Early morning walk by Chichester Harbour

Having really enjoyed the results of my visit to East Head last Friday, the next morning my wife and I walked our dog from Dell Quay to Birdham Pool along the footpath which adjoins Chichester Harbour.

When we arrived we immediately enjoyed the early morning light coupled with similar cloud formations to the previous day. The temptation was just too great - the little Olympus E-PL3 with its standard kit lens, had to come out of my jacket pocket and be fired up. A few quick shots later and the pick of the bunch is shown below. It works well in colour but the black and white conversion is my preferred choice.

By the time we had finished our walk and returned to the car, the clouds had lifted to be replaced by clear blue skies and the opportunity to photo the quiet stillness of the early morning had gone. "Win the morning and win the day" as my uncle used to say.

Chichester Harbour at Dell Quay
Olympus E-PL3 14-42mm kit lens @ 27mm f5.6 1/400 ISO200

Photo opportunities - always have a camera with you

So often when out and about, I see something and say to myself if only I had my camera with me. Every photographer will have uttered those words at some time and probably more than once! Well from now on I will try and avoid that mistake. I will also follow the saying which states - 'the best camera, is the one you have with you'. How true is that! The next couple of images were taken on the way to somewhere else, with no intention whatsoever of releasing the shutter on the journey but on both occasions I did have a camera in the car.

The first is a shot of the late afternoon light on the South Downs in West Sussex between the villages of Amberley and Storrington. This was captured with the Olympus EM5 and 45mm 1.8 prime lens. Its not the best landscape photograph I have ever taken but I think its quite pleasing and I wouldn't have it at all, if I hadn't got the camera with me.

Festival of Speed 2012 - The Last Post

This is the third and last entry about the Goodwood Festival of Speed which took place at the end of July this year. The two earlier entries were about the Art of Design and The People respectively. This entry completes the series and is simply intended to show an overall picture of the event. There is no particular theme other than trying to capture the true essence of this remarkable event which draws thousands of spectators every year.

None of these images would win a photographic competition, but they were not taken for that reason. They are a record of the event itself which I enjoy visiting as often as can. It allows me to combine my interest in photography with my love of motor cars.

In a couple of weeks time I will be at the Goodwood Revival Meeting so expect some more images from that event but in the meantime here is my final selection of shots from the Festival of Speed.

Above each image I have added a short description and my customary Exif data. All the shots were taken with either a Nikon D90 or Olympus E -PL3.

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The custom built display which is constructed on the front lawn of Goodwood House every year is always something special and can often be seen from miles around. This year the theme of the display celebrated Lotus racing cars through the years.
Nikon D90 35mm f6.3 1/1250 ISO200

Festival of Speed - The People

This is the second post relating to the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It's been a busy summer so it has taken me a while to complete this entry and there may still be one more to come!

This event is wonderful for its cars but also for the people who drive them or indeed simply spectate. Hopefully these images give a flavour of 'the people' at Goodwood.

Its twenty years since the Festival of Speed came to Goodwood, courtesy of the Earl of March. It's grown and grown, year on year, but one person who has regularly been invited but never come, made his debut appearance on this occasion - Alain Prost or 'The 'Professor', the great Formula One champion of days gone by.

Alain Prost and the Earl of March
Olympus E PL3 45mm f2.5 1/400 ISO 200

Olympic Torch in Bognor Regis

16th July 2012 and the Olympic Torch arrives in the seaside town of Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Despite the prospect of rain the crowds turned out of force to line the High Street. The public gathered and waited; the torch bearer getting closer and closer, and so the rain came too and got harder and harder. What a summer! Union Jacks matched umbrellas in number as the torch finally came into sight. The crowd cheered, waved and I stood on a small set of steps, Olympus E PL3 in hand with the Lumix 20mm ready for the flame, still alight - well just.

The whole occasion was a great photo opportunity. The people of Bognor, colour and the sense of anticipation were very evident. I like street photography and this gave me some shots I enjoy. I hope you will enjoy them as well.

Olympic Torch bearer braves the elements

He's here at last and everyone is soaking wet but enjoying themselves.

Olympus E PL3 20mm f1.7 at f3.5 1/320 ISO 320

Festival of Speed 2012 - Art of Design

In an earlier post I referred to this annual event which I attended on two of the four days. The weather on the Friday was mixed with rain showers in the morning but Saturday was much better with blue skies and warm sunshine. Something of a rarity this summer even though it did not help my hayfever.

On the first of my two days I used the Olympus E PL3 as I thought this camera combined with the three fast prime lenses would encourage a more artistic approach, experimenting with depth of field etc. On the Saturday I reverted to the DSLR a Nikon D90.

I have been to this event on a number of occasions and its all too easy to take photographs of 'whole' cars followed by more of the same, either moving or still. So this year I tried to concentrate on taking some other images which would still say 'Festival of Speed' to the viewer but had a more specific theme. This is likely to be the first post of a short series on the Festival of Speed. This one reflects on the 'Art of Design'. Yes, images of cars but perhaps simplified in composition and rarely showing the car in its entirety, although the first of these images breaks this rule straight away! It's the JPS Lotus 72 which graced the huge sculpture which stood at the front of Goodwood House. After a morning rain shower the sun broke through the clouds momentarily and lit up the sculpture and beautiful lines of this famous Formula One car of the 1970's.

John Player Special Lotus 72

Olympus E PL3 Panasonic 20mm f1.7 at f7.1 1/1600 ISO200

Chichester Harbour - Dell Quay in June

Chalk writing on the blackboard outside the pub said quite simply 'Coming soon - the Summer'. Sadly this was a rather optimistic statement or just wishful thinking by the landlord, as a number of camera club members gathered to try and capture this superb location. It was grey, not that warm for June and the light was poor. So often Chichester Harbour is bathed in glorious evening light - the golden hour - at least thats what we had hoped for, but not today.

Instead it became clear that a different approach was necessary so I thought about monochrome or black and white. The old boat yard should be a place to find some interesting relics and compositions. This was an evening when normally I would have said the light is too poor for photography, but forced into a situation where the camera had to go to work, it was a surprise to me what I could find. Not my normal approach to a subject but an interesting lesson in observation, tonal contrast and depth of field. I didn't want to keep changing lenses so I stuck with the 45mm for all the shots with the exception of the last image when I used the 12mm.

I hope I have captured something of the atmosphere of the location particularly the boat yard itself. Yes, some of the subjects are rather typical of this type location but I think the black and white treatment brings out the texture and tonal values of the subjects.

All images were taken hand held with the E-PL3, shot in RAW and then converted into B&W in Lightroom. Some cropping, sharpening and levels adjustments to improve contrast and tonal range.

45mm ISO200 F4.5 1/320

Local fete

The local school and church fete always provides a good photo opportunity and this year was no exception. Fortunately the weather stayed fair. I decided to use my Olympus E PL3 which I only acquired a few weeks ago, together with three prime lenses - the Panasonic 20mm and the Olympus 12mm and 45mm. I am really enjoying this new kit; its so portable and discreet when you are trying to take one or two candid images. 'Zooming' with your feet as opposed to twisting a barrel on a lens makes you think about your own position and compostition well before the shot is taken. More practice is required but the early results are pleasing and I love the sharpness of these excellent lenses.

Here are a small selection of the images taken, all shot in RAW and converted in Lightroom with minimal manipulation which included some sharpening.

Lift me up, I can't see

20mm f7.1 1/320 ISO 200