In the bleak midwinter

I've never been one for making plans, so no New Year resolutions for me! It's a case of carry on doing what I do and hoping something interesting shows up. not that much did during December. Dog trials were either non existent or the weather was rubbish. This coming weekend is looking equally grim in that department. It's been a case of local wanders in search of something to photograph in order to keep my eye in.

That's pretty much what I'm doing when I go for a wander. Try to make sense of what I see within the frame. If what I come home with can add to any project it's a bonus. maybe one day there will be enough to choose from to make a collection of local pictures that stands up on its own merits?

As usual my 'landscapes' always contain some element of human intervention. A rare misty morning dragged me out to the moss. While I was out there the mist was just a bit too much and wasn't for burning off. As soon as I got close to home, however... I don't know if I'm just unlucky with atmospheric conditions or I don't have the patience to wait for them to change!

There have been a few sunny afternoons to tempt me out but they rarely seem to provide me with much. When I wait for them to turn into glorious sunsets they usually do the opposite and clouds form on the horizon and it all goes to pot.

One sunny afternoon I was driving around looking for inspiration and failing to find it when I did what I often do when that happens. Go somewhere I have been lots of times before. In this case I wanted somewhere out of the wind and went to have a look at the sheep barn. It's in an even worse state now than my last visit.

Being a bit featureless it's a difficult structure to photograph, and the dark to light contrast of inside and out makes exposures tricky. It's a challenge, which is possibly why I keep going back.

Something made me think about why few hobbyist/amateur photographers do documentary type of work. It's not something that gets seen much on a photography forum I belong to. Most people take single images which fit one of the popular genres - wildlife, macro, landscape etc.

As I've always thought that wherever you live can be documented photographically it would be the obvious thing for people who take photos in their spare time to do. No need to travel hundreds of miles in the hope of the right weather conditions for a location, for example. Either pick your days, or hours, and pop out. Although given my track record of doing that maybe I'm being optimistic? That said, as with fishing, if you 'pop out' often enough you'll get lucky once in a while.

Then it dawned on me. The reason more people don't adopt a documentary approach is that it does actually take a lot of time. Not everyone can drop everything, any day of the week, and go take photographs for a few hours. I expect people with more ordered lives than mine find it easier to plan ahead to set a day aside for their photography. Even so that could still work for documenting the place you live. But all to often I see people say that where they live is boring to photograph, and familiarity breeds contempt. Maybe I just have a different way of looking at the world? I do think anything can become a subject for a photograph. It only needs putting into a context.

There also has to be a deal of commitment to carry on in the face of failure, a high degree of perseverance, to engage in documentary. Not qualities I'd ever associated myself with until someone on the forum said they admired my perseverance. I've always thought of it more as being a lack of fresh ideas. I stick with something because I can't come up with a better alternative, so my projects carry on!

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Seeing again

With travel for recreation restrictions lifted I thought I'd go look for some local sheep to give me a break from my current project obsession. I knew where there'd been some sheep last time I'd been out in the car and planned to make a circular tour of the area to see what else I might find, The bloody sheep were nowhere to be seen! I went home and did some work.

Itching to do something I packed the superzoom and went for a walk at the quietest time - tea time. Taking a slightly different route to my usual I saw there had been some changes. First of all a bird-scaring kite within photographic range. I spent some time trying to make a picture of it, but it never quite felt right.

New crops planted made for a variation on my 'horizontal strip' series within a project.

And a variation on the 'vertical division' series was added.

More interestingly irrigation had started. Various framings and angles were tried. I keep being drawn back to dead centre subject placement, although wider, angled, views have their place as part of the story telling.

But how to frame the central subject - large or small?

It's not just hose reels that can be stuck in the centre.

Small changes to the area, perhaps, but I felt like they had made some contribution to the project as a whole. Reviewing the pictures I've added to the gallery I can see that the earlier ones are looking out of place, particularly the few of people at work. This makes me think that there are at least two ways to approach the overall project. One as 'landscape' photographs and the other as 'people' photographs. There may be a way to present them together. Or maybe not.

For a change I returned home through the wood. Usually I just want to get back as fast as possible, but I was in the mood for a wander as there weren't any dog walkers about. I try to steer clear of the clichéd shots, but a clump of bluebells illuminated by a shaft of evening sunlight was hard to resist. hard to photograph with the superzoom too as it kept missing focus in the gloom. A bit of contrast fiddling on the computer and there you have it.

This morning I set out with two photographs in mind. Nothing exciting, just two improvements to make to earlier 'record shots' with the sun in a better place. I got the first one no problem. Carried on a few more hundred yards. Stopped to photograph a gate. Why gates I dunno. Turned to carry on and felt a sharp pain in my right foot. Something had twisted. I tried to walk it off but it wouldn't. So I hobbled back to the car. Until I can walk without a limp the project is on hold!

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Isolation

Walking the same ground was starting to get to me, so I set off on a different route last Tuesday. Photographically it proved less than fruitful. Still, where there's a traffic cone there's a picture!

Wednesday I saved my walk until evening back on the old circuit. I didn't go too far though and messed around taking rubbish pretty pictures. When I saw the full moon rising over the wood in a cloudless sky I was tempted to try a minimalist kind of picture. It looked okay in colour at 3:2 but I went for the Ansel Adams look with a 5:4 crop and a monochrome conversion. It probably needs a bit more fiddling. I'm not sure if it's a touch too dark as it stands.

Having been unimpressed with the evening light the following day I went out after lunch, taking the 28-300 to see if that made any more sense as a one lens solution to the mosslands. As expected it worked well.

I certainly preferred the higher sun which reduced shadow length. Quite why early and late is recommended for landscape photography mystifies me. While the warm glow might be attractive I find there is too much dark shadow to contend with.

The horizontal strip approach is still ongoing. This might make a series within the overall project.

Another set within a set possibility is the vertical, dividing, centre line.

Some pictures rely on converging lines. These three picture structures might work as grids. I like grids!

While I continue to have these vague ideas in mind I still look for other ways to show what the landscape is like, and how it is used. Sometimes this is with detail type pictures.Although I am open to slightly unusual viewpoints I am trying to steer clear of pictures which look contrived in order to appeal to photographers.

I am also trying to go full circle to making better efforts at the kind of picture I started out taking before I got attuned to a way of seeing. The straightforward record type of picture which lacks any pretension at working as formal image in its own right (a 'good photograph') but which contains information about what takes place.

After trying the superzoom I had a couple of short walks with an ultrawide option. First time it was the 20mm, which I kept swapping for the standard zoom. Then I dug out the 18-35, which mostly got used at the longer end. Overall I've decided that the 24-85 range is where I'm at for this project. And for most things in all honesty. Although there are times when 300mm comes in useful for any project. It may seem boring to use such a standard lens, but it does make pictures that look like how I see the world. I think I might have said something similar before...

Ultrawides are good for when space is tight. Long lenses are good for when things are far away. Most of the time neither of those criteria apply!

All this landscapery is fine and dandy. But I am really missing the human element in the pictures. Despite trying to show that human intervention takes place I'd really like a few more people in the pictures. Which is slightly problematic in these days of social distancing.

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Repetition

Flat, un-scenic, landscape is difficult to photograph. Not least when so much of it looks the same. Some would say boring. If it's boring then make boring pictures of it instead of trying to make 'interesting' pictures. This is my excuse for adopting a very similar viewpoint and framing for a lot of my meanygate pictures of the farmed land. The horizon is kept high, and the land is the main subject. Maybe if the skies weren't so uniformly blue recently that might have been different. I might have been tempted to make the sky the focus of the pictures.

As it turns out I'm liking the repetitive  nature of the pictures as a series builds.

The main things which break up the flatness are the ditches, tracks and pylons crossing the moss. Again I prefer to centralise these features.

 Here and there are buildings. Some houses, mostly bungalows, barns and suchlike. After trying out angled views I once more found the straight on shots seemed more fitting.

Something that these wanderings at different times of the day have made me more aware of than usual is the direction of light. I see pictures which frame well, but don't work because something is in shade which needs to be lit. That said, I am still not a fan of early or late light for a lot of pictures. Apart from making for dark shadows it can make the pictures a bit too 'interesting' and become the subject itself.

When I saw the old Massey Ferguson chain harrowing the dry soil it felt like there was a picture to be made. The problem being that the backlighting which made the dust apparent put the red tractor in shade. You can't always have it all! Some fiddling on the computer made something of it.

As well as small scale farming on the moss there are larger concerns operating on a more industrialised basis. Their modern units provide a counterpoint to the more ramshackle outbuildings of the smaller farms.

Covering the same ground can lead to familiarity, but every now and then I take a second look at something. The pile of ploughed up tree remains which I photographed the other day being a case in point. The picture below works in a different way to my first attempt. I don't think either is better than the other as they tell different stories.

The weather is set to change and revert to normal spring conditions. Maybe this will provide a change of look to the moss and my pictures?

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Weather or not

After missing the first dry and sunny weekend for ages and being without a car until Tuesday my photographic exploits have been restricted to anywhere within walking distance. Which usually means going down by the canal. Usually this proves fruitless but now and then something crops up which makes a picture.

By the time I had no work commitments the week's weather was taking a downturn. Frustration was kicking in. No sooner had I got in the car than it would start raining. Still lacking any fresh ideas it was a short sheep hunt.

Gradually the forecast was improving. The weekend might be dry. I was perking up. Meanwhile I'd been looking at black and white photographs, in books and my own, and thinking how much easier they are to make than ones in colour. I set the Fuji to black and white and took it for a walk as the light faded and before the chippy opened on Friday evening. The rain had stopped but the road and pavements were still wet. It was almost like stepping back in time to when I only had one camera, one lens and black and white film.

At high ISOs the Fuji files have a filmic look in monochrome. Although this was a very short experiment I almost made a decent grid of nine pictures. It could become a mini-project for the times I'm really stuck.

Saturday dawned dry as predicted. After visiting the Post Office and topping up the petrol tank off I went in search of sheepdogs. I hadn't gone far when the windscreen wipers were required. The closer I got to the sheep dogs the heavier the rain got. When the distant hill views disappeared in the low cloud I almost gave up and turned round. But I carried on with a new plan in mind. I drove past the trial field still contemplating Plan B. However as I turned off the main road the rain started to ease up and I spun the car round. It would do no harm to go and have a look at teh trial even if it was only from the road before I set off for home. Out of the car it was not too bad. A thin wind but only a light drizzle. I'd give it an hour by the release pen.

Even though I'm sure most people would think of photographing the dog on sheep action at a trial I find the release pen area more interesting. Even when it's raining the people have to stay out in the weather, whereas down at the judge's end they take shelter in their vehicles. Then there are the sheep and a dog or two, and stuff happens close by. At the other end of the field it's all long lenses to photograph the action. Up with the sheep eevn 24mm can be too long at times.

I also find the rounding up of sheep to refill the release pen more visually appealing. And I like watching dogs do real sheep work rather than performing for a judge. I don't know why.

After an hour or so I walked up to the other end of the field where it was a bit tricky to get a good angle on the action. The rain had let up and I managed one or two pictures of people and dogs out of their vehicles. I'm always on the lookout for something off-the-wall too.

Later on the rain returned and was starting to set in heavier. Time to leave. I took the low route back to the car and in doing so I found the spot I should have been in all along for the penning. It was getting that wet I was constantly having to dry my specs, so I gave it a couple of runs and left. Had the low cloud/mist lifted I'm not sure what the backdrop would have looked like from that viewpoint. More pics here.

Sunday started a bit miserable then picked up. The downside being the strong, chilling wind. I'd been hoping to get to a weekend-only exhibition of photographs at Astley Hall last week when the car fiasco scuppered my plan. With no work to do until Monday it seemed a good opportunity to get out and maybe take some photos while I was out. As the exhibition was of black and white pictures I stuck the Fuji (still set to mono) in my bag.

The exhibition was worth the visit. Well made prints of well thought out pictures of industrial heritage by Andy Marland (who's exhibition in the bookshop I visited a few years back) presented in a nice space. There are still two weekends left to see the show.

Knowing that the camera was set this way seemed to make me see pictures which would work well in monochrome. Such pictures are quite easy to see as I look for graphic shapes. The little Fuji is going to survive my New Year gear purge, purely because it works well as a fixed lens black and white camera.

I'm gradually overcoming my resistance to black and white - for some purposes. When it comes to documentary pictures I really do think it has to be colour all the way though.

However, some pictures, even when graphic in nature, need to be in colour.

This is not the first picture I have taken of fire extinguishers in an art gallery. Do I feel a project coming on?

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