Light and shade in Chichester

The Cathedral City of Chichester in West Sussex is a very special place. It also happens to be my home town; so I count myself very fortunate that I can easily photograph the streets and buildings at various times of the day without too much inconvenience.

The light at the end of the day is in my view when the city looks at its best and this entry includes a few images taken recently in and around the Cathedral. As a black and white photographer I am always looking for light and shade, contrast, texture and tone. Chichester provides me with a wealth of opportunities.

Last light in West Pallant

Shadows in the Cloisters

Chichester Cross

Candlelit Cloisters

Light and shade in East Pallant

Sometimes it's all to easy to forget what's on your doorstep and plan excursions far and wide to take that extra special shot. Whenever I photograph the City of Chichester I am reminded that long trips are not necessary and that the familiar can be just as rewarding.

Easter inside Fishbourne Church

In a departure from recent entries, I could not miss the opportunity to record the glorious interior of our local parish church at Fishbourne near Chichester in West Sussex, which was decorated with some quite stunningly beautiful flower arrangements this Easter. I wanted to photograph the work of many wonderful and gifted volunteers, as well as having a few images which could be published in the next edition of our Parish Magazine.

All the photographs were taken using the Olympus EM5 and Panasonic f2.8 12-35mm zoom lens, mounted on a Gitzo tripod and ball head.

The east window behind the altar of Fishbourne Church

All the pillars were decorated with flowers and Easter chicks!

Crosses and primroses beneath the altar

A floral decoration on the font

.....and just because I can't resist the temptation, I have converted a similar image to the first photo in this entry to mono. Although the beautiful colours have been removed there is still something about the black and white version.

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The Cathedral City of Chichester

I am very fortunate to be able to call the ancient city of Chichester my home. Whilst our house is not in centre of the city, its not far from where I live, so its a place my family and I frequently visit. From a photographic point of view it has so much to offer but because it's on my doorstep its all too easy to take for granted the splendour of it's buildings, the Cathedral in particular.

I had a couple of hours spare about a week ago, and as it was reasonably dry and bright, I decided to walk around and take a few photographs. I concentrated my time on the Cathedral and in Priory Park which is still within the Roman City Walls but over to the North East corner. As well as taking some well known 'tourist views' I also took one or two more close up shots which also say something about the place.

When I came to post processing, I converted the images in Silver Efex Pro2 but thought it would be appropriate on this occasion to apply a slight sepia tone, which to me introduced a little warmth and softened the picture. All the shots were taken with Olympus OMD EM5.

As mentioned before Chichester has a wealth of buildings and subjects to photograph. Add in seasonal variations and I am all too aware that I have only scratched the surface, so I am sure there will more entries on Chichester in the future. In the meantime here is a selection of the images I took that day.

Chichester Cathedral from Canon Lane.

Chichester Cathedral spire taken from Bishops Palace Garden which is to the west of the Cathedral

Bishops Palace Garden - a fine place to relax and do The Times crossword perhaps?

The imposing statue of St Richard which greets everyone as they walk up the shallow set of steps from West Street on their way to main west entrance of St Richard's Cathedral

The beautiful arches of The Cloisters

A bust of Queen Elizabeth II at the West Entrance to the Cathedral

A bust of the Duke of Edinburgh also at the West Entrance

Just one of the many attractive rows of houses in a side street near Priory Park

Priory Park and The Guildhall

A statue in Priory Park. Some think it is Moses, others Neptune, whilst it is also thought it could b a druid.

One final image of Chichester Cathedral

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