Gone West

Today I am happy to say I have gone West again and to those observant people amongst you, no, I'm not in Sligo.

I'm actually back in wonderful West Cork and this fishing boat bears a registration mark just to confuse you. As you may (or may not) know, West Cork boats normally carry an S registration mark but this guy has 'gone fishing' outside the home territory of the vessel.

Frustrated Photographer

Over the next few years, the little instamatic was able to provide me with a school-girl record of my holidays and visits, My friends also had the use of similar cameras on these occasions but the resulting envelopes from Bonusprint contained images of a very different style. Whereas I was scorned for not taking yet another snap of what I considered to be, silly face-pulling teenagers in front of an obscured national monument, (nothing changed there then!) I was striving to capture a perfect picture-book image of the monument, such as those I had admired in travel books. Clearly with much still to learn, I was looking for the picture though, and this is about as good as it got from a 126 negative.

I would set up photo shoots, on this occasion, a bumper crop of home produced apples becoming the subject. How silly it seems now, a fixed focus, poor grade lens in what amounted to a plastic box, with a big plastic cube temporarily fixed on top. This would allow four attempts at flash photography. The cost of processing and replacement flash cubes ever constant in my pocket-money world meant the photo shoot would consist of one, maybe two shots at best.

However that dreaded thing, parallax was the ruination of so many of what I had hoped to be, lovely pictures, I soon became a frustrated photographer. Each time I received an envelope of new prints in the post, I would take them to retired lady I knew to get an opinion. Miss Round was a member of the local camera club, so any word of praise from her would be considered an expert appraisal but I fear all too often she was being kind! I would explain what I had hoped to achieve, what I had seen but failed to get and what should have been in focus and wasn't. Over a cup of tea one day she gave me an important recommendation.
"You will need to get a much better camera to do that"

I had a goal.

Photographic Progression

It would be 1977 before I got my hands on a fixed focus, unbranded instamatic that took 126 cassette film but it was a camera. Surplus to extended family requirements, it was handed to me on semi-permanent loan and so I was able to call it my own. I was chuffed.

Whilst the whole experience of using such a camera lacked emotion, (wind on; raise to the eye; point; press shutter - unsatisfying clicky-thud; job done) they fulfilled the need of the masses who seldom wanted more than just a 'proof I was there' shot. 

My first image out of this camera was just that- a rather chilly Silver Jubilee street party on 7th June 1977.

It will win no awards, it will never make it into the national archive, but it was my next foray into photography.

In the Beginning

 

Where did I begin with photography?
Well, right here with this picture of a dear old cat called Judy.

One May evening when I was barely twelve years old, my aunt threw down a challenge.
"I wish we could get a picture of my cat lying here on this hedge"
I thought for a while, ran back to my home nearby, and breathlessly asked my dad if I might be able to borrow his camera. Fully expecting a straight refusal, he calmly asked me instead what I was planning to take with it. I had to explain as quickly as I could, concerned that the fickle feline might decide to change her location of repose. Mindful of the urgency, my dad felt it was still important to take a moment for a quick lesson in how to use the Agilux agifold, loaded with a 2 1/4" square roll film.

As he set the basics, he gave me piece of advice which was incomprehensible to me then but has got me out of trouble on more than one occasion since.
"If you don't know what F stop is going to be right, set it on F8 as a good measure"
With the camera opened up, wound on and set at F8, all I needed to do was calculate focus, point and then press the shutter.

On my return to the location, I was relieved to find said cat still doing what they like doing best. So after judging the focus (no auto-focus here) I positioned Judy in the viewfinder, held the camera as still as I could and squeezed the shutter button. In a moment of recklessness, I dared to wind on the film for just one more picture, and that, as they say, was that.

As was the norm back then, it was some months before the results of my photographic initiation were revealed. It was as it was; a cat on a hedge. But no one had warned me about parallax. I had thought that Judy would be beautifully positioned in the middle of the frame, instead, she was down and left a bit. (Actually, a nice bit of rule of thirds!) This was lesson number two, don't trust what you see in the viewfinder unless it is a TTL. (TTL came much, much later for me though) F8 had done what it needed- allowed a reasonable focus on the subject and thrown the background out of focus a little. Here was my first photograph.

So, I began with a cute domestic cat, and never in my wildest dreams then, would I have expected myself to be looking down the lens at some amazing big cats in their natural surroundings, some thirty-five years later.

I feel exceedingly privileged.

Window in the Weather

 

As most photographers will appreciate, a window in the weather is always welcome, and that is just what happened yesterday.

After an overcast encounter with woody-woodpecker during the morning, the clearing of the cloud forecast by our regional weather girl, duly happened early afternoon. Not wanting to miss this remarkable moment, I grabbed my camera bag, tripod and car keys, and with mutt eagerly on my heels, we jumped into the car to see what the sunshine would highlight.

The local countryside took on a beautifully different appearance after the flat light of the last, I don't know how many days. A subtle mist just lingered along the hedgerows, whilst the still low angle of the sun, highlighted the textures of the newly drilled or newly sprouted fields. We cruised the lanes for creatures of interest, in a manner that some may have found questionable, but apart from old crows, there was nothing worth pulling over for. My attention would have to switch.

On reaching one of the few high points in the area, a pleasing scene came into view. The sun was just kissing the honey tones of the church tower and the mist softened the scene without the need for a filter. The leaf-less trees, just starting to show a slight shift in colour and the fields in the foreground glowed a brilliant green. This is just what grabbing the moment is all about, and what better way to do it than appreciating our local landscape.

The Last Laugh

In the park where I walk, there is an avenue of old oak trees that are over 500 years old.  Each year, another tree shows signs of age and sadly, disease with the thinning of the crown. Each winter, another bough will crash down from one or more of the trees. Each walk, I marvel at how fortunate I am to be able to enjoy the amazing ecosystem that is supported within these majestic icons of the British countryside.

Today was no different.

Whilst mutt, as usual, had her head firmly planted down a rabbit hole at the root of a tree, I had my head tipped back to look up into the branches of the tree.

It was impossible for me to ignore the loud hammering from a branch way up above me, followed by a similar hammering, just as an echo, from somewhere on the other side of the park. 

It could only be one thing - woodpeckers (green or great-spotted I am not sure but woodpeckers none-the-less). It is difficult enough to see these birds up in a tree at the best of times, as they are experts at moving around to the other side of the branch from the viewer. Today, it was even more difficult due to the overcast conditions, so although it wasn't a good visual day, it was certainly a good audio day. As I tried to see where the bird was playing hide-and-seek, a tremendous commotion took place above me as two more woodpeckers landed in the tree and a territorial spat broke out.

No sooner had these two bully-boys arrived, than they were off again, their distinctive bouncy flight giving their departure away. As all activity died down again, one last defiant 'laughing' call rang out around the park.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greenwoodpecker/index.aspx

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greatspottedwoodpecker/index.aspx 

Wandering Jewce

Whilst out for a girlie lunch yesterday, we wondered just how far a juice could wander whilst we were waiting for our meal to arrive....

By this measure, service is obviously good in this establishment.

Film by Ailec. Animation assistant Secnarf