Doldrums

A lack of free time at the right time continues. If it's not waiting for parcels to arrive or be collected it's weather keeping me indoors. When I do get out there's usually only an hour or two of day light left. I've had to revert to getting my photo-fix when visiting the post office or even the pillar box!

That said I have still managed a few longer walks round the moss. Not with great expectations. I have recorded some recent changes. The drier weather has seen tractors able to get on the land in places.

 

The same view a day later.

 

 The Zwartbles continued to be friendly and I was looking forward to getting some more pictures of them after a second close encounter. Two days later they'd gone...

 

Not to worry. They were only a distraction and were unlikely to provide me with a body of work, or even add to my sheep folders which I would prefer to be about native breeds rather than immigrants.

While some land is drying, slowly, other places are continuing to hold water. there have been efforts made to clear it in a few fields.

Feeling like I needed a change of scenery I went in search of leeks. No matter how I try I can't get to grips with making pictures of leeks. That doesn't stop me getting drawn back to them time and again.

 

 

 

 As the week ended temperatures dropped and there was enough of a frost one morning to solidify the standing water. When the sun started to break through I headed out and a light mist began to rise. Once more it wasn't enough to make for really dramatic pictures, and there is little out on the moss to make for foreground interest in any case, but there was a chance for a hint of the atmosphere created.

Also a chance to get some icy pictures. Quite why I'm not sure.

This continual photographing of the land and 'stuff' is getting me down a bit. I've even watched a few landscape Youtubers recently, admittedly for entertainment rather than education, and all that has done has made me question the taking of photographs without people in them. 

My intention might not be to make standalone 'frameable' pictures of the land, but even though I am trying to show how it changes and is changed the pictures themselves don't engage me much. The one which comes closest of the recent lot is the one with the tractor in.

And there's the nub of it. Even the sheep around the mineral bucket is engaging in that there is stuff happening. Not only is it a picture of something, it's also about something - and there's depth to it with foreground sheep and the more distant ones clearly walking towards them. There's action. The sheep are quite graphic, the red bucket also works in the way Constable included a splash of red in many of his landscape paintings to add vibrancy, life. But the main reason I find it more engaging is that there are creatures in it.

In my hierarchy of subjects people interacting with each other or with animals is at the top. People on their own come next, closely followed by animals interacting and then animals on their own. Things and landscapes are somewhere below all those. This is why I'm tiring of looking at the sort of pictures I have liked for a while, the deadpan pictures of places. I've made enough of them myself, but they are starting to merge into one another. That's why my most satisfying picture for some time is the snap I grabbed of one of the mossland farmers when he stopped for a natter. It might not be the best picture I've ever taken, but it was a real boost to take it. The sooner social distancing can be kicked into touch the better!

 

The new lens continues to be my mainstay as I work out if I can live with it. The focal length range hasn't limited me so far. In fact the more I use it the less I find myself wanting anything wider. Although I have taken to carrying my fancy compact with me just in case I need the 28mm angle of view. So far that has only been on a couple of occasions. It's still had me wondering if a 24-120 might have been a more versatile choice than the 35-150. The colour rendition of the 35-150 is still nagging at me. However, when the sun shines it seems to do a better job. Maybe on these cooler, duller days I should go back to a Nikon lens to see if that makes any difference to the colours. Most likely nobody else would notice the colours.There's also the possibility it's all in my imagination anyway!

The short daylight hours not only restrict my time outdoors, they make me spend to much time reading or listening to nonsense on t'internet. One subject which has got me thinking is focal length choices. There are a couple of people (influencers?) who have an aversion to the 35mm angle of view. One even railed against it, and anything wider, in a blog post. While I suspected a tongue in a cheek I thought his reasoning was a bit off. He did make one valid point in that wide angle lenses are becoming the de facto recommendation for street photography. This is all well and good in the right hands, but as the disgruntled blogger said, they can result in messy pictures with too much distraction in them.

Now I don't have a problem with pictures that contain more than one point of interest. In fact I like them. They are not easy to make well though. Which is why it's worth trying to rise to the challenge. I wonder if the reason some people prefer longer lenses is a reluctance to get close to their subjects and maybe an inability to take in a scene as a whole. It's much easier to use a longer (50mm or more) lens to isolate a subject from a scene than to make the subject a part of the scene. I reckon it makes for 'one liner' pictures too. I prefer shaggy dog stories!

Out in the countryside, however, I find longer focal lengths easier to use as there can be way too much space for wide angles lenses. This might be why the 35-150 interested me with my foray into landscapery? I'm sure that when I'm able to get back to the marts and shows I'll be digging out the 28mm or 24-70mm again, getting in closer and putting subjects in context. Which is what it's all about for me.

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Rolling thunder

The preoccupation with the mossland continues. Sundays don't see as much work going on in the fields so I took advantage of that and got in closer to some things I'd photographed from a distance earlier. Revisiting subjects often makes me see them differently and a slightly lower viewpoint for these stacked trays and pallets made for a stronger picture than my previous attempt. I also shifted position so as to hide stuff in the background which I had included before.

Waste and discarded veg is part and parcel of the cutting process. Quality demands have to be met to prevent rejection further along the supply chain. At least at this point it can be ploughed back in.

The following day I only managed to get out in the afternoon hoping to beat the rain which was forecast for the evening. It was a hot day so I set off without a jumper or jacket. There was work going on near the celery field, including some cultivation. This gave me a chance to photograph 'waste' being returned to the soil. I pictured this in suggested and literal ways.

On the other side of the track was a gang of field workers cutting lettuce. I was going to avoid photographing them but they waved, made photographing gestures and hammed it up for the camera! This made me wonder if there is a cultural attitude difference between where they come from and the UK when it comes to being photographed by strangers. It cheered me up though.

A few minutes after photographiong the workers it began to rain. Only light but there was more blowing my way. I took shelter for a few minutes before deciding to take the shortest route home.

Later that night the rain arrived with a vengeance in a long lasting and spectacular thunderstorm. It was all over my daybreak and I was determined to go and see if the moss had suffered as much as my flooded garden.

I chose not to walk through the field I usually do knowing that the ditch alongside the path can overflow. With two roads flooded across as I drove out I suspected I'd made a wise decision.

Fields were indeed underwater. Photographing them wasn't easy as most were in places where I had the sun in my face but I still managed to make some pictures which show submerged crops and the look of the land after heavy rain.

Walking past where the field path comes out on the meanygates I saw that it would have required wellies at least to make my way out, maybe even waders! Even if it had been passable the vegetation which has to be walked through would have been wet enough to soak my legs.

By the time I was nearing my car the sun was shining hotly. With no wind it made for a serene picture of a flooded lawn looking like a large ornamental pond in front of one of the moss bungalows.

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A wasted week?

Although I've hit the beach four times this week I've not managed to come away with much of use for the project. It has been a case of bad timings. That's the drawback of trying to do documentary style photography in your spare time. On Monday rangers were putting the posts in to restrict the on-beach car parking which starts again in April as I arrived. Walking off dragging his buggy behind him was a kite buggy person. I'd lucked out there. The rangers I thought I'd approach on my way back but they knocked off early!

Tuesday the rangers were back in operation but I decided to walk north for a change. This was a waste of time in terms of activities but I did photograph some 'litter'. Where this stuff comes from I just don't know.

As I was about to give up I was approached by a boisterous Vizsla and got into conversation with Dave, his owner who was willing to be photographed. Somehow, although the camera was set to underexpose a little, I managed to slightly overexpose the picture. Baffling. It seems to have printed okay though.

Wednesday I was back again and although I asked nicely the Lone Ranger wasn't up for being photographed so I had to settle for photographing his van and post hole digger. The kite buggy guy was there, in action and more than happy to be photographed.

The sun is still low around three in the afternoon which makes shooting into the light a bother. It's no better for portraits with the light coming over my shoulder because it makes the subject squint. Give me bright but overcast days every time.

Thursday I went into Preston in what turned out to be a fools errand. The shop I was going to turned out to be an empty shell. I took the time on the parking ticket to wander round trying out another venture into non-DSLR camera ownership. The light was bright, the sky a vivid blue and I was seduced into trying to photograph this light. Maybe given more time I would have settled into a way of looking, but what felt like good pictures at the time I took them turned out to be pretty rubbish. I also mistimed what might have been a good 'steet' photograph. Using one of the clichéd tricks of that genre - the reflection in a shop window. A split second later and I'd have got the reflection.

Slightly better, but equally clichéd, was this architectural abstract. Although they aren't easy to find I find this sort of thing a bit lazy.

Despite technology having improved since I last tried to go mirrorless I'm still not convinced. The one thing I always liked about them is the way live view performs for taking low level shots. I put this to good use today on my late afternoon trip to the beach.

This might come in handy for the project. There were a couple of people out with bait pimps but one disappeared into the far distance while I was distracted by trying to photograph a shrimping tractor with some 'great' light behind it. A longer lens would have been useful to make the light over the turbines and Welsh mountains larger in relation to the tractor, but I was once more ill equipped.

Looking out towards the gas rig the light was strange. The sea almost calm with a haze over it made the horizon seem to float and shimmer.

Even when photographing vehicles 'gesture' is important. Their outline makes all the difference to how they are understood within the picture. With people and animals it's even more important. That's why the few pictures I took of the other bait digger, using his home made pump, didn't work out. That there were few lugworm around didn't help me with information type pictures either. The one worm picture I got might have worked if I'd got the worm sharp.

So I made do with yet another beachscape with person (and pup) small in the frame shot. How many more of these do I need?

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Moving pictures

With the rare sight of sunshine coinciding with a few free hours on Friday afternoon I set off for the beach. Unfortunately I had to get back home before five meaning I'd miss sunset. However there was a bit of action going on at low tide. Out towards the water a guy was pumping lugworm among the wading birds.

He was finding few worms as they were well down, which meant I didn't get much chance to take the sort of pictures I'd have liked. I wish I'd thought on and made a better effort of getting a sequence to show how teh pump works. I'll hope I get another chance some time.

I've never worked out what conditions the professional shrimpers prefer, but I guess they were right because there was one working the beach where I was, one other came past and returned to join another further north. A combination of a stiff breeze and too slow a shutter speed possibly account for the slightly soft pictures I came home with.

Saturday was as wet as the forecasters predicted, but Sunday turned out better than anticipated. I was down at the beach around nine, just in time to see a van full of racing greyhounds leave. That might have been interesting to see. The sun was trying to shine and the wind was blowing enough to get the sand moving in places. The tide was racing in reducing the width of the beach at quite a rate. There weren't many people around, and once more I was too slow to get a useful photograph of a bike rider on one of those fat bikes. I wasn't feeling too god either, so I beat a hasty retreat.

By two o'clock I was feeling perkier and the sun looked like it might be shining over the beach. Sure enough it was. The wind had picked up considerably and the sand was really running hard enough to sting bare skin. In the morning I'd tried to get some video footage of the incoming tide but hand holding a camera in a strong wind was hopeless. In the afternoon, with even fewer people around, I decided to get the tripod out of the car and use my compact to shoot some video. Even on a lowish tripod the wind was buffeting the camera and causing wobbly footage.

I doubt I'll get into making video seriously, although I can see some attractions to it. It needs better editing software than I have, and a much more powerful computer. Both of which would mean me doing something I hate. Spending money!

As with photographs, the footage with people in is more engaging than that without. Even when the person is me...

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Situation normal

The beach project continues to occupy my thoughts. Most photographers who operate outdoors get frustrated by the weather. That was my problem on Saturday. It was too sunny. It seems to me that the more interesting thing occur down by the seaside when the sun isn't shinning. When the clouds part on a weekend everyone and at least three dogs hits the sands. But they don't get up to anything out of the ordinary!

Friday had seen me on a cold and windy, but largely deserted, beach. While it was nice and dull mornings are proving more fruitful, but I could only nip out after lunch. So I tried to photograph the sea. With the right gear (a tripod and  a longer lens) I'm sure that a series coul be made of pictures of the gas rig in all the weather's moods.

Whenever I get bored I start messing around. For most people a muddy looking sea and a uniformly grey-blue sky probably wouldn't appeal as a picture of the sea, but I've always liked the colour combination. Throw in some tonal variation and a splash of white and I find it a pleasing combination.

The wind had dropped somewhat on Saturday and that blasted sun was shinning bright. As we've moved into February so the sun has moved higher in the sky. Once more I arrived after lunch. This time to a busy beach.

There was a chap flying a kite, one of the subjects on my list. Getting a meaningful action shot of a kite flyer is difficult. Thinking about it later I reckon using a longer lens from further away to compress the distance between flyer and kite might be the answer. Getting the wind and sun to align is always going to be a problem. So a bit annoying that it was just right yesterday.

It turned out that the kite flyer was one of around 500 bikers holding a weekend rally at Pontins. I discovered this after his kite attacked one of his friends, two more of which helped relaunch it after the untangling process.

Heading back I stopped off for a mosey around the pier area. Every day is a schoolday, they say. Recently I've noticed people riding bikes with fat tyres on the beach. Googling 'sand bike' (which seemed like a possible name for the things) I discovered that they are sometimes known as 'fat bikes'. I wonder if I should get one? It would make getting out to the water's edge quicker when the tide is out!

I have an idea in mind for a portrait of a bike rider. The difficulty is getting one to stop for a chat. They're either too far away when I spot them, and/or heading in the wrong direction. Always on the move no matter what.

I rarely let a chance to show the pier as it really is slip by. The tourist office never show this side (literally this side) of the pier in their publicity material. It won't be long before the marsh reaches the pier itself.

Sunday saw me up and out bright and early, by my standards. The beach looked almost deserted at first glance, but it wasn't. I've seen boat trailers parked up in the past but never been around when boats have been launched or retrieved. It was a pleasant surprise to see there was a chap readying his boat for launching. Unfortunately the tide was on its way out and had been for some time. However I had a chat with him, learning a bit about the process along the way.

When his two friends arrived with another boat I almost made a hash of the portraits. The first frame was pin sharp, but I had caught one of them mid blink. The second frame missed the blink but for some reason was soft. The third frame, which I took vertically as an afterthought, was better. It must be a lot easier taking portrait type pictures with some pre-planning. Doing things my way I never know what I'm going to be photographing, and so never have much idea how I'd like to arrange things. Lesson, thing ahead...

With everything ready, off they went into the distance. And another unaccountably not-quite-sharp picture.

There was a 10K run on during the morning, meaning the coast road would be closed. I drove in that direction and parked up thinking there might be something to look at. It turned out that there was bugger all. No runners, and because the roads were shut nobody much about on the beach.  I went home and did some work, had lunch and thought I'd chance my arm back at the launch site.

Although it wasn't as sunny as Saturday there were lots of folk about. Four horseboxes were parked up and the horse being put back in them Another opportunity missed by bad timing. I wandered out towards the water and spotted a women with two little kids watching the sea demolish a sandcastle they'd built. So engrossed in this, and the taking of phone camera pictures, that they hadn't realised the were on a sand bar that was being surrounded by the incoming tide. After I shouted out to them they paddled back through water deeper than their wellies. A few more minutes and it would have been deeper still. I've been glad of my chestwaders in the past when I've been photographing windsurfers. Some of the gullies are surprisingly deep.

With there being little wind I heard the boat approaching before I spotted it flying across the water. I might have missed out on getting launching pictures but I managed a few or the retrieval. Only one boat had come back. The other had engine trouble and had been forced to land down the coast. His trailer would be taken to meet him.

I'd almost decided to go home about an hour earlier, but watching the sun and the clouds I thought there might be a sunset worth wasting a few million pixels on. Standing on the tops of a dune it was intriguing to see the sky changing. The Welsh mountains and Cumbrian fells appearing and disappearing as the light and clouds changed. Looking south to the Mersey and out to the Welsh coast there's an uncounatble number of wind turbines. The closest ones standing proud of the horizon, the blades of those in the far distance cutting it. The seascape is changing.

One technical lesson learned over the last few days has been that when it comes to photographs which include the horizon my favourite multi-purpose lens is not so useful. It distorts the horizon a great deal. While this can be corrected on the computer it's a faff. using a 'better' lens pretty much eliminates this niggle. In future I'll be sticking with the less troublesome lens on the beach, I think. Although when the horizon isn't a major element in the picture it doesn't seem to matter if it curves a bit. Not to me at any rate. It's just that out very often it can be.

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