MorseBlog

Last night the forecast was for the possibility of fog and with that in mind I got my film holders out of the freezer and pulled my large format kit together. I did not have expectations for much fog however but there would be some frost as well.  Last time I was at Holme Fen I arrived before sunrise. This turned out to be a mistake. As I went about shooting those frosty scenes I became worried that there was not enough frost on its own to make a good image. When the sun did come up the forest got a lot more interesting. The warm morning light combined with the vapor the sun's rays were driving off the forest floor added misty sunbeams. By this time I was out of film and decided to go home however. I did linger and watch in wonder the beauty around me. Something one can regret while photographing is not taking time to be in the surroundings and absorb and appreciate the mood. I often stop and have some coffee and a snack just for this purpose (Moll...

(Note: This has the black and white photos I processed today while I wait for the color film to be processed. The color should be here in about 10 days. Placeholders for color photos marked <<>>)  With the forecast for frost at -7C, Mollie and I got up early and got the car defrosted, extra warm clothes for me. Hot coffee and energy bars for me, Steaklets for Mollie. I had brought the film out of the freezer the night before. A real mix of Hp5+, 1 sheet of Ektachrome EPN, some Astia, 2 sheets of Portra 160, and some Ektar.  We loaded up the car and got going. One would hope for some hoar frost but the weather was blowing in from the west so a long way from moisture here in East Anglia. We slipped down the dark salt-wetted roads against the prevailing commuter traffic. High beams flicking up and down in acknowledgement. As we got closer to Holme Fen the sky lightened in the east and was mostly cloud free but for a gossamer of thin patches.  I had an idea of whe...

I recently made 4 images of a set of leaves in my village. The colors looked spectacular as I walked Mollie in the morning. So I set off from my house with the Intrepid pre-set and focused for looking at the ground so I would minimize the setup time and fuss in public. I hate photographing, especially large format, with an audience as I feel self-conscious and then have difficulty focusing on the task. Having the camera pre-set and mounted on the tripod slung over my shoulder should minimize my time there.  It turned out to be more troublesome than I thought as the wind was strong and gusty and I had underestimated the degree to which the wind moved the leaves. Indeed minute to minute my entire palette of leaves might change as new ones dropped in and others were scrambled on the ground.  I setup the tripod in an area of leaves. It was difficult to decide a 'composition' as it was just a mat of random leaves. My first photo I took on Fuji Astia. I have a lot of the stuff and i...

Last fall I made a concerted effort to get out ahead of the change in fall color to re-flex the old muscle memory of the 4x5 camera. Large format is much more meticulous than my other cameras and as such requires more attention to detail and a longer list of adjustments to make. It is thus more error prone.  I have done the same again this year and took along our new puppy Molly. She is great fun to have on walks though at time she does get bored and so I have to stop and play with her. Its all fine now as nothing is critical. I am not sure how it will go if I find the light changing rapidly and she needs attention at the same time! Molly at Holme Fen in August I got out to Holme Feb twice recently since my holiday in the USA. The first day was mid-morning and not special in any way. I went to an area I frequent and found some trees that have figured in other photos. The first one I liked the white simpler silver birch against the twisted dark forms of the oaks behind and to the le...

I had recently received my developed film from an earlier trip to Monk's Wood. I liked one image a lot but I got sloppy with the focus and so what could have been a really good image is mostly a disappointment. So yesterday evening I thought 'I'll go back for a quick trip and try and re-take that image'. The light looked promising that afternoon but I got of to a late start and by the time I parked the sun was well down. I quickly donned the gear and rushed off.  I arrived and the sun had washed off the meadow grass and was creeping up the trees on the edge of the meadow. They glowed with an intense orange while some clouds picked up the light as well. I rush over to the subject tree and see what I feared had happened. In the intervening week the wind had stripped the leaves of my tree!  Not wanting to get skunked I found an aspen and thought I could catch some of the glow of the setting  sun as well. I worked fast to compose and focus the image. The bright sky meant ei...

I almost didn't bother getting out of bed when the alarm sounded at 5:30AM. The weather report indicated clouds and some rain. Not promising and I have been through a lot of film this past week. However I thought there won't be much color left soon as I heaved myself out of bed and walked quietly downstairs.  I found the cafetiere washed it out and boiled the kettle. Meanwhile I got into my insulted hiking trousers, found the dry pair of boots and some dry socks. Made the coffee and filled the thermos. I stealthily went out the door with my pack, thermos and boots. I placed these in the boot of the car. It feels unseasonably warm. It is very dark with some light through the partings of the clouds. Venus shines brightly through a gap and the waning sliver of moon glows behind some thin clouds. There is a thin fog but not terribly promising.  I make the drive in silence. I really don't like the radio to break the relative quiet of my mood in...

The last few days have been poor photography-wise. A lot of wind and some rain have been blowing through England the last few days. It is disheartening to see the leaves stripped from many of the trees around my house. It seems the fall season of color will be short and strange this year.  I did get out this afternoon. I was feeling anxious (perhaps the upcoming American election) so thought a walk in the woods with a camera would help. I decided on Holme Fen as I had not been there for a week.  As I drove down the sky was bright and nearly cloudless near my home. However by the time I arrived clouds thickened over Holme Fen. This was a shame as the justification of bringing a camera on a windy day was the hope of some bright sunlight to keep shutter speeds up. I brought the Mamiya 645 Pro and had 2 frames of the Ilford 3200 Pro film I was shooting at ISO 1600 as an experiment in faster black and white. I plan to write up this experience when I finish the roll and get it devel...

I was looking forward to this morning for the last couple of days. The gale that has been blowing winds is finally done and a high pressure was due to park itself over the area. Finally we would have the first frost of the year (extremely late historically) and perhaps some fog. So I scraped the windshield (windscreen) and bundled myself into the care at 5:30am. The sky was deep blue with just a rim of orange on the eastern horizon. Venus was up as was the moon along with a couple of wisps of cloud. It was dead still.  It didn't feel that cold when I got out of the car. There was frost but the sense was it was barely freezing and hadn't been that cold for very long. I had been vacillating about where to go amongst my 3 local choices. I settled on Woodwalton Fen on the theory that with lots of water about the place perhaps that would improve chances of fog. On the way I didn't see any signs of fog patches so probably any choice was bound to disappoint on that front.  I pulle...