During the dry summer, the grass didn't grow in length but in brownness, alleviating my chore of regular cutting. The onset of rain has left large areas of dead grass, but the majority is now green and growing as if there is no tomorrow. The dead areas have generally failed to return to life even after a good scarifying, lightly cultivating and reseeding. I am not into time lapse photography, so photographing growth twice a day to record progress is not going to be in my portfolio just yet.
Having just returned from a most enjoyable trip to see good friends in the Azores, we returned the day before our club meeting (my return flight was cancelled anda substitute flight plan was arranged for the next day). Whilst on the island of SãoMiguel, I had hoped to capture a star trail, free of light pollution and moisture condensing on the lens. On a perfect evening when the sky was crystal clear and the stars were at their best, we enjoyed a lovely evening with our friends. The other evenings were partly cloudy. Two years ago, when visiting the island, I had hoped for a suitable clear night but it had rained every day. My desire to get into time photography is deemed not to be in my portfolio either.
For this reason, I periodically consider the difference between a landscape painter’s art and a landscape photographer’s art. A painter can quickly sketch an outline, returning to the studio to complete the detail, omitting undesirable features and including others missing to enhance his finished work. A photographer on theother hand has to be patient and wait....... for the perfect moment and may still have to accept undesirable elements. Depending on the nature, size and position, these can nowadays be removed with appropriate software. In the early days of photography, many intrusions were not on the horizon; now there is a proliferation of unsightly elements on an otherwise ideal landscape.
The Bosham Gallery - https://boshamgallery.com/ - run by Luke Whitaker, is currently exhibiting a collection of historic photographs taken around 1900.
These have been restored to an almost original quality. It amazes me to see how successfully those early photographers captured images, which almost match the quality of current photographs from a digital camera now. They would have been using cumbersome plate cameras with an equivalent emulsion speed of probably less than 10 ISO, requiring long exposures. The processing chemicals of the period would not have been able to draw the best qualities out of an emulsion as modern ones can but the highlight and shadow detail and contrast range is excellent.
Contents:
- Front Cover: African Bush Elephant, Postal Competition winner, by Ian Parker.
- 3 In Passing by David Morgan.
- 4 Edith Tudor-Hart - Tracking Edith.
- 5 For Sale.
- 6 Rolleiflex 6008AF with Hasselblad CFii 39MS digital back by Jeff Pittman.
- 8 127 film for the Baby Rollei by Jim Hurtle.
- 10 How the past keeps coming before us by Dáithí ó Scannláin.
- 13 My Still Life Techniques by Michael Coles.
- 14 Mike Pole's Ilford SFX mottle experience (continues).
- 16 Amberley Chalkpit Museum - photos by John Wild.
- 18 At the Shard by Raymund Livesey.
- 20 Postal Print Competition 2018.
- Rear Cover: Rose and Bosham Harbour by Colin Wilson.
