There is a reality about the woods. Time is motionless but its touch is everywhere. Decay and growth merge together into one cycle. Left to itself without the axe and saw all is equalised. Nothing lasts forever and yet the whole is ageless. 
A long while since they fell
Stripped of life
The veins through which life flowed
Becoming the food of new life
The cycle turns one more time …..
This is the sixth and final blog derived from a three-day visit to Istanbul in February 2012.
Here is a small selection of shots taken around Istanbul – three days is definitely not enough time.
Click through more images below:-
This is the fifth blog derived from a three-day visit to Istanbul in February 2012. When (not if) you visit Istanbul, you must visit the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market in the Old City, – and do also spend some time in the poorer, non-tourist shopping precincts of the city, preferably on a Saturday when it is really busy. Photographing these scenes and the people in them has to be discretely done which is difficult with a Canon 1DMkIII and Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens – hand-held with only available light.
You thought the Shopping Mall is a modern concept – think again!! The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and half a million visitors daily. The grand bazaar began construction in 1455 and opened in 1461. It is well known for its jewellery, pottery, spice, and carpet shops. Many of the stalls in the bazaar are grouped by the type of goods, with special areas for leather coats, gold jewellery and the like.
Today, the grand bazaar houses two mosques, two hamams, four fountains, and multiple restaurants and cafes. The sprawling complex consists of 12 major buildings and has 22 doors.
The Spice Bazaar is one of the oldest bazaars in the city and is the second largest covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar. The bazaar was (and still is) the center for spice trade in Istanbul. The structure was completed in 1660 and is an “L”-shaped building, consisting of 88 vaulted rooms. The streets surrounding the market are also occupied by hundreds of small shops selling almost anything.
Click through more images below:-
This is the fourth blog derived from a three-day visit to Istanbul in February 2012. We flew from Gatwick in England to Istanbul on Turkish Airways and it was great. Spanking new planes, good food, pleasant crew. Much better than the bucket airlines and not too expensive. No extras such as checked in luggage costs etc.
The Chora Church was initially constructed very early – The original church on this site was built in the early 5th century, and stood outside of the 4th century walls. The majority of the fabric of the current building dates from 1077–1081. It is a smaller building than many of the other examples of Byzantine architecture in Istanbul. Around fifty years after the fall of the city to the Ottomans in 1453, the church was converted into a mosque and the art work was plastered over. In 1948 the building ceased to be a mosque and in 1958 it opened as a museum.
The impressive decoration of the interior was carried out between 1315 and 1321. The mosaic-work is the finest example of the Palaeologian Renaissance. The artists remain unknown. There are some 45 different frescoes and paintings.
Click through more images below:-
This is the third blog derived from a three-day visit to Istanbul in February 2012. Visiting Istanbul in February or March turned out to be a good idea. Many fewer other tourists and much cooler (almost too cool with a day of snow!).
One of the drawbacks / challenges of photographing the amazing Mosques and Byzantine architecture was that they do not permit the use of tripods – not even monopods. I should have had a beanbag – I did get a fair number of lengthy exposures (8-10 secs) by placing the cameras on the floor, against pillars etc. and using a remote release.
The Süleymaniye Mosque was built between 1550 and 1558. It has blended Islamic and Byzantine architectural elements. It combines tall, slender minarets with large domed buildings supported by half domes in the style of the Byzantine church Hagia Sophia. The interior of the mosque is almost a square, 59 meters in length and 58 meters in width, forming a single vast space which creates an inspiring place of worship and prayer. The dome is flanked by semi-domes, and to the north and south arches with tympana-filled windows, supported by enormous porphyry monoliths. It was a privilege to be able to visit this amazing place.
Click through more images below:-
This is the second blog derived from a three-day visit to Istanbul in February 2012. We stayed in the Old City at the “And Hotel” which was great – within walking distance of the main sites of interest, one of which was the Blue Mosque.
This is a breathtaking building built from 1609 to 1616. Intricate patterns and designs cover virtually the entire interior. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.
The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighbouring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the Ottoman architecture classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Mimar Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.
Click through more images below:-
On a three-day visit to Istanbul in February 2012 we walked miles, had sun, wind and snow and I photographed – a lot. Istanbul is a feast for the senses with great people and centuries of history.
This has been the site of a church since 360 (during the reign of Constantius II). The current building was built from 532-537 and was the largest cathedral for in the world for 1000 years. It is generally regarded as the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have “changed the history of architecture.”
It has a varied history -
The building today shows its age and its history but it is amazing and certainly a place to visit if you get the chance.
Click through more images below:-
I have just spent a week in Harare – the capitol of Zimbabwe. I spent the whole week in meetings but had one day when I could take out my camera on a field trip outside the city. (One of the meetings was on the 16th floor of a building – with no working elevators! A day after I had made the climb the newspaper carried a story of a woman who had had a miscarriage climbing the stairs in the same building – a heavy price to pay.)
I was in Zimbabwe as a consultant to support the drafting of a new national water policy. In about 2008 the country hit the bottom. Following the economic collapse with hyper-inflation, everything ground to a halt. Wide spread unemployment meant that people could not pay their bills, local authorities had no revenue to provide basic services, infrastructure collapsed… Without electricity water and sewage pumps don’t work, raw sewage is routed directly into rivers and dams from which drinking water is drawn, massive cholera and typhoid epidemics result… And yet somehow the people continue, they have no other option. Today, although the situation has not changed much, there is hope and a sense that the corner has been turned. The resilience and energy of ordinary people on the streets and in the markets is inspiring.
This is the thirteenth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
Here is a set of four images taken recently of Winchester Cathedral in England. This is my second visit to Winchester Cathedral – my first visit was at the beginning of my project to photograph the Cathedrals of the Church of England and I have learned a lot since then.
For these images I have used a technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range) which uses a series of bracketed images taken at different exposures (+1, 0, -1 in these images) to achieve a greater range than is possible with the sensitivity of a normal digital sensor. Using software it is possible to integrate the images (usually 3 or 5) to achieve a very sharp image with details across the full range of the available light. I have been intrigued recently how HDR can enhance images. Taking bracketed exposures in low lighting situations like cathedrals adds considerably to the time a shoot takes as each exposure is usually between 20 to 30 seconds.
The British (or is it the English) have a unique entertainment form – the Pantomime – which is usually staged around the Christmas / New Year season. This year St. Mary’s Church in Caterham, Surrey staged Rumplestitskin. Men dress up as Dames, girls dress up as boys and everyone, including the audience, get involved, all in aid of church funds.
Getting through generations of pantomimes has undoubtedly contributed to the sort of steely British fortitude which ruled half the world and weathered the Blitz.
Photographing the show is a challenge – low lighting, definitely no flash, stationary position and some pretty erratic movement at times make it interesting.
The annual Pet Service at St Mary’s parish church in Caterham, Surrey, England is a little bit of chaos at the edge of heaven.
Each year families bring their pets for a blessing and a reminder of what important companions pets are with their unjudgemental and unconditional love and affection. Pets which Rev. Duncan Swan has blessed over the years have included fish and a stick insect. This year they included hamsters, a horse, cats, a rabbit and lots of dogs – (and a few soft toy pets for good measure).
An event like a pet service is relatively easy to photograph because there is so much chaos that you just blend right in. I only use available light (which can be a bit of a challenge) so as not to be too intrusive with flash and not to alarm the animals. It is all about catching the moment and on an occasion such as this there are lots of moments with animals and children. However it is all totally unrehearsed and things happen quickly so you need full concentration.
I have prepared a series of four calendars for 2012 which can be brought directly from Lulu.com, an Internet publishing house. They are available world-wide.
The Calendars come in two sizes – Premium and Standard. Premium is 13.5″ x 19″ and the Standard is 11″ x 8.5″ (11″ x 17″ open). They are printed on high quality gloss paper and bound by a sturdy spiral binding. The calendars have United Kingdom & US key dates & holidays. Premium calendars are £19.50 and Standard are £12.50 (or the equivalent in other currencies).
Click on the images to link through to Lulu.com where you can preview the whole calendar before buying. : )
This is the first in a series of four calendars which I will publish over a four-year period. The set will eventually include all 43 Cathedrals of the Church of England in alphabetical order. The 2012 calendar includes the first 12, from Birmingham to Durham.
The proceeds of the sale of this calendar will go to St Mary’s Church, Caterham, Surrey and to cover the costs of production.
Scenes of England It’s a Small World
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Images 2012 Church of England Cathedrals – Series 1
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Africa 2012 Cities of Europe – 2012
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Scenes of England It’s a Small World
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Images – 2012 Church of England Cathedrals – Series 1
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Africa 2012 Cities of Europe – 2012
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This is the twelfth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
Here is a set of four images taken yesterday near Cheltenham in England. Autumn has come late and this was a bright, mild, mid October afternoon. I have used a technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range) which uses a series of bracketed images taken at different exposures (+1, 0, -1 in these images) to achieve a greater range than is possible with the sensitivity of a normal digital sensor. Using software it is possible to integrate the images (usually 3 or 5) to achieve a very sharp image with details across the full range of the image. If overdone this can begin to look very artificial and many photographers are deliberately pushing the method as a creative technique. I prefer to mute the effects. There is a great deal of experimentation to be done!!
This is the eleventh Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
Macro photography is the art and science of taking hyper-closeup photographs. I have enjoyed macro photography immensely. It takes you into another world which looks very alien but which is actually around us all the time. A certain amount of specialised equipment is used such as marco lenses, extension tubes etc. but you will be surprised how much you can do with the equipment you have, assuming you are prepared to get up close to whatever spider, fly or other critter you want to capture.
Today I came across two dead ‘daddy-long-leg’ insects on my windowsill (A crane fly in the insect family Tipulidae). I took out my macro lens (see the setup I used at the end of this post) and a couple of hours later here are the results – Critter Art.
Here are the unfortunate insects on the windowsill – there are hundreds of them around at this time of year but I have never looked at them this closely before.
The equipment I used was as follows:-
(* The insects were already dead – promise – but it does tend to make them more cooperative.)
This is the tenth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
Generally the aim is to freeze motion and to avoid motion blur but that is what rules are there for – to be broken. I have a few images in my collection where the sense of motion makes the image. The instant is prolonged – a butterfly takes off, a baboon leaps with its baby, a thief escapes and a puppy runs for the pure joy of it. To be different (and to add one to the Series of Four) a fly is frozen in flight….
An extra image – a fly frozen in motion as it flies.
This is the ninth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
Urban street photography is a favourite of many photographers. Catching a passing moment, finding a space which expresses and exposes a city’s sole, seeing the unseen and the mundane. Street photography needs to be approached with care, sensitivity and not a little boldness.
Clockwise:
This is the eighth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
These are four English landscapes taken in the ‘Home Counties’ – Surrey and Kent – within a 20 minute drive or so from my home. You can see where the English masters such as Turner and Constable got their skies and clouds from. Using black and white emphasises the contrast and drama of the images, as does using different portrait and landscape formats.
This is the seventh Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
These are four portraits were taken in ordinary every-day circumstances, a day out on an office retreat, on a walk on the cliffs, sitting in the pub, an ID photo. Black and white increases the drama of the images, as does pushing the contrast. It emphasises that any shot can can be special and every shot should be taken with that mind.
This is the sixth Blog in the “Series of Four” series. Each blog focuses on a different aspect of photography, either technical or creative. To see the full set of “Series of Four” blogs, click here.
What would a walk in the forest for a four-inch photographer look like? Changing the perspective can open up a whole different world. Lighting can be a challenge.
All of these were shot in the woodlands of the North Downs in Surrey, England which are within a mile of where I live except the bottom right image which was shot near Fresvik in Norway.
