Autumn Leaves

I'm trying to get a shadow-free background but only have natural light through windows or halogen light available. I'm hoping there's a way of doing this that doesn't involve expensive lighting equipment and if anyone reading this has any tips I'd be really grateful.

Whitby, North Yorkshire

I loved this winding alleyway with the view of the houses on the far side of the river.

Whitby is a beautiful harbour town in North Yorkshire. The town rises either side of the River Esk which is spanned by a swing bridge. It is still a fishing port and home to one of the most famous fish and chips restaurants in the UK - The Magpie Restaurant.

It is where Captain James Cook, the 18th century seaman and explorer, learned his seamanship and is featured in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

There are many shops selling jet which was mined here by the Romans and the Victorians and became fashionable in the 19th century when Queen Victoria favoured it after the loss of her beloved Albert.

Train Driver

The last of my series of photographs taken at Pickering Station.

Working on the train

This was just crying out to be converted to black and white.  I'm pleased with the slight graininess of the image.

Three ladies and a dog!

I've been thinking a lot in the past few days about what sort of photographs I really want to be taking. This is partly due to a book I'm reading - Within the Frame by David duChemin - and partly because I want to up my game a bit a lot. It lead me to think about how I love taking candid shots of people (although I still feel very self-conscious about it) and about how much I love black and white photography and how the two things go so well together. I'm inspired by the photographs of people like Henri Cartier Bresson, Elliot Erwitt and Rui Palha. And I've been watching some video tutorials on the Scott Kelby site where he goes on a photo walk in Paris with Jay Maisel.

This is a photograph I took on holiday recently which comes nearest to what I want to do. Jay Maisel talks about the need for 'gesture' in photographs which is that moment when the person or people you're framing do something special or unusual that connects with the viewer. In the case of this photograph I think it's the dog and its appearance of boredom with the chatting women. I hope it goes in some small way to approach what he means.

Steam Engine

Another photo taken in North Yorkshire at Pickering Station. This beautiful steam engine caused such a huge welling up of nostalgia in me I almost burst into tears. Silly me...

Early morning cobwebs

Cobwebs caught early in the morning with the dew still on them

Process of Elimination

These two photographs are my submission for Kat's Exploring with a Camera: Process of Elimination post.

This is the original photograph with lots of busyness in the background which detracted from the colourful boats and kept dragging the eye into the top left-hand corner. It was badly in need of cropping.

This is the finished photograph, cropped so that the distraction is removed and with the shadows slightly lightened to give more definition to the movement in the sea.

Station Cafe

Tables and chairs set out on the platform at Pickering Station.

Chicken and door

Is this the chicken Rosie caught? She dropped it again, whichever one it was, and ran for home.

War Bikes

I've just got back from a holiday spent in North Yorkshire. One of the few remaining steam train lines in the country runs between Pickering and Whitby and each year in Pickering they hold a War Weekend based around the railway station. These two WW2 bikes were parked outside and I thought they'd make a good entry for The Weekend in Black and White.