Projects
Just a few from a location that always caught my eye on which ever journey I took by car to the City. Its just outside the City limits and a blink and you miss it. It is a copse of trees on top of a mound and it reminds me of a similar view on the A38 just outside of Bristol on the way to Cornwall. You can not stop on that road, but you can this. So thanks then to my driver from my local taxi firm, James for taking me there.
All of these images were taken in my parents house ground floor. And most in the kitchen I was waiting for my mother and wife to come back from a shopping trip and was in an itch to photograph something so my eyes scanned the room for something abstract to take pictures of. Keyrings, curtains, stoves, toasters and other sundry things came to hand. See if you can make it out what they are?
This years offering of landscape pictures were taken in Rutland. A trip north of Corby was taken with the help of my father to this nice little county and a very scenic view from a viaduct across the valley. There was not many people around as the area was flooded, which added to the glare of light that day. But I think both Amy and I managed to get something decent for the site as well as some shots of Kettering telephone exchange added for the 'Architectural Metaphor page. Brutal building as any, not the greatest of designs, but not a blot on the landscape as my Dad calls it.
Do you ever look above eye level when your going about your business in town centres? You should try it some time. I found the architecture of our local library quite interesting and a surprise to me. Its something I had never noticed before and although a bit Brutalist in design, it does take a good picture. Featured here are also so images of local beauty spots (?) like the Bus Station, the Probation Office and the back of an old inn of renowned destitution opposite the probation office hang out for naughty boys and girls in the area. I hope you enjoy them.
Here are a few little abstract pictures of sausages in a jar and the tap running I took actually a few months ago and forgot about. I am always on the look out for things that might make for a descent abstract photo, so if you have any suggestions then please do let me know
Here are some images I actually made several months ago and never got around to editing for one reason or another. They are of model Marie Jean Saxton and again the Sunflower from last months batch of flowers. The fressonique style of editing is quite intense, so lucky for me I made a point of writing it all down and follow the instructions each time for consistency. All images taken using the plastic fantastic cheap lens Amy made. As crude and as simple as it can be, but still look reasonable quality. I hope you enjoy them?
We only managed one project update this month, but we made it a good one. Getting up early one Sunday morning we took a lift to a local college to snap away at its new facia and architectural delight. The building there used to be quite drab in its 1979s style of building, but since the face lift I personally think it is a whole lot better. There was nobody around … not a soul … not even a student, so we had the place to ourselves. I strongly hope we captured its design beauty, to show it at its best? With thanks to Amy.
These Architectural pictures for the Architectural Metaphor project were all taken at a shopping area called Rushden Lakes. Its got some great modern design there with interesting features. I even found the back of the shops interesting as they almost looked like they were from a different planet.
There is also a really brilliant magazine shop there that sells just about every magazine that gets published, I wish I lived closer as I would visit it weekly. There are a few candid shots of my local hospital, who get really touchy about photographing the place. But I did it anyway when they were not looking and besides this might sound like a false sense of entitlement, but after all the things they have stuck in me over the years – they owe me that!.Anyway, here are the architecture pictures for that day.
While being at my parents home, they very kindly took Amy and I into the Northamptonshire (Flat) countryside for some landscape shots. It was highly rewarding, if possibly a bit dull for everyone else. My favourite shots from the day were of a broken gate laying in the overgrown hedgerow and moody sky above it. Yes the sky was really that threatening, but again no rain. We also went to walk around the lakes of Rushden Lakes shopping complex and got some great pictures of the water and skies. It was fun.
This is a mixture of random grabbed photos taken using the Infrared camera of my Father garden, the Northampton countryside, Rushden lakes walk and the M1 journey home. It would have been nice to use the camera I sent off to be converted in Romania, but alas that was not meant to be. Please enjoy the gallery/
Just one item captured in Abstract this month and see if you can guess what it is?
I shall give you a clue. It is red and green. It is large and very watery. Its got pips in it.
Any guess? Answer below the flower gallery
This is a project still ongoing if a bit slow. I use the plastic fantastic lens that Amy made for me, like a pinhole lens. Then some manipulation in Capture one and Photoshop. I hope to be using it again on the 12th July in the studio on Marie Jean Saxton model.
I have purchased an old digital camera that has had an Infrared filter added (or subtracted – I can not remember!) cheap digital camera see the full gamete of light including the infrared scale that our eyes do not see. Normally they have a dampener in the camera to ignore this, but here it has been changed to allow it. This then not only gives the old camera a new lease of life, but allows the photographer to take some weird looking stuff. I tried it in the studio to mixed results, but found it works best when shooting landscapes and vegetation. We used a local park to test it out and it turned all the trees and grass to a bright pink. I like it – I think it is interesting - and so will be doing more as and when I can. So here is a new project to show off the results as well as show some very old Infrared images taken decades before digital using the long defunct and sadly missed Kodak HIE 135-36 Hi-Speed Infrared Slide Film. Pictures taken are from locations as far apart as Cornwall and the West Coast of Scotland. I hope you enjoy this new project.
We have been busy this month with the abstract theme taking pictures of everything from Beavis and Butthead, to playing cards and Children's park swings slides and seating/There is no end of stuff to cover if you have an eye to spot it. More coming soon for this project Thanks again to Amy for her valued assistants.….
Sheffield is not somewhere that I visit very often, which is a shame as its centre has some architecture that would not look out of place in New York. Lots of flat roofs. I had cause to visit Zavod Studio in Sheffield and while waiting to gain access I was in awe of the views around me. So I took the opportunity to snap away and put them on the projects page 'Architectural Metaphor.'
There is also a solitary view of Worksop train station and an street lamp added as a random bonus thrown in.
I have not done any images for this project for a while. So here is a few taken in and out of a train journey I made to Sheffield. Snaps of the vending machine that is card only (no cash allowed !!!!) and the station its at. I have also a picture taken of a scene shot in the early hours one bank holiday Monday of a children playground, before the screaming little brats turn up.
A little Abstract to help the day go on. I captured on film forks with shadows, Amy's glasses and the inside of her Bosch washing machine ! Everyday items you might otherwise ignore (except the washing machine after all who goes around sticking their heads in one of them?). Thank you for my assistant Amy working the lighting for these captures.
Some little beauties this month for you on this project I would love to do more on given the chance. I have a confession to make … these images are not new. They were taken about twenty years ago somewhere north of Chesterfield in Derbyshire. They have been kicking around on my hard drives all this time, with me not knowing what to do with them. Well I finally put them into use and edited them. I hope it saws worth the wait.
Just a few random things I photographed this month like hard boiled eggs and a cheap Coca Cola novelty camera from America to add to the project. There is no rhyme or rhythm about doing these, they were just there and available so I snapped them. Although I do have an idea to see if I am allowed to do a few snaps of an old greasy spoon cafe in town that might be interesting. We will see. Watch this space
In a town called Rushden, there is a great shopping complex called 'Rushden Lakes.' I love going there as there is this shop called magazine heaven or something like that and its the only one in the whole of the UK. Its packed to the gunnels with magazines of all types. I normally buy a few fashion pieces (of which there is a lot the choose from) for future shoot inspiration. Needless to say, it great there. They also have a little cafe on the first floor that serves up teas and coffees as well as food. The cafe has an ambiance and charm all of its own that I tried to capture here in this section, from the counter to the lighting and tea pots.
So another thanks to my parents for introducing us to the shop. X
