Stonehenge

Stonehenge, a small circle of old stones in the middle of a field, must be one of the most photographed places in the world. It does look diminutive from the road but when you finally get up close you can really appreciate the impressive scale and ancient legacy of the site.

This was a family day out first and foremost, but even though every nook and cranny has been explored by far more skilled photographers I hoped to come away with my own take.

There is a common opinion among picture-takers online that the view is ruined by all the tourists and it was indeed busy when we got there. I quickly realised however that the people, admiring the stones and absorbing the atmosphere, are actually an integral part of the experience so this is where I tried to focus my captures.

Some are best viewed on a large screen.

 

Mono-Colour Blends

At the weekend I managed to get out with my camera for the first time this year, even if it was just for a quick walk around a nearby nature reserve. As is typical for a British winter, the weather was grey and drizzly and the land brown and dull, but I still came away with a few snaps to share.

I thought it would be a good chance to experiment with monochrome processing via Silver Efex, but got I some interesting results when blending the mono images with their original colour versions – a cool, contrasty, desaturated vintage look.  Here they are:

Here are the full mono images before blending – which do you prefer?

2016 In Review

It’s been a while since my last post; 7 months in fact. A combination of photographic burnout, life, a failing train company and a big work project meant I have taken some time away from taking pictures. The site is not dead though, I plan to attack 2017 with new energy although there will not be any big challenges like last time. I do hope to find inspiration in a project or two though.

To see in the new year I’ve recently given the whole site an overhaul – please take a look around.

Here’s a selection of my favourite shots from the last year (in no particular order). I hope you enjoy!

Emsworth in May: Dawn on the Beach

My May assignment entry is thanks to my son who graciously woke me up at 5am one Sunday morning, so I decided to go down to Emsworth beach as the sun was rising.

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Emsworth in April: Hollybank Bluebells

My April assignment took me to Hollybank Woods on the northern edge of Emsworth where one small clearing was filled with a display of delicate little native Bluebells.

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Day Out With Thomas

The final week of my March Challenge sees us on another great day out with the kids, this time to see Thomas The Tank Engine at the Watercress Line, also accompanied by Grandparents.

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Alice Holt in Classic Chrome

We paid a visit to Alice Holt Forest in Surrey last weekend to take the kids around The Stick Man Trail (see here). It proved to be an interesting test of my March challenge of only using in-camera processing.

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Finding Stick Man & Gruffalo

The kids are huge fans of the books of Julia Donaldson, particularly The Gruffalo and Stick Man, so they were very excited when we took them to the Stick Man Trail at Alice Holt Forest in Surrey this past weekend.

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