'The Day Vera came to town' - British Life Photography Awards, shortlisted entry

I was lucky enough to have been shortlisted in the very first 'British Life Photography Awards' competition, held during the final few months of 2014. 

I was photographing the arrival of the Canadian Lancaster to R.A.F. Coningsby in Lincolnshire last August, for a news agency . It was to be the start of a month's worth of flying activities, which would see the Canadian bomber and the Battle of Britain's Lancaster in the air together for the first time. Something that will never, 'likely' be repeated, a truly unique experience. There were many hundreds of spectators there, all ready to welcome the Canadian plane to the U.K, including a number of surviving, elderly veterans. I managed to capture this candid image of one such veteran, John Mitchell, as he sat beneath the hulking fuselage of the Canadian Lancaster, after it had landed and taxied in. Mr Mitchell was a squadron leader and pilot on Lancasters during the Second World War, stationed at Langar in Nottinghamshire. I caught him in a quiet moment of reflection, one, I feel, that sums up the mood of the day's events.   

'Vera' and John Mitchell

'The Albatros and the Eclipse'

Watching the solar eclipse last week was quite a magical experience. As the moon moved over the sun, covering almost the entirety of the sun's surface, the quay at Wells-Next-The-Sea fell eerily quiet. Dusk had briefly fallen and birds could be seen flying to roost. A calm fell over the little harbour, as the wind dropped and the water lay still.

I walked to the quay, mainly to witness the eclipse, not to photograph it. But somehow the conditions seemed right. The cloud, while thick in places, kept breaking, offering superb views of the moon as it travelled across the sun's surface. I decided to photography along the harbour wall, where the sailing ship 'Albatros' is moored. The eclipse was just above and to the right of the tall mast of the boat, and it made for a great composition. I set up my Fuji X100 on a tripod, and as the dynamic range was so great, bracketed five exposures at 1EV steps. This allowed me to capture the entire spectrum of light and shadow. The single images were then merged during the processing stage, once back on the computer, and saved as a single file.

I'm really pleased I took the time to capture this image, as it happened in just the right place, at just the right time. The position of the eclipse, just above the iconic sailing ship's mast, on such a calm, Spring morning, have made for a truly unique photograph, and one that won't be repeated again in my life time.   

The Albatros and the Eclipse

Beach huts, pencil sketch

The beach huts at Wells-Next-The-Sea always make for a great artistic subject, and this sketch shows the view looking West along Holkham beach. The sun is seen setting over the sea, bringing to an end, another glorious Summer's day at the coast.

Beach huts at Wells-Next-The-Sea

A bit of street with the Fuji X100

I've been very busy with gallery bits and bobs the last few weeks, and It's been tough to set aside much time for photography. I managed to get to Scarborough in late January, and capture two landscape images I was pleased with, but no street photography as such. I'm running a couple of films through my Nikon FM3a, (at long last) where I've been focusing on street candids, but the only other street photos I've taken recently were with the Fuji X100.

I have an original X100, and while I hear the S and T models are vastly superior in many ways, I get on just fine with the original. It doesn't use an X trans sensor like the later versions, but I have to say, I find that a good thing. I also own an X-T1, which does use an X trans sensor, and while I find the camera and sensor incredible, images processed in Photoshop can sometimes leave a lot to be desired. They can exhibit a painterly effect, particularly when capturing fine foliage or grass detail, something I do quite often with landscape scenes. I've had to resort to using other software, and for me Photoninja does a far better job with processing X trans files. It's just a shame that I now have to use two different software packages, depending on which camera's images I'm processing at the time.

Looking at the images straight out the camera from the X100, the detail is just terrific, with punchy colours and good contrast. No having to faff about with other software packages, just good honest files, from a more than usable 12 mega pixel sensor. I love this camera, and although to many, it's a bit long in the tooth, once we get to the fifth, sixth, seventh iteration of the X100 (or X200 as it may become), which one's likely to be the most collectable. My money's on the original, I think it's a classic, and quite possibly one of the most important digital cameras ever designed.

A bit of gossip

Strolling along the sea front

Baby overboard! No baby was harmed in the making of this picture

Beach view

Albatros

Albatros

I've been producing a few photographs recently, specifically with the intention of transforming them into fine art paintings. 

This is an iconic view from the quayside at Wells-Next-The-Sea, where the Albatros, a North Sea Clipper, built in 1899, is permanently moored, offering bed and breakfast, live music, and serving delicious home made pancakes.

The Granary

The Granary

Instead of always reaching for a wide angle lens when shooting landscapes, either my Nikkor 24-70mm or Fujinon 10-24mm, I sometimes use a longer lens, my Nikkor 70-200mm. Using a longer focal length, I can compress the scene, effectively bringing distant objects closer. This can result in a completely different photograph to one that may be achieved with a wider angle lens.

I loved the little boat in the picture above, floating quite serenely on one of the many small pools left behind, as the sea retreated along Wells' East Quay during low tide. The mirror like surface to the water, fog hanging heavy above the small fishing boats in the bay, produces a slightly otherworldly scene, and shows the North Norfolk coast at it's tranquil best. Using a longer focal length allowed me to capture the iconic Granary building at a decent size whilst retaining good foreground interest with the weathered boat. By placing the two main elements of the image on a diagonal, one low, the other high, I wanted the eye of the viewer to wander from the boat, up to the Granary building, and along the harbour wall. Compressing the image using the 70-200mm lens has allowed me to achieve this.

Nikon D4 with Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8  

Port of Wells

Port of Wells

I've been producing a few photographs recently, specifically with the intention of transforming them into fine art paintings. The first in the series is 'Port of Wells', which depicts one of the many fishing vessels that calls Wells-Next-The-Sea it's home, preparing for the off, on yet another long fishing voyage. I feel that the painting really captures the warm, serene Summer's evening, and high tide has resulted in a flurry of activity along the quay, the boats and crew awakening from their slumber.   

The original image was taken with my Fuji X-T1 and 18-55 F2.8-4 lens, a fantastic little combination.