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October 2011 - WrinkledThe one animal you never have trouble getting close enough to on safari is the elephant. During a recent trip to Tarangire National Park in Tanzania I saw over 100 elephants over 2 days! Being this close renders a 400mm lens fairly useless, but gives opportunities for semi abstract images such as this one.
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September 2011 - DinosaurIn the middle of the Dorset countryside near Portesham this sculpture can be found constructed from old farm machinery parts. An odd choice you might think, but Dorset is very closely linked to dinosaur fossil discoveries thanks to its geology.
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August 2011 - Finest HourThe sole remaining flying Vulcan Bomber on display at the Royal International Air Tatoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire last month. To see more images from the 2011 airshow see this Facebook Gallery.
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July 2011 - Coldplay at GlastonburyMy first ever visit to Glastonbury Festival last month and a chance to see some of my favourite music played live. The highlight of the weekend had to be Coldplay on Saturday night. You would have to be mad to take your DSLR and a bunch of lenses to this event - unless you like them liberally spread with mud, and as none of the images I would capture could be used commercially due to rights reasons I stuck with my Canon G10 compact. It is still possible to obtain some half decent images though - even from the crowd. Technical Details |
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June 2011 - TriangulationThe humble trig point. When I was young I used to think that all mountains had one of these at the top, and you hadn't reached the summit until you got to it! If I'm honest it's still quite satisfying to reach one of these after a strenuous walk. Far from being the preserve of mountain tops, there is one not far above sea level on Swansea Bay. I wonder how many of today's walkers know what they are for and understand how triangulation works? Technical Details |
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May 2011 - Air SupportLast month's dry weather in the Brecon Beacons has resulted in a number of wildfires - most of which have been started maliciously. Lack of access to the affected areas has required the use of helicopter support. This helicopter was captured just outside my house ferrying water from the nearby Ystradfellte reservoir to a fire on Gwaun Cefynygarreg on Good Friday. Technical Details |
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April 2011 - SupermoonCaptured on 18th May, the night before the true "supermoon" but sadly it was cloudy on the 19th. Never had much luck capturing images of the moon before, but this one was handheld with a 400mm lens (200mm zoom plus 2x converter) and turned out very well. Technical Details |
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March 2011 - What's The Time?Spending a week in London with my family last month I decided against my usual plan of capturing stock images of London sights and instead pursued a type of photography I have little experience of. Street Photography is a lot harder than it looks (for me at least!) but I was happy to capture this image through a bus window - the reflection of the clock echoing the woman checking her watch for the time. A gallery of all street images from London will be loaded onto the Facebook MB Photography page during March. Technical Details Captured on a Canon G10 |
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February 2011 - AnticipationI don't normally make it to a location for sunrise, preferring the more leisurely sunset. However, one week last month I managed to be up for sunrise twice in one week! This view was captured from the summit of Corn Du (one of the highest mountains in the Brecon Beacons) just before the sun rose above the horizon. There is something magical about the colours in the sky before sunrise and no matter how used to the sun coming up every day we are it is still a powerful image. Technical Details |
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January 2011 - Grand Canal TransportWhile during my trip to Venice last month I made every effort to capture a different view of the city (see Venice Bellpush Project), I did of course capture the usual tourist sights. This view from Rialto Bridge involved a bit of waiting and some luck - capturing the three classic forms of transport (gondola, water taxi and vaporetto) in perfect arrangement. Technical Details |
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December 2010 - Winter ContrastThe earliest significant snow in the UK for nearly 20 years! Although this is a view of the two highest summits in the Brecon Beacons - Pen y Fan and Corn Du - in this image they are rendered almost insignificant, sandwiched between the brilliant blue sky and miles of snow-covered moorland. Technical Details
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November 2010 - No WaitingOut on an unsuccessful attempt at some street photography I started taking images of the yellow lines on the street (don't ask why!). Not sure why I included my legs in this one but it's the image I like the most. Technical Details |
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October 2010 - Beacons PanoramaThere are two types of approach that I rarely use for my landscape images: panoramic formats and HDR processing. This image uses both! This is a very popular spot from which to photograph Pen y Fan and Corn Du and it's difficult to produce an image which hasn't been done before, hence my exploration of new techniques (for me at least). The panoramic format definitely works for me and for my first use of HDR I'm quite happy with the results - not too obvious I hope. See What's New (October 2010) for a more standard aspect ratio and square format image of the same scene. Technical Details |
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September 2010 - In MemorialMy Grandfather died on 31 July at the very respectable age of 83. He will of course be missed by all his friends and family. Here he is on his wedding day back in 1948 in a photo that I scanned and restored in 2008. If you haven't yet digitised your old family photographs it is well worth it just in case the originals are ever lost. However please bear in mind that all images taken by professional photographers are covered by copyright laws that restricts their scanning and duplication, so you should check with the copyright owner first wherever possible. Technical Details |
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August 2010 - WreckOver the last month I've visited a couple of WWII aircraft crash sites in the Brecon Beacons. I never knew they even existed until another photographer mentioned one of the sites (there are 30 in total!) and I certainly didn't expect the amount of wreckage that still exists at the sites after over 50 years. Both sites have the remains of Wellington Bombers and are in places where it would be hard to salvage, which probably explains the quantity of wreckage. This image was taken at the more remote site in the Black Mountains and concentrates on one large piece of wreckage that lies apart from the main site. Monochrome seemed entirely suitable for the subject matter. Only another 28 sites to visit! Technical Details |
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July 2010 - Summer SunIf you were asked to choose one photograph that summed up your holiday what would it be? That perfect sunset, an empty beach with golden sands, a world famous historical monument, maybe even some tropical fish (if you're lucky enough to be able to take your camera underwater!). For me a holiday means doing what will keep the children most happy - which at the moment in their life is playing on a sandy beach. The position of the sun in this image meant that the usual blue sky/golden sand image didn't really work, but I like this mono interpretation which still catches the action.
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June 2010 - Dark SurfSometimes the weather appears to be against you, as it was when I visited Rhossili in late May. However, it is still often possible to salvage an image from the scene. Low cloud and sea mist rarely make for a great colour landscape, but luckily I'm a monochrome person at heart. When it comes to monochrome landscapes my influences come primarily from the dark tones evident in the work of Bill Brandt and the semi abstract compositions of Minor White. This image demonstrates both of these and although unlikely to appeal to a mass market it is a style of image I personally like.
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May 2010 - Open WindowThere is a wealth of modern architecture springing up around Salford Quays - the Imperial War Museum and Lowry are two great examples with plenty of photographic potential.However, I was drawn to this hideous mirrored office building! The building was constantly changing colour and tone thanks to the overcast weather, which yielded lots of different abstract images.
I prefer the minimalist version right...
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April 2010 - Mostly SkySome people would say that you need to include more land in an image of Worm's Head in Gower, but I beg to differ. The colours in the sky have been fantastic over the last month in South Wales, thanks to an unusually sunny Spring (so far!). Although I took some more conventional images from Rhossili (see What's New for April) this image of the basic silhouette of Worm's Head and a lot of the sky is my favourite. The small amount of cloud visible is actually smoke from a recent heathland fire - something else that's been a bit too common over the last month thanks to bored teenagers and a prolonged dry spell.
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March 2010 - Pancake DayFebruary 16th was shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day! - and attempting to toss a few pancakes seemed like good subject matter to test out the high capture rate and pre-capture features of an Olympus SP-570uz that I have inherited. The 12 images here were taken from the middle of a sequence of 30 images and represent approximately 1 second of real time. I can't claim any of the photography skills as my wife took the pictures - but what great pancake tossing skills! :-)
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February 2010 - WhiteoutAnyone who reads my blog will know that it has snowed a lot here over the last month (and was snowing again today! - 31/1/10). It is only right that I include an image to reflect this, but how to choose? The image here epitomises the recent weather and is an acknowledgement to the fact that even with 4WD I sometimes get snowed in. Unconventional framing, very high key and minimalist - three of my favourite signature approaches to image creation and a suitable summing up of the worst (or best?) weather we have had this year (so far!)
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January 2010 - The Young PhotographerIn memory of my uncle Dave who passed away on 6th December 2009 at the relatively young age of 58 I include one of his photographs this month. He was a very keen photographer right up until his death and he kept every single one of the cameras he ever owned (now left to me).Here is a picture he took of me at Bradbury Rings in Dorset in the mid-1970s. A shy boy with no intention of looking at the camera....a familiar pose in today's portrait award winners, so perhaps he was ahead of his time.
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December 2009 - Meridian Quay TowerI'm not normally a great fan of Photoshop effects but it seems to work here. Solarization is at least a real photographic technique that could be carried out in the darkroom (remember them?) so I feel slightly less of a cheat for using it.These buildings form part of the new Meridian Quay development in Swansea Marina. A very poorly timed development which has completed work during the worst recession seen in the UK for many years. An impressive building nevertheless.
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November 2009 - WRC ChampionLast month saw the final event of the 2009 World Rally Championship and lucky for me it was just down the road.This image of the 2009 World Champion, Sebastien Loeb was taken on one of the final stages of the rally.
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October 2009 - KingfisherI had to include this image here as it was the first time I'd ever seen a Kingfisher, let alone caught one on camera!I've already written about the challenges faced with my first attempt at bird photography (see HERE). This image was a very small portion of a frame taken using a 400mm lens on my old Canon 350D (giving a working focal length of 660mm). On top of this I have had to use some serious noise reduction on the background - and slightly less on the Kingfisher itself.Don't expect lots more of these type of images!
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September 2009 - Shiny ShoesI don't know why I originally took this picture - sitting waiting for a wedding to start in Islington Town Hall. However, after some antique tinting, lens distortion and film grain simulation I rather like the end result.Technical Details
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August 2009 - Welsh SummerOn my way to a not particularly successful visit to the Red Kite feeding station near Llandeusant the combination of sunlight and heavy rain clouds provided some fantastic lighting conditions.Favouring a minimal composition (as usual) and filling most of the frame with the cloud formation gave me the combination of patterns and colour I was looking for. A square crop improved the original landscape image by removing some untidy parts of the field.
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July 2009 - Iconic BristolTwo icons of the city of Bristol, the bow of Brunel's SS Great Britain framing the archetypal terraces perched on the hills of Bristol.A wide aperture has been used to throw the background houses into soft focus, concentrating on the ship in the foreground.
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June 2009 - CubismThe Holocaust Memorial in Berlin is fascinating from any angle, but surprisingly difficult to photograph without the pavement or people visible.After having taken 30 or 40 images from different positions I settled on this one taken later in the day as my favourite. The softer light of the early evening reducing the overall contrast and making it possible to render detail in all sides of the concrete pillars.A location well worth a visit for anyone...
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May 2009 - Big BangI doubt if this truck has ever really carried explosives, but I like the idea that it might have.This image was captured in Blaenavon, a fantastic place if you're interested in industrial history....and (like me) rusting metal.
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April 2009 - Funny FaceYou would think that with two children I would have no problem getting willing models for studio portraits. Alas neither is very keen on getting in front of the camera.My eldest, pictured here, WILL get in front of the camera but only to pull faces.....which for once didn't look too bad and captured his character quite well.
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March 2009 - Girl in PinkUsing a the scratched acrylic of a beachfront shelter to obscure the subject has resulted in an image more akin to an old oil painting.This image was caught candidly rather than setup, but the resulting edge framing of the girl adds to the mysterious qualities of the image.
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February 2009 - ProtestA big stack of placards in Trafalgar Square at a recent protest on the Israeli conflict in Gaza provides a semi-abstract graphic composition.Let's hope they get the message too!
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January 2009 - Caswell BayI'm currently working on a series of Gower seascape images that utilise lateral movement to abstract the view so that it resembles a modern art painting - taking inspiration from Rob Carter's Travelling Still series of images.Here is one of the first images taken on Caswell Beach. The approach is a bit hit-and-miss but the final results can be quite interesting.
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| This page was last updated 22-Jan-2012 |
© Matt Botwood 2012 |
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