Since the country was asked to "Stay at Home" around 3 weeks ago, I've tried my best to keep the creative side of my brain ticking over.
Walking with Willow, camera slung over my shoulder, there have been quite a few opportunities to record my local surroundings. It has become more difficult over the last few days to find a decent image, but I'm sticking with it. Determined to stay positive whatever the news says. (17.4.2020)
I'll "talk" you through my photographs as I reveal the idea behind each one. All the images were taken with my D700 (the tank) and prime lenses. (99.9% sure)
The quality never fails to impress me. It may be a weight to carry round, but well worth the effort.
Looking to test the quality of the 35mm D series lens with this one. I try to be aware of the background when shooting close-ups. Although I managed to keep the sky and walls out of the frame, the light branches are a little bit of a distraction. Well chuffed with the outcome, the deatil is excellent.
Willow enjoyed sniffs along one of her favourite lanes when I visited ... "my trees". Venturing there on more than one occasion, I'm blown away by the majestic forms that are created by nature.
The track disappearing into the distance provides me with a lead-in line heading towards the horizon. Must make an effort to photograph these trees during the four seasons. Hopefully I'll still be around to complete this project.
Come on Mozzie, think positively.
Descending the track and turning round, I'm now faced with a wonderful composition. Love the way the far tree nestles in the lower branches of the one close to me. The light was to the left of the frame and a black and white photograph was an obvious choice.
Blossom is all around at the moment and although I don't have a macro lens, that's no excuse not to give it a go. I tried the 35mm and the 50mm D series lenses with favourable results. Editing in Lightroom, I sometimes use the Tone Curve to soften the blacks and whites. Not everyone's cup of tea, but they are MY images after all and I love it.
Remember to look at the background before pressing the shutter button, avoid mess!
Blackthorn hedge near Margaret's Farm. Took care with the background when using the 50mm prime lens. The quality of the D700's colour rendition is out of this world. Zooming in shows what an amazing sensor it has. Love it.
As a landscape image, this photograph is absolute pants.
Working my way around our "Joan Royd Lane" circuit, I just fancied recording the farm that is at the top of the rise. There are so many buildings and plots of land that will change in the not too distant future.
"Do you remember this field before they built an estate on it?"
That reminds me, I must take a photo of Margaret's farmhouse. No doubt they'll build a "million" houses on her land when she passes away. Keep going Margaret, please.
Managed to come back with quite a few decent shots on the last day of March. This black and white image of a tree on Chapel Lane works well. The cloud formation certainly adds drama to the overall effect. It just wouldn't look the same if I'd left it in colour. As the seasons change, it will be well worth the effort of revisiting this tree.
My daily walk with Willow, happens to pass by a number of fields containing horses. If they are near the fence or wall, Willow is an expert in asking them to move back a little. She is very well behaved when meeting them on a track or road though.
Without any words of encouragement, she will sit and then lay down. Of course, this behaviour has to be rewarded with a biscuit.
The image above is one of the horses seeing if there was a carrot or two in my possession. I'm aware that many owners don't want you to feed them, therefore I don't have any treats. The horse was not impressed. A quick snap was all that I could manage as he wasn't in the mood to pose.
One of our equine friends that lives on Joan Royd Lane. Love the quality of this image in black and white. I know that I keep banging on about the D700 and its brilliant sensor, but it does produce amazing photographs.
Well, I have to include a few shots of the infamous Willow. She joined our family in 2010, a rescue from a local kennels. Why I thought that owning a border collie would be a good idea … Willow has problems with her joints and is on permanent doses of Metacam as well as a product called YuMove. Wish they made this for humans. She continues to fly round the fields chasing her ball and only rarely do her aches and pains give her grief. We can't keep up with her energy levels at the moment and just one walk a day is out of the question.
This is the finish of most of her walks with Sal, a nice cooling dip in the stream. Although she's not fond of a bath, a steam or pond is a completely different matter.
Time for her to relax and boost those energy levels. Another walk is probably on the cards and she needs to be ready for action. One ear is always listening for any food package being opened. She never misses a trick.
The cheeky smile that melts your heart, sometimes. Having left the ball somewhere out of your sight, Willow is quite happy to deny all knowledge of you even bringing one out in the first place.
"Ball, what ball Grandad? Are you sure you brought one with you?"
Thank goodness it's a bright orange, more chance of seeing it.
With the early morning walk or late evening one, there is always the chance of using shadows within the composition. Used the fence as a lead-in line for this photo. It would have been better if the tree was positioned at the end of the fence. Bit of a time consuming job to move it.
Captured this on the long track up to Oxspring Rd. Beautiful sunny morning with a line of trees behind us. Shadows were cast over the wall into the adjoining field. The composition might not be much, but I do love the idea behind the shot. This will be banked for later, when a more dramatic image presents itself.
There's a section of wall on Joan Royd Lane that always catches my eye. With so many colours vying for my attention, I can't get enough images of it. The choice of stone and their arrangement within the structure, just fascinates me.
Apparently, I am a Teichosphile - a lover of walls. Don't think that there is a medication available for me to take.
Within the wall is my favourite stone. I don't know why this particular one is covered in yellow lichen (?), but it stands out from the rest. Fascinated by a stone, how sad am I?
The farmer had been working in the field behind the wall, making the soil so fine, that it almost looked like a beach. With the fluffly clouds in the sky, I just had to snap this composition. Again, it's nothing special, but it does have a meaning for me.
Oh to be on the beach at this present time.
On leaving the park after a Willow walk, I noticed these grasses against the blue sky. The clouds were scattered and thin, an ideal background to show off the structure.
I had no idea of their significance within a garden, I'm just a naïve O.A.P. Thanks to Rob Davies for the information re pampas grass.
This made me smile; a cartoon character hiding in the wall. It will be interesting to see how long it will stay there. Would you risk picking it up at the present time? I have no idea what these characters are called. Shows how much kids tv I watch nowadays.
The park just down the road is relatively quiet. Silence broken only by a family, desperately trying their best to entertain their children with games such as football or cricket.
Swings are tied together; unavailable for occupancy, unavailable for laughter, unavailable for friends.
Youngsters of all ages must be finding it difficult to cope. I'm not sure how I would have managed in this situation when I was a lad.
Looks as though someone has cut the ties that were holding the two swings on the left. The tree on the left is healthy, while the one on the right is hanging onto life as much as it possibly can.
I'm trying my best to "catch-up" on the images I've taken so far. So lets just have a look at a selection with just the bare bones of an explanation.
This is what my shed bench normally looks like. Not the tidiest of people, unless I'm on a misson. The effort never seems to last for any length of time.
One of the bushes in the back garden. Don't ask me what it is. Pyracantha?
At the entrance to the park, there were 3 or 4 trees. They've been thinned down to one. Disease is now apparent in the survivor too. I was reminded of my own wrinkles with this image, they are taking over my face quicker than I would like.
I asked Sal to take a photograph or two of me. Enthusiasm for this was a bit low, ah well.
Phew!
Now that I'm up to date, I'll keep this blog "going" as a diary. It's more for my sake than anyone else. Might be fun to look back on when this is all over. Fun? Yeah, right.
18th April 2020
It's becoming a bit harder to find a different image from the ones I've already taken. Nearly four weeks into lockdown and I'm more or less sticking to the same 3 or 4 routes when I'm combining walking Willow with photography.
My observational skills are being tested to the limit.
These buds on a horse chestnut tree were bathed in a dappled light and looked like they my produce an effective image. I'd taken the 85mm out with me, so I had to stand well back for the lens to be able to focus. The detail is amazing, another success when using the D700.
It should have been a celebration at the local parkrun in Penistone today.
One year exactly since the first run took place. Missed out on cake!
19th April 2020
I'm aiming for one decent photograph a day, though I don't think that this will be sustainable.
There is an amazing tree, just across the road from me, which is full of blossom.
Even though I had to cope with Willow being more interested in sniffs nearby, I did manage a couple of keepers. Rather than try and shoot a whole tree composition, I tried a number of skyward shots. The idea was to flood the background with out of focus blossom and blue sky. Dark twigs do spoil the effect a little, but I am pleased with the concept behind these photographs.
20th April 2020
Got the shock of my life today while cleaning the top of a wardrobe. A box that had been moved on numerous occasions, did not contain receipts and bills as I had thought. Opened it up to check what paperwork was actually inside.
Couldn't believe my eyes, a brand new pair of trainers which I'd bought in January 2018!
How on earth did I forget about them? Must have bought two pairs, because they were on offer. Ah well, I suppose I'll have to start running again.
21st April 2020
I've decided to post whatever images I captue within a 24hr time frame. This will run from updating my blog at 12 noon to the same time the following day.
Willow seems to have SO much energy at the moment. Care has to be taken in terms of balancing time on feet with her susceptibility to injury.
An afternoon stroll with camera in hand; a chance to capture my favourite tree yet again.
"Wonder if leaves are starting to appear?"
I tried shooting down the lane, but it just didn't work this time. The sky was a clear blue and to the left of the trees. Willow sniffed around, semi-impatient, while I looked for the best vantage point. Even with the 35mm lens on the D700, it was difficult to position the sun behind one of the larger branches. A thin band of landscape was all that I could manage at the bottom of the frame, works for me ... I think.
One of the first places we see on our morning walk, is Margaret's farmhouse. In the 15 years we've lived in the area, I have only seen her on a handful of occasions. I think that she is in her 90's and I'm hoping that she continues to be in good health. The land that she owns, would be a property developer's dream. God forbid that an estate finishes up covering the green space around her. Nothing to do with being a NIMBY, just an appreciation of nature close to home.
I've been trying to capture the above image for over a week. As I have said before, your eyes and brain can conjure up an amazing composition. In reality, the camera never lies. The photograph has far more impact when seen "big size". On a small screen, it just doesn't convey what I want it to. Well worth taking though, storing away that idea for future use.
Last one of the day.
I have always been a fan of Scandinavian dramas, especially Wallander. Quite a few of the scenes show landscapes which are made up of massive skies and very little terra firma. Walking down Long Lane, a couple went by me while the sun was strong, casting shadows as they disappeared into the distance.
I tried to shoot as little of the foreground as I possibly could, concentrating on the vast blue sky with cotton wool clouds scurrying across. Your eyes tend to move towards the heavens, while the figures and the ground are purely incidental, irrelevant.
Nature is taking over again, its rightful place in the world for a change.
Let's hope we appreciate it all the more when a more caring normality returns.
23rd April 2020
Time is dragging a bit now; with the news that social distancing may continue until the end of the year. No outings to snap runners then. I'm not sue that I'll be able to manage mentally for such a length of time. Running out of ideas for photographs on Willow walks, it's certainly testing my creativity.
Tried a bit of ICM, something which hasn't resulted in any decent images in the past. Intentional camera movement isn't as easy as you might think. We've all taken blurred photographs, something that we really didn't want to do.
The tulips were extremely bright and the effect isn't pleasing in any way, shape or form. Used Photoshop to Liquify parts of the image. You have to try things out, be creative.
Although we are not that far into Spring, this garden is always packed with colour. I must admit, I'm quite envious of the couple that live here. An amazing spot to sit and have a cuppa ... or a glass of wine.
There is very little traffic on here normally and since the lockdown began, you hardly come across a vehicle at all. Beautifully quiet and peaceful, just the sound of lapwings and curlews.
Sat watching t.v. when something caught my eye. A bronze figure of a dancer, was casting a shadow on a buddha mask. Quick dash upstairs to capture the image. Again, it isn't perfect, but I'm quite proud of the fact that my creative side shone through.
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