Feeling at Home

Jubilee (Darwen) Tower - Taken from 

Remnants.

For nearly as long as I can remember I have had a love for high places.  In essence it's not just a love of hills and mountains but more in particular Lancashire hills.

It began when I was a teenager.  I would get home from school, blow off homework grab my trusty spotted companion (a dalmatian named Billy) and head for the moors.  I loved the walk through the wooded valley and up past the reservoir before striding out on to the open moorland which is home to Darwen Tower.  Billy loved it too.  We spent hours and hours up there just wondering, sitting by moorland streams, listening to Skylarks and generally watching the world go by.

Even as I grew up that love didn't die.  In fact it grew deeper as I joined Lancashire Countryside Service as a Volunteer Ranger and eventually working full time.  Funnily enough, it was the same hills that I wondered as a boy that I now worked as a man.  Sometimes, Billy would be with me too.

The Ranger Service broadened my knowledge of the hills and sent me to other areas to explore, firstly in the West Pennine Moors and Rossendale, then the South Bowland Fells along with Clougha to the far North finally settling in Central Lancashire and becoming intimate with Pendle, Boulsworth and the hills surrounding the Wycoller Valley.

I do love the Lake District, I love North Wales even more but there is nowhere like my home turf.

What has this got to do with photography?  Everything.  I produce my best work when I'm working in Lancashire.  Why?  I think its because I love it or that I know it as well as anyone else.  Maybe it's just because I'm fascinated and amazed by it.  Perhaps its a life long love affair.

Some places I am really drawn to.  One of these is known as Walton Spire.  The Spire sits on Knave Hill high above the towns of Nelson and Colne in Lancashire, is directly between both Pendle and Boulsworth Hills and is in close proximity to the site Castercliffe Hill Fort.

Knave Hill is a bit strange.  It is my opinion (and also that of others) that the hill is man made.  Looking at aerial photographs it is possible to identify concentric rings of terracing that appear to be the construction of the hill.  However, the site has another feature in the Spire it self.  The bottom part of the cross is an ancient stone monolith that would have probably acted as a marker for travelers on the trade route from the Irish Sea to the North Sea or vice versa.  It is possible that the monolith could be somewhere in the region of 4,500 years old although some legends say that it was erected in rememberance of the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.  The top of the spire was added in the 1830's by Richard Thomas Wroe-Walton a local gentleman with strong religious values who live in Marsden Old Hall that still stands in nearby Marsden Park.

What ever the reason or how ever old the Spire is.  I can't help being drawn to the place.  Earlier this week I went up there in the snow and got some lovely pictures of it while enjoying a bit of pleasant if not cold weather!  Even the sheep seemed happy to be there.

A Productive Day!

Yesterday was one of my most productive days.  First was a trip out to somewhere I hadn't been before, Widdop Reservoir.  I didn't have long there but came back with this image.  No doubt I will be going back in the very near future!

Last night, I went down to our local running track.  I sort of have this idea centered around amateur sport as my next project.  So, while I was there I took a couple of test shots to see if it would work.  Not quite sure about them yet.  May have to try a couple of other locations first.

Remnants Update

Remnants now has its own page complete with Flickr slideshow illustrating all the images from the project and a preview of the book from our Blurb bookstore.

Remnants Book Released

Today sees the release of Remnants book.  The 86 page book is available in paperback and two hardback editions from our blurb shop.  See preview below.

Remnants by Lee Johnson | Make Your Own Book

Out of the editing room - More Remnants Images

 Last night I finally finished editing some images that had been sat on my SD card for what seemed like an eternity.  Out of those images are some shots that I took in order to fit in with the Remnants project.
As I seem to get to the end of Remnants, I seem to find something else to add to it.  At the moment I've been adding follies to the collection and dry stone walls.  The walls may seem a little dull compaired to other aspects of the project but have you ever stopped to think how they were built and by who?

Now as Remnants draws to an end I am beginning to think about my next project and sitting down to play some more surrealist stuff.  Nothing is coming to light yet but I'm sure it will!

Getting time to edit!

Finally managed to find some time to sit down and do some editing.  I began by finishing off some work for a client. I'm quite happy with the results from that shoot but I'm more happy with the other stuff I have been producing.

I said in my last post that I had been out on Boulsworth with the view of shooting a location to further my Remnants project.  Well, I took a couple of other shots as well.  The one on the left is one that I have finished editing and I have to admit, I really like it.

The location I went to shoot was the doorway in the image below left.  This is one of Lancashire peculiar follies in the fact that it was built like this.  The opposite side

of the door way has been inscribed but this is barely readble due to erosion.

I think I have come away with a fantastic image but I'm not sure if it will make the final Remnants project.  The reason being that I don't think it works well as a mono.  Nonetheless, I had a fantastic afternoon up there and have a couple of lovely images out of it!

Getting out!

Finally, I manage to get out!

Yesterday afternoon was so nice that I headed for Boulsworth Hill and bagged another couple of shots for the Remnants series. It was bitterly cold, with snow on the ground and not easy walking but very much worth it. As an added bonus I saw a pair of Short-Eared Owls hunting. Hadn't seen any for years!

This afternoon, I'm heading out again! This time to Blacko to shoot the tower, Malkin Tower Farm and something else of interest I've spotted. Will post all the images when I've finished processing!

Another Ribble Shot

I've just finished editing another River Ribble image and thought I would post it!

Remnants continues to grow

The Remnants project continues to grow with a new series of images being added.

Despite the dull skies and flat light I have managed to capture some moody images that fit right in with the others in the series.

In a recent trip to Whalley I captured 50 images.  Of course not all of them will make it to the final edit but it doesn't half boost the amount of images to play with!

Getting Time to Edit!



It's all very well having a productive weekend, the problem is actually sitting down at the PC and editing the images.



Earlier this week I posted a rough edit of one of the images from Saturday evening on the Ribble.  I finally got round to making a clean edit and finish it off, last night.  I also carried out an edit on the image (pictured left), Rockin the Ribble.  This took quite a bit of work as the levels of contrast between the highlights in the sky and darker midtones of the water were massive!  This image was shot as the light was dying and the water to the right of the frame took on a beautiful dark blue/purple colour.  The highlights on the water were a bit bright but when adjusted they took on a pink colour that compliments the image well.

There is still another couple of images to come out of this shoot yet, just need the time to sit down and edit!  I still also have the new Remnants shots to sort out!

Remnants project well underway

Sitting on Herders Cross

Over the last year I have been working on a project entitled Remnants.

Remnants is a photo-study that explores mans relationship with stone and its effect on the landscape of Lancashire.

The project began with a short series of images based around the vaccary walls of Wycoller and has since expanded to incorporate stone features of varying ages from all over the old county of Lancashire.

Remnants is mainly a monochromatic work with a few treated colour images added to break up the continual moody monos. 

The photo-study is not just about stone.  Although there are very few images that include people in them (namely a couple of self-portraits) the people are there in a different way.  Their legacy is there, you just have to look from a different view point.

Another point that has shown up that I did not realise is the project follows a socio-religious path from Pagan worship sites to the rise of Christianity to it's death and the religion of captalism.

Remnants will be completed at the end of this year or early next year with the release of a self-published book by the same name.

More of the Remnants images can be seen on our fotothing and flickr pages.