John’s Wood on Flickr.
A few weeks ago we had snow in Suffolk, not only did we have snow but it occurred over a weekend and it settled, this is such a rare occurrence I just had to drop everything and get out, but where? I had no idea - I really wish I’d rec’yed earlier in the year. So off to the woods I went, luckily everything changes int he snow and on the way I noticed John’s Wood - I’ve been by this hundreds of times and never given it a second thought, but it just took on a different dimension, I loved the way it just spilled over the hill into the background. So no more than 3 miles from home I spent the afternoon shooting this little wood, blizzards and all. Like my previous shot I was there alone just me the elements and the occasional hare. Its days like this when I love photography - regardless of the outcome.
a journey on Flickr.
Friday 11th January - is that too late to say Happy New Year? Well heck happy new year anyway. Here’s a rare landscape shot - well I say landscape I guess its still urban, maybe industrial - and in fact this is as industrial as Suffolk gets. I’d love to shoot more industrial landscapes - I’ve been looking a lot at Bill Brandt’s work recently - famous for his nudes but his depiction of Britain in the 30’s and 40’s really is fascinating - so this year I’m going to have to do a bit more travelling I think - hence posting this shot which sums up the start of this project.
The shot is taken from the side of the A14 in Bury St Edmunds and this is the Sugar Beat factory that billows out steam constantly through the winter. The shot was taken just before Christmas - which was the last time I really picked up my camera properly. Hopefully that will change soon.
There’s been a couple of blogs about me published recently - the first is one of a series of blogs by Andrew S Gibson, he’s interviewing many fine long exposure photographers and I was lucky enough to be included. You can find the interview with me here: Long Exposure Interview 5 - Giles McGarry
The second is on The D-Photo Blog by Diana Eftaiha - always a great source of inspiration with a really ecletic mix of photography presented. I’m pleased to be included in her blog - which you can find here: Creative Black and White Photography by Giles McGarry
2012 on Flickr.
Well at this time of year I like to look back at the year if nothing more to remind myself what I’ve been doing. Its been one of ups and downs both photographically and elsewhere, but I have to say the ups this year have outweighed the downs, in no particular order:
- I’ve experimented more than ever
- I’ve learnt to develop film
- I have a new camera
- I’ve learnt to manually focus
- I cracked my ribs trying to get that last photo
- I smashed my camera / lens / tripod to smithereens
- I shot lots with my Rollieflex
- I was runner up in LPOTY (urban)
- I was paid by a magazine for some shots
- I grew a beard
- I’ve travelled
- I met old friends
- I met new friends
- I lost touch with people
- I’ve been in so much pain I cried - twice
- I took lots of pictures and published very few
- I’ve started a long term project
- I’ve been to the beach very rarely and took very few seascapes
- I moved to google+, and then back again to flickr
- I was published in magazines and a couple of books too
So all in all its been an eventful year, one that I’ve really enjoyed, but I didn’t hit my goals for the year although they probably weren’t that realistic.
As for next year who knows, I do have some goals for the year - hopefully they’re more realistic and more achievable.
Trinity Bridge 5 on Flickr.
This is the final shot of the series of Trinity Bridge in Manchester by the architect Santiago Calatrava
Trinity Bridge 4 on Flickr.
This is the fourth installment of the Trinity Bridge Study from Manchester a few weeks ago
Trinity Bridge 3 on Flickr.
This is the third in a short series of shots of Trinity Bridge in Manchester.
Originally I had this as a landscape shot with the bridge on the left hand side and lots of negative space on the right. I liked it, it was different but perhaps not everyones cup of tea, so I present this here in a more traditional square crop
Trinity Bridge 2 on Flickr.
This is the second in a short series of shots of Trinity Bridge in Manchester.
weltschmerz 2 on Flickr.
More from my angst project. This is the Shard - 5 exposures all in camera on a single frame. Its shot in the fog which seem to be perfect conditions for multi-exposures. I’m still learning about multi exposure photography of what works and what doesn’t - I’ve had some preconceived ideas about what should work - but having taken the shots they just don’t - More London is a good case in point. Anyway will be carrying on with this for a little while and see where it takes me.
Inauguration on Flickr.
I’m pleased to announce that this shot was ‘Highly Commended’ by the judges of the Take a View - Landscape Photographer of the Year 2012 competition in the Urban Category. Hugely chuffed about this. It’s going to be on display as a printed copy at the National Theatre in London from the 12th November until the 12th January 2013. The shot also appeared in yesterdays Sunday Times - which is just fabulous - over the moon.
Apparently the book is out already - I haven’t seen a copy - but judging from the shots in the Times yesterday its going to be fabulous - some really amazing shots - very much looking forward to seeing them.
As for the shot - well this was pretty much the last shot before my ill fated trip to the bottom of the Thames on the Shard’s Inauguration night, so its the last shot I have with my D300 - which was smashed up in the fall. It was taken from across the river - slightly elevated along with hundreds of other photographers - I was surprised at just how many had turned out - it seems such a long time ago now.
spheres on Flickr.
A long time since I posted here, loads happening, but this structure really caught my eye at the olympic park. The sun lit up those curves against an intensely dark blue sky
