A Haiku for Remembrance Day

Silent memories.

Losses felt; tears unbidden.

Fields of poppies nod.

Bric a Brac Shop

I stopped at this shop this morning on the lookout for props. I wanted a small, rustic table for placing objects on to photograph. They had a lovely one in the window - all chipped paint and bare wood - which would have been perfect but, apart from being a little larger than I want, it was also hugely expensive!

But I did buy a potato/apple storage tray for £10. You can see them stacked on the pavement outside (with the watering can on top). I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of it - the textures are good.

The shop was full of interesting things, from furniture to ornaments to pieces of vintage fabric. And that lovely little milking stool you can see by the step.

Just after the cow jumped over it...

...all there was left to see was the moon. It was a lovely clear evening when I took this on Wednesday, but I haven't seen the sun or the moon since then. Must have been the darned cow's fault. ISO 3200 has caused lots of noise but I don't think I mind that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Vintage Luggage

This lovely old scuffed, scratched and generally battered suitcase was my father's. Those are his initials - Eustace Bromley Davenport. The name gives away the era into which he was born and the suitcase gives away the style of that era's travels.

He regularly flew from Croydon Aerodrome, just south of London, where Imperial Airlines had their base and would have gone mostly to Europe. It's no longer a commercial airport but the original art deco Aerodrome Hotel is still there although considerably extended.

Justine Gordon's photograph of an old pair of binoculars inspired me to take a picture of this lovely old suitcase.

Sunny day!

Today's weather has been as beautiful as yesterday's was dreadful so I decided a little colour was called for in my photos today. I was playing around trying to find my lens's sweet spot which I think I read somewhere is usually about two stops down from wide open. As wide open on my 50mm is f/1.4 I first tried at f/1.8 but I thought that sounded a little low and it didn't work well at all. I took the photo above at f/5 after remembering Bryan Peterson's advice that on a sunny day you should meter off the blue sky and then re-compose the shot. So I did and I think his advice is sound!

The colours are changing again as autumn drifts towards winter but there are still colours out there, although of a different palette.  I'm going to try and find them, even on the yucky days. How about you?

Low tide in Norfolk

It's been a dreadful grey, rainy day today - even worse than yesterday. I stood outside this afternoon taking a series of photographs of the same image at different shutter speeds with the camera hand held as part of my course. It was to find the speed at which the image began to break down and lose its sharpness. I froze to death and by the time I'd finished I couldn't feel my fingers. I must put some fingerless gloves on my shopping list - I think I'm going to need them!

I found the picture above among the photos I took early in October when we were on holiday in Norfolk. It looks better in black and white than it did in colour - more dramatic I think. The lines of rock give it the contrast that black and white photos need. It's a shame there wasn't a strong blue sky that day which would have given more interest at the top of the photograph, but this is England!!

Black & White Experimenting

It's been such a grey, dismal day today that I wasn't able to go out and about with my camera for my street photography course so I played around inside.

I placed the subjects against a window and the texture in the background is the rain lying on the glass. It silhouetted them quite nicely.