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.

 

 

Event Photography – The Ordination

The day

     2nd October will be the anniversary of Stephanie Nadarajah’s Ordination to the Priesthood for all the years to come.  Here are a selection of images from the day including a band of supporters travelling to Southwark Cathedral in South London from St Mary’s Caterham, a few shots in the Cathedral (though not of the actual Ordination Service because we were all involved in that as worshippers and not as photographers) and then during Steph’s first communion celebrated in the evening at St Mary’s parish church, Caterham. 

If you would like copies of these images, please contact me (Len Abrams) at info@seasonimages.com. 

 

Photographic points

     Event photography is a particular avenue of professional photography with its own demands and rewards.  This is the first ordination service of Anglican (Episcopalian) priests which I have photographed, which I did at the request of the parish.  Photographing church services is a specific challenge as it needs to be done with sensitivity to the people and the ceremony being conducted.  I therefore do not use flash or other special lighting which requires high ISO settings, slow shutter speeds and wide open apertures, all of which calls for a steady hand.  On the occasion of this ordination I was intent on capturing the involvement of parishioners, friends and family as it is very much a community event as well as being a very important milestone in the life of those being ordained.  I wanted to capture both symbolic images and intimate moments, together with some of the activities around the event.

 

 

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.