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Ive been looking through the wonderful blogs that I follow and can honestly say that there are some simply stunning black and white images, so much so that they have inspired me to look a little closer and experiment with converting from colour. So, seeing as it has been a total washout of a weekend with some of the worst weather I have seen in a while I have recruited some models from my kitchen to work on! I have added the original colour image as well as the black and white version, again editing is not my forte or my preference but in this case I quite like the fact that the highlights and edges of the water droplets are really lifted against the contrasting darker areas, yet the original softness of the subject remains…ps Ive added a few images today seeing as I missed yesterday!!!

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Now, Im guessing most of you know what Bokeh is. For those that dont then join the club! The first time I came across it was when I was asked to look at an image and see if I could spot something magical…..hmmm…..some time later I still couldnt work out what it was that I was suppossed to be looking at! So, I searched the internet for enlightenment, and found to my great pleasure that I was already taking photos with Bokeh in them! Apparently though there is good bokeh and bad bokeh…..Im not sure where mine falls into but like I have said before photography is so personal so if you like it then keep it. Quote ”Sometimes bokeh is misleadingly defined as “the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light”since it is the characteristic of the image, not the lens itself. However, differences in lens and aperture shape cause somelens designs to blur the image in a way that is pleasing to the eye, while others produce blurring that is unpleasant or distracting—”good” and “bad” bokeh, respectively. Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions.”

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This evening I needed to get some fresh air, its been so wet and stormy of late that its been one evening in after another! I may have mentioned this place in an earlier post but its somewhere that I can return to time and time again and see something different every time. This evening it stopped raining long enough to take some shots using the early evening light which sent some lovely muted colours through the reeds around the pond that forms the centre piece to this wetland reserve. For many years I travelled past this place on my way to my best friends house in the village totally unaware of the wetland area although it is only recently that it has been restored back to its current beautiful state.   The reserve was originally a boggy field in a small Hamlet known locally as Sanford, in the early 1900s the land was levelled and drained to provide the Wolvey with a village cricket field. The Old Cricket Field closed in 1957 and  the land the returned to pasture where for many years cattle grazed. In 1999 the land was purchased by a group of villagers who have returned the site to wetland and continue to raise awareness and funds to maintain the site – I hope to visit it for many years to come!

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Now I cant claim any credit for the image contained in my post today but I have to say that I would love to have seen a photo of the photographer at work as it must have been a real show! Firstly let me introduce you to my relatives, the gentleman with the flat cap stood on the right is my maternal Great Grandfather Henry Band with my Great Grandmother Nancy seated centre, the young man on the left is my Grandfather George and the girl sat at the front on the floor is Georges sister and my Great Aunt Floss. This image only came to light a couple of years ago when my Grandmother passed away, my Grandfather having passed away in 1977 but as soon as I saw it I wanted a copy. The curious thing about the image is that it has been taken in the orchard at my Great Grandparents house in Alfrick in Worcestershire circa 1915, an unusual location for a portrait sitting! My Great Grandfather was head gardener for Lulsley Court and his attire probably reflects his Sunday best! I have to say that I adore this image as it brings my relatives lives right into my living room and I have spent a lot of time looking at the image as it says so much about the times they were living in. I wonder how much the portrait cost them, money was tight and although they were not poor  I guess this photo was a luxury!  Thats why I cherish it, because they invested so much into the portrait I now have a reminder of where I come from.

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Whilst on a mission (and if I told you Id have to kill you lol!) for a little photo project that Im working on I spotted these 2 chaps who by the looks on their rather long faces had obviously spotted me! Now it was lunchtime when I took this shot and I guess you could say that by standing knee high in the ditch on the side of a main road balancing on a branch of a tree to get some height over the hedge and waving my 300mm lens through the surrounding foliage I was probably interrupting their lunch! Can I also add at this point that the hedge had rather long thorns and the fence was electric! Maybe they were waiting for the moment when I overbalanced and came into contact with the fence, not sure horses can laugh……but they definately look like they were wondering just what I was doing!

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Those of you who live in Britain understand the randomness of our weather which provides us with an endless supply of conversations, mainly about the rain, or the lack of it! But there is something quite magical about the place after its rained, the smell of the earth, damp and rich, the clean feel to the place, and the flora seems to be somewhat more perky! I love the way the droplets settle on leaves and flowers, gathering and pooling, running off or dripping to the ground under the pull of gravity. The heads of the tulips in todays post bowed under the added weight of the droplets, bending down to take a look at the ground, no longer upright and worshipping the sun!

 

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A few days have passed without a post, yeap I know! Now here’s the deal, I actually took the images each day but simply didnt get chance to upload and post them to my blog. But Im back! So, Ive lined up a right mixed bunch for you today. There’s no rhyme or reason to the images, no real tale to tell, just a selection of shots taken whilst out on the road either driving to work, driving home from work or just out and about. You dont always want an explanation or a reason for something, sometimes you just want to do something because you want to, no dramatics, no fuss, just a camera and a click.

 

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Having owned horses in the past and spent a lot of time at shows my day out was like going back in time. The excitement of the spectators, the nervousness of the competitors, the anticipation from the judges is great to witness at close hand but its not neccessarily the best bit. Sometimes its the small things that catch your eye and make you smile. Watching the riders walk the course, counting the strides into each fence, working out the angles they then headed back to their trusty steeds ready for the competition…..but amongst all the plotting and planning I spotted this little fella, now Im not sure what the conversation being had by the people in the image was about but his expression is a picture! My caption would be ‘ If you think I’m jumping that fence with these legs you got another thing coming!!!’ ……………Your captions please…………..

 

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Haha Now I have your attention! Dont worry todays image isnt quite what the title says but these days everything seems to be sold with the assistnce of a scantily clad woman (or man!) or a suggestive statement. Long gone are the days of Mary Whitehouse, infact it was only recently that I discovered a little more about this woman. Mary Whitehouse was born locally in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1910 and was known for her opposition to Liberalism especially where the media was concerned. She believed that the media was responsible for the encouragement of a more permissive society and campaigned all her life against bad language and violence until her death in 2001. Mary may well have disapproved of my image but if nothing else it grabbed your attention! Please forgive the fact that the image is slightly out of focus but I cheated somewhat and used my mobile as I didnt have my Pentax to hand and it was too good a moment to miss!

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Now sometimes when your out and about you are conciously looking for something to photograph, other times you are simply too busy to notice whats really around you. This is true of todays image! Sometimes Im just too busy to worry about what to grab from the cupboards for lunch and inevitably end up in the local supermarket (and usually spend far more than neccessary!) This particular supermarket is no different to any other but it does have a rather interesting entrance feature. I work in Coventry, a city known around the world for the terrible price it paid during World War 2 when it suffered one of the worst bombings of the war but even before this it has another legend! Lady Godiva was an 11th century noblewomanwho rode naked upon a horse through the streets of Coventry in protest at the haeavy taxes her husband imposed upon the tennants of Coventry. However this is no legend and according to history she actually did ride through the streets with only her long hair to cover her modesty! I have attached the link for history buffs! The entrance to the supermarket has a beautiful stained glass panel depicting Lady Godiva on her horse, a fitting tribute to a woman of substance!

http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Lady-Godiva/