Ash wood grain

click photo to enlarge
Sometimes photographs are in front of you and you don't see them. Occasionally they are under your nose every day and you still don't see them. Today's photograph shows a section of my kitchen table, the place where I eat my breakfast and many other meals. It is a table made of wood from the ash tree, a wood with a strong, attractive grain - one of the reasons I bought the table. I often stare at this grain, following its lines, fascinated by the way it appears to change colour with the light, looking intently at the darkest parts, wondering if they really incude the dark blue that appears to be there.

The fact is, if something draws your eye and causes you to reflect upon it then it is a suitable subject for a photograph. So, over eight years after I bought it, here is a photograph of part of the top of my kitchen table. Perhaps its another to add to my "kitchen sink" collection.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Ash Table Grain
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro (70mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f4.5
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:2500
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photographic moments

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Sometimes the right moment is when the subject's face has that animated look, often it's when the morning or evening light is just right, or it could be when all the elements in the frame work together to give the perfect composition. Photographers know these times, episodes which are sometimes fleeting and require the press of the shutter to be perfectly timed - the "decisive moment".

But not all decisive moments work in this way. A while ago I walked past some exterior plywood that has, for a couple of years, filled the doorway of a large garage under slow construction. Work on it seems to have paused, and the plywood has gradually developed the patina of age. It had just stopped raining when I looked at the plywood and the wetness emphasised the grain. I liked the almost flower-like patterns and thought they'd make an interesting photograph. But, unusually for me, I didn't have a camera in my pocket.

I made a point of passing the plywood on a few subsequent occasions but it was either dry due to the absence of rain or the overhang of the doorway had prevented what rain there had been soaking into it. What was required was rain together with a northerly wind that would wet it and reveal those patterns. Finally, the other day I passed by after a night of such weather and took my photograph. I think it was worth waiting for the right moment. The knots and grain of the wood make it look like someone has painted semi-abstract flowers on the wood with a wet paintbrush and the green growth and odd blue spots look like a colour wash has been thinly laid over the surface.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 140mm (210mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec
ISO:800
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

New photos in old subjects

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The other morning I was cycling a route that I must have cycled and walked more than a couple of hundred times since I moved to my present house. In so doing I passed a collection of old, quite large, agricultural sheds at the edge of a smallholding. These rickety buildings, now characterised by an almost complete absence of horizontals and verticals, have been the source of a previous blog photograph and several other shots that I deemed not good enough for publication. On this occasion, as I rode by, I noticed another potential photograph out of the corner of my eye and slammed the brakes on.

What I'd seen, perhaps accentuated by the bright but overcast light, was the juxtaposition of a couple of quite nice pieces of grain in the wooden planks of the black painted wall. A thin veneer of green lichen added a touch of colour to the otherwise black and grey wood. As I dismounted and looked more closely at them they reminded me of the black and white patterns on the hind quarters of a zebra. Taking out my pocket camera from the bike's bar-bag I selected a portrait-format composition, took my shot and pedalled on my way. As I did I reflected on a photographic truism that I've come to appreciate over the years. No matter how many times you walk (or cycle) a specific route, no matter how mundane it comes to seem, and no matter how many shots you take there down the years, there are ALWAYS more photographs that will either present themselves to you, or which you can search out. The variations in light, time of day, season, weather, and in the fluctuating capabilities of your brain and eye ensure that it is so.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On