Completing the circle

I always like to start and end each year with a photograph. It took 5 days to get going at the beginning of 2015 due to bad weather, but as the forecast was promising for the first half of the day I could at least round things off on time.

Taking pictures of what can be found on the surf line is a favourite activity of mine, and this piece of seaweed is an example of a picture waiting to happen. The beach was littered with large clumps of the stuff, washed up by Storm Frank, but it's the smaller bits that made for better composition.



24-70mm F/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/50 second at f/8. Matrix metering. + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 160. Monopod



© 2015

Storm Frank is on its way

Storm Frank is on its way in. Like hurricanes, the powers that be have taken to naming bouts of bad weather. To my ears it sounds daft, but I guess it's one way of keeping track of the numerous winter storms that batter the UK, these days.

But before the 50 mph winds arrive I am presented with the opportunity to shoot some good light on a local beach.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/250 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 160



© 2015

The find of the day

Today's walk is at Dungeness, next to the nuclear power station. If a photographer fails to find a whole host of interesting stuff to shoot at this location then they may as well throw the towel in. On this visit, instead of concentrating on the obvious: fishing boats that are hauled up onto the shingle beach, I want to photograph buildings. Apart from the power station itself, the area is littered with small structures, either inhabited or abandoned; each one telling a story.

One such such place that we always visited for refreshments is the café adjacent to the railway station, but to our disappointment it is closed. Not being deterred by this setback, we repaired to the nearby pub: Britannia Inn. It turns out to be quite a find as it allows dogs in (which the café didn't), and they do a mean plate of chips as well as good tea/coffee.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/5.6. Spot metered from the building in manual mode. ISO 160.



© 2015

North Downs, Kent

I am spending the holiday weekend with Nic, and the post Christmas afternoon walk takes us along the North Downs, Kent. Although it is still very mild for the time of year the strong wind on top of the chalk ridge makes holding a camera steady something of a challenge.

Looking for a focal point, this lone silver birch against the setting sun fits the bill nicely.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/1250second at f/5.6.  Matrix metering. + 0.67 EV compensation. 0.9 Lee grey grad. ISO 400



© 2015

Luck of the draw

It is only for a few days of the year that the local piers stay open long enough to coincide with a sunset over the sea. Shutting at 4 pm during the winter months, it can be frustrating when an opportunity presents itself, but today I'm lucky.



12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/8.  0.9 Lee grey grad. ISO 160. Monopod



© 2015

Behind the sun

It's the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, so it's all uphill 'til summer. The moment of the solstice occurred at 4:49 GMT from where I was standing, and although today's photograph was taken a couple of hours prior to that, the sun managed to put in a cameo appearance for a few minutes to celebrate.



20mm f/1.8D EX DG Sigma lens. 1/320 at f/8. ISO 100



© 2015

The party's over

I fail to see the appeal of a party on a wet and windswept pier in the middle of winter, but the detrius of the "knees-up" does provide a subject for my lens.



20mm f/1.8D EX DG Sigma lens. 1/60 second at f/1.8. Matrix metering. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400



© 2015

About time, too

Two days before the winter solstice for all us Northern Hemispherians (is that a word?), and temperatures touch 16ºC in Southern UK. A brisk breeze makes it feel a bit cooler, but considering it is almost mid-winter, cold it ain't.

On top of that the ever-present cloud bank that seemed to have parked itself over the country has gone, for the time being at least, and I get something to point a lens at.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/8. Matrix metering.  +1 stop EV compensation. 0.9 Lee ND grey grad. ISO 160. Monopod



© 2015

No change

Well into December and the temperatures still hover around 13ºC. I occasionally have windows open at home, and if this isn't evidence of climate change then I don't know what is. What is certain is the ever decreasing amount of daylight as the winter solstice approaches; the sun almost set at 3:30 in the afternoon on Hothfield Common, Kent.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/125 second at f/7.1.  Matrix metering. + 0.67 EV compensation. 0.9 Lee grey graduated filter. Monopod.



© 2015

Still at it

Although I always used to enjoy art classes at school I liked them all the more when the brief for the day's lesson was Abstract. Gleefully let loose to use any medium we saw fit, the results were often bizarre and disappointing, but I did have fun doing it.

It's something I still have an interest in, but these days I use a camera. Taken on a local beach during late afternoon, the image is a juxtaposition of buildings reflected in water, and ripples in the sand.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/50 second at f/8. Matrix metering. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 160. Monopod



© 2015

Bournemouth East Beach

For the first time in a long time we get some sun on the south coast, and although cloud does arrive during late afternoon it still produces some beautiful light.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF- S Nikkor. 1/80 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering. ISO 160



© 2015