Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing I hope you have a fantastic and peaceful holidays.  See you in the New Year!

Taking to the Stage

This week has been a little different.

I was invited to take photographs at Pendle Council's Mayor's Bit of a Do event at the Colne Municpal Theartre.

The event is a Christmas lunch and cabaret entertainment for the senior citizens of Pendle.  I have to admit it is a great event.

Although I had worked on stage productions before I had never had the opportunity to have a go at stage photography.  So I jumped at the chance to try something new and different.

Although, I wouldn't want to do this on a daily basis I quite enjoyed it but I did learn a couple of things; it helps to know the performers routine.  If you know the song or the jokes/script then you can anticpate the soulful moment or the delivery of the punchline etc; When you think its time to press wait a second a better shot will come around; Get to know the theatre and the best advantage points; and finally, make friends with the lighting engineer.  He's the one that is going to light your subject.  Get some info from him/her!

There are a few of Dom Woodward (comedian), Andrea-Louise and Lee Nelson on my flickr stream and I will be posting some more in the very near future.

Catching up!

Red

It's been a busy old time!

Remnants is now back in its box for the final time this year.  As of yet I haven't taken any bookings for it next year which has given me a little time to concentrate on finishing off The River.  I'll post more about The River in the very near future.

Tomorrow night is President's Evening at Blackburn and District Camera Club and as a result, I will be providing the entertainment which will include the first viewing of The River.  It will be interesting to see what the feedback is.

If you visit my flickr page you will see some of The River images are being uploaded.  I'm not quite sure if I'll upload them all yet or not but I have made a start.

I have also uploaded some of the photographs I did for the Marsden Park Forest School earlier this year.  This was quite a nice little commission.  It involved having free reign to take any pictures I wanted of kids taking part in activities in Marsden's Woodland.  I think there is scope to develop this in to a future project but haven't quite decided on it yet.

Anyway,  till next time.

Remnants is ACE!

Remnants is back out of the box!

Remnants can be seen at the ACE Centre, Nelson, Lancashire until Monday 9th December.

It's all about me!

Over a Pixel Magazine the gang and I have decided to run a web based In-Profile section to introduce the editorial team to our readership.  As my capacity is editor I'm first up.  Why not pop across and find out more about me!

It's soooo easy....

This photography lark is child's play!

A couple of weeks ago I bought myself a new toy.  Well, when I say new toy I actually mean it’s about 35 years old.

Going back to shooting on film has inspired me a great deal and I’m really enjoying it at the moment.  However, as with digital SLR’s, I sometimes don’t want to carry around a big load of gear.  The answer to this, in both formats is a compact camera.  Of course there are issues with these.  Both can have poor glass, both can be frustratingly slow and unless you get a really expensive one both can be very inferior to their SLR equivalent.

The obvious answer to this in the digital world is a Compact System Camera (CSC).  In the film world it was a rangefinder.

The ideal camera would be a Leica M3 but even second hand these go for somewhere in the region of £1000 just for the body.  Definitely out of my price league!

I began reading some articles about street photography and film cameras and one model kept cropping up.  It was Olympus Trip 35.

Production of this camera began in 1967 and finally ended in 1984 after over 10 million cameras had been sold.  The camera became famous due to its 1970’s marketing campaign featuring David Bailey.

The camera was aimed at the burgeoning traveller/tourist market and it same perfectly designed for this.

The most notable aspect of the camera is a selenium light meter that allows the camera to set its shutter speed.  This particular light meter also meant that the camera did not require batteries, a very useful feature to consider when travelling to remote places.

The camera is also semi-automatic and works pretty much like the program mode of modern digital cameras.  You set the focus via the zone focusing ring on the lens.  You have the options of single person portrait, two person portrait, group shot or landscape.  With the aperture ring set at ‘A’ you then look through the view finder and shoot.  The aperture ring can be over ridden but to be honest, you could be asking for trouble if you didn’t know what you were doing.  The reason for this is that the Trip 35 has only two shutter speeds.  They are 1/40^th and 1/200^th of a second.

The camera can take a variety of films raging from an ASA (now ISO) of 25 – 400.  This meant you could use a wide range of films including the now iconic Kodak Tri-X which was rated at ASA 400.  Earlier models had a maximum ASA of 200.

I have to admit, first use of the camera has left me impressed.  It’s nice to hold, light and very simple to use.  I’ve just shot a roll of Ilford HP5 through it and I’m now waiting to process it, once done, I will post some scans.

While I was shooting with it, I thought I would try some street photography and this camera is perfect for it.  You have to be relatively close to your subject due to the 40mm lens but isn’t that the whole point of street photography?  However, that camera is so small and unassuming that it isn’t at all offensive to people and often goes unnoticed.

My little boy also likes this camera and to be honest, it is an ideal camera for him to start with.  I may have to buy another one, just for him!

Back in the Box

As posted a little while ago, Remnants went back in its box with a little sadness both from me and the gallery at La Dolce Vita, Colne.  Finally, I have got round to sorting everything out and I have now got a little time to reflect.

As part of this process I took photocopies from the comments book and they are fantastic.  I thought I would share what has been said about Remnants.

‘Really impressive and very moving’

D. Claude.  Leeds

‘Emotive, calming’

G. Hensley.  Trawden

‘Very atmospheric and engaging’

I. Cleasby.  Oxford

‘Very beautiful images, dark and sombre but uplifting’

                                    M. Fielding.  Colne

‘Captivating, mesmerising images.  Beautiful.’

                                    Miriam & Andy.  Colne

‘What an unexpected surprise!  Very impressive indeed!’

                                    G. Read.  Colne

‘Simply brilliant and nice to see a local artist’

A. Ul-haq.  Colne

Thank you so much to everyone who visited the exhibition and took time to comment.

Being Thrown

No, this isn’t a post about judo or some other martial art!  It’s more about workflow and my attitude towards photography.

You see, holidays always throw me.

You go away for a couple of weeks.  Then on your return you spend a week trying to catch up with what you have missed.

For me, my holidays are less about photography and more about spending time with my family.  It is true that at least one camera does accompany us on our trips and I do take photographs.  Generally, these are family shots, some are really good, and others are nothing more than snapshots that are only of interest to us as a family.  There is nothing wrong with this and it does give me a break from thinking about the kind of work I produce.

That being said, old habits do die hard and I do tend to come back from my jollies with one or two images that I consider being worth posting and at some point even printing.

This summer we went to Woolacombe in North Devon.  This is a beautiful area and extremely popular.

After a lovely swim in the sea and a bit of body boarding with the kids I was sat on the beach drying off (and warming up, I hasten to add).  While doing saw I was watching the beach in a way that only an artist (whether this is a writer, painter/drawer, photographer or whatever can do.  If you are a creative you know exactly what I mean) and thoughts about a project on British summer holidays came to mind.  This was dismissed about an hour later when I considered that this would be such a large undertaking no matter how interesting it would be.  However, it did get me thinking to how I would approach a subject of this type.

British holidays are a subject that has been tackled before, probably extensively, but two photographers sprung to mind both with very different approaches.

The first was Martin Parr, who is a genuinely all round nice guy.  During the 1980’s Martin spent a considerable amount of time documenting New Brighton for his essay the Last Resort. 

Shot on a medium format camera with flash and saturated colours the resulting images are often considered a sarcastic look at British life in the 1980’s.  They are also often considered unsettling and not easily understood by those from out of the country or lived through those depressive years when the working classes of Britain had very little money and had to make do with what they could afford.

For me, the Last Resort evokes a lot of memories.  It’s true to say I was very young at the time Martin was shooting the Last Resort but living not that far from New Brighton and spending a lot of my childhood holidays on day trips to Blackpool, I can relate to the photographs on a personal level.  I have seen my grand parents drinking a can of Pepsi with my Grandad in his two piece suit, shirt and tie; Grandma in her best dress while my brother and I share a bag of crisps in swimming trunks, nicely roasting in a thirty degree heat wave.

I’ve also seen the old couple sat in the litter strewn shelter while eating fish and chips out of a newspaper.  That isn’t sarcasm; that is life at that moment time.  It’s not pretty and not easy to look at but that is the way it was.

I love Martin’s work.  He is an exceptional talent.  However, I do feel that I am not brave enough to attempt a project like the Last Resort.  Why?  I like my face!  I think that if you attempted some like the Last Resort in this day and age you would probably be likely to end up in the local Emergency Room from suffering a beating.

So, after ruling out Mr. Parr, I jumped to another large influence on me and another nice guy, Simon Roberts.

During 2007 and 2008, Simon travelled across England investigating what it is to be English through its people’s leisure activities.  Although on paper this may sound striking similar to Parr’s Last Resort, Simon takes a very different approach by photographing the subjects as landscapes rather than from a photojournalistic point of view.  The result of his investigation is a series of 56 photographs that were shot on a large format camera often from an elevated position.  The name of the essay is We English.

Robert’s images, in contrast to Parr’s are not controversial but are an informed, gentle study of English people on their time out from their busy lives.  Sometimes the people are so small in the frame that they are not recognisable but that brings about an intriguing quality to the images that captivates and holds you to them.  Those images that are busy are of such a high standard that they you can’t help but search through them.  There is even a shot of Woolacombe in the set and it was taken not far from where mine was!

As so back to work flow!

I’ve returned from holiday nice and chilled out.  In fact a little too chilled out.  I’m finding it hard to get back in to work mode.  I have loads to blog about but finding time off from my apathy is proving to be difficult.  I haven’t even finished processing all my holiday pictures yet but here’s one or two to look at.

I think I need another holiday to put be back in the workflow ethic!

Future posts to come:

New toy number 1

New toy number 2

Finding treasures

More adventures with film

And tying up the Remnants exhibition

Not necessarily in that order!

Oh! And before I forget!  Thank you for making my blog reach over 4000 reads!

Please leave a message after the bleep........ bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

I'm sorry, I'm away from my desk at the moment.

I've currently been on holiday and now I'm stuck in with decorating.  Normal service will be resumed very shortly.

Remnants head back to the box

The last few days of the Remnants Exhibition in Colne are upon us.  The exhibition closes on Wednesday night

If you don't get chance to see it, don't worry, it'll be in the ACE Centre, Nelson in the coming months!

Disappointment brings about nice results

Monday night I decided to take a quick trip over to Widdop Reservoir.

This was a location that I had visited before and I capture quite and interesting image.  However, I was looking for something a bit different.  I wanted quite a minimalist landscape.

To my disappointment I found that the reservoir had been drained to carry out some maintenance work and so, on turning back I decided to make the best of a bad situation and take some images on the way back.  These are the results.

I particularly like the monochrome image at the top.  I find it interesting and tranquil at the same time despite being little of interest to look at.  Perhaps this is the start of a new project?  Tranquility in landscapes of nothingness???

Playing with Laundry!

My pictures of the laundrettes have generated quite a bit of interest both through my blog and my flickr pages.  So I thought I would release them in a digital publication.  The first one is here held on Issuu and can be read on most devices for free.  Click the panel below:

If you really want a hard copy in the style of a magazine or to download a copy to your device then you can do so by visiting my magcloud page by clicking below.  Please be warned there is a charge for these!

My Beautiful Laundrette

In my last post, I wrote about returning to shooting on film and putting a roll of Kodak C41 black and white film through my MTL3.

When I got the case out I found that there was a roll of Boots colour film in there.  It was a roll of 400 negative film that had expired ten years ago.  

Yes, for those that don’t know, film has a best before date.

Not only that but the film had been kept in my case
in the attic therefore it had been subject to massive fluctuations in temperature.  So, it was difficult to determine what it would be like once it was shot.

I didn’t want to use this film for random images.  As I have posted frequently, I prefer to work in a series of images rather than one or two.  I like projects and this is what I wanted to do with this film.  I wanted to shoot the entire film on one series of images.  Next was the subject.

The subject had to be something that would work
over around 20 images.  The roll of film was actually 36 but being film rusty, the condition of the film and the chances that I would mess up some technicality I assumed I would have around 20 usable images if I was lucky.

The answer came to be by accident.  I drove past a laundrette one day and it struck me that it had the same appearance as it probably did when it first opened.  OK, it may be a little worse for wear around the edges, but the signs and ‘art’ (losing the term loosely) looked pretty much like I think they would have done in the 1970’s and early 80’s.  I thought about this carefully and I realised that every laundrette that I had been in had a same or similar appearance.  I also thought that as washing machines have become more affordable that laundrettes would be a thing of the past, a dinosaur waiting to become extinct.  I had an inkling that this subject would suit film and in particular would suit this roll of film that when process could result in weird colours and artefacts due to the age.  So off I went.

I began with laundrettes that I knew still existed and then I began to find more and more of them.  In fact, it has actually shattered my illusion.  The laundrette busy is still thriving and while the one’s I visited are a relic of the past there are new, clean, modern laundrettes opening up.

The film was processed by a lab in C41 chemistry and I have scanned the negatives.  I have to admit that my neg scanner isn’t very good and there is deterioration in the sharpness of the image, noise and colour isn’t quite right but you know what?  That doesn’t matter too much.  I think it suits the subject perfectly.

The final set of images has been posted on my Flickr stream or you can see them on the slideshow below.

I quite enjoyed doing this.  It was different and challenging.  Removing the comfort of digital has been both worrying and exciting.  I think there is scope for a bigger project here.  Watch this space!

Messing with Film

A few months ago I posted about returning to shoot on film.  Although I am interested in making prints its not something I'm planning to do on a regular basis and so for the minute, I'm just processing film to the negative stage.  This left me with a problem.  Getting the negative in to the computer.

Scanning them on a flatbed scanner just wasn't good enough and so I've been out and acquired a negative scanner.  Admittedly it is not a very good one but it will do to experiment with.  Not I've got to learn processing the negs.  These images and the ones found on my flickr  are very rough edits.  I have to admit though.  I do like the effect it has give the image at the top of this post.  Hovis bread anyone?

News on the Remnants Front

Well the show seems to be going well.  Quite a few people have gone through and had a look at the pictures on the wall.  The exhibition is on for at least another few weeks so if you do get chance please feel free to drop in and have a look.  Why not grab a coffee and some cappuccino cake as well?

I've been a bit quiet on the posting front as of late.  That is due to a couple of reasons.  The first is that I haven't really shot anything of note for at least a week and I wasn't convinced by what I had shot (see last post).  Secondly, I've been shooting on film quite a bit and I need to get the film developed and scanned before I post.  Thirdly, I'm in the middle of building a new toy and this one is special.  More about that in a later post.  Finally, I'm finally getting round to making prints available.

A couple of months ago (Friday 10th May to be exact) I posted about making edition prints rather than limiting a run.  I am now well down the road of doing this.

The gallery has part of the original set hanging on the wall.  These are prints are lightjet prints.  This is now an aging and difficult technology to find but it consists of a huge machine that fires a red, blue and green laser at a sheet of light sensitive paper (photographic paper) this is then developed using tradition wet chemistry techniques.  At the end of the process you have a real photograph produced from a digital negative.

Luckily, I have a printer that is very local to me that can do this for me and I can get actively involved in the process.  I have to say the end result is a stunningly beautiful quality product.

These lightjet prints are what I determine as 1st edition prints.  Each one individually signed and can also be mounted and framed by request.  As of yet, I have not found a way of selling these over the internet but are available directly from me via email and more information is available the same way.

I am also about to release the second edition prints.  These will be available from the internet.  Although the prints are archival (and so the manufacturer says likely to last 150 years) they are produced in a completely different manner and this is reflected in the price.  They are still a quality product and will look good hanging on any wall.  Some of the Remnants images have been uploaded and the rest will go up soon.  They will be available in two formats A4 and A3 sized.  Once the upload is complete I will post a link to the online store.

Look out for the new edition of Pixel Magazine coming very soon!

Adventures in Motion

Make hay while the sunshines.  That's the adage and I have.

Last night I was out with my local camera club.  We were in one of our local parks and I have my trusty K1000 with me.  Loaded with Kodak 400 colour film I shot nearly a full roll.  Nothing fantastically interesting, just playing to get used to the camera and how it handles.  I have to admit, it does feel very different in my hand than my digital K-x.  That being said, compared to my Pracktica MTL3 and my old Zenits it does feel small, compact and very light. The lenses are nice and compact as well.  The 50mm f2 lens is not much bigger than my 28mm lens; the 135mm lens is similar in length to my digital 18-55mm but not as chunky!  All in all it is becoming a pleasure to shoot again.

I have to admit, I love abstract images and not long ago I came across an article about landscape images taken while in motion.  This sort of appealed to me and I decided to give it a go.  So last night as the sun was setting I strapped the tripod and camera in to the passenger seat, remote to the wheel now to set the camera up.  For this it was a case of aperture priority mode.  I'm not interested in depth of field here I more interested in screwing up the shutter speed.  As a result the aperture was stepped down to f32 with an ISO of 200 (lowest a K-x will go in RAW mode).  Then it was a case of drive!

In post processing I wanted a certain type of look so went for something that was a bit bleach by-pass with a touch more blue added.  These are the first attempts but I have to admit, I'm quite liking the results so far.

Remnants is still on at La Dolce Vita in Colne.  Why not pop there, have a coffee and a panini while walking around and having a look at my prints!  Try the cappuccino cake, it's gorgeous!!!

Coming up - I've been working on something quite beautiful!  Look out for the new edition of Pixel coming out in the next couple of days!

Remnants - The Exhibition

As I keep posting, the last couple of weeks have been extremely busy.  The main reason for this is that I have been getting Remnants together for an exhibition.

Tomorrow night sees the invite only preview night at the new photo gallery that is housed above La Dolce Vita Italian Deli in Colne.

The exhibition consists of 23 prints from the essay that can be found on this website.

Remnants officially opens to visitors on Thursday 4th July.



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What I Have Been Up To - The Ark

 In my last post I said that I had been busy with lots of things.  One of the things that has kept me busy recently was a Pennine Lancashire art project called The Ark.

Developed by artist Beth Derbyshire The Ark is a converted narrow boat that houses a video installation, beautifully designed patterning and a wildflower roof.  So what was my involvement?  Well, I was one of the subjects of the film.

This floating cinema made its way through Pennine Lancashire from Eanam Wharf at Blackburn (see picture above.  Incidentally, this was shot by me using Pentax K1000 on Kodak BCN400 film.) and ending it's journey at Brierfield Mill, Brierfield.

The film entitled The Keepers follow several people who have a unique connection to the Pennine Lancashire  landscape.  Me?  I'm the Keeper of the Stone.  Below is a short film about the Ark and bottom is the film, The Keepers.

A Long Time Posting

I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted and I really can't believe how busy I have been.

So some of the stuff that has been happening will come out in posts over the week or so but the biggest thing that has kept me busy is preparing my last project, Remnants, for exhibition.  Details of which will follow in the next couple of days but I can't wait to see it hung on a wall.

Obviously, I have been out on the river again and I'm quickly working up the concept of The River.  If you have a look at my flickr stream you will see some of the images that I have taken.  These will slowly be dwindled down to the final set of shots over the next few months.

I have to admit, I have found The River extremely difficult and I think I lost my way on it a couple of times.  In fact at one point I was ready to give up on it as I couldn't see a way of seeing the project through that I would be happy with.  That has now gone and I'm back in the flow with some interesting new ideas and a direction to go in.  I'm pretty sure the end product will be something that isn't what is expected.

Talking Prints

Quack!

I have alluded to this post coming for the last few weeks and today is the day that it arrives and part of the reason that I have been so busy.

The other week there was a post on The Online Photographer about making and selling prints and it struck a chord.

One thing I don't do is sell prints too often.  But why don't I?  I make enough images that are good enough to print.

One thing I didn't wanted to do is produce limited edition prints.  Why?  Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to make a living from my photography;  Don't most of us?  But the main reason is that if someone came to me and said I would love a print of such an image, I don't want to turn around and say "No, that edition is over.  Go and see if you buy a second hand one."

For me, I don't think that only feeds a secondary market.  One that is not good for the photographer, the collector or the ordinary Joe who wants a nice picture for their wall.  So whats the answer?

Well, I've made a decision how I want to do this.  I'm going to make prints in runs that are very similar to the way that book publishers work.  I'm going to print a run of images using one particular method.  This will be individually chosen the images.  It may be Giclee prints or it may be a digital file turned to a neg then developed as traditional photograph or a straight inkjet print.  Whichever, it will mean that there is a first edition, second edition and so on.  One that suits the photograph, the collector and anyone that wants to own one of my prints.

The final details of how I am going to offer prints has yet to be worked out and is part of what has kept me busy.  As soon as I've worked it out I'll will no doubt post.  But keep an eye out for an up coming catalogue.

For now though here is a new shot from The River.

A new toy

I have a new toy.

Well, new isn't exactly the right word.  It' actually around 35 years old but still has its original packaging and manual!

I have to admit I do love my Pentax DSLR and I still love shooting film.  In fact in some ways I prefer shooting film to digital so this camera sits perfectly in with my system.  I've currently got a roll of Kodak 400 black and white film in it but will soon finish that fill and put a roll of colour in to go out an shoot more launderettes.  Just to see how the camera does.  Check back in a few weeks!

The news that I alluded to in recent posts is on its way over the next day or two.  Come back and find out whats going on!

Winning Ways

Monday night saw the results of Blackburn & District Camera Club’s Annual Exhibition (Digital Projected Images).  I had the full compliment of ten images entered.

The standard of images across the board was fantastic as was the spread of awards received.

I am pleased to announce that I gained the following results:

Portrait/Figure Study – Red, 1^st Place

Portrait/Figure Study – Temperence, 3^rd Place

Portrait/Figure Study – Joe the Gardener, Highly Commended

Natural History – Treecreeper, 1^st Place

Monochrome – Turbulent – River Flow, Highly Commended.

Red

Joe the Gardener

Treecreeper

Turbulent - River Flow

Hitting 3000 & Other News

My little blog has reached the 3000 views mark, which I have to admit I am more than impressed with.  I would like to say thank you to everyone who has stopped by to have a look at what I'm doing and to read my ramblings.

It's been a little while since I last posted and it's not that I have a lack of anything to post, in fact it is quite the opposite.  I have stuff to post just not the time to sit down and do it.

So, what have I been doing with myself?  Well, I'm currently working on the next issue of Pixel Magazine which is due out in the next couple of weeks.  We are a small team of volunteers that put each issue together and we devote a lot of time to it.  In addition to this I am also the President of Blackburn & District Camera Club which I have to admit, at times I find challenging.  As you can probably gather it has been busy, busy, busy.

At the moment I am also working towards getting Remnants ready for exhibition.  Keep an eye on this blog to find out more details when I have them.

Lastly, I'm busy looking in to producing prints for sale.  This is something I have been meaning to do for ages and finally, I am getting round to it and the mist is clearing to find a way forward with it.  This has taken quite a bit of time, why?  Well, I wanted to produce extremely high quality prints and in order to do this you have to source the right materials, processes and final product.  Then there is how do you physically sell the prints.  This is one thing that I have yet to decide on but I'm sure that I will make the decisions shortly.  This week will be busy, I have a lot to do and a lot to decide.  Read my blog later this week for thoughts on selling prints.

There's trouble in t'mill

'Lancashire was once the work horse of England.'

That was a phrase often used by my Grandad as he recalled stories of the mills of Blackburn.  The bulk of Lancashire's mills have now gone and the few that remain are either in a derelict state or are being used as museums, retail outlets etc.

One mill, until recently remained in operation.  Not as a cotton mill as such but as manufacturing base for medical supplies.  Unfortunately, the mill closed around two years ago but there is a move to re-develop building for several different usage.

Since October, last year, I got permission to go behind the scenes and document the changing face of this leviathan of a building.  These are a couple of images from a recent shoot.

While you are reading about photography, why not jump over to our magazine for Pennine Lancashire Photography at www.pixelmag.co.uk

Blog design changes, same content

Over the last twelve months my blog has changed from being a blog about promoting myself as a business to something a bit more personal.  It's now almost a journey through my photographic life and depicts the images that I am currently working on and the thought processes behind them.

In addition to this my work with Pixel has also grown and with these in things in mind I have decided to change the design of my blog.

I hope that you will still come back and enjoy the new cleaner Pixel related style but with the same images and thoughts being jotted down!

Thanks for reading!

Lee

Feeding an obsession

For many photographers a place that is close to their heart becomes the subject of their obsession.  It's a place that is generally close to their home; it's a place that they will visit regular; it's a place that they will know like the back of their hand; and it's a place that will be the subject of many, many photographs, even though most of them will not be seen beyond their computer screen.

How do I know this?  Well, I have my obsession.  My obsession is a hill in Lancashire called Boulsworth.  It lies to the south of Nelson and Colne  and towers above the village of Wycoller.

My favourite walk to the summit is from Coldwell Reservoirs. and is relatively flat until you take the concessionary path to the summit.

Boulsworth has been the subject of my photographs before, it in fact plays a part in Remnants and will no doubt feature in future landscape projects.  So why is this hill my obsession?

It would be easy of Pendle to be my obsession.  It has a lot going for it, it is unusual in the fact that it stands alone, it has history and atmosphere but for me Boulsworth is just something else.  I can't put my finger on it and couldn't say why, but this hill has to be one of my favourites in Lancashire and I definitely have more photographs of this hill than any other.

Last Wednesday I managed a trip back to my obsession and did I catch it at the right time?  I was there just as the sun was going down and managed to catch these images.  Although bitterly cold, the sun was out and the sky was threatening more snow, just perfect for a landscape photographer.  However, I didn't come away with the photograph that I was attempting to capture.  That one may have to wait until next winter now.  Watch this space!

Looking back can be good

Sometimes I get back to my computer with my card and upload the files to the PC.  Quite often I find images that I'm not particularly fond of.  Some of these I delete straight away and are destined never to see the light of day again.  Others, sit on my PC for a while and jump out at me when I have a sneaky look back.

Tonight was one such occasion.  I had decided that I was going to do some clearing down and found an image that I took on a trip to Folkestone earlier on in the year.  I wasn't overly keen on it when I uploaded but kept it anyway.  I decided that I would have a little play with the image more out of curiosity than expecting anything from it so file loaded in to Photoshop off I went and the final image is the one below.  Perhaps this will make a nice little print.

After the Rocks - A Return to the River

I can't believe how busy I am at the moment.

The fact that I am run off my feet has left me very little time to even pick up a camera never mind shoot anything of not.  Couple with this, the weather and I may as well curl up with a good book.

After shooting the rock of previous posts, I continued on my river journey and produced some quite nice images.  Again, whether these make it through the final edit, only time will tell, but at least I have done some work.

Perhaps, now that it is officially spring the weather will change and new aspects of the river will begin to show themselves and, in time, I may actually get out.

Over 2500 Views!

My little blog here has now had over 2500 views.  Thanks to everyone who takes time to stop by and have a little look.

Here's another image that was taken for The River!

More Random Rocks or Having a Cuddle

Just because!

Rock Randomness or Stonehenge in the Sand?

Just because I could!

When the River ceases to flow - The authoring of a photo-essay

I've often said throughout my blog that rather than producing single images I much prefer to produce a photo-essay.

For those that are quite new to photography a photo-essay is very much like a written essay.  It tells a story from beginning to end. Of course, a photo-essay is done visually and can take many different forms.  It can be documentary; it records the story with straight record photography.  It can be a series of images linked by a common theme or it can be a series of images that have, in simplistic terms, a certain look about them.

The River has become my latest attempt at producing one such essay.  However, with this one I decided I would come at it from a slightly different angle in the fact that I would use the medium of an AV (audio visual, a bit like a film with still photographs in) to tell the story.

Before I continue I would like to point out that I am not a filmmaker and I have no intention of migrating in to the world of film.  It's just too complicated to make something that is credible and meaningful.  I will leave this to the people that are good at it!

So back on to the subject of photo-essays.

With Remnants, I had no problems.  I like history, I like stone, I like landscapes, I knew the locations.  Straight forward.  Turn up, shoot, process, job done.  The River however, is a whole different ball game.

Up to date I have covered around a third of the river that I have chosen as the subject.  There are 212 files in the project folder including 47 pieces of video footage.  Here lies the problem.  Most of the images have the same type of treatment on them; I have a look.  Most of the images show the river as it is, wort's and all. I have a story.

So where's the problem?

Well, the problem is that a lot of the images are starting to look the same.  There isn't enough variation between them to make them stand out.  And this brings me round to the point of this post.

What makes a photo-essay work?

In my opinion the aspect of a photo-essay that makes it work isn't as much the photography as you would first think.  For me, what makes a good photo-essay is the editing.  It's the photographers ability to narrow down all the shots they have taken in to a few that tell the story in a clear and concise manner.

Going back to the River then, how do I take the project forward?  Well, after a lot of thinking, sleep deprivation and more thinking I've come to the conclusion that I am going to narrow it down to around twenty images.  These images won't necessarily tell the full story and will probably be abstracts of the River.  The actual landscape aspect of the project will be shot as film and the film itself will tell the full story.

As much as I like digital, I am still quite keen to have a physical product at the end of the project.  I have kind of decided that this will be in the form of a series of prints from the project.  The film will be hosted at a gallery (that is already sorted, more information nearer the time) and then held on my You Tube account.  Expect to see a preview in the coming weeks.

By the way.  If you want to see some examples of photo-essays why not have a look at our latest issue of Pixel magazine.  Back issues can be found at Pixel's website; www.pixelmag.co.uk