Spring greens

The greens of Spring are different to those of late summer; they're of a lighter tinge as they emerge on the trees and hedgerows. 

April is living up to its reputation for showers and changeable weather, and the north-westerly that has been blowing for the past few days is creating an almost endless stream of light and shade over the landscape.

© 2024

Swanage

The weather forecast for next few days shows promise for some good light, and assuming it's correct, I don't intend to waste any of it. 

Taken from the heights of Ballard Down on the Isle of Purbeck, the small seaside resort of Swanage on the Dorset coast basks in the spring sunlight.

© 2024

Three trees

It's been quite a while since I have visited Eastwell Park, but when I do I always make a point of photographing a group of three trees that stand on a ridge in a crop field.

For whatever reason, one of the set has now gone.

© 2024

How wide is too wide?

Although it's a mental adjustment I knew I would need to make, having renewed access to ultra-wide lenses is presenting more of a challenge with landscape photography than I expected. The ability to include so much of a vista is a distraction. Having dramatic light on the land - and spectacular skies all at the same time - is causing, at least to me for the time being, compositional problems.

Which to include the most of is the dilemma I'm currently faced with. Cutting the image in half along the horizon doesn't often work, but leaving out aspects of a remarkable terrain is frustrating. The landscape shooter's focal length for the 135 film format used to be 28mm, but I can go half that now should the situation demand. The temptation is clear, but trying to cram in all I see is not sitting easy with me. I need to re-educate my eye.

© 2024

Salisbury Rose

 A single rose, possibly left by an admirer at the base of a modern sculpture on the West Lawn of the cathedral.

© 2024

Wide-eyed (and late to the party)

Wide-angle lenses: during my early days of photography I was perplexed as to why anyone would want to make their subject appear smaller (rather than bigger) in the frame. But once I had realised their potential, and learned how to exploit it, the focal length became a firm favourite.

However, my move to digital shooting - marked by the start of this blog - took away that exploitation to some extent, governed by the APS-C sensor in the cameras I have been using. That is until this week.

Late to the party of the mirrorless camera? Possibly, although I did use the Micro Four Thirds system a few years ago, but weight considerations have finally pushed me into the Nikon Z system; the full-frame sensor; and the truly wide lenses that I have missed all these years.

© 2024 

Spring, spring tide

Spring tides (which have nothing to do with the season) occur monthly, varying in height according to the phases of the moon and its proximity to Earth. This afternoon's ebb read as 0.0 on the Admiralty Maritime Data web site at 16:30 hours; the time this photograph was taken.

You can't get any lower than that.

© 2024