The North Cornish Coast is spectacular, and we visited only a small section of the coast around and to the north of Newquay. My favourites were Watergate Bay and the Bedruthan Steps. Unfortunately, I did not have my filters with me for the steps, but I was still able to capture the water flow in slow motion. There was not that many sunsets but the opportunity to be by the sea was just great and a few pictures tell the story.
We visited the Eden project as part of our summer holidays. This is a place that I had wanted to visit so cameras were packed and away we went. Approaching the attraction, you pass through a scarred countryside of clay pits and then entering the carpark, there is not much to see so it was difficult to understand what the excitement was about. We were early so we quickly brought our ticket and walked through the entrance doors. Wow, the scene is amazing with the outer world biomes dominating the landscape. The core with its prickly roof does not look out of place. So many picture opportunities as you will see below. We started in the Jungle Biome and walked all the way to the top. My camera (Canon 5D) misted up for a while. Exotic plants, waterfalls, views of the terrain all made for great pictures. We also visited the Mediterranean Biome and the Core. For pictures, the Core is interesting with smoke emitting structures and a giant stone seed. My family and I enjoyed the day and we will certainly be back to visit again.
“Go West – Life is Peaceful there”. The song from the Pet Shop Boys inspires this posting.
I set off walking to the Birmingham Peace Gardens from Moor St. My fist photographic stop was along Smallbrook Queensway where I took pictures of the early morning commuters. I moved onto Holloway Circus to take pictures of the Chinese Pagoda juxtaposed against the Raddison Blu Hotel. Next I headed West on Bath Row to the Birmingham Peace Gardens. This is a lovely tranquil spot but in dire need of some investment to bring it back up to its former glory. Its full name is St Thomas’ Peace Garden. It was one of many “Waterloo” commemorative churches built after the Battle of Waterloo. It was partially destroyed in the WWII blitz on the city and never rebuilt. The remains of the Church and the area around have been made into a remembrance garden. It is very peaceful there and on this particular morning no-one else was about. I spent time taking photographs and when finished moved onto the Worcester and Birmingham Canal which is nearby. Here the canal landscape is dominated by the Cube, a futuristic building which is a mix of offices, residential flats, restaurants and a hotel. It also makes for a good backdrop for photographs. I had both my Sony and the Canon 5d with the 24-70mm lens with me. There are a few close ups, low down shots and looking up pictures as I try to vary the point of view. Always learning! and such walks are chance to relax and try new techniques.
“Go West, this is what we’re gonna do, Go West” – Pet shop Boys
There was a conference in London Docklands at the Excel centre. London in July is normally hot but with the current heatwave the temperatures were reaching 32 degrees Celsius. Travelling by Tube and DLR to Excel was exhausting. The conference was not bad and there was a lot to learn with many networking opportunities. Having my camera with me always allows me the opportunity to catch the early morning or late evening pictures. I carry a Sony DSC-RX100M5 with a 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 zoom lens with me at all times and it proves to be a highly versatile camera. Some of the pictures were taken with my iPhone as well.
I love the colours of a good artistic graffiti painted on a wall or derelict building. I am not a fan of “tagging” such as scrawling letters or child like drawings scribbled around bridges and walls. Digbeth in Birmingham is regenerating and the focus is the old Bird’s Custard Factory. The streets in and around Digbeth are full of clever street art. Here are a few examples of them. They have been taken with my Canon, Sony compact or even iPhone. There is a fish eye lens used in a few of them. The artists I particularly like are Annatomix and Golden Boy but there are countless others on the scene. I have included a few here that I took on my early morning walks around Digbeth.
You may gather that I love nothing more than putting my camera and lenses in a backpack and then setting off along the local canal network. When cycling along the canals, it is interesting to see cottages near to large flights of locks. These Lockmasters’ Cottages are part of the waterways heritage when the canals were busy with traffic. The canals were the major highways and people were employed to check that the boat traffic ran efficiently and smoothly. Now these Cottages are part of the scenery and many are privately owned or used as holiday homes. The architecture is interesting and they are positioned so they have a prominent view of the waterway. I have selected a few of the cottages that I have photographed on my travels using my Canon D5 mk4 with the EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens and EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens. Both are fine in a small photographic backpack for cycling. When taking the photographs, I like the overall view and look to capture the “feel” whether it will be stillness shown by the reflections or activity with a boat going through the lock. I put the Cottage in the frame and aim to tell a story through the picture.
Finally I have also include an older picture of the Lockmaster’s Cottage in Lowsenford that is owned by the Landmark Trust. In 2015, five of Sir Antony Gormley statues were commissioned to celebrate 50 years of the Landmark Trust. This statue was placed near to the centre of England and was next to Lengthman’s Cottage, Lowsonford, Warwickshire. The other four were at four ends of the compass around the UK whilst this one was on the Stratford-upon-Avon canal. They were displayed for only 1 year and then returned to Sir Antony Gormley.
On the last day of June, I went down to the Confetti fields at Wick, near Pershore, Worcestershire. I went with Natasha and Noah. The fields were full of colour and my daughter and grandson enjoyed the experience. We then went to Pershore Abbey and had a picnic in the grounds of the Abbey. It was a beautiful day. My camera was the iPhone8, and the Canon D5 mk4 with the EF24-70mm f/2.8L II U SM, and a wide angle lens EF16-35mm f/4L IS USM. I also used my EF70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens for some of the portrait pictures. Simple processing was used.
At last I get to update my blog and these are a few pictures taken on a walk from the Mailbox along the canal to the University train station. It was a warm morning but I took along my Canon 5D mk4 and my EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens. I usually do little to the pictures other than keeping an eye on the exposure and using an unsnarling mask to finish the picture. On this walk I did play with some of the pictures in Google Nik. I also used black and white. I just have a sense when a picture suits black and white treatment. My favourite picture of the day was the cyclist and the train although it was fun taking pictures in the canal bridge just before the University Residence Park.
The Birmingham International Dance Festival comes to the City every two years. There is an extensive programme of dance related events. It is the sixth festival but it was my first experience. The meeting was organised by Igersbirmingham and when the announcement popped up on my Instagram account, I immediately signed up for it. I was also unsure who would be there but the chatter on instagram told me that there would be a few seasoned photographers going to the event. On a Saturday lunchtime in June, I met the other Instagrammers outside St Philip’s cathedral. We got our wrist bands plus a voucher for a free coffee and cake and made our way to Victoria Square. The stage was set outside the Council House and we stood around waiting for the first dance act. After a few minutes, I became aware of four men in what I can only describe as balloon suits, starting to make their presence felt in the square. They started pushing against people and then slowly they began to dance. They were hilarious and with a mixture of humour and surreal movements began to do various routines. Their body suits were filled with air and made them look ridiculous but this was part of the fun. They interacted, danced and had fun. They moved on to New street, bouncing and dancing with the shoppers. I did not know whether to follow but looking at other photos from the event, I wish I did. The name of the dance troupe – Didier Théron
However, back at the stage there was another act starting about a boy and the moon. The moon was on a trapeze circle and the boy was below. The story told how he wished to get up to the moon and he also had a fight with a chimney sweep and a dragon!!! Whatever the result it was a great spectacle and was very clever in its delivery. The name of the this dance troupe – 2FacedDance
The next dance was by two women who were sat on their own bench. They were Can Do Dance and it was a thoughtful and reflective piece of dancing that caught my imagination and I hope that I have caught the intense feelings and emotions that were shown by the dance moves.
It was not possible to stay around for the whole day and there were many more acts to follow. I caught three of the acts and I enjoyed the quality and standard on display. I will be on the front row when the festival comes around in two years time.
BIDF is produced by DanceXchange.
On the eve of England’s World Cup campaign in Russia, I went with friends for a behind the scenes tout of St George’e Park which is the flagship training facility for the England football teams. It is an impressive facility situated in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. The tour starts in the Hilton Hotel which is full of footballing memories in the form of pictures and trophies. The training facility is a short walk next door and has numerous indoor pitches. There is a state of the art Hydrotherapy suite and other gymnasiums. There are also changing rooms named after England captains. We were not able to enter the Billy Wright one as there was a football competition taking place but we were allowed to see the Bryan Robson changing room which was prepared for the England team match of Futsal. They were playing an international match against Poland. The tour finished with a hot and cold buffet at the Hilton Hotel.
For the photographers reading this. The photographs were taken with my Sony RX100v5 and processed with Photoshop. I set the Sony on Program for general shooting so as to be ready for impromptu pictures. I shoot in RAW and the processing will include sharpening via an unsharp mask and tweaking of the exposure, highlight, colours and saturation.
