Life Observed

Here is the village tug-o-war rope waiting collection in the church porch after a weekend's rural frolicking recently. I think it makes a pleasing abstract pattern or texture picture and I wonder if it would sell? In that case it really would be money for old rope.

We had a couple of nice days earlier this week, and timing my walk to miss the passing clouds, I managed a quick walk down the local farm lane.. Crows nests, as high as they come, add points of interest to this big sky wide angle picture. Here's a forgotten corner of the barn. Aah, that smell of oil, diesel and hay all mixed together, captured in a nostalgia image. No day is complete without an abstract picture if you can find one. There's a pile of discarded tiles in the hedgerow aligned like a modernist sundial. This old tyre (on an Allen Scythe) must have been here for decades and has rotted away. Perfect for a texture picture. And finally, the rusting barrow with it's Ivy passenger makes for a diagonal composition snap.

Today's picture is the third in my short series of texture images where I have been looking at shapes and contours. This interesting interaction of concrete and steel used to be a patented farm hand roller sold under the name of Samson. The toughness comes from the steel cladding and the weight from the concrete interior. Time and tide have conspired against the steel and left us with this crunchy view of the interface Coming soon: We relax with a nice cup of tea.

This striking brickwork comes from a restored corner of the thirteenth century Greyfriars Priory on the hill at Dunwich . Most of the town has been lost to the sea (along with many on the East Anglian coast) and Dunwich was a large and prosperous port at one time.  Very little remains now, the ruins of the Priory comprise an odd mixture of brick, stone and flint. I rather like the texture of these curiously flat bricks in the Autumn sun.

Its that time of year when selected portions of the hedgerows turn white, looking for all the world like frosted twigs. My lunchtime walk around the village leads through horse paddocks where this fleeting sight greets you at every turn. I imagine the bees that live in the west end of the church will be busy with these flowers.  They will have to hurry, I suppose they will be gone in a week or so. Both images taken with the same lens. That excellent 14-54 Zuiko....

Here's a profile to consider. This is the end of a hollow tree trunk that fell down years ago. Most of the tree has been reclaimed by ivy and it is slowly disappearing back into the hedge. However the sharp edge where the wood gave way has slowly been weathered to this nice rounded abstract shape. The Zuiko 70-300mm provided this image. Now this is a different material, different era and very different photographic gear. This worn sandstone profile from the south coast was taken on Provia slide film a decade ago with a Nikon camera and lens. I quite like the hint of a stern face in the rock. Now a more familiar profile from last week.  This Victorian cross is echoed by its distant cousin across the village churchyard, lit by low winter sunshine. In this case I used an Olympus E600 camera fitted with a Russian Industar 50 manual lens. This is a 1970s copy of the 1907 four element classic Zeiss Tessar design. So - you have to focus and stop down by eye, you have ...

I do like my parallel lines . Give me a view with something straight that stretches away into the distance and I am happy. My picture of the lines of trees at Christchurch College meadow featured elsewhere on this blog is an early example of this fixation. Thus I was pleased to see these excellent views out and about round the village recently. The low winter sun sharpens this view of the remains of last year's crop. Strangely, this stubble field has not been ploughed and drilled with new seed. I wonder what they plan to do? Build houses on it? Here's another example. This time the low sun gives me a very convincing set of parallel shadows drawing the eye towards the outskirts of the village in the background. I didn't feel the colours were strong enough to support the image so I converted it to monochrome with a very slight tint.

Sometimes it is the texture of a subject that invites a photograph. Rust, or old sandstone can look quite interesting close up and with the right lighting. Here, as an alternative, I offer you Hut 6 at Bletchley Park. This is, of course, the home of code breaking. I wonder if the decay is intentional or just the result of neglect. Either way I felt that a close examination of the splendid peeling paint made a better subject than a general view of the huts. Here is another door, and a more general view. This is an out of the way corner of Omodos on Cyprus. This village has been restored and repainted as a tourist attraction, however if you sneak down the back lanes you soon come across a more genuine view. I rather liked the wall and the colour of the door. This surely is a classic texture shot. Sawn and weathered wood with oblique lighting to bring out the grain. Throw in the contours of the knot and a bent nail.. Ideal subject! Finally - does this count as te...

I am always attracted by patterns and textures. Some of these are purely accidental, some are natural. Here's some examples: These flowers come out of the bud all crinkly and if you catch them before they have straightened out, with the sun in the right position, they almost look artificial A corner of a field covered in clover. Each flower is different, and yet they are all the same. This was a close up wide angle shot with the horizon deliberately excluded.  A rather more contrived image: I found these melons outside a greengrocers in Rottingdean one wet winter day. And these last two are positively posed images. Peppers on the cutting board. There is always a little guilt when you take a picture then proceed to eat the subject... Finally this posed woodworking image. I think the shapes and patterns of wood shaving  are wonderful. I did however ruin an otherwise useful piece of pine batten to get this picture...