Crossing paths - # 09/139

The Copse behind Ham House. Slabs of light and shade in the late afternoon sun.

So Yesterday, Darling! - # 09/138

Ham House has to be "felt" as much as seen. You are indeed back in the 17th Century. The light here is coming only from the dim, low wattage electric "candle lamps" that light the rooms one by one. The shutters are closed. The house is dark, waiting for the visitors to arrive. I wander, glimpse the scene and try to capture the feeling. Take yourself back to 1673.

Girl in the window - # 09/137

Leaf lying in the dust - # 09/136

The Bar-Fly observes circles of influence - # 09/135

Isn't it strange how some people are "in" and some are definitely "out"? "Nobody ever tells me what's going on". "I've watched people going up and people going down; but they couldn't see it, or control it".

It's a long time since I did a decent "Bar-Fly", and I don't rate this one very high in the series. Bar-Flies are spontaneous but, actually, they aren't. They have to come together in a mysterious unplanned way, where numerous components just suddenly "fit". Like "circles of influence" in the cosmos and in human affairs, lots of other things have to happen in a precise way, and actually they are highly complex and organised forms of chaos.

Texture and shadow........ - # 09/134

..........and a lot of obscurity.

The shape of light - # 09/133

I'm really sorry about yesterday's incident. I can't think what came over me.

The macaroon and the coffee cup - # 09/132

Playing about with my "Lightroom 2.5" I produced this. Now I feel unnerved and disconcerted. Why? At least I did not do this on an iPhone.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - # 09/131

Don't you just love the tonality of my kitchen early in the morning? (I was also playing around with the 300mm focal length).

Don't worry: musings on B&W are finished (I just needed to make some personal explorations, for my own benefit).

No contest - # 09/130

Here's the colour version of the Ham Dip Pond (thanks for waiting patiently). For me there's no contest. The B&W is "busy" and confusing to my eye, whereas the colour removes the confusion. For me this image is not a gut-wrencher, but it pleases me more.

Tomorrow, some more musings. Can you stand it? It's going to be a stunner in B&W.

Portrait of Richmond - # 09/129

We'll continue the little discussion on the difficulties of B&W tomorrow, with the promised showing of the colour version. Thanks to "Richmond" and "Virginia" for their contributions/helpful comments.

Meanwhile, allow me a moment of self-publicity to announce the publication of the my photo-book.

It is available on Amazon - even on Amazon Japan I have noticed - and also in "The Open Book" an excellent independent shop at 10 King St. Richmond and in the shop at Ham House.

Stocks will arrive in the shops over the next day or two. I am grateful to the Publisher, Halsgrove, for the design and presentation of the book as one of their very wide range of books featuring the towns and regions of Britain.

Dilemma in B&W - # 09/128

There are two ponds near Ham Gate in Richmond Park. David McDowall's "Walker's Guide to Richmond Park" tells us about the evidence of Iron Age agriculture and the site of a 17th Century house that once stood here, close to Ham Dip Pond (this, the higher of the two ponds).

I am fascinated by this spot - it often has a lone Heron - which cries out to be captured. Perhaps it would be easier in a painting. Photographically it is, for me at least, a hard challenge. Perhaps I must get up earlier or stay later in the evening.

The B&W photo appears to me confusing and fails to celebrate the smooth tonality I like in B&W; nor does it do justice to the water and the vegetation.

There are plenty of grey and black tones in this, but I feel the shot fails to capture or convey the atmosphere that I experience. This site ought to be a "B&W gut wrencher", but it isn't.

Tomorrow I'll post the same version in colour.

Lone bench in B&W (Richmond Park) - # 09/127

Throughout Richmond Park there are many well-placed benches where walkers may rest and take in a particular view.

I've decided to try to work in B&W for while and explore the complexities of it. Colour is so much easier (duck as boots are thrown), and there are certain combinations that do not work so well in B&W as they do in colour.

I didn't find this subject easy. It lacks a human interest (solitary figure); it would be better taken from behind towards the view (but hanging trees and extreme contrast made that impossible); the photo needed a bit - not a strong amount, certainly a fair degree - of tweeking to get the contrast, exposure and tonal quality to be as I felt they should be.

However, the dappled shadows on the path and the general tonal effect are as I saw them in my mind, and worth capturing.

NB......"Portrait of Richmond", my book, is now available for order on Amazon and will also be in stock in "The Open Book" in King St. Richmond and in the shop at Ham House as from 21st September.

The fair golf courses of Coombe - # 09/126

The sinking September sun casts long shadows across the luxurious golf courses that stretch across the heights of Kingston Hill. Twice a year, for a short period in late Spring or early Autumn, you can go up in the evening and just drink in the scene, when the angle of the setting sun and the quality of the light are "just perfect".

Flash roses - # 09/125

....just messing about with flash-light and shadow.

(By the way: in spite of my lack of ouput and rather introspective and unfocussed content of late, I've actually picked up another "regular watcher". Thank you, whoever you are. Believe it or not 20 souls gasp for my infrequent renderings. Daily stuff is too hard these days.)

Urban landscape - # 09/124