girafferacing's PhotoBlog

50mm Friday

2013-05-24T21:38:42Z

It occurred to me today that it's months since I spent any length of time shooting with my ancient nifty-fifty lens. To rectify this I spent the afternoon travelling light as I took a stroll around the Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton, shooting with just this lens. It turned out to be an inspired choice. The museum is home to many historic buildings and none of them have any lighting other that what comes in through the windows and perhaps the occasional candle. Add to this the unseasonably cold and grey weather and I found myself being very grateful for my twenty-five year old lens's low light capabilities! Once again I found myself drawn to the wonderful textures in the forge and I also stopped off at Walderton Cottage. Here I found one of the volunteers dressed in period costume, darning her socks to keep her hands warm. She demonstrated the spinning process using some raw wools and showed me all the other materials that would have been used to create clothes in centuries gone by, including hemp, flax and even nettles.

The road through the woods

2013-05-23T22:30:44Z

Every Thursday morning I enjoy my through the beautiful Sussex and Hampshire countryside. I've had a hankering to photograph this particular secluded corner of road for a while now but it's either been too overcast or there's been another car hugging my back bumper, making it too risky to dive off the road at short notice. However, this morning the sun was shining through the foliage and the road was clear behind me so I parked up safely and shot off a few frames before continuing on my way to school. All that remains now is to return later in the year to catch this same spot in its glorious autumn colours - watch this space!

Walking with a purpose (theme)

2013-05-22T14:19:32Z

Taking Kevin's car into the garage in Emsworth this morning gave me the perfect opportunity to find today's 'people' themed photo. It was just coming up to high tide as I approached the harbour and the water was as still as a millpond, creating some beautiful reflections. I noticed that people walking along the harbour wall were also reflected in the water so I chose a spot on the shoreline, just below the level of the wall where I could lay in wait to capture some interesting shots of folks as they passed by. At first it was very quiet but gradually more people came by and the two men in this photo passed me in both directions during the time I stood there, evidently walking with a purpose. This particular photo was the only one I captured which contained three people and there was just something about their spacing within the frame which caught my eye.

The Tuesday Inspiration: In the absence of sunshine, DIY!

2013-05-21T19:45:58Z

When I announced today's theme on the Tuesday Inspiration blog last month I just had a feeling that today would be a cloudy day with a complete absence of the very thing needed to illustrate the prescribed word. As I feared, my premonition was correct and we haven't seen a hint of sunshine all day. Not to be deterred, I decided to create my own TI, using a torch and this small kitchen whisk to do so. The alternative was to dig out some music by Cliff Richard's backing band but as my record collection is rather lacking in that department the whisk it had to be! Thanks to Paul for setting today’s theme. Last week's theme was Abstract. The other interpretations of this week’s theme can be found here. The “Tuesday Inspiration” began in 2009 when Stéfan and I started setting each other a photographic challenge on a… Tuesday. Very soon afterwards, we decided to open this up to other PB members, followed by the idea that we should not reveal what the subject is, so that other members could compare how different members view a single theme. The Tuesday Inspiration is not a contest or a challenge, but a group of people all agreeing to post their interpretation of a single theme on Tuesdays. Each week, one of the contributors sets the theme. There are now over 40 members contributing to the TI. We have only two “rules”: don’t include the subject in the TI title or tags and please comply with standard PB guidelines on courtesy, etc. If you would like to take part, please send me a message via this blog.

Daytime roost

2013-05-20T14:36:34Z

When I was searching Chichester a couple of weeks ago for all the new street art there was one piece I couldn't find, even though I knew which road it was supposed to be in. A couple of days ago I finally tracked it down to a gate hidden in the corner of a car park. Owls seem to be a trademark of this particular artist, an Australian who goes by the pseudonym of Dscreet, and I can't help feeling this particular one has found a very apt place for its daytime roost. I wonder if it goes out hunting for mice under cover of darkness while no one is looking?!

Have you caught my best side?

2013-05-20T00:22:59Z

As I drove through Hurst late this afternoon I noticed that the two white ducks I photographed there in March were once again swimming around the village pond. I stopped to take some photos and I thought this one was particularly cute - it's almost as if the duck is checking out its reflection in the water to ensure I'd caught its most handsome side!

Basking in the sunshine

2013-05-19T01:54:01Z

Today has been one of those mad days where I've dashed between various rehearsals and a concert, spending most of the day in freezing cold churches. However, there was one moment of relaxation when I had lunch with two friends at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. After lunch we had half hour to kill before our next rehearsal so we sat out beside the Spinnaker Tower in the warm sunshine and I took a few shots of the tower against the deep blue sky and a gull soared above us.

Disbelief

2013-05-17T20:07:29Z

When I popped into Chichester this afternoon to run a few errands I was rather surprised to see these two men in full regalia, carrying their drum and bugle and couldn't resist snapping a few frames of them. What made this shot for me though was the look of disbelief on the faces of the other two men - they were evidently as surprised as I was!

Opportunism

2013-05-16T22:12:42Z

What an irony - I took both my cameras with me to school this morning to maximise my photographic chances and I end up taking my daily photo with my iPhone! Before my first lesson of the morning I nipped down to the staffroom to grab a quick coffee and found this child's bicycle leaning against the wall outside the science laboratory. There was something about the oddity of this sight and the way the light was falling, creating an interesting V shaped shadow, that caught my imagination so I opportunistically grabbed a quick shot with my phone (having left both my cameras in my teaching room up the hill) and continued onwards to my appointment with a strong cup of coffee!

Celebrating springtime? (theme)

2013-05-15T14:50:28Z

Today's post is a somewhat ironic one as the weather here over the last twenty four hours has been more like autumn than spring, with howling gales and pouring rain. However, by this morning the rain had finally gone and we were left with an overcast sky, perfect for macro photography. This particular shot took several attempts as Lucy decided to come out into the garden to 'help' me - on more than one occasion I discovered something black and furry blocking the view through my camera and I had to politely ask her to move out of the way!