Beachy Head

 

Another, and final, image from the Brean Down set.

How To Disappear Completely

Another image of Brean Beach from Brean Down, made on a different visit from the previous images.

There was a point, during post-processing, that I was thinking of removing all the people in this image, except for the group of four on the right, perhaps. The fact is that I have cloned out some figures, but I stopped short of removing the lot.

On reflection, this is probably my favourite image in this series, which will conclude with the next post.

Beaching

Another image from the Brean Down set. For some reason, this puts me in mind of the final lines from that ultimate distillation of Western philosophy, the Rocky Horror Picture Show:

“And crawling on the planet's face,

some insects called the human race.

Lost in time, and lost in space.

And meaning.”

Don't You Know There's A War On?

This was a long-form post that I wrote a couple of years ago and never used, for reasons that escape me now. Perhaps I couldn't think of a title. Anyway, enjoy:

Its the nineteenth of August 2017, which is two weeks after the right wing violence in Charlottesville, and there's a Confederate flag flying in a Wiltshire field.

Fortunately, this is not a white supremacist rally - not overtly, at least. There are an awful lot of people in uniform, most of them white, middle aged men. But no, this is a meeting of military vehicle enthusiasts and re-enactors.

We're in Laycock to visit the Abbey, but this event proves to be more interesting, at least initially.

I didn't notice this chap's rather quizzical look until I came to process the image. 

This bloke with the faraway look in his eyes was busy polishing his weapon. No, really.

Out on the high street, there is a slightly surreal addition to proceedings. The allies and the axis powers have each set up a check point, about ten yards apart, complete with machine gun nests, and were busy stopping traffic.

Checkpoint Charlie

World War II wasn't the only historical era represented, however...

Status update: The Vietnam war has been over for while now.

The new Axis of Evil...

It isn't entirely fair to say that it was an exclusively white, male event. There were a few women knocking about.

Air Raid Precautions. Because you can never be too careful.

There was a fashion show in the marque.

As the event broke up in the late afternoon, people in vintage uniform dispersed around the village, like this WRAF in the grounds of Laycock Abbey.

Look...over there!

Reservoir Slogs

An image made during a recent, rather impromptu walk above Cheddar Gorge near sunset. For various reasons, I wasn't dressed or equipped for the expedition and we only just made it down before the sun set, but I do like this image, especially the figures in the foreground, so it was probably worth it. 

Taking an Early Bath

Finally, the Kew series is done. The following images were made during a recent-ish trip to the Roman baths in, er, Bath. 

I should say, because I've probably written about it on this blog in the past, and I would hate to be seen as inconsistent, that I really don't think much of street photography as a genre. But I have a general aim of including more people in my photographs and the baths themselves didn't provide much opportunity for photography, so I decided to concentrate on the people.

Who are you looking at?

I like to think that the couple in the next image - I assume that they're a couple,they're ignoring each other, so its quite likely - are actually texting each other.

Status update: I'm looking at a dead guy's backside...

Hello, is that the past?...Yeah, this is the future calling...no, I haven't been in touch with the present for a while...

Strangers on the Shore

This image is the result of a recent evening stroll on the promenade at Burnam-on-Sea. I noticed these two figure silhouetted against a band of light sand and made a couple of images. I might post one of the others shortly.

Beach Nut

Another image from the Weston set.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

Recently, I spent an evening on Burnham beach, whilst my son took part in a Beaver Scouts sandcastle competition. Turning away from the complete chaos that ensued, I made a few images as the sun sank. These three gents thoughtfully presented me with some foreground interest.

Harbouring Strange Desires

Another image from the Whitby trip and a further attempt at making images of people. This one was taken at Whitby harbour - the couple are sitting on the breakwater and I was on the beach behind, on the Old Town side of the river. That's the East Lighthouse beyond.

The place was absolutely heaving, so I was amazed that I managed to isolate them, although I have to admit to cloning out a woman who was sitting to the right of the lighthouse. Even so, I'm not sure that the image works as it stands - maybe if the couple had been looking at the lighthouse rather than the seagulls something.

I Broke My Promise

I'm afraid that I've another image to post from the Brean Down set. Sorry.

This one is another in the occasional "People" series. This family is actually a fair way out on Brean Sands, which is not the safest place in the world to be.

Self(ie) Portrait

Picking up on the theme of people pictures, when stuck for a subject, why not use yourself?

The self portrait has become much devalued of late, with the advent of the selfie. On the other hand, my Alpha 77 has a tilt and swivel screen which you can position facing the subject, which makes self portraiture a doddle, so swings and roundabouts.

Anyway, this image is my first attempt using this camera and I'm rather pleased with it, although my wife says that it makes me look like a gnome. I don't see how she can say this, the toadstool that I was sitting on is completely out of shot, as is my fishing rod.

People Are Strange

The two old ladies who appeared in an image that I posted recently cut across a line of thinking that I'd had in mind for a while. This is that I should spend more time photographing people. Not that I don't, but those people tend to be family and the images happy snaps.

Anyway, over the Easter break we visited Secret World.This is a place that we've frequented over the past few years as its close by, our son enjoys it and its a fairly gentle day out. On the other hand, its never been a happy hunting ground photographically.

So, on this trip, it occurred to me to turn my camera on the crowd - and the place was crowded, as the weather was very fine. This image was made whilst a selection of 'baby' animals were being paraded for the visitors. I'd managed to position myself on the side of the lawn facing into the sun, so the shooting conditions weren't ideal, but I persevered and made a couple of decent images.

On the other hand I'm not sure how I feel about the whole spectacle of these animals being shown off in this fashion. I know its intended to encourage people to support the work of the centre, but the animals are obviously none to happy about being around so many people or being woken during the day. This young badger was probably the most content of the lot but was still a bit phased and generally looking to its keeper for comfort. 

I think that this image portrays this narrative - and narrative seems to be very in these days. The keeper appears to be shielding the animal from the crowd, who are anonymised by the depth of field, but are oblivious in the sun, whilst the main subject is in shadow.