Last leg first - Walking the South Downs Way

Whist this blog is about my photography, there has to be an inextricable link between taking pictures with the things I do, the places I go and the people I meet. I don't 'set up' my photographs or continually 'pixel peep' by testing cameras, lenses or other equipment. I may from time to time comment on my gear, but for me this blog is more about my experiences and trying to capture those moments with a camera. Nor may I finish processing the images in the strict order they were taken. I will be drawn to a shot, work on it and then return to it later on, and in the interim start processing another image which could have be taken earlier or later.

So you might be asking yourself what is the meaning of the title to this particular entry? Well quite simply in September I walked 100 miles along the South Downs Way from Winchester to Eastbourne and as you might imagine I took many photographs. Although I have now finished processing quite a few of these, there are still others to do. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in the day. However I think I have completed work on the images I took on the last section of the trail as we  walked from Cuckmere Haven, up and down the Seven Sisters, over Beachy Head,  before the final descent into the East Sussex town of Eastbourne. So this entry covers the last leg of our walk and other posts in the future will I am sure cover other sections of the trail which took place in the preceding days.

Sunlight on Eastbourne as rain clouds circle all around.

Beachy Head lighthouse

Seven Sisters with Belle Tout lighthouse on the cliff in the far distance

Rain approaching the estuary at Cuckmere Haven

All the images in this post were processed in Lightroom 4, converted to black and white in Photoshop CS5 and the grain was added in Silver Efex Pro2 using the Kodak Tri X400 film preset.

Whilst writing this entry I remembered a great line in a Morecambe and Wise sketch from many years ago with the conductor Andre Previn, in which Eric Morecambe was trying to play a piece of Grieg's Piano Concerto.

Andre Previn said to Eric -
"You are playing all the wrong notes"
to which Eric famously replied -
"I'm playing all the right notes, not necessarily in the right order!"

So until the next leg of the walk, I hope you enjoyed the last one and if you have never seen this wonderfully funny sketch before, then here it is. The section of the sketch referred to above starts at around 10 minutes.

Walk completed - let the processing begin

On Monday my nephew and I successfully completed our challenge to walk the length of the South Downs Way - 100 miles from Winchester to Eastbourne. We had a wonderful time. We encountered wind and rain, beautiful sunshine and for two of the nine days, temperatures which must have been close to 30C. A bit too hot for walking but we had to keep going, and keep going we did.

In the process we managed to raise nearly £5,000 including Gift Aid for our chosen cause. The St Peter Project - a new church hall for Fishbourne.

The scenery along the trail was very special and there were plenty of opportunities to press the shutter on my Olympus OM EM5. I only took two lenses; the Panasonic f2.8 12 to 35mm zoom lens, together with it's sister the f2.8 35 to 100mm. I wanted to travel light, so this combination would cover most situations.

Many of the photographs taken were more record shots than images which might stand out from the crowd. So now the fun begins to go through several hundred RAW files and begin the editing process. It will take a little time and I do want there to be some order to their inclusion on this blog, whether by type or in chronological order, I have yet to decide.

By way of a taster here is one shot which perhaps typifies the scenery and the beautiful weather we enjoyed for much of the time.

Distant Windmill

The above image was taken from West Hill to the north of Brighton before we descended into the village of Pyecombe. The windmill you can see is called 'Jill', and is one of a pair, the other being called 'Jack'; they are a well known landmark on the South Downs.  The clouds were just stunning and the afternoon sun fell on 'Jill' and lit up its sails, so it shone like a beacon against the distant hills in the background.

I am so looking forward to processing more images and when I have, I hope they will provide a useful source of material for a number of forthcoming entries on this blog.

A 100 mile walk along the South Downs Way

For the past few months I been exploring the South Downs countryside near our home for two principal reasons. Firstly for my photography and secondly because in a few days time I will be starting on a challenge to walk the South Downs Way from Winchester to Eastbourne; a total of 100 miles.

Boots made for walking

The walk is in memory of my sister who died from cancer at Easter at the age of 59 and I am raising funds for a community project to build a new church hall near to where we live - The St Peter Project. My companion and fellow walker will be my sister's son Ian.

Ian and I

Donations have already exceeded all expectations and today have reached the landmark total of just over £4,000 including Gift Aid. I am truly grateful to everyone who has generously sponsored me and offered so much support.  For more information please see my Virgin Giving Money page.

Although I am a keen walker I have never done anything like this before, so hopefully I will complete the challenge without too many blisters! It will be a wonderful opportunity for me to spend more time with Ian, and to visit and photograph parts of Sussex I have not been to previously. It should provide me with plenty of material for this blog and my website alanfrostphotography.co.uk.

Inevitably though this blog will go a little quiet for the next two or three weeks but it's all for a good cause, and I am already looking forward to sharing with you many more images from this particular adventure.

The Hooksway Round

The weather so far this year has been quite poor and as a consequence Spring has been delayed. It's also quite often the case that when a Bank Holiday appears on the calendar, the forecast is for wet and windy weather, just when most people are looking forward to a long weekend or extended break. Fortunately this was not the case at the beginning of May. The skies cleared, the sun shone and the temperature rose. An ideal time to explore the beautiful countryside near where we live.

So I headed out with my camera and trusty walking stick which is made from twisted hazel with an antler handle, sourced from Islay in Scotland.

My trusty stick and the path ahead

I decided to follow a walk I had done many times in the past but for one reason or another had not undertaken recently. The walk starts in Hooksway just north of Chilgrove and after about a 3/4 mile joins the South Downs Way. As I walked along the Way I could clearly see Buriton Farm to the left with Pen Hill in the distance.

Buriton Farm with Pen Hill on the horizon

The approach to Pen Hill

The Way leads to the top of Pen Hill and I was instantly drawn to the three trees which are on the path, with chalk and flint fields on either side.

Pen Hill and three trees

After about two miles into the walk, I left the Way and took the bridleway through a delightful avenue lined with beech trees before returning to Hooksway.

Beech lined avenue near Telegraph House

Four and a quarter miles in total and a really lovely way to combine two of my pleasures in life - walking in glorious countryside with a stick in one hand and a camera in the other..... for my photography of course!


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A walk from East Lavant to The Trundle

It was such a beautiful morning on Sunday that I decided to take a circular walk from the West Sussex village of East Lavant to the Trundle at Goodwood and then return to the village via Chalk Pit Lane. Whilst I did not go out specifically for photography, I fully expected to stop and take one or two images in the lovely downland countryside to the north of Chichester.

I wanted to 'travel light' so I simply took the Olympus EM5 and two Panasonic zoom lenses - the 12-35mm and the 35-100mm, both of which have a constant f2.8 aperture. Packed away in my Billingham Hadley bag with a bottle of water and an OS Map (just in case), I had everything I would need to enjoy the walk.

The only other essential was my iPhone; not so that I could make or receive calls or emails but to use an App called Walkmeter. This great exercise App would plot my route on a map, tell me how far I had walked, my pace and also ascent and decent distances. Yes, I admit to liking gadgets but this particular App is going to be an important tool in the weeks and months ahead, as I have decided to walk the length of the South Downs Way later in the year. The Way is approximately 100 miles long, and walking West to East, it starts in Winchester and finishes in Eastbourne. Whilst I enjoy walking I don't consider myself to be that fit, so expect some more blog entries in the future about walking in the South Downs National Park coupled with photographs of my travels. It should be fun!

Looking west from Hayes Down

An old post alongside the footpath which runs across Hayes Down
between the River Lavant to The Trundle

A chalk path leading to The Trundle from East Lavant - aptly named Chalk Pit Lane

A view over fields from Chalk Pit Lane 

The Church of St Mary in East Lavant, close to the start of the walk.

For the record this circular walk is 4.75 miles long and in actual walking time it took about one hour and thirty five minutes. In reality it took quite a bit longer as I did stop from time to time to take some photographs!




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