Jan
31
Jan
31
Dec
13
Over the years I have learnt that It’s inevitable that I (and many others in the creative industry) will experience a creative slump now and again. This used to frustrate and even worry me at times when I wanted to create new personal work but found myself devoid of ideas.
The solution for me at least is take a break from trying too hard by either going to watch a film, listen to music or go for a walk with my camera or iPhone.The latter with my iPhone I especially find beneficial as it forces me to only to use my eye to try and create interesting images due the cameras simplicity which strips away any bells and whistles and provides a great creative workout without the technical stuff getting in the way.
It’s a week before Christmas as I publish this post and today we got the tree up with the kids then went to a local farm on the Somerset Levels to stock up on some mulled cider. Here are a few iPhone images I snapped with my new iPhone 6 Plus which is bigger better but still basic when it comes to camera buttons…thankfully !
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Oct
09
This week I met up with some of my family to scatter my mothers ashes and visit a place both she and I visited almost weekly to watch the wildlife and loved to spend a little time together.
The location on the Somerset Levels sits in view of the iconic Glastonbury Tor and the River called South Drain (yeah not the most romantic name !) flows across the moors helping to ease excess water during winter months.
I’ve photographed here many times over the last 25 years and to me it is iconic Somerset combining the Glastonbury Tor,river,moor and it’s wonderful wildlife.
It’s now not only a place to photograph but also a place to go to remember happy times with my Mum.
20 Plus Years Previously, Note Lack Of Withy Trees On Right Bank Next To Gate Compared To Image Above
Oct
02
I often find that my background in retouching as well as photography is a huge benefit especially with the unpredictability of location shooting.
This week I returned yet again to Willow growers PH Coates here in Somerset to capture Willow Weaver (well that’s what I call it) Matthew Godfrey.
I was drawn to this dark but atmospheric room on my last visit a few weeks ago and asked if I could return to create the image shown here.
I knew supplementary lighting would be needed to capture Matthew but I also wanted to retain the mood of the room from the blown out glows of the single window to the dark floor covered with pieces of discarded willow.
This is where hard earned knowledge and decades of experience of capturing the best quality camera files and the solutions available in post production come in to their own.
As a result the image came together within a very short space of time in post production and more importantly retained the vision I had for the scene from the time I first saw it a few weeks before.
Willow Weaver, Matthew Godfrey
Sep
11
Back in April I wrote a post titled “A Late Harvest” where I visited local withy growers PH Coates & Sons here in Somerset and captured the late withy harvesting after the devastating winter floods.Whilst looking around on my last visit I was attracted to an area where the withy is boiled then stripped ready for weaving.
Not the most picturesque areas but I knew it would be a great backdrop to photograph the guys Dave Tottle and John Dyer going about their work of stripping the bark from the withy with the relevant machines.
The first thing I noticed on arrival was the smell of the boiled withy that some say smells like Jam but to me it reminded me of a Jalfrezi curry and quite pleasant although I’m sure if working around it all the time that might change!
I’m always pretty conscience not to get in the way or take up too much of peoples time if they are working but both Dave & John where more than accommodating and took direction very well as I composed them into the scene.
I was asked to do some teaching the other day which I rarely do much of these days and I was explaining how important it is to learn the fundamentals of photography.
I also very quickly added that once you have learnt them that really anything goes ..if something works for the intention of the image you are creating then it works end of the story.
This kind of applies to this image as I rarely would ever create any serious imagery in the middle of the day especially in the height of summer.
The sunlight (if we have any) is harsh, contrast and for the most part pretty uninteresting and if shooting landscapes everything tends to be a little too green with little colour contrast between anything.
Having said that I’ve always maintained there is no bad light it just depends on what you are trying to achieve in the image.
I had the idea of creating a cow image for a while and for me they remind me of Summer with yes you guessed its green fields and deep Mediterranean blue skies.
Apart from having to be careful with the vast contrast inherent in the scene it all went together well with an appropriate Somerset landmark of Burrow Hill in the distance.
Jun
12
Apr
25
It’s been a bit of a tough year both personally and for the area I live and love that is still recovering from the recent floods.
This week I took a break from a hefty amount of marketing to do some walking and take some therapeutic snaps while I was at it.
Pointing my camera without any plans to what I wanted to specifically capture is not something I do a lot of these days so it was a bit like yoga for the creative muscles to just follow my nose.
I decided to head a few miles from the Studio to the edge of the Somerset Levels at Hambridge where just a few months earlier was several feet underwater and the road totally unpassable at least by car.
I’m glad to say I found a drastic change to the area since my last visit and everything appears to be returning to some kind of normality.
That is not to say that the signs of the devastation where not evident in fact I came a cross everything from flattened rotting withy trees to dead Deer (although that was probably due to a car than the flooding).
Although many fields still looked saturated with water and mud a few did have some signs of growth in them along with hedges blooming with Blackthorn