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Chichester Police Officer
May21

Chichester Police Officer

My first encounter with a British police officer (or constable – I didn't check) asking what I was photographing today and it felt a little less tense than when his American counterpart did the same last year; my empirical evidence to date indicates that a smile and the lack of a deadly weapon on the hip makes quite a difference. I'm not sure what was going on in Chichester today; there were two pairs of policemen who periodically stood and looked around or wandered off down one of the four main streets in the city centre a couple of hundred yards apart. Towards the end of our lunch break it just so happened that we were parked under Chichester Cross mere yards back from one of the pairs of officers. As we perused the people passing through the precinct (that's enough alliteration from me now) a woman approached us and asked what we were waiting for; apparently she'd mistaken the presence of the police and some scruffy paparazzi as indication that something important was about to occur. I conceded that this was not the case. Just after that, though, one of the officers turned around and came and asked what we were photographing. It was an interrogation of sorts but it was done with a smile and he bought my story about photographing people hook, line, and sinker, never once realising we were decoys for the illegal camel trading that was taking place while his back was turned. Lucky for us the other pair of policemen were looking the other way too. So thrilled was I by the outcome that I just couldn't resist asking the officer to strike a pose for posterity at the conclusion of our shady goings-on and this shot is the result. An early submission for #PortraitTuesday curated by +Laura Balc as well as a second submission of the day from me for #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, +Jerry Johnson, +Manuel Votta, and +Steve Barge. Google+: View post on...

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Bridge At Mottisfont Abbey
May21

Bridge At Mottisfont Abbey

I've not felt particularly photographically-inspired recently – I blame everything and everyone else but me – so when I spotted that Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey in Hampshire was showing the Patrick Lichfield polaroids in an exhibition I decided to pop along to see it yesterday to see if the creative juices would start flowing again. It was very dull. The weather, that is. The photographs were superb and I can't recommend going to see them enough; wonderful to see the test shots alongside some of the finished articles and even better trying to identify the various celebrities in the snaps. That Lichfield chap: he was pretty bloody talented. But back to the weather: yes, that was dull and made everything feel flat so it somewhat offset just how good the exhbition photos were, which is a shame. There wasn't even that much of interest in the walled garden. The house itself was still as nice as I remember and the Whistler room is particularly impressive; I'm very pleased that the National Trust have relaxed their rules on photographing inside (Whistler room and exhibition were only off-limits areas) so overall it's a great place to visit. So, in summary: go see the Lichfield polaroids if you get a chance, I'm not feeling particularly inspired at the moment, but I figure I'd better post at least something just to force myself not to take too long a break. This is one of the bridges passing over – I think – the River Test which runs through the grounds of the abbey. Submitted for #LeadingLinesMonday curated by +Pam Chalkley, +Jakob Nilsson, and +CJ Sros as well as #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, +Jerry Johnson, +Manuel Votta, and +Steve Barge. Google+: View post on...

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Thrown Away
May17

Thrown Away

Heading back from a fairly unproductive lunchtime (tomorrow's market day in the city centre so it has to be better (unless it rains (which it probably will))) I glanced at a bench as I passed it by and saw a baby's blanket left at one end; I could only assume that the baby in question had grown weary of its comfort and sought the adventure of a rough, tough, blanketless life while its guardian wasn't looking. This evening I opened the photo up and started tinkering with some processing options until I got to the point you see below. Yes, I thought, that's it! No doubt about it! I've definitely gone way too dark on this and I'm going to have to start again. But then another thought struck me: it's something that's been thrown away and I'm about to throw away my shot of this thrown away thing and I do declare that it's a Thursday which means there's a theme about thrown away things that this might just fit! And thus, I'm submitting it for #ThrowAwayThursday as curated by +lynn langmade, +Doug DeTraz, and +Mary Sass Clark. Google+: View post on...

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Colourful Garden
May17

Colourful Garden

Let me say this first: I am not a big fan of colour HDR shots. I don't really do them and quite often I find what other people do with them to be garish but I did realise yesterday that my stream here was looking a little monochromatic (not necessarily a bad thing and it certainly fits my mood and the dreary weather we seem to be stuck with right now) and that, coupled with the update to Photomatix 4.2 (a big improvement in speed, looks, and features), persuaded me to try one for a change. So this is a three shot (-4/3, -2/3, 0 EV), handheld (in windy conditions) HDR from the Bishop's Palace Garden in Chichester with Photomatix set to remove ghosts in one of the new soft presets, slightly adjusted. Google+: View post on...

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Evacuating The Area
May15

Evacuating The Area

What happens when you hand your camera off to a rodent so it can snap a shot from ground level for an unofficial photo theme? It turns out that nobody wants to stick around for a picture. #ratsview Google+: View post on...

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Walking The Bike
May14

Walking The Bike

You know how it is: you want to keep active so you cycle to work but then you find that your place of employment doesn't look too kindly on having bikes roaming the corridors or ringing their bells whenever somebody approaches the office door. It's a perfectably understandable reaction, of course. Fortunately, the fledgeling industry of professional bike walkers is at hand these days, providing an affordable solution to this particular conundrum. For just a small fee you can get someone to take care of your bike while you're a good drone; with just simple walking and companionship in your absence through to a full grooming service that includes brake-tightening and saddle-polishing there's now no reason not to get on your bike in the mornings. For #MonochromeMonday curated by +Charles Lupica, +Hans Berendsen, +Jerry Johnson, +Manuel Votta, and +Steve Barge. Google+: View post on...

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