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Tag Archives: black and white photography

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Walking in the hills and discovering Fox Covert

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
The afternoon winter sun shinning through the wood

Another visit to Burton Dassett during December gave me the chance to explore new parts of the park and rediscover new views of familiar landmarks. I was here with my grandchildren and they were very adventurous climbing both Windmill and Magpie Hills. I went up the steeper incline of Harts Hill to get beautiful panoramic views of the area. I paid the price for clambering up the hill as I slipped on the muddy incline on the way down and was rewarded with a muddy backside.

Lily and Chloe look out from the top of Magpie Hill
Lily and Chloe look out from the top of Magpie Hill
Magpie Hill, Burton Dassett, Warwickshire
Magpie Hill, Burton Dassett, Warwickshire
Long shadows on Windmill Hill
Long shadows on Windmill Hill
The view of the Warwickshire countryside

My new explore with the family was Fox Covert a walk through a small wood. The path is just over a mile long and was not too muddy. The afternoon light was streaming in through the branches onto the path providing many different patterns on the forrest floor. In the hollow was a picturesque brook which was spoilt by a car tyre sitting in the water. How it had got there is anyone’s guess. There was a beautiful patch of trees that was lit up by the sun. Try as I could, my pictures just did not work out the way I wanted them to. Frustrating that I could visualise the scene but not capture it to my satisfaction. 🙁

Fox Covert with the sunlight streaming through
Fox Covert with the sunlight streaming through
A stream in the hollow (with discarded tyre)
A stream in the hollow (with discarded tyre)
Fox Covert woods
Fox Covert woods

On the way up from the hollow, the path meandered slightly and then the sun caught the trees and cast long shadows. I took the picture and it looked almost how I wanted it to. Post processing in black and white gave me the result I wanted. The monochrome treatment provided a beautiful rendition of the light that I saw. It was pleasing to find this small (undiscovered by me) part of Burton Dassett. I will be back in the spring to rediscover Fox Covert when spring is in full swing. These pictures were taken with my Fujifilm x100v.

The afternoon winter sun shinning through the wood
The afternoon winter sun shinning through the wood

Photographic tip – Follow the light and look around for interesting scenes. I like shooting into the light but be careful and don’t look directly at the sun. I got hung up on one particular spot which did not produce many pictures. A few steps away was a really spectacular scene, so keep moving and be ready for all eventualities. Also processing the pictures interested me. I choose black and white processing, Why? It just seemed to look better for some of the scenes.

More Burton Dassett pictures from previous visits are on my blog.
– Burton Dasset Hills Country Park – Escape to the Countryside
– A Glorious Day
If you want more information then follow the Warwickshire County Council site which is packed full of information.
– Burton Dassett Hills Country Park

Categories blog

The Streets of Warwick

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Warwick is a sleepy market town which is most famous for its castle. The town itself has many interesting streets and buildings. On a sunny Sunday morning, I parked up near to the high street and took a few “classic” pictures of the castle and the town centre. I had my Canon 5D and my Canon 24 -70mm lens which always gives good results. Take a look below at the results. My favourite picture of the walkabout is of St Mary’s Church and I enjoyed the black and white processing. I took this picture looking up Castle St towards the Church.

St Mary's Church
St Mary’s Church taken from Castle Street
St Mary's Church
St Mary’s Church
Fun boats on the Avon
Fun boats on the Avon – looks like an important meeting
Warwick Castle on the Avon
Warwick Castle on the Avon
Market Street
Market St
Market Place
Market Place, Warwick
St John's Hous
St John’s House, Jacobean Manor
Warwick
The Eastgate and St Peter’s chapel
Warwick
Lord Leycester Hospital
Warwick
Council offices leading to St Mary’s Church
Warwick
Window flowers with St Mary’s Church in the reflection

Further links – Lord Leycester Hospital

Categories blog

Black and white at the Mill

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Visiting Chesterton Windmill has been good for my spirits since the tough lockdown measures were lifted. As we visited the Windmill on a cold June Saturday morning, I wanted to do something a little different. This must go through the mind of all photographers as come back to places they have photographed on numerous occasions. So armed with both my 24-105 mm and 70-200mm telephoto lens I went to work. Interestingly both these are my goto lenses as well. So I add more photographs to a structure that has already been photographed many times.

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Photographing Atomium

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I have been to Brussels many times but never to the Atomium and it is one of the places on my travel bucket list.  We were in Brussels for an intensive feedback with Marie Curie funding at the European Research Council. Our visit was not helped by delayed and cancelled flights with Brussels Airlines. When we eventually arrived, the conference went well and we were able to catch up with the program.  Once the day was done we took a taxi to the north of the city and walked up to the Atomium.  

Atomium
Fun with shapes and reflections
Sunstar on Atomium

The Atomium was part of the world’s fair held in Brussels in 1958 (the year I was born) and consists of nine iron atoms in the shape of an iron crystal.  This is magnified over 165 billion times. It is an impressive structure and immediately commands your attention.

There is a plane in the centre if you look closely
Symmetry of the crystal
Looking up

They were getting ready for the start of the Tour de France so it was not possible to get a “clean” view of the front of the structure. There was fencing around the front of the structure with tents ready for the cyclists.  However it was a warm evening and the sun was out.  There were reflections on the metal structure of Atomium and with the low sun I was excited to be taking photographs.  We arrived when the building was shut but it was still possible to wander around and enjoy all those wonderful photographic angles.  It is a place where the locals gather and there were many people wandering around.  I converted many of my pictures to black and white so that the lines and metal texture came through.  Once I had done my photographs all taken with my Sony RX100v5, we headed back to the City for dinner. I was happy to have finally seen Atomium.

A touch of colour

On the website the copyright of pictures is outlined as the creator of Atomium, the late engineer André Waterkeyn protected his design.  So please be aware if you copy any of my pictures which are being used on my website for personal reasons only  . 

https://www.atomium.be/copyright
Categories blog

Photographing Vancouver – Electric Harbour Tours

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

This was a special day. As soon as I arrived in Vancouver I started posting pictures on my social media accounts.  These were picked up by the Meet in Vancouver convention bureau team. They messaged me as they found out that I was both a runner and a photographer. They delivered two wonderful gifts to my hotel. One was a special pack of natural products for the after run experience.  I also received a trip for two with Electric Harbour Tours around the bay.

High Rise Living
Reflections from the front of the boat

On the last day I took up the offer of the boat trip. Captain Spencer was my guide and we set off in our boat around the bay. During the trip, we saw the harbour seal who scavenges around the left overs in the harbour.  We got close up and personal with the harbour air floatplanes.  We also got views of derelict structures with wonderful barnacles growing on them.  There was lots of history about the bay and tales about the boats in the marina. Captain Spencer kept me amused with his stories. There were fantastic sea views and amazing skyscrapers to view from the relaxing voyage of the eclectic boat. It was a great finish to the conference.

The harbour seal
Up close with the float planes
Barnacles on a ladder
View from the front of the boat
Captain Spencer
Categories blog

Black and White

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

This has been a week of rain and the days have been dull. Even though it is wet there are still great opportunities to go out and take photographs.. My early Wednesday walk from Snow Hill took in the canals that run underneath Snow Hill. The arches under Snow Hill are a favourite haunt of photographers and one can always find a good place for a picture. With the rain there had been condensation with rain collecting on the tow path near to the ornate gates which used to hold horses. Now the activity on the tow path is bikers commuting into work and runners making the best of the early mornings. I settled my camera down on the dirty floor at the edge of a puddle and started to take some pictures. It was difficult to control the bright light of the centre of the picture and the dark recesses of the tunnel. I could see on the first few shots that there was a perfect reflection that made the exit look like an eye onto the outside world. Just then a runner came past. It gave me an idea and by trial and error I set the camera at a shutter speed of 1/100 and f/6.3. I hiked the ISO up to 640. I set it for rapid shooting and then waited for the next runner. Soon enough one appeared and I took my pictures. I had to pick up the shadows from the RAW picture and also do a bit of dodging of the runner. The picture came out very well and was well received on social media.

The train station over the canal

After this I wandered over to St Paul’s square and took a few pictures of the Church and the tree lined paths that criss cross the square. The early commuters were oblivious to the camera and I took several pictures of the area. The black and white treatment suited the day, my ideas for the pictures and set off the charm of that particular area of Birmingham. Here are a selection of the ones that I took.

St Paul’s Church
The paths around St Paul’s Church
The Jam house with 3 Snow Hill towering over it
Commuting down Ludgate Hill to the City
Categories blog

Nifty Fifty

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

The Nifty Fifty is said to be the lens that comes closest to capturing what the human eye sees.  When I got my first DSLR it had a crop sensor and I purchased a 50 mm Canon lens as it was so cheap.  Over the years I have used it as a portratit lens. It has given very good results especially when using it with a flash set up. A few months ago, I felt I needed a new challenge with my photography so I put the 50mm lens onto the Canon 5D and used it whenever I could.  It was a challenge taking the pictures and was similar with other prime lens which I have written about. Take a look at the picture Metropolis taken with my 40mm lens. When using a prime lens, you do have to think about the composition as you have no capacity to zoom in or out.  Therefore your feet have to do the moving.  I have provided a selection of photographs taken with the 50mm lens and as you see the results are pleasing.  There has been some post processing in a few of the photographs.  The result was that I did get a kick out of using just this lens.  It was not a case of loosing any pictures because I had the wrong lens but rather that I created new ones.

The 50mm lens brings out colour and shows the detail from the blossom.
Here I am using the 50mm lens to capture the architecture of the University of Birmingham Buildings. The sharpness comes through as well as the colour
I captured my grandson Noah with a candid shot. The lens is great for such closeup pictures
This mural by Annatomix is on the Warwick Bar part of the inner canal network. The prime lens has caught the detail and there is a nice use of the focus with the foreground adding to the framing around the picture.
Shooting the Custard Factory building through a hoie in a security fence. Shows how the nifty fifty can really focus
Another go at the focus through a fence and the subject is the Chimney at the Custard Factory.
Here is a landscape picture with the 50mm lens.  The mist adds atmosphere and the figure comes out to be very sharp.  I was surprised how the 50mm lens worked this so well.
Final one is another blossom picture with the mist added a nice backdrop to the picture
Categories blog

Steve Gunn

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Taking concert pictures is not easy for me as I am not as young as I used to be and do not like being squashed at the front of the concert. The chance to take some close up pictures came when I went to see Steve Gunn, a guitarist and songwriter, who is prolific songwriter. Steve’s style is influenced by blues, folk and rock and he is a pretty good guitarist as well.

The first song is done

The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham is an intimate venue and there is the ability to move through the audience and get very close to the artist. I had my Sony RX100v5 camera on manual settings with a shutter speed of 1/200, aperture f/2.8 and ISO 2000. Getting close and taking the pictures meant that the lighting was a little easier to control. I expect I could have changed the settings a bit more but I am generally pleased with the results. Also we got a selfie with the man himself after the concert.

Lets get to the microphone

The concert had some great music. He was good to listen to and he is an excellent guitarist. The small venue meant that the sound was good and the different parts of the band came together well\\. The guys sorting out the sound were not so happy but it was a good night all round.

The band is working well
I have a few guitars to use yet
Thanks for coming along tonight
Putting that song over
Tuning up
The light garden at the Hare and Hounds
Andy, Steve Gunn and myself
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