I have a thing for chairs..

Tags

Americana, art, cafe interiors, chairs, colour photography, interior design, Panasonic lumix, photography, retro style

 

 

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The story continues beyond the frame…

Tags

flash photography, Just Do It!, Panasonic lumix, photography, street photographers, street photography, women in street, women street photographers

Using flash and getting as close as possible on the streets these last months, trying to fill the frame but show there’s more to the story continuing outside the frame.

Capturing a story on the street is, for me, the hardest part of street photography , as ‘street’ gets more and more popular with everyone and we are all out there with a camera of some sort, it is easy to just point and shoot, we do it in the hope that we’ll catch something worth keeping, posting and maybe even printing but I often found mine were just snaps of people ‘milling about’.

So, with this in mind this last winter I promised myself I would be more selective in what I try to capture, would get as close as possible with a prime lens and use a small off camera flash gun. Have found that the more am on the street the more I enjoy my photography and the more inspired I am to try something different. Fill a frame, catch a story and hope the viewer can see that there’s a story on the street. I have been organizing photowalks and encouraging friends and students to get out on the streets and do it, just do it. Get close, fill the frame, try and capture that one subject that looks straight into your lens, straight at you, it’s a great feeling and so liberating with small flash. Enjoy!

number 4

Tags

a northern town, abandoned buildings, Lumix G2, Panasonic lumix, postaday, sinister tales, The Daily Post

On the bus today going to meet a friend but as the bus passed a small local village I saw this derelict cottage and the bear on the chair

Thought to self friend could wait and got off the bus at the next convenient stop, I ran back  to find the building , thinking to self “why am I running? …the bear isn’t going to move and doubt that the cottage will be demolished in the next five minutes”…but run I did..

and was paid for my efforts when I finally got there. Catching my breath and rubbing the stitch in my side I investigated the situation.

 

The gates were locked, nettles and brambles prevented me climbing over the broken wooded fence but the more I saw the more I was sure I would not have liked going any further onto the abandoned property. The body of the teddy was firmly lodged into a child’s plastic chair, dressed in a string vest, which strangely seemed to fit it very well and a small woolen hat pulled onto it’s head it was heavy and squelchy with rain water.

Corrugated sheeting was rusting and peeling and the dripping paint of the number 4 gave everything an eerie sinister feeling. Might go back again and see if I can see someone there..but as soon as someone starts to play a banjo I’m leaving!

 

People watching & eavesdropping

Tags

b&w photography, beach, Blackpool, Christo James, coastal town, eavesdropping, Lumix G2, natural light, Panasonic lumix, people watching, street photography, streetphotographers, The Daily Post

Overheard conversation about the beautiful endless grey light we often find on the prom in Blackpool, the cool damp fog creating a colorless wall making it hard to define where the sky ends and the sea starts…or as a friend called it ‘The Horizon Mislaid’

Dance everywhere

Tags

ballroom dancing, Blackpool, Blackpool Dance Festival, colour photography, Lumix G2, Panasonic lumix, postaday, seaside, street photography, strictly ballroom, The Daily Post

Caught these two rehearsing in the sunshine on Blackpool prom yesterday, love how the people sat down are watching them and probably wishing they could still do that.

Horizontal

Tags

Blackpool, Caffe Nero, contemplative photography, lights, Lumix G2, Miksang, Panasonic lumix, photography, postaday

I saw these light fittings yesterday when, after a day of shooting dancers on Comedy Carpet and capturing the finishing touches of a new piece of urban art on a wall in a car park, I decided I deserved a brew. I ordered my cup of tea and as I sank thankfully on to the soft leatherette seating I spied these lights. I had to sort of move around a good bit and slide nearly horizontally along the seat as I tried to capture them so there wasnt too much natural light and end up overexposing the bulbs. People did exchange questioning glances but one of the benefits of getting to my age is I am past caring what people think and will do all sorts, go in places I shouldn’t, talk to all sorts and everyone and go to any lengths to get my shot of the day.

And yesterday that meant nearly lying down prostrate on the sofa in Caffe Nero.

Stopped Clock

Tags

a coastal town, Blackpool, Lumix G2, nature, Panasonic lumix, parklife, postaday, The Daily Post, time

Spent afternoon in park yesterday was with grandson so didn’t go with intention of shooting unsuspecting public or looking for faded street signs. However as always have camera with me did end up taking pics of time passing..

. youths growing..

.swans preening..

and buttercups opportunistically colonizing the grass.

 

Drapes

Tags

arteveywhere, drapes, Lumix G2, Manchester, northwest, Panasonic lumix, photography, The Daily Post, walls, windows

Out and about in Manchester at weekend and looking for one thing found something else..

The bright pink of the walls and ghostly torn drapes made me stop and exhale a sigh of sheer happiness and excitement. How could I not? Well you would too wouldn’t you?  This wall, these windows and the fabulous torn sheer drape are what makes me really believe art is everywhere and everything is photographable.

Platform 5

Tags

Lumix G2, Panasonic lumix, photography, postaday, The Daily Post

Red leatherette seats in Preston Railway Station, caught from platform 4 just before the Glasgow to Manchester train rolled in to the station.

Everything is photographable…

Tags

a northern town, art of advertising, Blackpool, coastal town, colour photography, Dawn Mander Photography, dmanderphoto, old signage, Panasonic lumix, postaday, seaside

…especially old signs and advertising, more hidden treasures in Blackpool. The Lap Dancing Venue is closed and empty ..no longer a ‘Luxury’.

Since I took this photograph the sign has been replaced with a shiny colourful board advertising the arcade below. Personally would rather have Derek’s Tattoos.