Doorways and light

click photo to enlarge
On a return journey from the Yorkshire Dales we called in at Bolsover Castle, a structure of medieval foundation with much that stands dating to the seventeenth century. English castles are often quite imposing and this one is no exception. Its location, along the brow of a hill, is very impressive and both the exterior and interior of the main structure offer the photographer many interesting subjects.

However, when I review photographs that I take at such locations I often find that the "standard" shots - views, towers, battlements, doorways, interior decoration etc. leave me, photographically speaking, somewhat cold. I think that what happens is, my interest in architecture too often gets in the way of my photographer's eye. Fortunately it doesn't completely blind me and I always manage to get a few shots that are composed solely for their more photographic qualities. Invariably these are the ones I like best.

Today's photograph was taken for two main reasons: the muted colours and the way the light was falling. It shows some of the seventeenth century interior design, but in a dark setting and shadows with the doorway providing the highlight. I particularly liked the way the angles of both the room and the light related to the portrait format frame of the viewfinder.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 26mm (39mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec
ISO:3600
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Ripples, reflections and bubbles

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I've been doing less photography than is usual for me in recent months - other activities and interests have been consuming more of my time. And, as a consequence, I think my photographic eye has become somewhat dulled. The fact is, with photography as with many other undertakings, pursuing the act on a regular basis is the only way of maintaining an acceptable level of performance. Just as the soccer player or musician loses their touch without regular training, matches or performances, so too does a photographer find it harder to see subjects once he or she begins taking fewer shots.

I've experienced troughs of this kind before. The way I dealt with it then was to keep on snapping or - and this works for me but may not for others - by giving more attention to seeking out semi-abstract subjects. I don't know why this should be effective, but it has been in the past and it may help again. My shot with the out of focus barbed wire was an example of my endeavours in this direction, and so too is today's photograph. I'd been photographing the large, formal fountain in Queen's Gardens, Hull, and producing nothing of interest. So, in pursuit of my short-term aim I concentrated on the reflections and bubbles produced by the falling drops of water. Not the best example of this genre that I've produced, but better than most of what I've been producing lately.

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:280
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Lions sejant?

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I have no time for the social structure that produced heraldry or for heraldry as a social tool; it seems to me to be a self-serving way of differentiating the plebeians from the aristocracy, of binding the so-called "upper classes" together by lineage, and, in many cases, giving a spurious antiquity to the nouveau riche. That being said, you have to admire the gusto with which the whole heraldic apparatus was invented established, codified and embedded in society.

Go anywhere in England and you'll come across heraldry. It's in almost every Church of England building, virtually all civic buildings, on the coinage, on pub signs, affixed to buildings, printed on book covers, an most of all, everywhere in castles new and old.

Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire is a Victorian castle and the builders took great pains to make it look like it has been built up over the centuries, with rooms and details in various architectural styles. It is also dripping with heraldry. The detail above shows part of a panel behind a stream of water that issues from a wall into a pool. It has two lions facing each other, their front legs raised on steps, between them a tree, and above a shield. The position that heraldic animals adopt are circumscribed by rules and special names. I think this pair are sejant!

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 95mm (142mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO:360
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photographic chickens and eggs

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I've often wondered if people are drawn to photography because they notice things more than the average person, or whether its the act of engaging in photography that makes you notice things more. The likelihood is that photographers probably include both those types of people (as well as those who notice subjects that result in photographs of the type they've seen before).

I know that when I post a photograph such as today's that many people, to use the modern parlance, "get it", and many don't. And frankly, that doesn't matter a jot because enthusiast photographers should photograph what pleases them, what they notice, without regard for what other people might like or dislike. That's the joy of not being a professional!

I've always liked the way that rivers carve and mould mud. Here's another black and white shot of this subject that I took a while ago. For contrast, here's one in colour.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 56mm (84mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f9
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Weeds and razor wire

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It's odd, the things that attract our eye as photographers. It may be something conventionally beautiful such as a landscape, a sunset or a ship on the wave-tossed ocean. On the other hand, it could be a subject that is generally regarded as ugly, unworthy of consideration or just plain ordinary - such as weed or razor wire. On an early blog post I chose razor wire as a subject and discussed its place in the modern world. And, at various times, I've photographed weeds a.k.a. wild flowers for their unique qualities.

Consequently, when I saw spirals of razor wire on top of an old brick wall that was growing a luxuriant crop of weeds I had to point my camera in their direction. I consciously chose a long focal length to throw a good deal of the subject out of focus, and was pleased with the way the wire, in places, lost some of its hard sharpness - photographically speaking that is!

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 140mm (210mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec
ISO:220
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Superstore gull

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Pointing my camera at the corner of a Tesco Extra superstore in Kingston upon Hull my eye was drawn to some unexpected movement. It turned out to be a juvenile herring gull perched on the dark metal frame of the glazing, an incongruous shape against the stark regularity of the architecture. What was it doing? Its repeated pecking motions at the glass suggested two possibilities. Perhaps it was trying to break through and help itself to the mounds of food piled high on the shelves within. Or, more likely, it was behaving either aggressively or amorously towards its own reflection. Whatever the reason for its presence on its perch injected a note of idiosyncrasy and contributed a point of interest for a photograph of the man-made background. Something that I've found gulls, and in fact birds in general, sometimes do.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 27mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Frozen tomatoes

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The tomatoes in the greenhouse are green and growing nicely. Those outdoors are ready to set but mainly have yellow flowers showing where each fruit will appear. And in the kitchen the tomatoes of last year are regularly being turned into bowls of soup.

Today's photograph shows some of those frozen tomatoes, out of the freezer in a bowl, thawing out before being prepared for soup making. I always like to see them with the brightness of their shiny red skins subdued by the covering of frost, so I thought I'd photograph them before they're all gone and newly picked tomatoes take their place.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon 5DMk2
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm Macro
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/13
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  +0.33
Image Stabilisation: On

Using photographic effects sparingly

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There's a place in photography for effects, that is to say, the post-exposure (or in-exposure) manipulation of an image away from what the camera ordinarily offers. Photography has never been about recording "reality" but rather a form of a reality as mediated by the photographic process. Consequently, any further manipulation should properly be seen as an addition to already existing manipulation rather than the adulteration of some kind of pure vision.

But, and its a big but, though effects have their place, they are much more effective (pun intended) if they are used sparingly, and we are very familiar with straightforward photographs. There's an analogy here with swearing: if it happens every other sentence the effect of the forbidden word is much less effective. If it's reserved for just the right occasion then it can have a very big impact. At least that's my view - on photographic effects and swearing. By extension, my view of Instagram and similar services is that eventually they dull the vision of its users and create a desire for ever wilder photographic effects.

My way of using effects is to wait until I have a photograph that looks like it could wear one well. Today's shot of an antique shop in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, had that appearance so it had a vignette, tonal contrast, a brown "grunge" cast and a few other things thrown at it. To my eye it pushes a photograph that advertises only through the phone number and the burglar alarm box that it resides in the twentieth or twenty-first century, back to somewhere in the grubby nineteenth century.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 27mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The colours of stone

click photo to enlarge
One of the pleasures of visiting medieval churches is not only admiring what the medieval masons and sculptors did with the stone, but appreciating their choice of stone. "Country" stone, that is to say the local stone, is the choice of many churches for obvious reasons. However, churches in areas lacking building stone as well as larger buildings such as abbeys and cathedrals frequently sourced specialist stone from more distant locations - perhaps Caen in France, the isle of Portland, or the quarries at Barnack, or at Ancaster in Lincolnshire..

Time always shows whether builders chose well. I've seen churches with stone that has been crumbling for centuries and others where the mark of axe, saw and chisel are almost as clear as the day the block was first shaped. But, good building stone was not always available and the masons had to make do with what was supplied. Sometimes the local discolourations of a stone mean that the building takes on a patchwork hue, especially when a restorer has sourced original stone with which to make repairs. This example at Horncastle in Lincolnshire exemplifies that.

At Great Malvern Priory in Worcestershire multiple hues are evident in the stonework of the fine tower. The reds, browns, greys and creams reflect the geology of the area. The number of colours is multiplied by fresh-looking replacements sitting next to worn and weathered pieces and is complemented on the north side by the green of lichen. The colours greatly add to the charm of the building. I noted them the first time I visited the building fifteen or so years ago, and I determined to photograph them on a visit we made the other day.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 122mm (183mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO:250 Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

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

King's Lynn passage

click photo to enlarge
What to call a narrow way to a house behind other houses? In Yorkshire such a route might be called a "ginnel" though that is a little more like an "alley" than the entrance depicted in today's photograph. Passage seems a suitable adjective.

There are a number of such places in King's Lynn. Many are on the original streets of houses that grew up  along the waterside. They became necessary because when the river was embanked more land was made available behind each house. Extensions to existing houses and warehouses were built on the newly reclaimed land, and extra houses grew out of, or next to these. And all needed access from the main street.

The passage shown above was visible from the street; I simply pointed my camera down it to capture this picture of the collection of objects that the householder had gathered outside the dwelling's door. The bicycle with basket and "sit up and beg" handlebars made the shot and formed a nice silhouette against the sunlit yard beyond the passage.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 38mm (57mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The appeal of stainless steel

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I don't wear jewellery of any kind unless you consider a wrist watch to be decorative. And, if it is jewellery, then it says something about my preferences. Were I someone who did hang decorative items on my body then I would spurn gold and silver and head straight for the stainless steel. That is, if jewellery is made of such material - I have no idea whether it is or not.

A couple of weeks ago I was emptying the washing machine and the sunlight reflected from the white wall behind me illuminated its interior. The stainless steel's metallic lustre and the pattern of the holes appealed to me. So I got the small Sony camera, stuck it inside and took this photograph.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 13.9mm (37mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:6400
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Old sheds

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On a walk taken after June rain had begun to clear we came upon these old sheds that were once an essential part of a small holding. The last time we saw them there was a "For Sale" notice on the site. Now it had the word "Sold" fixed over it. It seemed the right time to photograph these dilapidated wood and corrugated iron buildings: who knows how much longer they will be there?

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3 Shutter Speed: 1/500 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Yellow, red and blue doors

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I think of the three colours, red, yellow and blue as the long-recognised primary colours associated with, not only painting and design, but also children's toys. Sometimes, however, they can be the perfect threesome to enliven a narrow, shadow-filled road in a big city. I photographed these three colourful doors on an interesting modern terrace, during a walk near the River Thames in Greenwich, London.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm (60mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f9
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Domestic semi-abstract

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During my recent hiatus from posting I took this photograph as we sat in the sun enjoying a cup of tea with friends. It shows part of a striped plastic tray and part of the base of this stainless steel teapot. As teapots go this is a good one, but as trays go this example is hopeless. That's not to say that the tray doesnt have virtues: it's easy to clean, colourful and long-lasting. However, if you put any pottery, china or stainless steel on it, and then carry it, the contents slide about like skaters on a frozen pond. I'd get rid of it, but I hate waste more than I value an effective tray.

© Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon 5DMk2
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 100mm macro
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/800 sec
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Flowers in the window

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A large, mixed bunch of flowers displayed alongside other vessels and objects, such as these that I saw in the window of a house in Ledbury, Herefordshire, always reminds me of the Dutch school of flower painting that flourished in the seventeenth century. Here, however, the slender Georgian glazing bars and the small panes of glass added, to my mind, a touch of nineteenth century Dickens.

© Tony Boughen
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 14.9mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Landscapes - with or without people?

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Very little early landscape painting, for example that of ancient Greece or China, showed only natural features. It was much more usual for such work to, somewhere, often in a fairly insignificant way, include buildings or a human figure. As the genre developed down the centuries the place of people in landscape paintings persisted. Artists knew that the inclusion of a figure changed the meaning of the work, gave scale to the depiction and offered a powerful focal point. The fact is, if the human form is present in a work the eye finds it extremely quickly. Only in the work of later painters, and in photographic landscapes, is it common to find work where no human figure is present.

When it comes to landscape photography I often like to include a person somewhere. Frequently I choose the foreground to give the eye a starting point. But I also see the value of a person in the middle-ground or background for establishing a sense of scale. When I was photographing this stand of cedars in the arboretum at Eastnor castle, Herefordshire, I deliberately took one shot without people and one with people to illustrate just that point.

Cedars are not native to Britain. These examples were planted by Victorian collectors and they are widely regarded as the best group and some of the biggest specimens on these islands. For that reason alone I can justify the inclusion of people for the purpose of scale. When you view the photograph without figures it's hard to appreciate the width and height of those big tree trunks.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 42mm (63mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO:250
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Same lane, different lighting

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One of my regular visits to Lebury in Herefordshire coincided with a bout of minor illness and so my photographic foraging in the area wasn't as productive as it sometimes can be. However, my morning walk to collect my newspaper took me, as it always does, past the entry to Church Lane. So, when I'd collected my "Guardian" I went the few yards back on my route to take some photographs.

Anyone remembering my photographs of this narrow, pedestrians-only, lane that I took in February of this year might wonder what else there is to glean from the location. However, I've always believed that light, time of day, season and weather can make sufficient difference for anywhere to be worth photographing on several occasions. Here, I first took a shot that was compositionally as close as I could get it to the main photograph from my earlier attempt. Then I went back down to the entrance to the lane and took the view from the bollards up to the distant church spire. Late April's early morning light, combined with the position of the sun just to the right of straight ahead, made all the difference. So too did the dynamic range of the Nikon which I'm finding to be pretty good.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 27mm (40mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Is grey the new magnolia?

click photo to enlarge
I ask the question posed in the title not because I'm some sort of fashion sage or guru, or an arbiter of taste, or an expert on interior or urban design. No, what prompts my question is an article that I read in The Guardian entitled, "From Apple products to DIY and fashion: how grey became the colour of the decade."The author of the piece describes the colour as embodying "the spirit of the post-boom era", hard-wearing and practical. She goes on to note its presence, even ascendance, in clothing fashions, interior walls and on doors, in upholstery, sports wear, nail varnish, office and domestic equipment and much else. It is seen to be smart, elegant, neutral and a good complement to other colours.

I have noticed a slight resurgence in the use of grey but not the all-conquering shift suggested in the article. Perhap I'm not persuaded by her argument, in part, because we used it on some internal wall in the mid-1970s, and I've noticed it being used reasonably regularly since that time. But, I have seen the "tide of green paint" (particularly the sage variety) that I blogged about a while ago watered down by shades of grey that are used in similar circumstances by the same demographic. And I've seen and enjoyed its use in architecture, particularly on facades (see above). But, as for choosing grey because it fits the "spirit of the post-boom era": well, that's a stretch too far for me. It makes as much sense to suggest that it's part of the search for the new magnolia, a need for a change in the backdrop of living rooms, a colour against which other points of colour display well. Black, white, cream and grey serve this purpose especially well. This well-known among the photographic fraternity. Card mounts around photographs often feature one of these colours. Photographers who use Photoshop or one of its equivalents also appreciate the value of a mid to dark grey background against which to display digital images. In fact, why do you think I chose the colours I did for this blog!?

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28.5mm (77mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Out to pasture

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In my working life I had an interesting but demanding job that made ever more claims upon my time as I progressed up the hierarchy. Consequently, when I decided I would retire one of the major attractions of ceasing regular, paid work was that all that time would be returned to me to do with as I pleased. And so it proved. I've never been a person who has been unable to fill their time, I've never complained of being bored, and I've always had things to do. Retirement gave me the opportunity to pursue my interests, things that formerly I'd dipped in and out of or had neglected.

However, to my surprise I found that complete release from the pressures associated with paid work didn't quite suit me. The fact is I like having to deliver within a specified  time-frame and having a full and busy life. Consequently I have expanded what one of my sons calls the "community activism" side of my life because it offers me those pressures that I missed. But, one of the lessons you learn in life is that upsides often have, somewhere or other, downsides. In this instance the downside is the reduction in time available to devote to photography and this blog in particular. In the past circumstance has caused me to cease posting or reduce my frequency, and I've reached that point again. I'm not stopping, but I won't be maintaining my alternate days schedule.

I chose the title of today's post to fit in with what I have to say in the post, not that I particularly feel "out to pasture", but that is one of the ways that retirement is sometimes characterised. I saw these horses as I drove past them. I walked back to get these photographs showing them fringed by light from the lowish sun.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Nikon D5300
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 38mm (57mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
ISO:100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On