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...

Author's Note: This post comes some weeks after the time these photos were taken. I had two undeveloped sheets of color film from this trip and I was waiting until I had accumulated some more to distribute the cost of postage. Alas the weather worsened with a pair of gales blowing though bringing unfavorable conditions for photography. I finally relented last week and sent in the two pieces of film.  Another wonderful morning with Mollie at Holme Fen. Again I chose the location this morning because Mollie enjoys it so much. We went out to the western-most covert. There is a large field there which I wanted to investigate. Also I wanted to check the oaks in that area to see how their color was coming along. We parked near the railway crossing and as I set up the tripod and camera Mollie became fascinated by the trains going by.  We met some nice women in the parking area who were returning from walking their dogs. They had to meet Mollie and Mollie had too meet them too. Then w...

I took Mollie to Holme Fen again this last week. She enjoys these woods especially much and I go there now for her preference as much as mine. She sprints down the trails and takes in the heady scents of this moist woodland. It seems to bring her more energy.  We were following some fainter trails grown over in some areas with now-brown bracken. She is a short rather sausagy terrier mix so her short legs present a challenge in thick undergrowth. She adapts however and tunnels under where she can but has also innovated a spy-hop where she jumps over the bracken. She leaps over a section with her body nearly vertical and this raises her head and she surveys where to jump next. In this way she can follow the trails deer have left with a series of these spy-hops. As her confidence has grown she enjoys jumping on the springy matted bracken as she romps about the forest.  We carried on down one of these trails for a while not really finding anything photographic. I had my Intrepid 4...

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 returned again this morning before dawn two weeks from my last visit. Even as I walked the trails by my headlamp I could see the place was radically different. Hardly a leaf left on a tree, though the aspen by the roadside is hanging in there. I had hoped for frost or mist or fog but misread the weather report and had instead a humid morning with light thin clouds and was entirely overdressed for the temperature.  I just bought a box of 48 sheets of expired Ektachrome 100S that the seller says was stored refrigerated so I decided to take the risk. Part of the reason to be out was to ascertain the quality of the film.  I walked a great distance in the dark and ended up on the western edge of one of the lakes. The sun was coming up through clouds and I thought I would try again a lake-side image again. I haven't had too much luck with these as it is difficult to find a place free enough of foliage to get a got composition.  As I set up fo...

It seems I am making regular rounds to my 3 local woodlands. Each has a unique character and rather than being repetitive I find new areas to explore afresh in some and comfort in the familiar places of ones I know better. Of course these woodlands change all the time, with the seasons, the weather. If one looks carefully enough and is sensitive to subtleties there is change all around.  This morning it is Monk’s Wood. Growing up a a hillside on determinedly clay soil it is markedly different from the he two fen woodlands of Holme and Woodwalton. These latter two are pancake flat being in the drained marshes of the fens. They are also relatively new.  The silver birches of Holme would not have turned up until after the draining of the fens as they prefer well drained soil. The nearby area of Whittlesey is the last of the fenlands to be drained so the forest is perhaps 150 years old.  Woodwalton Fen was purchased by Charles Rothschild in 1910 as a nature reserve. I am not ...