Musings In Monochrome

PlymothianTransit.com: Fuel Terminal Railway

2008-08-02T01:13:00.000+01:00

These kind folks said nice things about one of my pphotos...PlymothianTransit.com: Fuel Terminal Railway

Site update

2008-07-24T21:26:00.004+01:00

I updated the monochrome gallery this evening. A bit of a pain over a mobile broadband connection but I got there in the end.

(Anyone else having trouble with intermittent connection problems over mobile broadband here in the UK? I'm with O2)

I got my order in to produce all the canvases for my upcoming exhibition at ParkArt, Tamar Science Park, Plymouth. I just have to prepare all the title cards and flyers now. Maybe at the weekend :)

Thanks to John Miles for letting me have the templates.

Catching up on the DDR backlog

2008-07-22T23:03:00.004+01:00

Another take during a recent stay at a hotel near Heathrow. I was attracted by the cobweb shapes made by the windows when viewed from this angle.

It could be thought of as giving a nod in the direction of man-made stuff replacing / squeezing out nature.

It took a little while for the sky to improve to what I thought would work out in the hdr / tone mapping and I'm pleased with the overall result.

Staines to Slough and back

2008-07-20T00:05:00.008+01:00

In the last week I've been staying at a hotel in Slough. The journey to Staines, where I'm on contract with British Gas redesigning their debt collection service, has taken me through Old Windsor and Runnymede each day.

These wonderful Toll Houses mark the Staines / Egham end of Runnymede and I'd been waiting for the right sky and lighting conditions to make my capture. That finally came together on Wednesday and I made these shots.

I used my lens at the wide angle end of the zoom to try to enhance the drama of the scene. It was not so easy to correct it to a final comp I was happy with but, with a bit of this and that in the digital darkroom, I think I got there in the end.

Another for Urban Ugliness vol II

2008-07-13T23:17:00.005+01:00

This is one I took a few weeks back that I finally managed to push through the DDR. I've called it Rubble To Be. The general decay of the building appealed to me - roof tiles gone with just the skeletal frame remaining but there was something missing...

After a wander around, I found the complementary element to the shot that I was looking for - the pile of stones and beams up against the building.

It seemed to me that it was "winding up" the decaying building - almost taunting it by implying that very soon, it too would just be rubble.

I often do that, paint a little story inside my head, imagining the conversation that might be taking place if the objects were animate. Ok, so maybe I'm a little nuts ;)

Digital darkroom

2008-07-12T00:19:00.003+01:00

I got round to one that's been hanging around in the ddr for quite a while. It's another from Royal William Yard, a really rich vein for me. I've made many successful captures there, so people tell me. This one's simply called Swing Bridge Detail.

Park Art Exhibition, September

2008-07-06T18:12:00.006+01:00

Things firmed up today and I'm booked in to ParkArt for September for two months. It'll run from the middle of September to the middle of October. I'm going to try and have a "meet the artist" evening in Early October - that's the plan for now, anyhow.

Lot's of preparation to do - the hardest is choosing the 20 or so images to display, then there's the flyers, name cards etc. not to mention getting some mounted paper prints and greetings-style cards done.
[Updated 10th July]

Optimo - Arts in Plymouth magazine

2008-07-05T19:32:00.004+01:00

I got a request during the week for some of my work to be included in Optimo magazine.

I also got notice that I'm to be exhibiting in Park Art, Tamar Science Park, Derriford. It starts on 1st September and finishes at the end of the month.

It follows the first two exhibitions by John Miles and, just opened, Martin Bush. See the Park Art Plymouth web site.

Why does B&W connect so well with our emotions?

2008-07-05T15:57:00.010+01:00

I've been asked many times what it is that makes monochrome - especially black and white - so emotive.

I hadn't really thought much about it but my understanding has increased each time I've been asked and struggled to get across my views on it. I think I'm now ready to try and give a full answer here...

I'm going to make a connection with our primaeval past and primaeval instincts and emotions as the main parts of my answer. To do that I need first to make some observations that will stimulate the right ideas in your mind.

Primaeval Instincts

The most basic primaeval instincts are fear and the need to procreate. That's one strand. The other is that at night, in dim and dark places we don't see colour - the rods and cones in our retinas are designed for colour vision when there's plenty of light around and black and white when there's little light around.

Procreation Instinct

An observation - when dating has gone so far along its course, we go out for a meal in a romantic, intimate, low-light setting. Ever wondered why the need for low light and candles? Whatever the reason, isn't that a direct connection with our primaeval procreation instinct?

Fear Instinct

Fear is heightened at night / in low light, when you can't really see any threats that might be around. Have you and some mates ever 'talked' yourself into a right case of the willies when in a spooky place?

In both these situations, a common factor is that you are seeing in (or close to) black and white. So doesn't it make sense that a photo / image / film in black and white triggers or stimulates at least a little, those more primaeval feelings? When this happens they are nearer the conscious 'surface' and therefore flavour whatever else is going on in your mind when viewing the work.

In a nutshell...

So in a nut shell, our primitive subconscious associates black and white with low-light and the possibilities of fight, flight or procreate (hah! managed to avoid the alliterative verb so as not offend any sensibilities!). And when we see an image in black and white it makes those primitive feelings come to the surface to 'colour' our emotional response to the image.

So what do you think? Do you see the connection? Is it a (fool /) full-ish answer?

Thoughts please...

Bredbury Hall Fordson Tractor

2008-07-04T16:40:00.004+01:00

I spent quite a while crafting this one during the week. It's a Fordson Tractor, (Henry Ford and his son) - shipped in huge quantities to post-war Britain to help in the recovery.

I was puzzled at first by the metal pole leanng against the tractor, but after some digging, found out that it's one of the chimney's - I think there were two on the model N (which this is).

Another from Bredbury Hall

2008-06-29T16:53:00.004+01:00

I managed to 'develop' one of the shots in the digital darkroom taken while I was at Bredbury Hall. This one is called simply Parlour.

I liked the rustic setting of stable-style door and hand-cranked root cutter machine. I was hoping, and wasn't disappointed, that the texture of the door would come out well. The other textures have come out just as good with the bricks and yard cobbles giving pattern too.

Gallery update

2008-06-29T01:11:00.004+01:00

Updated the mono gallery with my recent shots - 10 made it through. See all the recent new ones by following this special search. I think my favourite is the first in the results, Rope Knot with Teleportation Module a close second.

Went out to a barbecue today, nice bunch of folks...

Holiday Inn, Heathrow

2008-06-26T23:36:00.008+01:00

I managed to get off a couple of shots this evening around the hotel where I'm staying, while on contract in Staines.

A lovely lady called Fiona from the hotel came to check me out while I was taking the shots - very reasonable in these times, especially since it's so close to the airport.

This is the first one out of the digital darkroom. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out, the composition overall and the sky especially. My imaginative (not!) working title for it is Hotel Wall And Sky. There are a few promising ones left to do... watch this space :)

A late night, driven by the need to create...

2008-06-21T04:04:00.008+01:00

Well, I managed to squeeze another one in... I couldn't stop mesel' ! This is one of the short paths leading into the Elizabethan garden, as featured in the last couple of posts.

I'm still not brave enough to launch into a full blown treatment of darkness with just the light from the sun breaking through and lighting patches of wall and path. I'm heading in that direction, but need the right shot to start with.

I guess this was close, but not close enough.

Successful week...

2008-06-21T01:58:00.003+01:00

Overall, quite a successful week - both on my contract and on the photography side of things.

On contract I got my main doc issued for sign-off and had some really good feedback during its review. Client is well pleased.

Photography-wise, I managed to squeeze a handful out of the digital darkroom. This is the latest, called Elizabethan Garden - 'cuz that's wot it is :) I liked the mini maze and the purpose-built ruined look of the place.

You can see the archway that's in the close-up in my previous posting. I did a close up of the stone-carved Mayflower above the arch but that one's destined for my MayflowerSteps website.

Squeezed out another...

2008-06-18T21:44:00.006+01:00

...from the digital darkroom. This was taken during the Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival. There was a lot of hustle and bustle on Southside Street so I went up one of the small alleyways, one that looked like it probably wasn't for meant for the general public.

It was, as it turned out, and led up to a treasure of tranquillity, a small but perfectly formed Elizabethan garden. I think it was designed to look a little like a garden set amongst ruins.

This beautiful archway is part of the path that runs through the gardens and sports a stone carving of the Mayflower, the ship that carried the Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers to what was to be named Plymouth Plantation in New England.

My photos to your mobile...

2008-06-15T14:54:00.006+01:00

I'm trying a 'speriment with a service from moblin - it allows someone to download any of my photos right from my website to their mobile phone for a small fee, of which I get a cut.

It was easy enough to set up, but I'm not a mobile phone guru and I got an "invalid - you can't do that" type of message when I tried to download one to my new mobile. Soon sorted, though when I realised that the word TAP was part of the text message to be sent and not an instruction to type in the number that followed. Doh!

I'm guessing the service will have more uptake by those peeps who want to download cutesy images for their phone wallpaper rather than fine art aficionados! We'll see...

More from the digital darkroom...

2008-06-14T19:39:00.008+01:00

I managed to squeeze a couple more through the digital darkroom - they'll be uploaded to the mono gallery on the next update.

I really liked the way that Rope Knot turned out. It was a chance find while taking some of the shot of the bands during the Intern'tl Barbican Jazz and Blues Festival.

It was a shame about the ugliness that was the vip and hosts' temporary pavillion - it wasn't so bad from the front but from the sides and rear, it was a real spoiler. I called this one Cut Facet Façade

Gallery update

2008-06-14T11:02:00.005+01:00

I managed a new gallery update... all marked as "New!" (some other v. recent ones still marked as new). Yaay :)

Other things than have been happening

I've still to hear if I'm selected from the shortlist for a piece on one of the major terrestrial channels based around my Urban Ugly photo essay. I'll phone later today to see about any movement.

I hit my second major milestone on my new contract - the issue for review of the "logical business model - as is" by the contributors. It'll go out for formal review next Tuesday. The contract work has been spilling over into my evenings and weekends but hopefully the need for that is over.

Parasol Tops won second prize in the Implied Lines, Spring 2008 comp. in my club - The Studio Online. That makes 1 first and 3 seconds out of four competitions... Yaay!

...and another from Bredbury Hall Hotel

2008-06-09T01:00:00.005+01:00

So I managed to squeeze another one out of the digital darkroom - I was exploring the possibilities in PhotoShop and one thing led to another. I was done before I knew it! Always nice when that happens :)

This one's called Wagon Wheels - I liked the texture of the wood, showing all the signs of long use a long time ago. Getting up close and in amongst it has really brought out and emphasised the features I hoped I'd captured.

Dedication...

2008-06-08T18:09:00.005+01:00

Despite the tight time scales to complete a piece of work for my new contract, I managed to squeeze in some time for one photo that was waiting in the digital darkroom... there's dedication for you!

It's called Two Milk Churns and is one of a few taken while staying at Bredbury Hall Hotel in Stockport.

The brickwork and facade from the original Bredbury Hall have been restored and is the first sight to greet you when you come down the drive.

I wanted to capture a rustic look and the milk churns were an important part of that - and at the same time I saw lots of opportunities in the various textures and patterns.

I like the way the sky defines the edge of the building, revealing a little of its shape and distinguishing architecture.

An unexpected journey or two

2008-06-06T21:00:00.002+01:00

I had to get another contract - the paying day job - and it all happened a little more quickly than expected. It's based in Staines but I've been visiting business leads around the Manchester Area. I've been staying at a rather pleasant hotel - Bredbury Hall Hotel - filled with beautifully carved tables and artefacts from its long history.

There are a set of bellows that have been turned into a long coffee table - enough for 6 people to sit around? From the size, I'd say it was a full time job to operate them! Kind and accommodating staff, too.

I've taken some shots there, maybe in a week or two I'll get the chance to post some :)

I was really pleased to be approached by a tv production company last week about my urban ugly photo essay. Watch this space, maybe I'll get past the dreaded shortlist!

Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival

2008-05-10T14:26:00.005+01:00

More photos from the Barbican International Jazz and Blues Festival - the Paul Harris Trio (5th) and Diz Watson (7th).

First of the Artemis Transat images

2008-05-08T03:02:00.004+01:00

Here are the first photos (taken yesterday, 7th May) out of the DDR of some of the yachts taking part in the Artemis Transat yacht race. There had to be one mono!

Not so strange after all...

2008-05-07T01:38:00.004+01:00

I've been working on some more images from the Jazz & Blues fest but ran out of time. Maybe I'll get them through the ddr tomorrow

After a call with Masa, I understand now what seemed to be a strange decision a few days ago. In a nutshell, their production process does produce great images - that's why I chose them as my one-stop shop - and their charges are higher than the high volume places (you get what you pay for).

From their perspective, they are concerned that a photographer will get canvases produced at Masa but any sales made at exhibitions outside Masa's control won't come back to them for production; in a sense a superior product will be used to sell inferior reproductions.

And I guess that's understandable.

But I've cleared it with them and they've confirmed that they're still happy to act as my one stop shop; that is, they trust my professional integrity. Which is always nice :)