It doesn't have to be art

Taking a walk by the canal today I was reminded how easy it is to ignore recording things that we take for granted. Things which have been there for as long as we can remember, which we assume will be there for evermore. When I took some photographs down there back in April things had changed since I was younger. Some of the mill buildings had been demolished.

Not long afterwards I read of plans to redevelop the site for housing. But that went out of my mind until today when everything looked much different.

Working from memory I couldn't make  picture from the same viewpoint. But that's not necessary when the purpose is to record change rather than make pictures which lean towards expression. Photography isn't just about making striking images, it also has functional value. It is a many faceted medium, which is its attraction for me. The same tool can be used to make art, to document, to make comment and to sell. Amongst other uses. Used well it can combine two or more of its attributes.

The way things, and light, change can (when ignored) lead to photographic opportunities being missed. Far too often I have driven past something and thought it would make a good picture, intending to return at a later date. Often this has been repeated. Sometimes in order to wait for the right light, but usually through laziness. The other day I drove past a tree I had in mind to shoot and saw a new road sign had been erected right in front of it. The lesson I doubt I have learned is that when you see something to photograph, that's the time to get the camera out. Although Sod's law will most likely come into play.

Yesterday I took a walk to the village an hour before dark. Not planning on making any serious pictures, so taking just the X10. On my way home, in a spot I have passed many times before, something made me notice a view that appealed to my banal preferences. Maybe it was the light that made me stop. I took a shot, which I knew would be technically flawed as the light was going. It would serve as a sketch though. I could go back any time and get the same viewpoint. In fact I planned to do that today.

Not only did I venture out earlier, but the weather had changed dramatically. The mood had changed with it. So I took one shot as another note and reminded myself that I must strike while the iron is hot in future. And to take a print with me of a view I wish to replicate so I can get the framing closer.

Some good has come from this failure. I have got an idea of the kinds of pictures I would like to make of my locality. It's been a long time coming, but I think I now have some inkling of how I could put together a set of local views. The trouble is I'll run into the old problem I have of not carrying out these well formed plans. The pictures I have already made in my head are much better than any I'm likely to make with a camera!

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Trying too hard

When the sun shines it seems much easier to find photographs that look like the ones everyone else seems to make all the time. Maybe sensible photographers only go out on sunny days!

With a heavy localised snowfall last night, localised as in not in my village but seven miles away, the canal in the next small town was looking scenic. I'd been told by a friend of mine that the canal was drained for a short section and the junk in it would be perfect for my sort of pictures. Whatever they are!

As it turned out the drained stretch was inaccessible due to (health and) safety fencing. I made a few record shots that will probably never do anything more than languish on a hard drive.

The moored barges were as colourful as you'd expect. The sun, however, was in my face and low in the winter sky. One shot that could have been quite nice was ruined by a large blob of green flare that went unnoticed one the camera's screen. C'est la vie.

The sky in the shot here is a little over exposed. I've posted the image as an example of a perfectly composed tourist office brochure picture! In its way it's a comment on the changed role of the canal system. The mill in the background is in the process of being demolished. The barge isn't used for working on the cut. The new residences are built on a former industrial site. Canals that were dug for transportation of goods and fuel are now used for leisure and to sell a romantic dream of waterside living.

Here's the gritty reality of the derelict mill.

The sunshine tempted me back out after lunch and a change of lens with the intention of furthering what might become a project based around the local ditches and drains using the 5:4 ratio. There is a photograph that I want to make (a rare case of previsualisation!) that needs the sun at a certain point in its transit. The time was right but the timing was wrong. When I got to the bend the sun had gone into hiding. Instead of making the picture I had in mind I played around with some ideas about constructing diptychs and triptychs. It was the process I was trying to work out for future reference so the quality of the images was immaterial. That done I headed back to the car via the wood. Half way back the sun came out again...

Hoping the light would hold I headed for the sandplant. I'd deliberately stayed away while the snow was on the ground. The thaw was rapid this afternoon and by the time I arrived there was little to be seen. It's getting to the stage where I will have to leave the place alone until there's been a major change, either in the seasons to encourage plant growth or by some major work on the site. I might give it a visit to concentrate on tiny details but I'm getting stale on the other fronts. That said I did make some new pictures that I like. One puts the place in context, illustrating its proximity to the town. This wasn't planned but purely the result of using a longer lens than I have done most times before. The telephoto compression was what made the point.

Aside from the pictures that fit in the project I also made a couple that seemed out of synch. This final shot I converted to B+W and boosted the contrast. I'll probably tire of it soon enough. For now it's okay. The latest sandplant set can be found here.

All in all a busy, if slightly disappointing, day. I made some decent but boring pictures along the canal. Photographs that would fit in with the world view of Lancashire Life magazine where the county is always bathed in sunshine and litter and mess don't exist. It was a day spent using two of my neglected lenses. Always a good way to make you think differently. Even if the results don't always work out well the thinking is the important thing.

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