Milford

Milford on Sea is a town I've visited many times in my life, my Grandparents moved there when I was around four and lived there until I was about 16. In that time I spent many school holidays staying with them in their house which was situated just opposite the beach, with a wonderful view of The Isle of Wight and The Needles from every window to the front of the property. Sadly they had no choice but to move when a property developer made an offer to buy the house (which was very large and on a big piece of land, separated in to three large homes) which the other two owners could not afford to refuse. The house I remember is now gone, replaced by modern homes and barely any of the fantastic garden I played in as a child, but the memories remain. We recently visited on my Mum's 60th Birthday and I have to say I can't remember a time there with better weather.



A view of some buildings on the beach front. As a child I'd walk with my Grandad and the dogs along the top of the wall - these days there is a safety barrier to stop anyone getting close to the edge. Just underneath the window to the top right of the frame there is a closed off (and I suspect filled in) view point used in WW2 to spot enemy vessels approaching the south coast of England.



A familiar view for me, I spent many hours looking out at this view of the English channel from my Grandparents' house (often through Grandad's binoculars which I never could quite get the hang of). It brings back instant memories of my childhood and spending time with them. I can almost taste the fish cakes from the local fishmonger as I write this!



My Niece Sophie and Nephew James never got to meet my Grandparents, but it's great to see them enjoying the same rocks and beach that my sister and I did as children. In this case Sophie sat on some rocks with The Isle of Wight in the background.

Bulldog

On the way back from a quick wander around with a friend looking for some photogenic urban subject matter we bumped into this bulldog waiting for its owner outside of a Tesco store.

Probably the best shot of the day for me, so a rare stroke of photographic luck but one I was more than happy to take advantage of!! Glad to get the focus too as it started to move toward me as I composed the shot, and there isn't much room for that when shooting at f/1.4 at close range.

Summer... finally!

The sun finally came out! Hopefully this will motivate me to get out with the camera a bit more in the coming months.

To start, a simple shot of some buttercups - shot upward to give a different perspective and to add some nice blue sky to contrast with the bright yellow petals. 




Some more shots to follow shortly.

Chrysanthemum

A macro shot of some flowers bought for my girlfriend (by me!).

Purposely shot with the smallest DoF I could achieve (f/2.8) and from the side, I think the white petals on a dark background have resulted in the 'dreamy' image I'd wanted.

Christmas Nativity

A family trip to Rove's Farm in Wiltshire for my Niece and Nephew before Christmas. Some unexpected subjects on the way to the Nativity: a sheep, llama and cow. Low light levels resulted in a relatively high iso setting, but I think it suits the black and white image. All at f/1.4, 50mm.



 
 
 
 

Something different...

It's been a while since I did, let alone posted any 'proper' photography. At least anything I'd taken with my camera as opposed to my iPhone anyway.

A trip to 'Oktoberfest', a mountain biking event on the grounds of Bristol's Ashton Court made for a slightly different subject matter for me.

The event featured a mixture of professional and amateur riders, including Steve Peat who I confess I mainly know for a pair of handle bar grips I bought for my own bike which are branded with his name.

Most of the days weather was perfect for riding, and photography. The day also provided me the opportunity to get some use out of my 300mm f/4 L lens which has mostlly gathered dust since around 2001 when I last did any Formula 1 photography.

 

A quick downpour was welcome, at least because with a telephoto lens I could hide under a tree for this shot.

  

At the time we didn't realise that most of the races were four hours long, it explains some of the looks on the riders' faces as they passed us.

  

Some attempts at motion blur which were largely failures, this being one of the better ones - aided by the rider having to drop his foot on a reasonably quick and downhill left turn.

  

I just thought that this guys face said it all, he was in some pain after this race!

  

The good light enjoyed during the 'golden hour' extended to allow for some nice portraits of riders as they dismounted their bikes. This one being my favorite.

  

My friend Steve.

Instagram...

A random mix of recent pictures taken using the Instagram app on my iPhone. I enjoy being forced to use one focal length (zoom on iPhone is awful), while the filters offer some interesting processing options. I also really like the square compositions.

I'm using an iPhone 4, so these are limited to 5MP - not that the lens is going to be overly capable of doing much more anyway!

Milford-on-Sea - Rocks used to try and stop long-shore drift.

Electricity or telephone cables - not sure but I like these!

Beetle on a leaf - macro capablity hardly amazing, but not bad either!

Beach huts at Milford-on-Sea

View of the Isle of Wight and the Needles

A farm field

Cabbage white butterfly - again showing the macro potential of the iPhone!