Sunday Outing: Sea Palling 15th February 2015

Today we ventured out to the cost. While there was no rain the weather was infinitely gloomy. So trusty tripod and filters in hand I experimented with long exposures.

© Katherine Broadbent

 

This is the shot I am happy with out of the 12 I took. Did a bit of editing to get it looking presentable. I'm still finding me feet so I don't think I will enter any long exposure into Wex Mondays until I get a bit better at the whole process. Any tips from my readers would be gratefully received.

 

I also snapped a shot with my iPhone.

 

© Katherine Broadbent

 

Edited on Snapseed. I have briefly tried the new Darkroom by Bergen app but I did miss the selective editing tool I'm accustomed to in Snapseed. I will be having more of a play Darkroom over the next few weeks and plan a review.

 

Sunday Outing: 18th January 2015 at Blakney

Today we went out to Blakeney. The pressure was on. I had planned to go out on Friday to shoot but low mood and lower temperatures caused me to stay at home watching movies...with my cat. Oh dear. The possibility of failing my goal of entering every Wex Monday was playing on my mind.

Pressure can sometimes work to your advantage. Personally it just got in the way for me.

The day was dull . I was feeling uninspired. I also felt very restricted as there were signs requesting we stick to the path to preserve newly sewn grass. Despite having my 24-120 I wasn't able to explore the smaller details in the foliage I had hoped to.

I learnt an important lesson. Don't leave things to the last minute. The more you shoot the more chance there is you get a shot that excites you. 


Here's my selection. Not sure which I will enter tomorrow.

I'm not particularly happy with any of them.
 
Here's why:

© Katherine Broadbent

The best creatively is very noisy - I'm not sure why... Poor exposure teamed with pushing the editing too far perhaps... I might go back and retake this shot. When the light is more favourable and I can set up my spot with a tripod and wait for the right moment.

 

© Katherine Broadbent

 

Monster From The Deep

© Katherine Broadbent

The best technically is a bit gimmicky.

For Wex Mondays I think I will have to go with the shot that is technically the best.

I've been feeling low and performing under par this week. Let's hope it doesn't continue.

For those interested I'm going to be working on a post exploring how mood can influence your creativity and work. If any one has any comments or relevant experience feel free to leave a comment below. Or tweet me @broad_ologie.

Wex Mondays: Week 2

So week 2 of Wex Monday and here is my entry:

© Katherine Broadbent

 

 

This is an intentionally abstract shot. I liked the subject it because it looks like old wrinkled skin, maybe an elephant?

 

I took this at Wells-Next-The-Sea. As the town is liable to flooding there are a lot of sea defences. If you're not familiar to the area you have to walk alongside a long tidal channel to get to the beach. While walking down I spotted what I thought was some thick gloopy mud where the dinghies are tied up. Turned out to be concrete poured over the rocks to stop erosion.

 

I took a few shots experimenting with framing and different sections. I thought this one was the most intriguing because the central shape looks like it could be a shoulder or other joint. I used high contrast to add to the abstract nature and also to convey the texture. As I mentioned I initially thought it was mud but was so surprised to touch solid concrete! I wanted to get the juxtaposition between the soft fold and the hard material.

 

I didn't place this week, there's a lot of good photographers involved! You can see the current leader board and this weeks winners the Wex Blog. I particularly liked the second place image, by Greg Whitton (last weeks winner)  a minimalist landscape. The winning shot by Chris Grimmer was sensational! A beautiful nebula shot, I love anything to do with space and stars at the moment!

Friday Adventures: 9th January 2015 at Wells-Next-The-Sea

Today I drove out to Fakenham for an appointment. Since I was feeling under the weather yesterday I decided while I was there I would pop over to Wells for a walk in the fresh air.

Of course, I brought a couple of cameras along for the ride! Namely my main camera a Nikon D300s and the Cannon ML35mm.

First thing was first. I checked the "3 C's"(as Nick dubbed them) were present and correct.

Camera, Cake & Coffee!

 

For the 35mm film I decided to do this time was take a quick snap with my phone to show what might come out on the film. I used the Willow filter on Instagram to emulate B&W film:

© Katherine Broadbent

 

© Katherine Broadbent

  

© Katherine Broadbent

 

© Katherine Broadbent

 

© Katherine Broadbent

 

© Katherine Broadbent

 

 

I'll do a comparison post once the film is developed.

 

These are the digital shots I was most happy with from today, edited:

 

 © Katherine Broadbent

 

 © Katherine Broadbent

Not 100% happy with this one. Will go back to it and see what I can do editing with fresh eyes.

 

  

Criss Cross  © Katherine Broadbent

 
  

 © Katherine Broadbent

 

 

I also met this lil guy who'd been washed up, alone, from Blakeney.

 

 



 

Initially I was quite concerned. After speaking to the coast guard they reassured me that he was probably just resting. As long as he wasn't injured he'd pop back into the sea and swim off. Which he did :)

 

One image I haven't included is one that I am thinking of submitting to Wex Monday - you'll have to wait till Monday to see that one(unless I shoot something else in the mean time)!

 

Sunday Outing: 4th January 2015 at Holkham

I needed a shot for Wex Mondays weekly competition, So Sunday we decided to go out to the North Norfolk Coast. I'd wanted to visit Holkham for a while so we picked there. There's Holkham Hall and the beach is boardered by march land and forest. So a great variety of potential subject matter.

I packed my Nikon D300s with 25-120mm Lens along with my Lomo LC-A.+.

Here's a selection of my edited digital images:

To be honest I am most excited about the double exposure I experimented with using the LC-A+. There is an amazing range of textures available at Holkham. So I hope to develop them soon to show you!

New Years Day: Great Yarmouth

Starting as I mean to go on, me and Nick decided to have an analogue day! While I have a 35mm SLR I really wanted to have a go with these two:

The Lomo LC-A+ was a Christmas gift from Nick and The Cannon AF35ML was a bargain I picked up on Ebay. The thing I love about the LC-A+ is that multiple exposures are a breeze! All you do is take your first image, flick a switch and your shutter is primed and ready to go for round 2!

The Cannon AF35ML is a reliable little shooter with the convenience of a built in flash.

Both cameras allow you to set the ISO (which I can't on my 35mm SLR). This is an advantage if you want to shoot with ISO variable film or experiment with over/under exposure when your metering is automatic. I have a roll of Lomo Chrome Purple to experiment with later in the year which features ISO variable from 100 - 400. The higher the ISO the more intense the colour shift! 

New Years Day was spent walking up and down the seafront. But I don't have any photos to share yet since I shot on film! Here's one I took on Instagram to tide you over!

Sadly the Winter Garden has been closed for some time and fallen into disrepair. But this along with the overcast sky made for some atmospheric shots. I'd love to be able to go inside and shoot one day!

Where would you love to shoot? Is it local to you? Or do you have jet setting dreams?

 I got a few shots from outside, it's a lovely Victorian structure.

As it's off season we were able to park for free which was a bonus. It also made us walk further (and find more shots) because the free parking it quite far up the promenade. I finished off one roll, and got half way through two others. I think I will take the LC-A to the industrial estate where I work and finish off the current roll there.

Industrial buildings really inspire me! As you might have spotted in my previous post I have David Lynch's Factory Photograph's. I love this photo book because it made me realise that I am allowed to photograph whatever inspires me. It doesn't matter if it's traditionally beautiful or not. 

All that matters is that; whatever you photograph mean something to you.

If you're interested in David Lynch's photography, stay tuned, Factory Photograph's will be my first review later this month.