Stop it!

With the time for making resolutions fast approaching one I must try to keep is to stop going to the same old places hoping to find pictures and returning with meaningless photographs. Sometimes they fit into a pre-existing theme, but mostly they don't add much to anything.Almost inevitably they are sort of landscapey pictures which don't have anything to say.

Maybe one day I'll have enough pictures of crops in various states in the flat landscape round here to make a body of work. Whether they'll have anything to say is uncertain.

The same goes for my ongoing Waterlogged pictures. One wet, rutted field looks much like another, as does each overflowing ditch.

At least these pictures have a semblance of a story behind them. They're about how the land is showing it's watery roots - if not originally under water it was marshy and the struggle to keep it dry is never-ending.

While I keep returning to moor and hill country I don't have anything to way about it. All I can do is show how it looks to me. Which isn't enough. Not even when the weather conditions make for 'atmospheric' shots.

That is probably why I stopped the car and walked back to take a photograph of a cement works. At least it's showing how industry fits in a rural landscape.

An hour wandering round town posed the same problems. Despite having the Dog Town project in mind I failed to make any pictures worth adding to the 'keeper' pile. So it was mostly pointless crap. As much fun as taking photographs is I'm finding it less and less satisfying unless the pictures have a point or purpose. I think the picture below has a point, but (on it's own) not much purpose. A new year and new directions? Hmm...

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Out of adversity?

The lack of ideas continues, as does the repeat visits to places in the vain hope that I'll find something worth photographing. With the weather still refusing to settle any sunny day has been seized as chance to get out with a camera. Even though I know I'll be wasting my time as far as getting anything useful goes.

I drove to the auction mart a week ago and didn't even get the camera out of the car. The sun was making a rare appearance so I headed to higher ground. For once I found some sheep action of sorts. But not enough to make more that casual shots. Although the tup's bum picture has something going for it. I determined to stop going on these wild goose chases.

A couple of days later the sun made another appearance as did the undomesticated geese. It's strange that I find it impossible to make decent pictures of places I like being in. There must be a project to work on about the moors, but I'm buggered if I can find a ket to unlock the box it's in. You might imagine a neolithic burial site would kickstart something, but it's just a ragged pile of stones. The best I could do was contrast the ancient stones with the transmission masts which also echo the dead pine trunks in the middle distance.

Friday had another sunny afternoon, which is short at this time of year, and I ended up at the sandplant.where nothing much had changed. I'd set out intending to look for sunset sheep and only had the telephoto zoom with me, which limited my options. There are no sheep at teh sandplant so what made me go there is a head-scratcher.

I found some sheep elsewhere, but the sun decided to set behind clouds and the light was grim. The sheep weren't playing ball either. I got home earlier than intended so dropped the big camera off before going for fish and chips. I stuck the Fuji in my jacket pocket and tried it for some night time pictures. Where there was a bit of light it worked OK. While I'm not a big fan of its files as a rule it does do black and white conversions I like. This messy picture (with self-portrait) has given me some ideas for the future.

On Saturday morning it was a struggle to get out of bed and go to the poultry auction and show. I really wasn't in the mood. Repeating myself at the auction wasn't going to happen. My daft idea of shooting the show entirely in vertical format was forgotten. It was hard enough to see any pictures. Arriving after most birds had been penned might have had some bearing on that. I did manage to get a picture which gives a better idea of a chicken being put in a pen than any I've managed before. Which was a small victory.

I still like using the flippy screen for low angles. Rather belatedly I have realised that the focusing issue is best overcome by prefocusing and waiting for action to come to me. The hit rate is much better that way.

Not being interested in the auction I was resigned to getting pictures of the judging. Despite the much increased entry for the show over previous years there didn't look to be as many judges! This can be a subject where the longer zoom can be useful to blur a background.

In this case there wasn't much background to blur.

Pictures like this are very much dependent on gesture and expression  of judge and bird to lift them above being ordinary.

Although these sort of pictures are nice enough a wider lens used closer, as always, draws a viewer into the scene. In most judging situations the best place to be would be in one of the pens looking out!

A better opportunity came after the judging was concluded and one judge was mentoring someone else. I rattled off a lot of frames on this, always trying to file the frame with shapes and gestures.

I even tried the flippy screen , but I think the eye-level pictures worked better in terms of engagement.

When it comes to detail shots it's pretty much impossible to find anything new. Variations of repeated themes from past shows are inevitable.

There can be novel effects of light and shade though.

I might not have been in the most enthusiastic frame of mind for taking pictures at the show, but I still managed to come away with some that are worth adding to the files. A larger selection can be found here.

One thing I did want to record at the auction, if nothing more, was the new line of cages in the cattle pen section. Poultry sales must be doing well for the mart to add more permanent cages. I tried to take some pictures of the sale in this area but it proved tricky. Getting in position before the throng arrived would have been the best plan.

Perhaps the lesson from this is that if you stick to it and take enough pictures some of them will be OK. Another manifestation of the 'working through' a period of being stuck. If you don't take any pictures none of them will be any good!

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I never learn

In a fit of madness I got myself yet another camera with horrible reds. The trouble is the bloody things tick all the right boxes on my 'camera for wandering round town with' spec sheet. Except for the way they render various shades of red. First time out with the thing and the reds hit me straight between the eyes as soon as I loaded the files on the PC. After a bit of fiddling I've made a profile which tames them a bit. Today's search for red things to test the profile was fruitless. There was nothing red to be found! I'll give it a few more goes before throwing the camera at a wall.

The main reason for buying the camera was to get a tilty touch-screen. This does work well. Apart from it being too easy to touch the screen accidentally. As the camera has no viewfinder the use of the tilty screen automatically lowers the viewpoint, making it similar to that of a twin lens reflex camera, or any with a waist-level viewfinder, from the days of film. This makes you less obviously photographing when around people.

Reds are easily sorted in black and white. If only I could find a project to justify black and white conversions. Doing them just for the sake of it is a bit naff. Even worse if it's done because 'street is best in black and white'.

The bus station, however, is mostly black and white, so conversions don't lose much, in fact they rather enhance the graphic nature of many photographs taken there. Although sometimes a small touch of colour works too.

One unexpected advantage of a tiny camera, and this one is tiny, is that it could easily be held at arms length as I leaned over a railing to take a couple of shots of the interior of what was the art school where I did my foundation course. The place has been deserted and up for sale for a few years now. A shame.

Or held up high to another window. The windows were very grimy, hence the soft look to the pictures.

The lens I got with the camera is nice and compact, although it does distort a lot at the wide end which isn't a big deal for people pics but not so good for architecture.

The dilemma now is to persevere with this latest small camera and ditch the Fuji, or look elsewhere for the perfect little camera. This one would be fine to take fishing. My fishing compact might be better for taking anywhere. Decisions decisions. So far no camera I've tried has been as easy to use as a DSLR, although teh fishing compact comes close. Maybe forget the quest and stick with one of those great big lumps!

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A week off

With no work to be getting on with, well not much, I decided to spend this week chillin'. I started off scanning more of the dusty negatives, which was less of a chore than I anticipated. Possibly because I had plenty of time to do it rather than a couple of hours of an evening. Not much of artistic merit turned up, but some interesting pics which show how places have changed in the last 35 to 40 years.

There are enough pictures to make a couple more books which I'll get printed when Blurb has another big discount offer. One will be pictures of Southport and the other pictures taken while travelling by bus and train.

Of course the week I decide to spend taking photographs turned out to be wet, cold and windy. That was why I sat down with the scanner. There were a few breaks in the rain during which I managed to sneak out. The sun even shone a couple of times. One was a visit to Southport where I didn't really do much but did walk past a potential picture, stop and go back. I think it was worth it. A little straightening on the computer and I like it - for now. While some say photography is all about light, the shade helps at times. A limited colour palette doesn't go amiss either.

The black and white project has wound itself up so I was back in colour in the woods trying something different. It was an experimental session to see if there might be something to work on. As yet I'm uncertain.

One wet afternoon I had another go at photographing the skull. I'd bought some more reflectors and with a little messing about made some progress. I don't think I have either the space or patience for doing this sort of thing. I certainly couldn't face doing it on a daily basis.

 

After a false start this morning I made it into Preston after an early lunch. Like a pillock I hadn't taken enough change to get two hour's parking so had to restrict myself to an hour. At least the sun was shining, which I like for taking photographs in towns. Even if there's nothing happening there can be architecture that benefits from some contrast.

being time constrained seems to concentrate my eye and I felt like there was too much to photograph at times. In towns there are always plenty of graphic subjects to play with. Rectangles, squares, circles and so forth. They often seem to suit a vertical framing too.

 

It's a bit of a 'trick' but including a figure in an essentially graphic picture can make a difference. Or at least relieve the repetition.

While walking around it was soon apparent that it would be quite easy to make a set of pictures on the theme of the declining high street. Boarded up shops and for sale signs abound once you step off the main thoroughfare. Again a series of pictures of such subjects might be boring without the inclusion of a figure here and there. The easy option would be to frame a straight on view and wait for someone to walk past.

I dropped lucky with a slightly angled shot when a woman wearing a scarf with a colour that matched the shop came into the corner of the frame. I noticed her as I made a click and took another two frames but the first lucky one worked better because of it's less contrived appearance.

For my walk round Southport I'd taken just the 60mm macro lens. I found that a bit too long at times and knowing that Preston streets are a more cramped and crowded I swapped it for the 50mm in an effort to learn to love it again. Looking through all my old negatives had made me realise that it wasn't such a bad focal length.

There were a couple of times when the 28mm would have saved me from stepping into the road, but it didn't take me long to start seeing in 50mm. One thing is for certain, having only one lens doesn't limit the number of pictures you can find, and having no other option stops you dithering over which lens to use! If I had all day to walk round town I might take two lenses, using one in ten morning and the other in the afternoon. Chopping and changing every few minutes messes up your way of looking.

The failing high street strikes me as a bit of an easy subject. That's not to say it should be discounted. However, I also noticed something else during my hasty wanderings. Something which might just make for a project if I can get motivated and summon up the courage to do it the way it should be done. Which probably means it won't happen...

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Pondering

I think I tend to write this nonsense when I have nothing else to occupy my time of an evening as much as when I have something I want to think through.

Last Friday I had a chance to go in to town to get some stuff bought and the sun was shining. It was the sort of light that some street photographers seem to thrive on. I think that is because it makes for contrasty pictures with deep, dark shadows and any colour picked out brightly. The contrast makes for graphic pictures. Regardless of content or composition the results are superficially impressive. I was playing around with pre-focusing the lens on my Fuji and made few snaps. That's all they are, but I've seen worse passed off as 'street photography'!

It's all too easy to get seduced by the 'look' of a photograph and ignore the fact that it's really not that interesting a picture. That's the way 'filters' work on various digital imaging gadgets aimed at people who aren't photographers, or perhaps aren't visually educated.

As I didn't have much time I couldn't get into seeing better pictures and since then my time for using a camera has been limited by paying work. And by the usual weather conspiracy. There hasn't been much light at all some days, never mind 'interesting' light. When the sun has shone it's been at times when I've been tied up with something. Today was a case in point. The sun was out in the morning while I waited for the UPS van to arrive. It actually arrived sooner than I'd expected so I got prepared to go out with a camera. By the time I was ready the clouds had gathered and all was dull.

Thankfully the woods project doesn't demand bright sun light. As I am messing about with techniques I can live with noisy pictures, blurred pictures and other assorted 'defects'. I'm not aiming for technical perfection. It was during a visit to the wood on an overcast afternoon that I began looking up. The patterns of the now bare branches when silhouetted became ambiguous. With a little imagination they could look like dark river systems flowing through a snowy landscape seen from above. With a bit of manipulation of tones when converted to black and white these abstractions have something going for them. I've been making more since my first effort.

These are an offshoot of the main project, which continues as something exploratory. The less leteral pictures are the ones I'm finding most interesting. Although I'm really not sure if they, as a series, are any good. Nor am I all that sure of what I'm doing! They are not exactly documentary in nature and are more than a bit 'arty'... One thing is for sure. Restricting myself to using black and white when photographing in the wood is more productive than when I have shot in colour. I think the temptation with colour is to look for the usual woodland pictures of autumnal tints or translucent springtime leaves. Chocolate box fare.

When I eventually run out of steam with this project the really hard part will start. Editing the pictures into a series, probably a book. The only way I can think of doing this is to make small work prints and physically play around with them. For once I don't think working with images on a screen will cut it. Not sure why but I reckon it'll be easier to spot the weaker pictures that way.

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Let there be rain...

It couldn't last, and it didn't. Fearing the worst I decided to go fishing on Friday night as there was rain due over the weekend. The fishing was poor so I messed about with my fishing cameras when the sun began to rise. Both have good features and bad. The one with the zoom has great controls but is sluggish to focus and has poor low light performance. The one with the fixed lens has a great sensor but poor controls and is equally slow to focus. If only there was a compact camera which did everything right. But then the manufacturers would never sell any top end DSLRs.

Every time I make a landscape picture I like I can't help but think that 99% of the task is being in the right place at the right time. The technicalities are pretty darned basic. The subject ain't going anywhere so there's plenty of time to get them right.

Nice as they are to look at the majority of landscapes are little more than wallpaper. The shot above is currently my computer screen's desktop picture. I'll be tired of it soon enough and swap it for something similarly vacuous.

Sunday was sunnier for longer than predicted and I managed to find some sheep in the evening. The clouds soon rolled in and put paid to the photography though. So not much was gained from the exercise.

I did manage to find a mule which posed quite patiently for me while the sun was out. As per usual out of the many exposures I made the frame which had the most satisfying was the only one which was slightly out of focus. The next best is below. Strangely, after looking at it one and off for a few days it seems to have improved. Or maybe I've forgotten what the better one looked like?

Apart from the evening light helping the picture I was able to get into a perfect position without having to either bend my knees or lay on the ground. Shooting from slightly below sheep, and no doubt other animals, makes them look more impressive. As this one was stood on top of a flood bank my task was easy. This viewpoint also tends to put the sky as background, which is good for 'portraits' when it is blue, and because it is far away the clouds go pretty much out of focus no matter how small the aperture of the lens is. Lots of the sheep in focus and much less of the background. Another bonus.

Whether or not a picture of a sheep dropping with dung flies on it will prove useful for inclusion in a sheep project, I'm not sure. But I have one now!

Sure enough the sunny spell didn't last and rain returned after the weekend. Today I got the urge to make some prints, which necessitated a trip to town to pick up some ink. I didn't hang around but the X100T got a damp outing. There were few dogs being walked, but plenty of umbrellas getting an airing. Every once in a blue moon I get lucky, and the shot I see forming before me gets 'spoiled' by something better. Maybe not much better, but people's faces are more interesting in photographs than the backs of their heads. Although it was the umbrella which had initially caught my eye the woman stopping and turning just as I clicked the shutter and the passing cyclist made something more interesting happen. At least it suits my ideas of loose compositions in street photography having more life than the cleverly composed shots which a lot of people aim for - go in search of even.

And finally... After a winter when it was hardly fit to visit the beach I've abandoned my Beach Life project. I might pick it up again later in the year, but I doubt it. So this is about it.

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