Magnolia Buds

I took so many photographs of the magnolias but I am keeping this one. I love the bud and that it looks like a lipstick. I like the pink base the slight out of focus the colours and the grain. Would like to make more images with these textures.  

Face Masks in the Making

Just some of the thousands of masks made by my friends and me. 

The mask making started just before lockdown in the on the 19th March, it was a Thursday night. I carried my sewing machine all the way down Wells highstreet to Loaf, where Lois had organised the sewing of face masks for the bluebird care company. 
 

They couldn't get any PPE and what started with an order for 200 turned into thousands. I made a pattern from a dust mask and got it online with instructions for free and added ready made cotton washable masks to the website for £5 incl postage. The aim was make them cheap enough for everyone who wanted one but to encourage people to leave the medical masks for the carers and medical staff who needed them most. 
The UK should have been more prepared and had stock of and access to PPE for everyone. We never thought our skills would be needed to make face masks. 

Masks then became political with the right being above using them and the sensible leaders asking people to wear them in shops, supermarkets and public transport. 
They about were keeping others safer from your coughs and sneezes, rather than you safe from others. Social distancing and hand washing still came first.

Tulips April 2020

Tulips photographed in April 2020. Soon after lockdown. I'm really pleased with the texture of the petals. 

Daffodils April

Daffodils felt more of a challenge. They aren't these big classical blooms like peonies and rose or even the magnolias. Nor are they delicate fairy like flowers, they are the humble Daffodil.

These were the miniature kind and the sun was making them extra gold in the light. What I saw with my eye, the luminescence of the petals didn't translate.
I edited them in lightroom bringing the black and shadows down to set the completely against a black background instead of the grass.

I'm happy with the dark greens, the grain and the tone of the yellow. They look more like they are lit by the light of the moon instead of the afternoon sun.

The crackly details in the black and white image add more texture

Canon 5D 50mm f/1.8

Magnolia Flowers April 2020

The magnolia flowers are stunning to see in person this April but as with all flowers they dont seem to be quite a straight forward to capture as I thought.
I thought every picture would be of the beautiful magnolias but for me the branches got in the way and looked nearly next to the swan like petals of the flowers. Typically I just wanted to see the pretty parts.

All photographed on the Canon 5D with a 50mm f/1.4 lens

The 1st couple are extreme close ups with added grain that I love. I think I might be o the Pictorialism end of photography or Romanticism. I'm manipulating the images to my view of beauty.
I love the blush colours. 50mm Lens f/1.8

The 2nd set is sharper and more natural. Again focusing on the central stamen. 50mm f/2.8

The 3rd set I have reduced the clarity to 'prettify' the image taking it to a dreamy de-focused picture. 50mm f/2.8 with lightroom manipulation cooling and de-saturating the colours.

The 4th I wanted just the blush pinks and blues and with a soft focus in both colour and black and white versions. Reducing some of the black so the stems don't create too much contrast. 50mm f/2.8

The 5th a higher saturation of pink and blue for a less romantic more tropical sharper image. 50mm f/2.8

The first images to me are more interesting. I think I'm looking for a 1930s - 1950s texture to my images. Photographs from this period in Harpers Bazaar - Louise Dahl Woolfe, Alfred Steiglitz, Immogen Cunningham etc. have a feel to them. Strong and beautiful and capturing an idea of beauty not just something as an object in front of them.

Sunset Over Covid 19

The world is looking increasing beautiful here in Somerset. The quietness and unusual hazy summer like days in early April easily make you forget the horrendous reality of the pandemic and our fragile existence.
I cant help thinking that the planet doesn't need humans.

This view could almost be in the early days of  Los Angeles. I love the contrast of the illuminated building and and grainy texture in low light. I need to start using a tripod though.

Pink Camellias 2020

Looking at photographing or presenting every image in black and white and colour. I'm lacking to vocabulary to write about what and why I am choosing images.

I like black and white for its clean simplicity without the distractions or added ideas colour brings.
I like colour for being able to present the ideas that colour brings.

These Camellias are very bold and pink and extra frilly like Barbara Cartland.  I wanted the colours to be saturated like I see them but softened so they aren't quite so brash. They remind me of 1950s floral dress prints.

I prefer the more perfectly formed blush pink variety I first photographed and the romance they portrayed.

One of the reasons I don't really like talking about the photographs is because its difficult not to sound pretentious!

Magic Flowers

These tiny little flowers are found under some trees in the garden and come alive like magic in the evening sunlight.
I wanted to capture those little punches of colour with light making the luminescent. I'm drawn to the darker shadows and have increased the black.

I also really love photographing flowers, I need to pick some and try a still life.


Canon 5D 50mm lens f/2 Edited in lightroom

Wood Seat

Everyone is talking about isolation creation. We are at the end of week 2 of lockdown in the UK due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The idea of isolation - a quiet time to feel creative again, to slow down and get inspired, was a dream.
Being self employed means I couldn't just stop the way others have. I can't put myself on furlough and I'm in a limbo between half working and half taking a very much needed break. I've been running on empty for a while.

Taking just a few moments to photograph things I find beautiful, makes me feel motivated to create new work again. Maybe once I've done my jobs I'll treat myself to more photographs.

Above is an old wooden seat made from a tree trunk. The grain is beautiful.
Photographed on Canon 5D 50mm f/22 - edited in Lightroom

Magnolias

Magnolia flowers on black - in black and white and in colour.

Bath, 2018