A photo I'm proud of....

This quick post is just to show a photo I've taken this week whilst working through the exercises on light..... It's one I am really pleased with;

My  1980's Tokai Stratocaster

I laid my guitar on the bed and the low sun in the sky just broke through the clouds to throw across some natural light. Using my Nikon D80 with it's Nikon DX 18-80mm lens on it's maximum aperture f5.6 I managed to get a narrow depth of field and capture sharp detail in the vertical centre of the frame ; the bridge, tone control and the leather texture of my old strap. The photo looks so monochrome but woody, detailed and yet abstract.... it's my favourite picture of 2014 so far.

Alan John Villiers - a photographer I admire

Alan Villiers

An Australian photographer and adventurer, lived from 1903-1982.  He was also an author and master Mariner and spent a tremendous amount of time at sea. Much of his photography is a journal of life on the rigged sailing ships on which he voyaged. As a Master Mariner he commanded ships including work for films like Moby Dick and Billy Budd.
I first came across his work visiting the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth (Cornwall) and found his photos captivating. The detail of the sailors everyday life, the realism and the pure power of the sea are all caught by his his work and considering the film cameras he would have used at the time, the results are just spectacular.
His work makes me feel like setting out on an awesome adventure, itching feet to go out and voyage to an undiscovered world..... and makes me think about the hardships of life onboard those stunning vessels from a different era.

These photo's are a journalistic record of daily life aboard these ships, the work rest and play. The sepia tones enhance the historic feel of a different era.

The next photo just captures the majestic sight and beauty of these craft.

These next two photos capture the stunning and immense power of the sea. I love the way the images feel 'burnt into the paper' and the slight smoothing effect of the slowish shutter speed on the spray and  breaking waves add to the sense of power.

The rigging and sails on these ships was not only intricate and complex but primitive in their nature and ecologically sound in capturing power from the wind.

New year, new reflections

It's now 2014 and I have until May to get 'Art of Photography' finished. I am midway through part 4 on Light. My time is ever in short supply with my work at Skyhook Studios in Stroud demanding a huge amount of focus, my 4 boys and life in general. I am loving my studies and think back to my late teens and early twenties when time wasn't an issue and I would have had the freedom to do nothing but study, before family and commitments came along.
In conjunction with doing the exercises on Light I am reading around the subject more and trying to spend time looking at the work and art of other photographers. These were recommendations by my tutor after my last assignment and I have taken this on board.

My current reading is

The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman 2007 ILEX
Light Science and Magic - Hunter, Biver and Fuqua 2007 Focal Press
The photograph as Contemporary art - Charlotte Cotton 2009 Thames and Hudson

and I'm looking at the work of;

Alan Villiers;

I saw an exhibition of Alan Villiers work at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth last year and felt inspired to find out more about his stunning photographs and the historical documentary that his work is.

Jay Maisel

I saw  prints of his photos 'boy and inner tube' and 'Trees in Fog' and found them both inspiring particularly in relation to the light topic I'm studying at the moment so decided to research his work a little further.

I'm also including my favourite recent photo of my son Chris aged 9 taken in the Forest of Dean. I love the colour contrasts of the orange rusty winter colours of the background he is set against with the blues of his clothing and the lovely happy expression. He reminds me of Robert Redford