Category: All the Series of Four posts

Series of Four #8 – English Landscapes in black and white

Series of Four

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.

English Landscapes

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.

  • The top two images are from Penshurst in Kent, England.  They were taken in September 2011. 
  • The third was taken near Shere in Surrey, England shortly before a storm in September 2008.
  • The fourth shot is of a Post Office in Kent, England, taken in May 2009.

 

Series of Four #7 – Stark portraits

Series of Four

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.

Stark portraits

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.

 

Series of Four #6 – Perspective at the forest floor

Series of Four

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.

Perspective at the forest floor

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.

 

 

Series of Four #5 – Cold Trees

Series of Four

This is the fifth 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.

Cold Trees

These are monochromatic images in blue.  They capture the eery atmosphere of a very cold misty morning with low light and not much detail in the landscape except these trees which seemed to rise out of the cold earth.  They make very simple but provocative images.

These images were shot on 1 January 2009 near a village on the border between France and Switzerland.

Series of Four #4 – Fireworks

Series of Four

This is the fourth 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.

Fireworks

Fireworks are a popular subject for enthusiasts.  Getting it right and capturing unique and strange images takes time and effort though.  I prefer to trim the images down and go for the simplest, cleanest shots which often do not look like pyrotechnics at all.  Getting correct exposures and keeping the images sharp are key.

All the images were taken in Caterham, Surrey, England on the evening of November 6, 2010.