Staying In Is The New Going Out

With more positive UK news pertaining to Covid and restrictions easing, it seems that people are falling into two camps; those who are chomping at the bit to return to normal and those who are a little more reticent (post Covid anxiety).

A couple of months ago, I was desperate to experience a drink in a beer garden with other people, but somehow, now I'm allowed, I've gone off the boil.  I don't think the weather helps - here's my Bank Holiday Monday image -

...but I also believe that Covid has made me realise that I don't always have to go out to have a good time and at the moment, with only a few weeks to go until we are both fully vaccinated, we're quite happy to carry on as we are.

That said, we have confirmed our first trading event of the year - the Mini & VW Bus Meet in our home town next month.  It's a particularly relaxed event, minutes from our doorstep and the perfect way to ease us back into society!

I also caught up with my friend Caroline over at Comer Woods last Friday, near the NT's Dudmaston Estate.  We got horribly lost and abandoned our planned route in favour of the tried and tested perimeter footpath, but it was great to catch up over a coffee at the Shepherd's Hut in the sunshine.  We talked so much, I failed to get any photographic evidence of this meeting, so here's one from a few years back, taken on an icy pond.

As we emerge from the pandemic, the local photography community has started making tentative plans to meet once more and social media is awash with images of a world seen anew.  There is also a planned Covid One Year On (A Retrospective) Exhibition in Brum scheduled for later in the year.  Here's my submission (a composite image of a dawn walk photograph taken during the first lockdown and a double rainbow I captured over Kingswinford).  For me, this photograph evokes the feelings of isolation and uncertainty in a world-turned-upside-down and reminds me of the disruption to our usual sleep patterns.  The addition of the symbolic double rainbow adds a slightly surreal quality and hints at better times to come.   I'll keep you posted.

Bank Holiday was marred by a somewhat lacklustre Line of Duty finale and the total washout that was Monday.  

This was the sight that greeted me on Monday morning.  Clearly enjoying the moist weather conditions, I have christened him Disco Snail, due to the pink furniture and greenery taking on neon qualities.  

At least the garden and pond benefitted from the rainfall.

Tree Peony

I took the opportunity to drink gin (Greenall's Bluberry Gin) and to photograph some textures, including a dusty pane of glass - not necessarily in that order.  There is a method in my madness.  See if you can spot where I have used it in this blog.

On the upside, we purchased paint (Peacock Teal) to repaint our patio wall and a raspberry bush.  We already have one in the garden, but for some reason, we planted it in possibly the worst spot in the garden and although it survives, we're lucky to get a handful of raspberries off it every Autumn.  This £2.50 bargain has been planted in a pot where I can keep an eye on it.

The remaining tulip and snowdrop bulbs Gareth bodged into the ground a little too late last year, have come up trumps in one of the shadiest parts of the garden.  The tulips were to be planted in full sun too.  Only Gareth can break all the rules and still manage to pull it off.

Spring Corner

Meanwhile, the second batch of tulips (can't remember which variety sadly) have yet to flower.  They have remained like this, in their static embrace, for the best part of three weeks.

My favourites, the forget me nots, are making a bit of a splash too this year.  I'm happy to let them run wild.

The Hollyhock seedlings have been individually potted and are now in the cold frame, for better or for worse.  I just don't have enough windowsill space.

The pond remains the exclusive domain of the pond skater, but here are some other garden visitors.  

Blossom Buddies

Shield Bug

We're hoping that as soon as the night time temperatures reach a constant above zero temperature, the frogs will arrive.  Never seen it applied to a garden pond before, but we're banking on the famous Field of Dreams misquote:  "If you build it, they will come."

Bye for now!

Drama Drama Drama!

As I grew into the habit of carrying a camera everywhere (well, perhaps not the supermarket), the first thing I concentrated on was getting to grips with composition. Keep in mind the rule of thirds but always remember, rules are made to be broken. Trust your eye and your gut sometimes and just shoot. Also, it may sound obvious, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that a particular scene will be magically transformed within your camera.  If it looks unremarkable to the naked eye, then the chances are it will make for a dull photograph.

This image on the left, for example, doesn't really adhere to the rule of thirds, but I think...I hope it works.

Very soon after incorporating photography into my daily life, my restless streak kicked in and I became increasingly dissatisfied with the images coming straight out of the camera.   This had nothing to do with exposure, composition or image quality (I was at this point using Auto settings), but I felt they were a little lacklustre. I wanted depth of field, to play with the light, but more than anything, I wanted drama! 

If drama is not already present, then I make some effort to create it, although, as I have said before, light plays a major part in this. A flat white sky has very little to offer. Overcast, cloudy conditions are great, as is morning light, twilight and sunlight casting long shadows.

I think I must be a frustrated stills photographer (in my dreams!), because with pretty much every image, I see - before clicking the shutter button - how I want the finished image to look, or something about the subject speaks to me in some way. Usually, in my head, there will be a cinematic or literary point of reference. Achieving that look however, is another matter and something I strive for every time.  Here are 10 examples of where my mind's eye takes me:-

1.  Tall Trees - Stephen King,
creepy, Scandi dramas

 

2.  Woodland - Blair Witch, Tim Burton

 

 

3. Rural Villages:  Agatha Christie,
any given period drama, 
Withnail & I.

4.  Maize fields - The Bad Seed, Spielberg.

5.  Pampas Grass, White Picket 
Fence - David Lynch.

6.  Ponds - Quite specific this, but

the disturbed woman who drowned in

Cider with Rosie.  Mercifully, I don't insist on a model!

7.  Canals - Peaky Blinders, Young Adam

8. Rural landscapes, rolling hills and valleys - Middle Earth.

9. Churches, Abbeys, large period houses - Omen, Black Narcissus.

10.  Street scenes - I tend to favour black and white in urban settings, so look for shadows, reflections and clean lines; all very film noir. Maybe I'll spot Hitchcock's image reflected in a shop window? It doesn't matter that he shuffled off this mortal coil over 40 years ago!

                                 

So you see? There's a darkness running through my images. Even when photographing the recent snowfall, I was thinking of The Shining or the Coen Brothers' Fargo. What that says about me is probably best left to a psychologist. All I know is, the more punch I can get out of an image, the better. 

Some amateurs like to say that photos shouldn't be edited, but I think you will find that most photographers agree that any given image you see online or in a magazine has been edited to a degree. These adjustments can be subtle - for example adding a little contrast, or increasing the luminance or saturation of certain colours - or big and bold by adding overlays, airbrushing, or introducing/removing objects from a photograph. 

I photoshopped this balloon from one of my photos into the more desirable setting of another of my images.

Executed well, these edits are what elevate a snapshot to art (I'm still trying to get to that point and am inspired by other photographers on Instagram on a daily basis!) 

TOGGER'S TIP FOR MOODY LANDSCAPES: Bring down the exposure and highlights, lift the shadows, increase white a little, play with contrast and clarify.  Re-adjust exposure and highlights to suit.

That said, in the early days, I think I went slightly overboard. I was (well still am) obsessed with dramatic clouds, but now, looking at my early images, all I can see are the halos of over processing. Sometimes less is more. Always have an eye on the detail. Zoom in on an image and double check your edits aren't too obvious.

Avert your gaze!  Too much!!

Finally, to touch briefly on software, for a long time I used a really old version of Paint Shop Pro. Now I pay a monthly subscription to use Lightroom and Photoshop.   However, the free mobile Photoshop App is also extremely useful for editing mobile shots and jpegs. We recently had to upgrade our pc and for a time I was reliant on our ye olde laptop, minus any editing software. I took to emailing myself the jpegs (not RAW images, as I didn't want to overload the laptop - so breaking another rule here).   I would then edit them on my phone.   It worked pretty well in the absence of a suite of editing software. Can you tell this is a jpeg and not a RAW image?   

Drama, smoke and mirrors cover a multitude of sins.