lower, slightly undulating area near the Severn valley. They appear higher than they are, and they have a pleasantly ragged summit line. At the southern end a road takes advantage of a low point to cross the range and it was at this point we stopped to visit an Iron Age hill camp near the summit known as Herefordshire Beacon.

It's my experience that many of life's pleasures are serendipitous, and all the more satisfying for being unexpected. The weather forecast predicted that early fog would be driven off later in the morning by sun. When we arrived at our parking spot, however, it appeared that sun had the ascendancy and mist was in short supply. But, the story from the summit told a different story. Whilst the low ground in our immediate neighbourhood was virtually mist-free, farther away it was still plentiful and made for a magnificent sight with several prominences raising their heads above the white blanket. The fine autumn scene was enhance by the remaining leaves on the trees and the shadows thrown by the low sun. A group of three walkers, also enjoying the morning's pleasures, gave me a further compositional element and added a sense of scale to the grandeur on display.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 80mm (120mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Fenland misconceptions

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The Fenlands are one of those areas of England about which many people hold misconceptions: that is if they hold any conceptions at all! The first is that the Fens are to be found in Lincolnshire. They are, but they also extend into Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and a small area of Suffolk. Then there is the view that they are flat. That's essentially true, but the area has silt ridges, medieval sea banks, old salterns and small natural undulations that mean it isn't entirely flat. The Fens are a treeless landscape is a view that many hold. This certainly isn't true. There's no doubt that the Fens have fewer trees than most lowland areas, but there is no point where trees cannot be seen, most villages have plenty of them, small stands and individuals are common in open country, and the hedgerows feature quite a few too. There are even areas of new tree planting instigated by government grants.Most people know that the Fens produce prodigious quantities of vegetables and cereals, and often those who are aware of this assert that livestock is absent. In fact sheep, cows, and pigs are present in small but significant quantities - sheep in greater numbers in winter - and an assortment of pet/hobby livestock, from llamas to ponies are found in paddocks being tended by those engaged in "horseyculture". Wildlife enthusiasts consider the area bereft of animals and wild plants. As someone who has lived among the riches of the Yorshire Dales, by the Humber Estuary, and in the region of coast, plain and mountains that is north Lancashire, I can confirm that there are fewer of these than in some other areas, but that any walk in the Fens reveals a good range of birds, animals and plants for anyone who cares to look.

The opinion also exists that walking in the Fens holds few attractions. For those of limited imagination and appreciation this may be true. However, for walkers of wider experience, who know that all landscapes offer interest to the discerning eye and mind, the charms of passing through this region on foot are many and unique. I had such a walk with my wife and a couple of friends the other day. On minor roads, farm tracks, footpaths and the banks of the South Forty Foot we meandered through crops and by waterways under an enormous sky, stopping to watch yellow wagtails, buzzards, reed buntings, sedge warblers and more. As we approached the stand of trees in the photograph we reflecetd on how they were allowed to remain standing, even after the old farmhouse that stood near them was taken down and a new one built nearby. Their presence showed that not all Fenland farmers try to squeeze every last drop of profit out of their land, and that some have a reverence for the landscape and a sense for those things that enhance its special beauty.

click photo to enlarge

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 105mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Simplification

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Since my translocation from a coastal area with a conurbation to a rural area with fields and villages I've found it harder to simplify my photographs. Perhaps it's because in my present setting I see fewer opportunities for images that emphasise these qualities. Yes there are uniform areas of grass and sky, but there is little open water or sea, no expanses of beach, large buildings with plain walls are few as are expanses of concrete and tarmac. So, simple backdrops are harder to find. And, the range of subjects that I could call upon in the vicinityof  my former home was wider. Consequently, as I go about my photographic business I'm constantly on the look out for any image that exhibits the simple force of just two or three elements. Sometimes I find it by going in close either by physical proximity or using a zoom lens. But opportunities for wider shots that feature this quality are harder to find and see.

However, the other day as we walked across the field of winter wheat around which is the village of Tetford on the Lincolnshire Wolds, one of these simple images presented itself to me. My wife was walking ahead, bum-bag bouncing, map in hand, as we came towards the end of a long morning walk. As she strode along the uniform greenness of the wheat, the long and sinuous path, and her figure suggested a shot. So, I stepped to the side to make the line of the foorpath fill the right of the frame, placed my wife on the left, and took a couple of photographs. This is best one.


For more thoughts on simplifying photographic compositions see here, here, and here. Examples are spread throughout (mainly) the years 2005-2007 of the blog!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 271mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 320
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photography and serendipity

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The word "serendipity" was coined in 1754 by the English writer and historian, Horace Walpole (1717-1797) from a "silly fairy tale" that he had read called The Three Princes of Serendip (Serendip was a former name for Sri Lanka). It means, "the faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident" (OED), though over the years it has come to have a second, linked meaning of - "good fortune, good luck or happy chance or circumstance".

Since Walpole invented the word it has been used widely and has spread across the world, even crossing into other languages. Moreover, people have come to recognize it as an uncontrollable attribute akin to fate or luck, though its positive qualities endear it to people more than those fickle powers. In most walks of life - business, science, technology, medicine, the arts etc. - serendipity is recognized as that unforseen but fortunate happening that can be seized and used. I find that in photography it can play a significant role.

Take today's image. I was standing on the bank of the River Slea at Sleaford composing this photograph. To the right I placed the short section of fence - a bit of foreground interest among the nearby nettles and grass. I moved slightly so that the reflected trees fell to the left and right of the upright post in the water. Then, surveying the scene through the viewfinder I wished for a little more interest on the left of the composition. At that moment the inverted reflection of two walkers came into view, so I waited for them to reach the patch of blue sky above the reflected bank in the top corner then pressed the shutter button. Serendipity had struck again!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Found poems and beech trees

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The idea of the "found" poem is intriguing. We are used to reading poetry where meaning has been forged over time, worked, re-worked, and built with tears, anguish and quiet desperation. So the idea that one can simply find a piece of writing, composed for a particular purpose, that unwittingly offers the poetic experience seems, at first glance, quite unlikely.

In his poetry workshops published in The Guardian newspaper earlier this year David Morley looks at the found poetry "lying asleep" in field guides and the prose of natural history. He discusses how it can be shaped so it "escapes its origin and finds a fresh tone." The examples he shows often don't depart at all from the words of the original, though in others the finder-poets add their own contributions. The example below is from the article quoted, and is offered to complement today's photograph of the beautiful autumn beech trees at the edge of Pedder's Wood, near Grize Dale, in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire.

Beech by Peter R White
Wilkinson, John and Mitchell, Alan (1978)
A Handguide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe
Treasure Press, London

Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
cannot make roots
in saturated soils but
drive them through
dry layers to
reach
moisture.
Hence although
a thirsty tree it is
not found in wet
hollows nor on clay soils.
Male flowers are little
balls of stamens
on slender stalks.
Female flowers are green
with white filaments and
are on
short stout stalks.

Beech
live for barely 250 years
then die
and
fall
to pieces
suddenly.

photograph & (some) text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18mm (36mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f8.
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On