Is it too easy now to take photos?

I have recently started a new job in which I’m lucky enough to work outside 80% of the time. I work in the woods in one of the most beautiful areas of Sussex, surrounded by greenery and the sounds of bird call.

Whilst working here I come into contact regularly with people who like to stop for a chat and find out what it is that I’m doing, or to find out maybe what my background has been in order to get said job.

Whilst having worked damn hard to get to the stage that I am at, I always feel a pang of guilt when I say to people that I did a degree at Falmouth Uni, and the obvious next question I always get is what was that was degree in. Most expect you to say some sort of science based degree, maybe ecology or biology but people always seem amazed when I say I studied photography for three years.

This then leads the conversation onto, ‘oh so you must take your camera into work then?’ type questions. They are then even more amazed when I say that I don’t really no. In fact I haven’t done at all yet. Then we have the chat about how ‘it’s such a beautiful place to work surely?’ To which I always say yes, because it is. Then we tend to part ways and go about our lives once more and this guilt continues inside me. Why don’t I take my camera into work to photograph the incredible landscape which I see everyday?

Then I stop and think to myself and I realise every time that I do in fact take photos, really quite a lot in fact but it’s always with my phone. I never have the need to take my camera into work because I always have, in my pocket, this little device that nowadays takes photos that for me are of a good enough quality to satisfy me.

When I look through my collection of photos on my phone I see such a fantastic collection of memories, as I’m sure most of you do too. I just feel like now it has become too easy to take your phone with you instead of a DSLR. Now purists will argue that nothing will ever beat the quality of a shot from a Nikon or Canon DSLR and they would probably be right; but in terms of ease and speed then the mobile phone wins hands down. My phone will even record a seconds worth of video along with each photo which in itself is a lovely feature I think. Not only having that little snapshot moment in a still but also seeing the possible change just after the shot has been taken.

I’ll include a few shots that I have take with my phone over the last year or so from my general rambling around in the Sussex countryside.

I wonder now if the big guns will turn their attention to rivalling the phone companies for size and speed of shooting. Who knows, maybe this time next year there might be a canon that is slim and fits in a pocket just as a phone does but then takes DSLR quality crisp clean photos. That’s something I would consider investing in. Watch this space people, I’m going to go speak to the people at Dragons Den.

Get outside and enjoy that greenery

Don’t you just sometimes have a longing to be outside, to be walking in amongst the dappled sunlight that filters its way through the tree top canopy, to listen as the easy going bird song chirps effortlessly around you, and to feel the tranquillity of being separated from the world around you?

I know for sure that I do and I try to get outside and take some time out and away from it all by walking in the beautiful natural Sussex countryside with good company and a cheeky sarny in the backpack, ready to eat just when you find that perfect bench with the incredible view.

I wasn’t able to enjoy the dappled sunlight on this particular excursion, the rain threaten throughout, but to coin an old phrase it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits. We opted to go for a walk around the Ardingly area, a town in West Sussex that has more countryside walks than I’ve had hot dinners. We parked up near to the  reservoir and decided to walk a route that we hadn’t completed before. The resulting walk was truly wonderful, as hopefully some of the photos will attest to.

I do think it is so important to stop and to look at your surroundings when on a walk as when you stop and listen and watch then the wildlife becomes that little bit more accustomed to you and will go about its day working around you. Not only that but if you change your viewpoint, get low, get high, look close, be inquisitive then you’re more often than not rewarded through seeing something crazy cool!

On our walk we were able to see some woodland sorrel, which if eaten tastes just like sour apple. We saw herons (sadly not a kingfisher in sight), many pond invertebrates, tiny little spiders that were just going about their little lives on the fence railing and to top it all off we even saw some orchids, which, even though they were slightly past their best, still offered a chance to photograph some of natures true beauty.

My advice is to get outside, make a little smidgen of time for yourself and reconnect with your natural surroundings because if you are like the many people that I speak to who only ever go into the countryside a couple of times a year then you are really really missing out guys and gals. We have to face it, nature is a class act and at points it makes you feel the need to scream with just how exquisite it looks.

Can’t see the wood for the trees

Evening all! Hope you are all very well and have had a good few months. I’ve been super busy, starting a new college course in countryside management, volunteering, and generally working hard.

Anyway, yesterday was a glorious day off in which I went for a little stroll around a beautiful part of the Sussex countryside, Ashdown Forest. If you haven’t been, go. If you’ve been, go again. It is really is a fantastic place to feel calm, tranquil and just generally close to nature once more.

Obviously I had to take a camera to somewhere this nice didn’t I! I have been really struggling to shoot anything in the last few months (I know, there’s no excuses) but it has been hard to find the time.

My girlfriend and I set off in what started off as an overcast day with a slight drizzle, but soon enough it all came together and we were walking in a glorious autumnal afternoon. The forests hold lots of mysteries in them, moments from the past that you would normally just walk past without a second look, however I have been fortunate enough to have learnt a bit about archaeology and landscape usage as part of my course so I was able to point out a few interesting bits here and there. Ancient trees, old saw pits, pillow mounds… they are all in there, you’ve just got to find them.

 

Enjoy the shots.

Peace out

Adam

My Trip to Italy

Hello everyone, it’s good be back. Blogging for me has sadly dropped off the radar a little bit in 2016. I hope you are all well.

This latest post is to cover a very brief description of my trip to Italy. To visit Italy had been on my bucket list for a few years now. When the chance arose, I took it. My stay was from May 3rd to May 31 and my goodness was it exciting. I stayed in a town called Grosseto and was able to use this as a focal point from which I could go off and see other cities. Italy was everything I thought it would be and more. The way of life is very different to that in England and I was more than happy to embrace the differences.

The main point of the trip was to see if I could improve my Italian. I have been slowly trying to teach myself some and my goodness the full immersion technique really does help. By the end of the month I could understand pretty much everything that was being said which felt really cool, alas I still was struggling to articulate myself in response but I guess that will all come with practice. It turns out I know a lot of individual words but then slotting them into coherent sentences is a whole other ball game.

Whilst I was there I made some fantastic friends, all of whom I hope to see again in the future. They very kindly offered to show me around some of the bigger cities in Italy. They took me to Siena, a beautiful and welcoming city with black and white stone striped buildings, known for the Palio horse race that occurs each year in the Piazza Del Campo. I would like to go back and see it live.

The Palio di Siena… Click here to watch footage of the Palio

Florence, a place with so much history and on a hot sunny day there are few places that can beat it. The cathedral in Florence is simply stunning even just from the outside. The queue was sadly already mind numbingly long at 10am so we decided not to go in, a wise choice.

Then lastly Rome. What can you say about Rome. The first monument that I saw was the Colosseum and it just looms up at you as you exit the nearest metro station to it and it quite frankly knocks your socks off. I will say though that the Trevi fountain just pipped the Colosseum to the top spot of impressive sights. You just kind of stumble across it, tucked away down a street that you don’t expect to hide such a gem. It is incredible, all that you have heard about it just goes out the window when you see it in the flesh. Such craftsmanship. Rome certainly wasn’t built in a day! I hope to return and see the parts that I didn’t get to see first time round on my next trip. I also travelled by myself to Pisa to see the iconic tower. (It’s a lot whiter than I thought it would be).

I also went to few lesser known places, situated closer to Grosseto. Places such as Alberese and Monte Argentario, the second of which I could very easily see myself retiring to. It sits on the coastline with clear blue waters and houses that hug the mountainside from top to bottom.

I enjoyed every second and recommend that you visit Italy at some point in your life, if you haven’t done so already. This is a photography blog and so enough wordage, have a look at a selection of the photos that I took.

 

Myth and the Mountain with Charles Emerson

Geez… Time really does fly by! It’s been four months since my last post having posted continuously at least once a week for a year and a half. I’d like to think that maybe some of you might have missed my random ramblings on photography in that time but I’m here just to let you all know what I’ve been up to.

So I’ve been working in the role of an intern for the last 3 months at a company that I live fairly close to. I can’t really say too much about it, but lets just say it is photographic in some capacity which is good! I do love a good photo ahah. It has just taken up so much of my time really that I haven’t had my finger on the pulse of the comings and goings of the contemporary photography industry.

Along with the internship I have also been volunteering with a local National Trust property which has been amazing and I have also learnt a lot there too. It’s really great working outdoors, even in the rain, I can’t recommend it enough.

But anyway you’re not here to listen to me blather on about stuff, you want to see some images!

So here goes, here is a collection of beautiful landscape images taken in a mixture of Jordan, Romania and Scotland. The photographers name is Charles Emerson, and he has created these fantastic majestic shots. The series named ‘Myth and the Mountain’ is a really cool collection of shots. The mountains seem to loom up at you as you look at them. The vastness and grandeur of these rocky giants creates a really strong sense of awe when viewing them.

Copyright belongs to Charles Emerson, if you like his work then check out his website here.

 

 

Taylor Wessing Winner 2015

I thought I would just show the winner of this year’s Taylor Wessing prize photographed by David Stewart. For those of you who don’t know, the Taylor Wessing prize is up there with the most prestigious portrait competitions in the world. Each year thousands of people enter their photos with the hope of winning (1st place gets £12,000).

The image consists of Mr Stewart’s daughter and four of her friends sat around a table with some of the paraphernalia that you would expect to find with a group of teenage girls. There are coffee cups, probably from Starbucks, empty food containers which more than likely held sushi or pasta salads of some sort. Of course there are the mobile phones, the little devices that run our lives and can act as a social barricade whenever we don’t feel like talking to anyone. You get a sense of both close friendship, from the closeness of the way they are sat, yet there is also a distance between them. They all seem to possess vacant far off contemplative looks. They are not looking at each other but instead have a 1000 yard stare.

The image has had a lot of criticism for being too dull, not composed in the correct way and so on. I personally am not exactly blown away by the shot. It’s a nice shot. I didn’t take it, but if I had done I’m sure I would be proud of it. They are all wearing pretty funky colourful looking jumpers, and the lighting casts a crisp glow over them all. It documents the state of 21st Century technology and friendship. Apart from that I don’t really know what else to say.

London to Brighton Veteran Car Rally

Car is just out of shot, I wanted to highlight the support of those who watched.

Who doesn’t love a ruddy big bus?!

Couldn’t resist, a classic in my eyes. Dream first car right there!

A brave gentleman, must have been an uncomfortable ride.

Chocks away.

Health and safety were clearly not first things to think about in the design phase.

 
Hello! I hope everyone is well. So on Sunday I went with my Dad to check out the classic cars that passed through the little town of Cuckfield which is fairly local to us. The cars themselves had begun the day very early in a misty yet atmospheric London. I can imagine them all just coughing and spluttering into life as they lurched into action. I can’t imagine they get a run out all that often so it was great to see such a turn out. Now I don’t claim to know anything about old models of cars so I can’t really impart any knowledge on the different makes that lumbered their way past me. Also, it turns out that photographing cars is very much a skill in itself and one that I need more practice at haha.

I photographed pretty much all of the ones that drove past us, but I obviously won’t include all of them (a lot were out of focus. Whoops!)  One thing I would also like to point out is the amazing patriotism that people show for this kind of thing. Everyone just laps it up. The drivers and passengers all dressed up in vintage clothing and I can’t speak for anywhere else but the turn out of people in Cuckfield was really heart warming. People came with their cameras and chairs and in some images you can even see the old Union Jack being waved by some.  Each car was greeted with a hearty applause as well as some rather vigorous waving.  There looked to be a lot of cold bodies riding in the cars but I would say it was worth it. Fantastic spirit was shown and I think they all made it down to Brighton.

You’ll also be pleased to note that only one car stopped, and even then that was because the driver stalled it and had to get out, load up the chocks and crank the old girl up, then they were on their way again.

Inventive fun by Rich McCor

Hello everyone! Check out these whimsical images that combine paper cutouts with famous landmarks. I think these are great. McCor has seen the cities around the world in a new light, a more modern light. Casting his eye over the the sights the tourists normally see he has spiced them up a bit, he’s put a new slant on things and I like that. The change of perspective is done in such a clever and light hearted way that it is hard not to enjoy the shots. My personal favourite is the Lego man’s torso combined with the Arc De Triomphe. What incredible imagination and vision! I think the sheer simplicity of the cutouts adds to the beauty of this series too, nothing is over complicated.

I kinda want to go out and have a go myself now seeing these. I’m sure this will start a craze with everyone trying to jump on the bandwagon.

National Trust- Sheffield Park

The last instalment of shots from my walk around Sheffield Park this week. I would like to think that I have saved the best until last. I was there at around 3pm and the sun was certainly there to begin with but did start to wan quite drastically, but then just as we reached the end part, 4.30pm, we were gifted with some fantastic golden hour light right onto the trees sitting next to the water. Of course the wind had died down by then too and therefore the reflections were that little bit clearer too.

Great British Beauty- Sheffield Park

Here are some more shots of the beautiful Sheffield Gardens situated in Sussex. If you haven’t already been then now is most definitely the time to go as the autumnal colours are out of this world. You feel strangely patriotic as you walk round, you almost feel as though you should be walking whilst holding a cup of tea, sipping and admiring the view at the same time. I quite like that idea actually! I get very proud that we have these places in the country that showcase the quality of the English landscape. Let me know where you like to go in order to get your most colourful shots…