I love early mornings....

Okay, so that's a slight exaggeration, and I certainly don't like the idea when my alarm goes off at 5.30 in the morning, but once I'm up and out, the dawn starts are worth it. The birdsong, the peace, the sedate pace at that time of morning is a wonder, and when the atmospheric conditions are working in your favour I'd go as far to say early mornings are unbeatable.

After working really late last night in London, and not getting back home till well past midnight, I saw the fog had descended on our village, and I had the mad brained idea to get up early and head to back to Winkworth to shoot the bluebells in the mist. The idea of flat lighting, damp flowers and mist coming through the trees was so appealing the plan was a go'er.

Even though there was heavy fog when I woke, there was no fog at Winkworth which is only a few miles up the road from me and I had to rely on the mist rising off the lake to create the atmosphere I had envisaged, which meant heading to the lower slopes which were compositionally less favourable. However the sun was in the perfect position and the whole of Winkworth was beautifully lit as usual. I managed a few shots with some sun rays piercing through the mist, but it soon disappeared and the harshness of bright sunlight began to set it in. I was thinking on the way to work afterwards that I should probably get up even earlier to be on location for 5.15, ready for those magical few minutes when the sun first hits the mist.

I had a wonderful time, and hope the shots show this.....

More from today.... whats happening !

Today is like buses - no blog for a week, then two come along on the same day !

I was so excited about getting behind the camera today in the beautiful afternoon sun, that I just wanted to put up a couple of shots I took. I headed to Winkworth Aboretum, one of my favorite places in the world (!!!) to see the bluebells. And I wasn't dissapointed, being met with carpets of intense purple flowers - What a sight, the best I've seen them for years. So as I'm a bit tired, here are a few shots. One point to note is that I'm trying to break some rules, and do something a bit different - I tried today with limited sucess, but really love the light in the last shot. I'll explain later why it breaks the rules for me.

A bit of a catch up

I've been a bit busy this last month and my PAD has suffered, but it's only the last 5 days that I haven't actually taken any photos. I thought that working in London this week (not usual for me) it would be easy to see and take interesting photos, especially as I've been based in a client's Covent Garden office, but I've had my head down on the commute, rushing around to get into the office and home again. I managed to take one yesterday morning at Charing Cross station where all the tiles on the underpass created a messy but very geometric composition, enhanced by the aperture in the wall looking through to the stairwell.




And now a quick note to mention two other things....

My website is up and running at www.mark-pritchard.com where I will be putting my best shots up, and it will be more commercially based than my flickr photostream / this PAD blog.

And perhaps more exciting for me, is that one of my shots [link here] was published this week in the May edition of Surrey Life magazine [link here]. My tenth photo publications, so lets hope I can continue this !

5 minutes

Well, work continues apace and I'll have to be content with posting images that I stumble across rather than those that are planned. However, a slight twist tonight was I actually took 5 minutes to look around and force myself to take a shot or two within the confines of around 20 meters. Next to the car park is an old retirement home which has been derelict now for over a year, and there rumours it would be razed to the ground sometime before the economy took a nosedive.

Armed with the G9 as usual I had a look around as I thought there would be a few shots, and looking at the shots this evening, I'm quite pleased with them

I'm also headed off for a wedding on Friday, so whilst there will be plenty of scope for taking photos, I probably won't be posting again till at least Sunday night. I'm really hoping to take some good outdoor portraits of my family, so I will take my flashes and all my batteries plus chargers ! The big problem will be getting everyone to be somewhat patient whilst I get the exposure set up.

I also want to try and take some photos of the wedding using flash, but as I'd prefer it to be off camera I will be forced into manual mode, so I'm not sure how well I'll nail the shots with all the variables, but good practice I suppose. I have been reading all about guide numbers and the relationship of light to distance so it would be good to have a few subjects to practice on.

Life

A little cheat this morning and I'm putting up a shot I took a few weeks back and re-discovered this morning whilst getting Lightroom organised (part of my strategy for moving forward and getting things done).

It's of St Thomas' hospital in London and those that know me know I hate hospitals. My brain has managed to code itself to think of hospitals as portals where I see them as places that we use to enter and leave the world. I've spent too much time in these places watching friends and family being examined by doctors and nurses, which in turn gave me too much time to watch people I don't know suffer and grieve.

Some will make the connection what this shot is all about and what it means to me, which is more than just a pretty pattern. But although this photo has a dark side, happily with it being Easter and all about new life and beginnings I can look at this photo a bit differently this weekend.

Can't see the woods for the trees.

I had hoped to have an even more productive week on my PAD project, and whilst I could make up all the excuses this last week was the most difficult yet.

So what is holding me back ? Well I think it's because I feel I have a mountain to climb and have been overwhelmed with all that I'm tying to do (with photography and my day job). You should see my to do list and goal list etc etc ! It's far too long and I haven't been great in keeping it short and specific. It has all my wants and desires with tons of irrelevant stuff on it's no wonder I can't see the woods for the trees. Time to step back a little and get more organised I think.

Lots of thinking still to do, but I managed some of that this morning whilst out with the camera in the local woods (The match between location and title of this post was entirely coincidental !) I hoped that the sun would pierce through the thick fog, but unfortunately it remained grey. Quite atmospheric, but could do with a little accent of sun, similar to the conditions I saw a few weeks back.

Taking a picture.

I kinda got out of the rhythm of posting for a few days, so a late but quick one tonight to keep things running. I've been working a my website for a few days which I hope to complete by next weekend. My photography isn't slowing down; on the contrary. The website is to support a couple of articles which should hopefully come out over the next few weeks.

I'm also planning a few trips over the next few months, the longest will take me to the lakes for a couple of weeks in June so I should have plenty of opportunity to discover new locations. What excites me is it will be the first time I have spent any significant time there, so I plan to research the area as much as I can, and see how I can capture a unique view.

So tonight, an image ?

I was pottering around Guildford earlier on Saturday, and amongst many things I spotted this pair of legs in a photo booth. I think this has been photographed many a time, but I like the 2D compostition and the colours of the machine against the brick wall and the thin black wire hanging off the rear. If the person presses the button, what will happen ?!! Bang ??!!

Not a great week with the camera

Not sure why I'm posting this shot from tonight ?!!

I always pass these old greenhouses on route to work and the light was bouncing around quite nicely this evening and my eye caught glimpse of a nice shot. But to be honest getting home and looking at it.... I'm completely ambivalent to it ! It just doesn't do anything for me, so I think I'll have to put a bit more effort into it these next few days, as I feel haven't taken anything good since Saturday - the shots I wanted to post on Sunday last week didn't turn out that great (well some were ok-ish), and don't think I'm pushing my boundaries that hard. We'll see if I can rectify that this weekend.

All it takes it a some beautiful light

I haven't posted for a couple of days as time is just flying past and I have lots to do, but I am still taking photos ! Everything seems to be happening, but a few things are getting me excited and I think 2009 will be a good year.

My name is in print once again - I was commissioned to write a magazine article / software review a month or so ago, and it's now been published in issue 116 of 3D World Magazine. Following from that I have been asked to act as an industry judge for a national competition this magazine is currently running. The awards for the competition are later in the year so should be a bit of fun.

I have also been approached today by another magazine to supply some images for a 'spotlight' feature on photography, and that all looks promising, and should be published in May.

Finally, after all that, onto some images I took today! The light was stunning tonight when I left work - the sun was just setting, and everything looked golden. What I was struck by was a flickering street lamp at the car park which against the deep blue sky looked very graphic and strong. Although I want to explore other styles, it's easy to revert to type and take this sort of graphic image.