Another change of scene

After my excursion to the marsh I still had the urge to take a break from the mossland project, although where I ended up was another moss. When I parked up I noticed that the dilapidated barn I've photographed a few times in the past was even more decrepit looking. It had to be worth another visit before it collapses completely. getting back to my roots I had forsaken the zoom lenses and taken the ancient combination of a 50mm and a28mm.It's a nice, light, way to operate and makes me move about more to frame shots.

While the barn has been open to passers-by for years it had never been subject to any noticeable vandalism. Now it has. One wall sprayed up with my name! Who this other Dave is will remain a mystery, but he clearly doesn't believe in taking only photographs and leaving only footprints.

Being quite dark inside the barn, even on a bright sunny day, I used my favourite lighting technique, the pop-up flash, for some pictures. I also did the stop right down and put the sun behind a small gap trick to create a starburst.

In the past the barn has been used to shelter sheep, and probably to work on them if the rusty shears wedged in the baler twine holding a  gate to block off the entrance is anything to go by.

I spent an enjoyable time wandering round the inside and outside making more record shots than those shown here. When I got home and searched my files for earlier pictures I failed to locate some I know I took a good few years ago with an ultrawide lens. No matter how I searched my LightRoom catalogue they didn't turn up. Baffling, but a reminder to keyword everything with as many options as possible on import.

After that interlude it was back to the moss project, doing my best to get out in the mornings when there is more going on. I also reverted to the zoom lens approach. Mainly because many subject need more focal length than my prime lenses offer.

I was pleased to see a crop being covered with insect netting, and close enough to get some pictures. At first I was wary of pointing the lens at the workers, but they gave me the thumbs up so I cracked on.

Next time out it was back to inanimate objects in fields.

After a rest day I managed to time my walk with sunshine. A hot morning it was too. I was determined to try to break out of my usual habits and look for different angles.I'm not sure it works. When I do go for more 'interesting' angles and framings the pictures never feel quite right. They look nice enough, but...

 

When I stick to my usual boring framings I like the results much better.

 

The following morning was another hot one, but I changed my approach a little by digging out the hated 70-200mm lens and putting a 35mm on a second body. I was concerned the weight might be an issue but it proved not to be. For the first time I can remember the focal length range of the zoom actually worked for me. I didn't even miss the extra length than the 70-300mm provides.

There was plenty of work going on, which was good.

 

There was plenty of stuff too. Things I have photographs of already, but which I tried to make fresh pictures of. The forlorn looking bird scaring kite being one.

Overall the week had been productive. Some progress has been made and it's getting to a time where I need to set to organising what I have into categories. There's another zine exchange underway with an October deadline. I might be able to pull a subset of pictures from this project together for that.

On the subject of zines and books I took delivery of another work by Tessa Bunney this week. One of an ongoing series of zines from Another Place Press.

If I were a completist I'd have to buy every one of the zines in this series. That's not the way I think. My buying decisions are based on purchasing publications which contain pictures I want to look at. That's why I went for the Bunney zine, to add to two other of her publications on rural themes. Even if one of them doesn't relate to Britain.

Of course I am nothing if not inconsistent. It would seem reasonable that as my preference is for buying books of photographs of British rural life and ways I might buy every new publication that fits that description. For some reason Bluecoat's latest Kickstarter for a book of pictures from a Scottish island doesn't interest me much.I think it's because I'm getting a bit tired of the deluge of photos from the seventies and eighties which are appearing in print - even if some of the photographs are from is recent times. So maybe it's the black and white of that which is putting me off?

Something which is definitely in full colour is the test printing I ordered of my poultry pictures book. I wanted to see how some of my layouts would look when actually printed in a perfect bound (paperback) book. It might have been relatively expensive to get one copy printed, but it has saved me making mistakes on a big print run, and enabled me to change things before getting that far. some alterations may mean a change of pictures and sequencing. I'm glad I put that on hold until getting the test book.

As soon as I can get remotivated it'll be all systems go sitting at the computer dragging pictures about and juggling pages. Then I'll have to write an intro and tidy up the acknowledgements page. I think I have the basic sequencing sorted in my head so it should go fairly smoothly. I hope.

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