Parrots Field – Prestbury, Cheshire
The autumn colour is starting to appear in the village, sycamores first with the best reserved till last as the beeches turn amber / yellow. I have spent most of the day pottering about on my bike with camera, a certain fixation with the wooden bridge over the Silk Road and a plan to ride the tow path to Congleton beckons. The Bosley area is highly photogenic.
Fallen sycamore leaf
Prestbury Cricket Ground
Last weekend, some photos were taken in and around the village of Prestbury. For the first time I ventured up to the cricket club with camera, no one was there, this is unusual at the time of year?
Another first is experimentation with cross-process effects and looks, which I rather like (on certain subjects) not least this one. I am often intrigued by the curious trappings of sports grounds, strange objects whose purpose is not always obvious yet which have a well-established form, hints of a Peter Greenaway-like obsession with the ritualistic nature of English ‘games’.
This could be the next album cover for Toro y Moi : )
Down by the river Bollin in Prestbury, Cheshire
It is a lot more spring-like down here now, new shoots are in abundance and the valley is starting to look green again — just. This shot was taken with my new Nikon D300S fitted with a vintage Nikkor AI 35mm f2.8 lens, one of my all time favs! I wanted to create semi abstract images with a lot of bokeh, to try to denature my subject and remove it from its normal context — graphic intentions, interest in textures and shape etc.
Mini Daffodils, St Peters Churchyard, Prestbury
The churchyard is a sea of daffs and crocuses — spring has finally arrived! This is a D300S shot with vintage 35mm Nikkor AI f2.8 lens. Beautiful piece of glass with a very nice shallow DOF.
The first snowdrops in St Peters Churchyard
Spring is definitely on its way! This shot was taken with my new Nikon D300S fitted with vintage Nikkor 35mm AI lens (f2.8 -f22). I have had this lens for many years but not been able to use it with digital until now. Nikon D80s don’t work with the older fully manual lenses.
I think it is far surpassing most of my dedicated DX lenses for sharpness and colour accuracy and I wish I could find more of these — at affordable prices! I much prefer to work with a fully manual set up and the 300S with these lenses feels more like a step back in time to the days of 35mm film, a traditional ‘organic’ feel to ultra high technology camera gear is always a very nice thing.
Pink sky at night. Is what we like to see!
Light painting on Prestbury golf course —- very happy with these! An interesting and challenging night.
Last of the snow scene photos from winter 2010. The image has been treated with the intention of replicating the look of traditional printing on gold toned Ilford grade 2 fiber based paper. Minimalism is one of the most difficult “design categories” to achieve in landscape photography but having much of the ground covered in snow does help.
Infrared treated with vignette – image of light snow in the Northern fields around the village of Prestbury in Cheshire.
I trudged through the fields (in inappropriate footwear) mesmerised by the transformation of the landscape and the sense of frost bitten (very painful) toes didn’t seem to matter at all. This total submersion in the art and craft of pictures taking and simple joy of recording my environment is one of the highest forms of pleasure that I know.
I do like the way these conditions make the landscape look so much more photogenic.
Climbing up the hill, steeper than it looks due to geometric distortion of a very wide-angle lens. I had to grab on to that barbed wire to get up here! Coming down was even more fun and I virtually slid all the way down on my backside holding precious camera aloft at all times — of course! I was taken by the simplicity of this scene, which has been enhanced by the optical effect of the lens. Can’t remember how I treated this image but it has been deliberately enhanced to create a more high key effect. It was (and still is) very cold indeed!
I am now preparing for my first ever gallery show which will be comprised of mostly B&W work with a mixture of landscape and ‘found object’ – like studies — joy of joys indeed!
Prestbury Village — just before the Snow
Prestbury village taken from Parrots Field, a very rare view of the Buttley side of the village. It is very cold just now and we have had significant snowfalls, in fact the snow started to fall the day after this photo was taken. Image treatments include bleach bypass and sepia filter effects.
Cold Tub
This is a different part of my locality, an area that I have not really explored all that much but it seems to be quite promising for pictures. Next I will venture over the hill toward Bonis Hall Lane where the general lay of the land is very photogenic indeed. Proper Cheshire pastures with hedgerows and plenty of trees. Had to give this discarded bathtub the colour pop treatment.
