Winter reprise

It's been the warmest February on record, and it's true that for most of the month temperatures have reached double figures Celsius. But winter is having the last laugh before the onset of (meteorological) Spring towards the end of the week.

Watery suns, gusting winds, and barely-above-freezing conditions are what's on offer, and whilst it feels like spring is just around the corner when the sun shines, winter is reprising its role to see the season out.

© 2024

Almost as long as it took to build

This month - and with some fanfare - it was announced on national and local news websites that Salisbury Cathedral is now without external scaffolding. A major restoration of the cathedral commenced in 1986, and the East Gable (where the original building work was started 803 years ago) was blessed in September of last year. The project of restoration and repair took 37 years to complete; almost as long as it took to build the main building. 

© 2024. 

 

In the bleak midwinter

Winter has arrived, and I'm out long before dawn in sub zero (Celsius) temperatures, and a mind for a bit of experimentation. Tripods still have myriad uses, from long exposure times to precise composition, but their nuisance value is high if hiking any significant distance with one. Enter the Auto ISO function.

Choosing the shutter speed and aperture manually, today I'm letting the camera decide on the ISO setting for a normal exposure; applying exposure compensation as and when deemed necessary. Modern cameras, and modern editing software specific to noise reduction, are getting to the point of making sensor noise a thing of the past.

It also means I can leave my tripod at home.

© 2024

The first bite of winter

Winter proper has arrived, and the thermometer reads 3ºC in spite of the cloud cover. It's even trying to snow. 

© 2024 

Storm Henk

Storm Henk (do they name these things in a bid to desensitise us about their increasing regularity?) blows further north than forecast, although there are still some strong gusts of wind to deal with along the south coast.

It should be noted that these storms are nowhere near approaching the ferocity of a hurricane or typhoon; sea temperatures in Northern Europe are too low to create one. But where they do hit they can cause widespread flooding and some structural damage to buildings.

© 2024

First day; first light.

Starting the year as I mean to carry on? Probably not, but the pre-dawn walks are becoming something of a regular fixture with me, and finding something to photograph along the way is always a bonus. 

© 2024

Falling

Three weeks into winter, with 2 days until the solstice, and day and night time temperatures still hover around 11ºC. This makes pre-dawn starts all the more bearable, especially when walking, but I know the season has yet to bite.

The image of Branksome Chine beach was taken on a falling tide, 23 minutes after sunrise.

© 2023

Solo effort #2

Is it me, or are conditions like this just not photogenic? The sun has popped up over the horizon, and heavy cloud has rolled in from the west to produce a spectacular sky with light to match. I rattle off what would have been the equivalent of two rolls of film in my pre-digital days, anxious not to miss the show, but I'm amazed at the indifference to it all shown by others nearby.

People are out walking or jogging, or exercising their dogs - stopping to form small groups of threes and fours to chat - but nobody, and I mean nobody, seems to want to record the scene for posterity, mobile phones or not.

Deep down I'm secretly pleased, as I know nobody else has the shots I'm getting, but it does make me wonder.

© 2023

Solo effort #1

This particular structure on a local beach has been photographed many, many times before (self included); social media bears grim witness to that. I have even watched others form a queue, waiting patiently in line for the opportunity to take a near-identical image as the last photographer. 

I have no qualms about reusing the location today, because apart from the spectacular dawn light, I'm the only person there getting the shot.

© 2023

A piece of luck

There is often an element of luck with landscape photography. Conditions may well be ideal at a chosen location, but then something can happen that elevates the scene to another level.

To be honest, the light didn't get any more interesting that what you see, but the sudden stirring of pigeons feeding on the beach behind me produced this image as they flew overhead. I managed just three shots before the flock became too small in the frame.

© 2023

Making progress

I've yet to perfect this shot of the obelisk and surrounding countryside on Ballard Down, Isle of Purbeck, but I feel I'm getting close.

© 2023

Sheep

                                                                                     Rustic harmony

© 2023

When the sun goes low...

                                                                          Late afternoon, Boscombe beach.

© 2023

LSWR T3 - No. 563

The recently restored LSWR T3 class locomotive No. 563, running at Corfe Castle, Dorset. Built in 1893, the engine hadn't steamed for over 75 years.

Hving dodged the scrapyard in 1948 the engine was donated by the National Railway Museum to the Swanage Railway in 2017, whereupon it underwent 6 years of restoration, at a cost of £650,000.

© 2023

Leave it alone

Created by the design studio Lucid Creates, the 15 metre (49 foot) high illuminated portal that stands on a local beach has, naturally, attracted mixed feelings.

Part of the Arts by the Sea Festival, and only scheduled to remain there for a week, the arch has been mostly welcomed by the locals, as well as visitors to the area. But the inevitable 'criticism/objection/can't see the point of it' by a small minority to the local town council has prompted the latter to announce its early removal. 

However, it looks as if by the time the contractors that erected the work are booked to dismantle it, the arch will have remained in position for as long as intended

© 2023

Deal pier

               Just before the skies parted, and we ventured inland to sample the culinary delights of Deal, Kent.

© 2023

Cloud echo

                                                             A tree and its attendant cloud, Nine Barrow Down.

© 2023

On Ballard Down

                                                              One of the occasional inhabitants of Ballard Down.

© 2023
 

Rendezvous Street

                                                                 A wall in the Creative Quarter of Folkestone.

© 2023

The village of Corfe Castle

Named after the Norman castle ruins, Corfe Castle village nestles in a gap in the chalk ridge that makes up part of the Purbeck hills. The castle has to be one of the most photographed locations in the county, so it's something of a challenge to come up with something different.

Photographed on the descent of Nine Barrow Down (the Ordnance Survey map show 12 Anglo-Saxon tumuli), the Down is 196 metres above sea level at its highest point. It's something that separates the casual snapper from the more determined shooter, as the climb is either long and slow, or swift but steep, depending on which end you start.

There's a shot here that I have yet to perfect, and I know it will be down to chance when - or if - I get it.

© 2023