Personal photography
At the weekend, I walked through Cognac, France. When walking through the public park, I saw that metal bridge that I found interesting. The surface was all metal and was making waves (I suspect through tear, not planned). But I wanted someone near it. It’s surprisingly difficult to get people in the right place.: they all say sorry and get out of the way, not understanding that I want them in the picture.
Fishin nets drying on the beach near St Cyrus, Scotland.
I took this photo as part of a series to test my new (at the time) 5D.
Frosty mornings are great for monochrome. But the cold drains batteries so fast.
I don’t normally do abstract photography. My mind works in too literal a way to see interesting things in shapes and colours.
But once in a while, I see something that peaks my interest that isn’t landscapes or people.
This photo was taken near the BNF, the National Library in Paris. The L shaped building far right is one of the 4 main buildings of the library. Then one close right is another.
For some reason, they made the pavement wood all around the library. I can’t see wood and not take a B&W photo.
The tide makes interesting patterns in the sand. This one, around the remains of an old groyne post, made me think of the sun.
One of the things I really like is to take series of photos on a theme, photo journalistic style. To me, a monochrome photographer is a witness who should tell a story by focusing the viewer’s attention on the subject matter instead of being distracted by petty colours.
One early morning, I went to the fishing port of Peterhead in the North of Scotland to catch the trawlers coming back to port. I went round the harbour imaging the fishermen working on vessel maintenance, net maintenance, and unloading their cargo. I took about 50 photos before day break.
I had the Canon 350D with me at the time, with a slow lens, so the levels of light, in the winter at 3am in the North of Scotland, no tripod, with the rain, where a problem. The 350D only goes up to ISO 1600 and it’s terribly noisy at that level. But I went for it anyway, hoping that it would create appropriate grain (I love the grain of Ilford Delta 3200, especially pushed a couple of stops).
I love doorways and doors. I must have thousands of photos of them from many countries. I always wonder what’s behind them, who walked through them, and what they’ve seen.
I took this one in a narrow side street in Edinburgh, where I used to live.
I used to go up and down the East coast of Scotland a lot to take my photos. One of my favourite places was a small fishing village called Gourdon. I took so many photos of the shore and of the boats there.
Not long after I took this photo, the boat was removed. Presumably scraped, given its state at the time.
I like framing things and I like grass in my monochrome photos. They mix well with the grain.
Until now I hadn’t looked at this photo in monochrome. I took it very early in the morning to have nice orange light. But the details in the grass and in the wood work well with monochrome too.
