Stockwood Exclusive Viewing

Today the weather was decidedly inclement; drizzly and grey, and I was meeting a friend introduced by Priti, wife of another local photographer. I arrived early for the appointment, in order to see what I could find of interest in the new season’s plantings. I knew it was challenging with such a paucity of light, but an advantage sometimes with very flat lighting, is that it can be ideal to bring out the beauty in flowers. Having droplets of rain can also add a certain je ne sais quoi.

I strolled through to the very far end by a circuitous route, taking stock of the possibilities before opening the camera bag to bring out a camera, and drew up outside the long greenhouse housing the succulents and vines, but on the locked door was an explanatory sign as to why it was closed. Nearby there was a plant that took my interest and also there was a bench where I could rest the bag, so I took out my 100mm Macro on the EOS5D body, set it up for an aperture of f/9 at 640 ISO and as I chose the shot I wanted, I was distracted by a small group of visitors, and then, heard a hail from beyond – it was Sue; of bird-feeding fame, one of the leading gardeners, who greeted me warmly and asked was I interested in her opening up for me. I thanked her, welcoming the opportunity, and soon was inside, much warmer, and out of the drizzle! How could I possibly refuse?

We chatted as she inspected some of the exhibits for insect nasties and doing a bit of dead-heading also pointing out possible subjects as we chatted, and I explained my choice of venue, and that I was meeting someone. When my phone alarm sounded, I told her I had better hurry up with the last few shots and make my way to the restaurant. I bade her farewell to lock up and continue her rounds, and once back in the dry of the restaurant, I spent the last few minutes before the allotted time, looking through the shots – ‘chimping’! Helen soon arrived and we chatted for some time over her Americano and my tea, and in that time she met no fewer than three separate groups of people she knew. Just before we left, Sue knocked on the window, and it turned out – they knew each other! The last couple we met as we all headed for the entrance, turned out to be an Alan and Pauline, Alan is in the Building Trade, which was indeed fortuitous, as I am likely to need help in that direction as make the house more saleable – handy indeed. Altogether, a very productive afternoon undampened by the gloomy weather!

Two Studham Floral Displays

Driving through Studham on the way to Dagnall and eventually Ashridge Forest, I spotted two bankside garden beds awash with Spring colour and felt I just had to stop and come back to grab some shots they were just too good to miss.

I parked round the corner from the main road beyond the Pub, and decided that shooting with the 300mm although would be challenging to get close, would isolate individual flowers and show them against a strongly blurred background, and so it proved – I was a good distance away, and was lucky there was a narrow pavement to help me keep safe from passing cars!

As I moved across the road having taken shots in the first garden, the house owners returned, so I thought it best to explain what I had been doing, and fortunately the owner was more than happy.

The second garden bed was much smaller, and also sported a fine dandelion display! But what struck me here was a pure white daffodil alongside a yellow one that looked as if it had been sprayed with white paint. It is this pair that heads this piece.

Closing Stage of Construction

The atmosphere at the site was somewhat different, people without hard hats scurrying around organising deliveries; new unfamiliar faces of different workers, taking over from those of the main contractors, Jarvis and Toureen Mangan. There was an air of vibrancy, excitement and purpose, it did not seem like just another day, one of many; everyone seemed to know that this chapter was coming to a close and the birth of a new one was just beginning. Foresters was going to become a community of homes and shops, the shells were going to be filled, the sounds would no longer be those of construction, they would be the sounds of ordinary life, of new beginnings.

Although I found that in the retail units there was still work to be done, I realised that progress work was no longer with the main contractors, and that my visits had come to a close. I have felt very much a part of this development, I have been shown friendship and respect, and have always been greeted with cheerful banter, told which was their best side, as they struck poses when I passed by, and in return I have ensured that I took photos that always tried to show them in the best light, and it was flattering to be asked for my business card, so they could see what I had covered. Processes were explained to me; features I might be interested in covering were pointed out. It has been good to see how each trade has taken pride in the work they contributed to the whole.

It is interesting to think back to the earliest progress photos I took, during the construction of part of Imperial College, London – the shots were in black-and-white, the camera was a Sinar 5x4 monorail; everything was shot using a tripod and bulb flash, the numbers of shots was limited and far fewer than now where everything has been hand-held, bar the time lapse series taken of the dismantling of the tower crane. Everything has been in colour, yet ranged from the darkest recesses of the basement to exteriors in the brightest of sun. For the technical, I have used from ISO 5000 down to 100, and speeds from 1/4 second to 1/4000th, and everywhere between! And thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

Getting Ever Closer to Completion

Jarvis Foresters, Harpenden – Less of a Building Site

Grass and finished paths makes the whole area look more and more like a completed development, and as I entered there were people looking to deliver some of the incomers’ fittings. The sun was shining brightly on the grass, round the back, blossom was appearing on the shrubs. Almost all the paths are now gravel composite where there was tarmac before, and only a few areas remain to be turfed.

Down below the basement is no longer a storage area, but has yet to be marked out for the parking bays, but the security gates are in place, but not yet motorised. Upstairs floor coverings are down in the communal areas, the lifts have their protective sheeting removed as have the glass panels on the staircases, so the next fortnight or so will soon see tenants moving in, and the sounds of construction will be a distant memory, and a new chapter will begin for the new residents.

Old Street, London Wood Carving Restoration

I chose the above image to head this piece partly because it was over the road from the frontage with the wood carving restoration and partly as an exercise involving the removal of people by using three handheld shots and a Photoshop technique that only used the parts of the image which were present in all of the shots I took. Since the cyclist and pedestrians were not present in all of the three shots I took, the technique only displayed the static element – CHANGE.

The technique involving Smart Objects and a procedure known as Median within the Stack Order allows a photographer faced with trying to capture a shot where the traffic of pedestrians or vehicles is constant yet it is necessary to capture a scene that is uncluttered and no single shot is without something or someone covering some part.

I had made good time on my way to visit a Clerkenwell photographer who was awaiting my arrival to help him with his installation of a new Mac and bring him up to speed with Lightroom 4 having skipped all the earlier versions and wanted to ease the transition from Photoshop. So grabbing a few images to use was helpful, and from a personal standpoint I was interested in a frontage of a building where they were restoring some exquisite wood carving that had somehow managed to escape annihilation from the ravages of World War II.

I have had to resort to creating the gallery of just three shots by hand-coding, because the smallest number of images that Lightroom offers is a grid of three by three images; but against all odds I succeeded, and despite frustration along the way, it was satisfying to achieve.

I had left the crowded Tube carriage and stepped up the ramp to Old Street at literally 08-59! I then headed along the north side towards Clerkenwell and soon came across a man cleaning up some incredible wood carving to a frontage from a long gone era. I am presuming it had been covered in black paint for the better half of the 20th Century, and except for the bottoms of the timber, was in excellent condition – the workmanship was outstanding, and entirely unexpected, yet this was a route along which I had travelled earlier in my career, many hundreds of times without ever noticing it.

I know nothing of what the building was, but considering how heavily bombed this area was during the Second World War, I was astounded that it had survived in such condition. I found it very reminiscent of Grinling Gibbons, and later that day I was to see work of this man twice more in two different photographers' homes – what a coincidence. Naturally I have absolutely no idea of who did this work or what lay beyond the leaded pains of stained glass, but it has me interested!

Jarvis Foresters – Grass Goes Down

I made a point of arriving early in order to catch the laying down of the turves as a continuation of the previous day, but learned that what had been done was all that was being laid this side of Easter, so I have shots of the first laying complete, so having captured that I moved to the basement which is much less crowded, but not yet clear enough to do the marking out of the parking bays, and I suspect the pavers outside will need to be completed so that vehicles can enter the underground car park to remove the remaining stored items.

Above ground the metal frames that render the basement skylights safe are mostly in place, the individual garages now have their up-and-over doors. The staircases in some instances have their glass panels, banisters and skirting, and in places metal trim is being fitted.

Wrought-iron black painted rails are being fixed in place, and now most of the exterior path lighting is in place. In some of the apartments the lifts are now having their protective plastic covering removed, more bathrooms have been tidied. Wooden balustrades have yet to painted or varnished, flat signs and numbers are now up – levels of completion vary across the site, and I have tried to reflect this. Toureen Mangan high viz jackets were very much in the majority with Jarvis and Balgard completing numbers.

It was a bright and buzzing area with evidence of the previous night’s rain glistening in bright sunlight, and it was pleasantly warm.

Jarvis Foresters – Paths and Pavers

Toureen Mangan are once again hard at it laying down the tarmac for the paths, which are due an epoxy bonded gravel top surface eventually, the topsoil is down for the grass turf which is due any day now, possibly going down upon the arrival of the forecast rain later this week.

I arrived somewhat late in the afternoon having been absorbed with other work in the morning and early afternoon. The entrance to the site was having the last of the pavers being laid at the service road end as I made my entrance. At the other end, they were also laying the last few blocks as I left the site; the area I had seen started on my last visit was now complete bar the edges. At the far end to the right one of the drains was being given a thorough check and found to be flowing well.

I managed to capture yet another kitchen being completed, and I was able to take some high-level shots from the balcony. And around the back the garden path was tarmacced, and the turves laid much earlier now looked like a lawn.

This is definitely the countdown. Somehow I need to get down to the show the final turf going down within a couple of days, and by that time the entrance to the underground car park should be clear so that it can be emptied for the various bays can be painted.

Warm Walk in the Country

April 1st – No joke, it is sunny and warm, with almost edge to edge blue sky and contrails from jets at high altitude supply the only clouds, and because I listened to the forecast for a chilly day, I was over-dressed and walking the circular route around Hexton near Hitchin with a camera bag and three cameras proved to be very warm.

There came a point in the walk where I arrived at a road and no marker of which route to take, and with the benefit of hindsight, I realise I chose wrongly so although I probably covered the distance, I think my second half was not along the correct route. However it did mean that the sun was no longer in my face, but on my back. I arrived back at where I parked the car, had a brief lunch and some orange juice, and spotted the entrance to Barton Chalk pits.

I decided that here might be a chance to spot local wildlife, but sadly these were not pits, just workings into the hillside, so no water, a very pleasant place to walk and admire the scenery, but with a high sun little in the way of picture opportunities, but I did have company; I met and chatted to someone who had hoped to find butterflies or birds, but like me was destined for disappointment.

I drove from there to Pulloxhill which had a charming cottage in its centre and on to Flitten with a splendid church, before returning via  Beadlow (where I spotted the bright yellow and pink blossom beside the road), to Ampthill Park. I wandered firstly to a small pond I had spotted from the main road, but was barely there a second before a single young coot disappeared into the reads and cover. So I walked back and over the hill to another larger pond that could just be classified as a lake where a few fishermen were still there, though I saw activity that suggested not for much longer! I managed to catch an equally fleeting glimpse of a squirrel that had made its mind up that I meant danger, and promptly scampered from one tree to the next to put a distance between us.

Certainly, this day was the longest day of exercise in the great outdoors since last year.

Olympics & Tourism, Google & Travel

This evening The University of Bedfordshire put on a Networking Event to hear from Victor Le Grand on the effects on Tourism from The London Olympics and Nigel Huddleston now at Google Travel, on measuring and understanding  the effects of searches upon the Travel Industry. Both talks were interesting and enlightening, however, I would like to have seen the opportunity of questions after each individual speaker rather than jointly at the end, as it is then still fresh in delegates’ minds, and would encourage more questions.

Once again, meeting afterwards for drinks and snacks allowed for further discussions and as always the standard of the refreshments was excellent, and the acoustics and lighting makes for easy conversation and provides me with the opportunity to capture some of the interaction without resort to disruptive electronic flash, only very occasionally was it noticed that I was photographing, and I think in the shots I have within the gallery, that I have captured a fair sample of what transpired.

I both put a question and raised the point that sadly Luton missed a golden opportunity to obtain funding from central government to make the most of what it could offer London in terms of accommodation for visitors to the 2012 Olympics, and vastly improve access to the M1 by separating the two traffic streams at the Spur Road roundabout so that there was uninterrupted access to the Airport, the Station, the retail area and onward travel to Hitchin, by ensuring the M1 Spur Road traffic is not interrupted by the roundabout with its local traffic. The Olympics provided the rare opportunity to gain Central Government funding for a major improvement to local infrastructure so that Luton could promote all the extra hotel space that London will need, and subsequently benefit from the massive improvement in traffic flow for its industries to be able to expand.

Glider Flying – Ivinghoe Beacon

Wednesday afternoon found me paying a visit to Kevin at Calvert Studios in Leighton Buzzard where I was able to introduce him to some of the features of Lightroom 4, and discuss other issues a busy Industrial photographer has encountered with Apple’s Lion operating system, some were similar to my own experiences, others were problems I had not encountered, and I was unable to offer any explanations, as they were not areas of my expertise. The short demonstration of Lightroom was very different, and Adobe may well now have another customer.

I took a wide sweep from Leighton Buzzard past Grove Lock on the Grand Union Canal and from Dagnall drove up towards Ashridge via Ivinghoe Beacon where I encountered a glider in the sky, at first I was unsure whether it was full-size or just a model, but soon realised it was radio-controlled and I then set myself a challenge to capture it against the Whipsnade Lion to give the shot a distinct location, then I wanted a shot of the man handling the controls with the plane beyond. As I watched the glider come ever nearer I sensed he might be landing the aircraft soon and was able to grab a shot of him reaching to pluck it from the air as it passed – he succeeded, so we got chatting and I learned he works at a local plumbing business, Novamean, and he was Patryk Halczak, so I took one last shot of man and machine.

So now I have a second gallery of model aircraft in flight, the first was of a Spitfire at:

http:www.fntn.co.uk/rodwp/MsM.

Foresters Ever Closer to Completion

Toureen Mangan people are more in evidence on the Jarvis development site again, now that soil is going down to add the finishing touches to paths and grassy areas to come. And inside the basement is lessening its grip as a storage area.

Upstairs many of the bathrooms and kitchens have been cleaned up, tiles are up on the walls and down on many of the floors, the staircases are looking far more finished and lighting is going in all the common shared areas, and outside lighting for the pathways are being completed.

My sense of humour baffled one of the men when I asked whether this was the Cameron apartment – he was fitting the number ten to the door with infinite precision! I had had to lean into many of the more finished rooms on my knees as much of the protective coverings were being removed and this led to an amusing encounter where one of the builders noticed I had removed my hard hat, since I was always insistent upon only shooting those properly attired I felt very sheepish, thanked him, and scurried back upstairs to retrieve it – I had needed it off to be able to take one of the shots, and was thus ‘improperly dressed’!

Sawston Village Concert, West Road Concert Hall

Catherine invited me to her girls’ first concert at their new school, where they would be singing with the choir, and other year’s students would be playing in various groups and in a wide range of musical genres.

We arrived at West Road Concert Hall on the Sidgwick Site in Cambridge with seconds to spare in finely controlled panic, Martin took the girls in whilst Catherine and I sought to find somewhere to park the car; once parked we half-walked and half-ran from one side of the site to the other and upon arrival took ourselves to the balcony overlooking the stage, which proved to be an excellent viewpoint from a photographic standpoint. It was also handy that the level of lighting was good and covered most of the stage area.

Catherine and I sat one box back from the front with me positioned at the edge. I was somewhat concerned that I did not obscure the view for the mother and daughter behind who were present when we arrived, but fortunately they were extremely accommodating, though I did apologise and hoped I did not spoil their view too often. The mother was very chatty and had been on a First Aid Course that day and was due to do so again the day following, so was mugging up in her textbook and hoping for a good pass later.

I tried to judge when I could take shots without being obtrusive, and that meant that I could not chance taking shots of the Recorder Group in case the sound of my shutter boomed across the auditorium above their subtle notes. Because the time set on the two camera bodies was different, the shots are almost certainly out of chronological order which is a shame, but overall I am happy that I have captured some of the spirit of the evening, in particular some of the humour of the show.

Photoshop Public Beta

Photoshop CS6 Public Beta is now out and available at: http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/photoshopcs6.html

Take a look at the new blur tools which are not modal, and gain their speed of operation when you have compatible video cards because Adobe is using their processing power to achieve the heavy computational load via OpenGL and OpenCL. There are three distinct types of blur Field Blur, Iris Blur and Tilt and Shift Blur which offer different feels to the blur employed.

Then there is Adaptive Wide Angle which is a new way of dealing with how local elements within an image are transformed – straight lines that due to say the use of a fisheye lens take on a curve can be straightened, parallel vertical lines that appear to taper or expand can be restored to vertical, or horizontal lines that no longer lie horizontally can be pulled back to the horizontal. This is designed specifically to allow for creativity in how an image is projected by constraining local areas within an image to achieve the desired end result.

These two new tools are high on my list of changes in this latest version of Photoshop, but even more fundamental is the new way in which raw files are processed using the 2012 Process Version when passing through Adobe Camera Raw, and this has resulted in the controls being both slightly renamed as well as the way in which they now work is slightly different which may be disconcerting initially, but take the time to use them and you will see that they are ultimately easier to use to get the best result, and that result can sometimes be very much better than before.

Another change which may take a few moments for you to become accustomed is that Adobe have Split the Perspective Crop tool from the standard Crop tool, and once again the new way may take some time for acclimatisation, but it does ultimately make sense. The tools which employ ‘Content Awareness’ have been increased and improved. One new item here is the Content Aware Move tool found within the Healing tools section in the toolbar.

There are changes within the Layers panel, such as the new ability to search for specific layer types, but for me the most important change is that where before there was no indication that ‘Blend If’ had been used on a layer, there is now a symbol displayed, which hopefully will bring more users to this very useful yet little known facility within the Layer Style dialog box. There are other little tweaks in the Layers panel such as being able to colour code multiple layers in one go.

A Properties dialog box has been implemented to bring more order to Adjustment layers, the Print dialog box has been completely reworked to ensure that the chances of colour management changes are not applied twice and the end results are more predictable and well-controlled.

Under the Filter heading is Oil Paint which gives an interesting one-stop location to apply this style of effect, and it is very fast. Lighting Effects has been completely updated offering new controls and improved speed. 3D is now somewhat simpler and is completely hived off into the Extended version. Paragraph Styles and Character Styles have now come to Photoshop which will certainly impress the Design community.

The best way to understand what this latest incarnation has to offer is to download the Public Beta from:

http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/photoshopcs6.html

and if you need more guidance, take a look here:

http://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Photoshop-CS6-Beta-Preview/97406-2.html 

Open Art Preview Evening

Luton Hoo Walled Garden Project hosted their 2012 Preview and I was invited along by Charlotte Phillips. As I entered the garden and walked along the path, the marquee glowed a warm welcome, and I was greeted by Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men being arranged by the mother of the creator of the piece (my apologies for chopping off Weed!)

Charlotte was there to greet the artists and invitees, I checked to see that she was happy for me to take photos, then strolled around, and was soon listening to a young lad playing a series baroque pieces on the violin. A short while later I began chatting to a trio of folk Singers, who sadly had been relegated to near darkness in front of one of the several industrial heaters, which was a true shame as they played and sang beautifully, and in such dim light it was difficult to take pictures that did them justice.

One of the most striking pieces of art I spotted was a tiny piece by an eleven year old boy, and like the folk singers it was not given any prominence, but it was very creative and beautifully constructed. Over the course of the evening I pointed it out to several people, because it deserved to be seen, and everyone I brought to view it was of the same opinion, and this elicited a similar gesture from someone who took me to a very competent and attractive oil painting which I was told was by a fourteen year old boy.

I met the proprietor of Artscape once again and he introduced me to one of the artists whose work was on display, Mick Miller, and later to Charlotte’s mother whom I had met one time before when I was shooting in the walled garden one summer afternoon. Councillor Richard Stay came up to me querying where he had met me before, but before I could tell him, he had remembered. Whilst watching and listening to the folk group who had found a better lit spot further down, I used a man who was obviously enjoying listening to them as ‘audience’  by shooting over his shoulder, and was pleased that he actually applauded them at the end of one number. We got to chatting and I learned he was a Lambretta fan and an erstwhile tearer of Telephone Directories which party piece brought him fish and chips for him and his mates!

One particular lady held my fascination because of her wonderful hand gestures while in animated conversation, her face and hands were overflowing with ‘life’ and I have only put two shots in the gallery, but I probably took a dozen and they would make a wonderful flickerbook compilation!Towards the end of the evening I found myself in conversation with the two girls serving drinks, one of whom is due to go to Brighton to take a degree in photography. Altogether therefore a very enjoyable evening. I have said little about the art on display but I was taken by some very good watercolours of classic scenes, but since I was specifically avoiding shooting recognisable shots of the displayed work, I hope anyone interested will go along to see them themselves over the next few days. Several people were taking closeups with their camera phones which I felt was in bad taste, as this is in total disregard for someone else’s intellectual property.

I wish the exhibition every success, and hope these shots may whet some people’s appetite.

Foresters – Countdown to Completion

Arriving in Harpenden, I found the traffic much busier than normal, and almost every available parking space occupied or had a car patiently queuing whilst the previous tenant was  gathering their shopping and wits in preparation for their departure. I had already driven around the islands between the High Street and service road, so pulled into the back of the development, hoping I’d be allowed to park on site. Fortunately that permission was granted, which meant I need not panic about Traffic Wardens for a change.

The first sight that greeted me was the power-jetting of the brickwork on the cottages, a sure sign that work is nearing completion. Then I spotted the last roof tiling being done, on the garages towards the front of the site, behind the existing shops.

Topsoil is now appearing around the front, so it will not be long before a new colour appears here – the green of grass; the frontage is beginning to look closer to the brochure picture.