Multi story II

Looking towards All Saints Green, Norwich

This second photo was also taken from the top of the Queens Road multi storey car park in Norwich. This was the view at the direct opposite end of the car park to the previously posted image. The impressive looking roof on the left hand side of the image is the roof of Norwich's busy bus station.

For the technically curious it was shot using Ilford Pan F film (50 asa) in a Nikon F3HP fitted with 35mm Nikon F2.0 lens. I decided to use the F3 without the motordrive to keep the weight down making the camera easier to handle.

Multi story

Looking up St Stephen's Road in Norwich

This image was taken from the top of a multi storey car park in Norwich. The weather had turned rather thundery and it had started to rain quite heavy, but every now and again the sun would shine through, before another stormy downpour appeared.

I suppose that i was looking for a new perspective of Norwich and thought about looking down. It's a well placed car park with a great vista of the city on almost every side. I 'm not really a fan of heights but i can tolerate them so looking down on the street below was rather interesting.

This photograph reminds me slightly of the work by British photographer John Davies whose style has obviously influenced me. Not surprising really as i think his work is brilliant.

Same spot

Bikers have a break at Bambrugh, Northumberland

This image was taken in about the same location as a John Tordai image of Bambrugh taken as part of his book 'Northumberland'. He may have been a bit further forward than me but our cameras point in the same direction.

In the credits at the end of a movie you see the words 'no animals were harmed in the making of this picture'. It's true that no animals were hurt but sadly my trusty old photographic thermometer was mortally wounded by being squashed/snapped by a dev tank!

I've had that thermometer since, well i can't remember when but it has been responsible for temperature measuring at hundreds of film developing sessions and was with me throughout my student days. It will be sadly missed.

Developing nicely

Round bales near the village of Branton, Northumberland

A few months ago, i posted a blog with details about how i was testing out Ilford chemicals with Ilford film. This image is taken from the first roll of film to be processed in Ilford DD-X rather than Kodak TMAX developer. I must admit that I'm impressed and I'll continue to use the Ilford Developer alongside the Kodak TMAX.

This image was taken near a village called Branton, not far from Powburn in Northumberland. The hills in the background are the Cheviot hills, which form part of the Northumberland national park.

Some more images from Northumberland will be posted over the next few days.

Animal magic

Tony and Ernie - Photograph by Tony Mendoza

Photography is often about relationships and there are none more fascinating than one between a human and an animal. Photographer Tony Mendoza moved into a rented loft with a fellow artist who had a cat called Ernie.

Tony photographed Ernie everyday for two years making around 10,000 negatives. In 2001 Tony Mendoza published a book of the Ernie photographs and he has added a website featuring selected images from the book with details on how the photographs were taken.

I just love these images. Cats and dogs certainly have their own unique quirky character traits and Ernie's has been lovingly captured in Mendoza's photographs.

Tony Mendoza's Ernie: A Photographer's Memoir can be found HERE

Website found via a posting on The Online Photographer

Close interest

York Art Gallery

The bad weather has so far stopped me shooting any more images for the 'Year in York' project but hopefully i should get some new images shot in the next week or so - weather permitting.

I especially like this image of the art gallery taken from the last set of images shot for October. The man in the red sweater on the extreme right of the picture is obviously quite interested in what i'm doing.

Poor light

Burnham Overy Staithe, Norfolk - where Lord Nelson learned to sail

It's a bit dark and rainy in Britain at the moment. Typical British winter weather with very poor light. I'll have to start doing more studio work.

It has been a week of upgrading for Richard Flint Photography. First was the DVD-writer purchased so i can store all of my digital images on DVD disc. Next came the broadband which I've decided to upgrade to a faster speed because i use it so much. The Internet has revolutionised my photography and how i display it. I actually enjoy taking photographs more now than i ever have and i have various other photographer friends who i can talk to if i need any help.

The one thing i did miss from my college days was talking to fellow photographers. One minute you are surrounded by friends whose opinions you can take into account with work - the next thing you are out on your own with no lecturers or colleagues around to talk to. Self employment is a lonely business but thanks to the Internet, its not so lonely anymore.

Critical defence

Angry fishermen vent their anger - Wells next to the sea, Norfolk*

Criticism. It's something that anyone working as an artist has to face at some point in their career. Art has a major drawback in that it is a very personal form of expression and to many artists an attack on their work is an attack on them. I have never held that believe because, by and large, i believe that most critics don't know what they are talking about.

During my HND Photography course, i had two lecturers that helped me become the photographer i am today. The first called Simon was just a great teacher of photography - the type of person who can see your strengths and encourage your creativity. He was tough to please but if you got good marks you at least knew that it was good work. There were no compromises with Simon's high standards.

The second lecturer was Jim who, for a nice way of putting it, was a complete b*****d during critiques of work. Students feared his critiques but respected (sort of) the opinion given. We would all go to the college canteen and curse the day he was born but he did us all the biggest favour imaginable.

I learned from those critiques to not give a flying fridge about anyone's opinion but your own. That's not to say that you shouldn't listen to any opinions given but to take any criticism personally is definitely a no-no. In some cases you need to ignore the good comments as well as the bad - if you believe one why not the other?

Most important of all is you MUST defend your work if you believe in it - I certainly did and still do!

* DEFRA stands for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This is the British Government ministry department that governs the farming and fishing industries.

Everyday interest

Crossing the road outside York Art gallery

This was just a point and shoot picture but i really like the different elements of the photograph from the bus passengers getting on and off the bus to the couple talking near the crossing. It always amazes me how interesting the everyday events of life can look when photographed.

I will be working on my 'a year in York' project again this weekend. I must admit i can't wait to photograph York at Christmas! The lights and decorations will add that extra bit of colour.

On the shelf

Just recently i moved my bookcase into another room to get them away from the bright light of an nearby window. It was during the move that i realised how many photography books i've collected over the years. Many of then stem from my college and university days but i still buy at least five or six each year, depending on the cost and quality of the book i'm looking at.

More and more books on photography are appearing on the market making the process of choosing a book even harder. I would say that this is a golden time for purchasing affordable books about photography and photographers but in the UK it can be tricky to find a bookshop that stocks a large photography section. In York there is only one place to go - Borders.

I don't blame the bookshops. Photography books can be expensive and they will never sell in the quantities that the Harry Potter or celebrity biographies do. For many people (including myself) these books help improve their photography. It also gives them access to work that they may only see in an art gallery - for some people, a rather daunting place where they think they have to 'understand' the work on view.

My best buy this year has to be a collection of five books, many of which out of print, purchased for under £10 ($20) including Don McCullin's fabulous 1979 book called 'Homecoming' - a rare find at a car boot sale!

Discretion required!

Press photographers photograph a funeral

As i was out and about this week i visited my local town to bank a cheque and have a look round. Passing St Michael's church i noticed a funeral going on - nothing unusual about that, i myself have been to a funeral at that very church. Then i spotted these two snappers photographing the congregation of mourners from a very discreet distance. Instantly you knew it was a VIP's funeral.

As i went back to the car i thought about the photographers and wondered why images of the mourners were needed by the newspaper. Surely just a nice description of the service & congregation would have done. What function does a photograph of a funeral actually serve? In my opinion none whatsoever!

Near miss

The International market - York

This shot was nearly deleted. I had my finger on the delete button of the D2H, ready to consign the image to oblivion. I'd been concentrating on the two young ladies - yes, definitely one of the benefits of the job - and I'd missed the decisive moment of them concentrating on a potential purchase.

"Damn" i thought and probably muttered to myself as i looked at the screen but then i noticed the passer by to the extreme left.

The look on her face is hard to fathom. is it surprise? is it boredom? is she being insulted? You could interpret her facial expression in any number of ways and make a story to fit.