Photo Expeditions

The Fog Descends On Deal

in

With a disappointing weekend of weather (and an enforced stay indoors due to a new sofa being delivered…which I can’t complain too much about given the state of the old one…) and a half-term off with the kids to look forward to (no sarcasm!), I fully anticipated a quiet week ahead with very few opportunities for photography. How wrong I was! After eagerly watching the weather forecast, hoping for some late morning fog, it looked promising for Tuesday morning. The forecast was for a pretty much widespread fog, covering the whole of the south east. The only question now: can I get up and get the children ready and out the door in time to catch the fog in Deal?

I’ve had my eye on Deal in the fog for sometime now. I’ve been intrigued by the possibilities around the pier, with the fog enveloping it and giving it that air of a concrete road to nowhere. In recent years, I’ve appreciated just how rare it is for this kind of occurence. Either I’ve just been unlucky in recent years, or the fog has always been something that occurs a handful of times a year and, even then, trying to predict when and where is a fool’s errand. So not only have I been keeping my fingers crossed for fog, I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed for fog in Deal. Given it’s a 40 minute drive from our house, there is always the risk of getting in the car, driving through the fog and finding…nothing on my arrival at this little seaside town. Fortunately, this was not one of those occasions…

After driving through thick fog on the A2 (and counting the number of cars without lights on, despite the visibility being down to a few metres), we arrived in Deal and were presented with the kind of foggy conditions I had hoped for. Armed with only my XT-3, no tripod, no zoom lenses, just a 23mm and 33mm prime, I set off to see what I could capture. With my children in tow too of course.

After belatedly realising I had knocked the focus mode switch on the front of the camera (thank god I noticed that before too long), I started wondering around the beach to see what I could capture. This was one of my first shots:

23mm, f5.6, 1/250, ISO160

Of course, the obvious shots were the first shots I took, but this is the kind of shot I had envisioned when I imagined the fog descending onto Deal. In terms of the post-processing, I like my fog images to be tinted slightly green as I think it gives it more of a mysterious vibe to the image, like it’s something out of a horror movie. Otherwise, I keep the editing fairly light and just accentute the softness (so low contrast, minus clarity and very slightly minus on the dehaze).

After pottering around under the pier for a bit, I headed up (with the children, honestly, I didn’t forget them!) onto the pier itself and took a walk along to the pier head. At thist time of the morning, there were a few people milling around, but not so many it was crowded. This really helped in terms of picking out individuals or couples walking along the pier, and of course the fog helped to simplify the background and obscure any others that were in shot.

23mm, f8, 1/500, ISO500

23mm, f8, 1/500, ISO160

23mm, f8, 1/500, ISO400

As I got to the end of the pier walking back, the fog started to lift and we took a walk along the beach towards the fishing boats moored near the road. I kinda figured that was it for the foggy conditions and that the sun was going to start breaking through and it’ll be a typical bright sunny day.

However, just when I figured the day was done and we’d wonder off and grab some snacks and disappear, the fog came in again, much to the annoyance of the kids who I think, by this stage, were heartily sick of me continuing to drag them back to the pier to get yet more shots of it obscured by the fog. Nevertheless, I persisted. Of course, I wasn’t the only one…

33mm, f8, 1/500, ISO160

33mm, f8, 1/500, ISO160

Much as I enjoyed hanging around the pier, the kids were obviously getting bored so we took a walk along the promenade, and I’m glad we did as I think some of the best shots of the day were taken as we walked away from the pier and looked back on the people walking through the fog. With the sun behind them (albeit also obscured by the fog) the people suddenly became nothing but a series of silhouettes, ambling towards us. Like something out of a horror movie, these shadowy forms ambled towards us, through the fog, making for some really interesting opportunities. Whilst I was happy with the shots I got on the pier, the shots along the promenade were, I think, better and really had a lot of atmosphere to them. Given the silhouette effects and the nature of the light, many of them I switched up into black and white, there was little in the way of colour anyway, so it seemed like a natural switch.

33mm, f8, 1/500, ISO160

33mm, f8, 1/500, ISO160

33mm, f8, 1/500, ISO160

After our walk along the promenade, we headed into the town centre to have a browse around. By this stage the fog was starting to lift and the sun was now shining through, leaving a beautiful morning, but taking all that lovely fog away. Regardless, it was a pretty spectacular morning on the seafront, with plenty of compositions to work with (I think I took around 370 photos in the end!). The scenary that morning certainly made up for a disappointing weekend and that half-term week of entertaining the children did present some photography opportunities after all. So everyone was happy…well, maybe not the kids. I think they’ve forgiven me now…but we’ve still got a few days of school holidays left yet, so jury is out I guess…

A few more photos from the day are in the gallery below, I’ve managed to cull my shots in Lightroom down to around 190, but I still need some work to do to cut that down a bit. I’ve tried to limit the gallery below to the best bits. Let me know what you think!

ian

Seascape and Street Photography in Deal

in

Deal. It’s one of those places I keep going back to. I’m not sure if it’s because of the easy parking near to a very obvious subject, or whether it’s the hope of a free cuppa from my niece when I’m in the neighbourhood (wishful thinking most of the year when I’m there for sunrise!). Or maybe it’s because it gives me the opportunity to shoot both landscape and street photography in one go. Like Folkestone, it offers a good opportunity to go beyond the usual landscape shots, switch up my Nikon D7200 for the Fuji XT-3, and try to capture more of the town and its people.

As is so often the case, I got myself prepared the night before, charged my batteries, packed my camera gear and tried to make it as easy as possible to get up, grab my stuff and go. Unfortunately, things never quite work out to plan. My alarm goes off. I decide to snooze a bit longer. Get up, eat my breakfast and, fatally, start watching TikTok videos. I should have learnt by now…DO NOT WATCH TIKTOK VIDEOS IN THE MORNING BEFORE YOU NEED TO GO OUT.

Anyway, I eventually picked myself up and dragged myself to Deal. On the drive there I could already see the colours and I feared I was going to miss the best of it. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. The rush did, however, mean I didn’t have much time to think about compositions, so I went for some fairly standard compositions I’ve got before. Nonetheless, it was a good morning, with great colours in the sky and whilst the compositions weren’t unique, I at least got something…so I can’t complain. And on top of all that, I got to meet another Instagram photographer. So all in all, I was glad to get out and about and get that sea air. As you can see below, the colours were pretty fantastic, and made a nice change from the usual stormy and overcast shots I often like and prefer on the coast.

10mm, f8, 0.4secs, ISO100

As I was in such a rush, I didn’t have time to work my L-bracket so that I had enough space to squeeze in the remote trigger, so I tried to predict the waves crashing using a two second timer - no easy feat. Nonetheless, I got some nice colour from the sky and in the water…it’s just, not the most exciting and innovative composition. But, well, I blame the TikTok Scroll for that.

As is typical when I get in the mode, I fired off countless shots without moving from that spot. Lightroom is just a seemingly endless stream of identical compositions, with just slightly different waves and slightly different colours in the sky. Trying to pick one favourite out of so many near identical images is a near impossible task. I’ll settle for the one above because I do like the way the water rushes out between the pebbles on the shore.

Eventually I did shift to a slightly different composition. This time, I kept it extra wide, but went for a landscape orientation and a smaller f-stop to get that sun star effect.

10mm, f13, 1/40, ISO100

Of course, the wide angle distorts the pier quite significantly, and the pierhead looks a bit weird as a result. But I quite like the sun shining through and catching the water droplets (reminiscent of another picture I’ve taken in Deal). Plus I like the way the light catches the legs of the pier on the right-hand side but, again, it’s not the most ambitious or unique photo I’ve taken.

After a few more shots in this position, I decided to move around and try at least one composition that was a bit different. This time I decided to try shooting as low as I could go. I always have mixed feelings about doing this on the coast. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it works for me, largely because it shrinks the amount of sea that’s visible, and it doesn’t seem much of a seascape without the sea. But sometimes it works, like the shots I got in The Warren last week. Once more, the shots I got were nothing special, but they are handy for me to refer to in future to try and see if I can make them work.

10mm, f13, 1/10, ISO100

After a few more shots here, the sun started to dip behind the clouds and that was pretty much it for those sunrise colours. At this point, I decided to put the D7200 away, grab the XT-3 and take a wander around Deal. As with the seascape shots, I wasn’t really doing well in terms of getting something original, but I tried to look out for details as I wondered around, textures and colours that could make for interesting abstracts, like this cracking paint on a shop sign…

33mm, f5.6, 1/500secs, ISO2500

And of course I couldn’t resist the classic shot looking up Farrier Street to the shelter on the promenade, probably one of the more obvious street photography compositions on Deal seafront but still, it’s difficult to resist.

33mm, f5.6, 1/1000secs, ISO160

And then I spotted this weird, big old yellow bus parked on the seafront. So I decided to go take a look and take a few shots. I was glad the owner didn’t spot me or walk past at any point, because I spent so long trying to find interesting compositions, I’m sure I looked extremely dodgy. I’m still not totally happy with the shots I took (try and guess which one I was least content with…). But at least it made for an interesting subject, even if I didn’t make the most of it.

After about an hour wandering around, I headed back home to Canterbury for a cup of tea and a (very nice) rhubarb and custard pastry at the excellent Fringe + Ginge, which seemed the perfect way to round off the trip and get back to the normal weekend routine (in this case, getting new school shoes for the youngest!).

I’ve put a gallery of some of my photos from the trip below. Will be interested to hear what you think. Does this really capture Deal? Do they feel reminiscent for people who know the town? Or do they give you a sense of what the town might actually be like for those who don’t? Would love to hear what you think.

ian

A weekend at the coast

in

Did you know 2023 is the Year of the Coast? Well…apparently so. If you’re into all that touristy marketing stuff, then this year is the turn of The Coast. Lucky for me, there’s plenty of nice coastline that’s relatively accessible from my little corner of Kent. From the old church ruins on the coast at Reculver to the White Cliffs to the otherworldly vibe of Dungeness and the old fishing boats (albeit rapidly disappearing it seems), there’s plenty to shoot and enjoy.

Recently I’ve been re-discovering an old part of the coast that I remember visiting as a kid, but not much in the last few <coughs> decades. Shakespeare beach is pretty iconic. The towering Shakespeare cliff dominates the view down the coast towards Samphire Hoe and on to Folkestone. I’ve been back a couple of times in recent weeks, trying to find some new compositions. It’s one of those places where there is one very obvious subject, but a limited number of options in terms of composition. That hasn’t stopped me from trying though, and I’ve enjoyed pottering around and trying to come up with something other than just plonking my tripod down and taking a quick shot. It’s a location too that seems to enjoy some of the biggest waves on the East Kent coast, even with only a moderate wind.

38mm ƒ/8.0 1/6 ISO100

Last time I visited, I noted there were some opportunities that, for whatever reason, I didn’t take advantage of (probably too distracted by the cliffs). Nothing particularly exciting, but the rocks and the sea made for some potential I didn’t really explore. This time howevever, with only a short amount of time available to me, I made my way further up the beach and tried out a couple of alternative shots, including of some old groynes (which seemed to be a theme of my weekend) that I hadn’t spotted on my last visit. I’ll be back there for more in the near future no doubt.

17mm ƒ/8.0 30secs ISO250

17mm ƒ/5.6 6secs ISO400

It’s this looking for details that I decided to focus on the following morning on a trip to The Warren near Folkestone. Thanks to a lift from the yellow jacket wearing Aga McPherson due to issues with my car (more on this another time), we spent a pretty cool (and overcast) morning wandering around the beach capturing the groynes and making the most of the perfect conditions for long exposure photography. Largely having the beach to ourselves, we set to work on capturing the classic East Kent location.

15mm ƒ/5.6 0.8secs ISO100

17mm ƒ/8.0 1/4 ISO100

I’ve been to The Warren a fair few times in the past, and I always go for the same shots. Decaying groynes, water lapping or crashing around them, getting those textures in the water and on the groynes themselves. This time, however, I tried to look for some details on the beach. There’s always plenty of interest dotted around (it’s always been known as a good spot for fossil hunting - something that was an interest of mine as a child), and so I decided to see if I could get some more abstract shots on the beach, looking our for interesting details. This isn’t normally my style. I prefer the bigger, classic landscape views, but it was good to change things up and look for details…this is something that I’ve certainly found has improved as I’ve gone out and done more street photography.

I think perhaps my favourite of these that morning was this shot of an interesting rock (words I never thought I’d type on a blog post…). The mixture of orange and black, alongside the textures and shapes that have been formed by years of erosion made it more interesting than the average rock (again…words I never thought I’d type…). It was tricky to get the shot right, I’m not one for this kind of photography and rather than have the patience to focus stack it, I just tried to get it in one shot. Think I did ok.

70mm ƒ/8.0 3secs ISO100

It’s this sort of thing I think I need to do more of out in the landscape. Look for finer details. Try to look beyond the obvious shots. Nothing wrong with obvious shots, of course. Just, well, they are obvious. As I said before, I think my street photography helps here. I’m getting used to looking for little details here and there, pockets of light, interesting colours, shapes and textures. Bringing that kind of mentality to my landscape photography might help give a new dimension to my photography. Who knows, it may result in me investing in a macro lens and really going for those finer details. Ahhh, GAS. I wondered how long it would be before you would tap me on the shoulder and throw a new temptation in my face…

Right, off to check the tide times to work out where to head this weekend…hmm…

Christmas in Seville

in

As we do every year, we spent the post-Christmas/New Year period in Spain staying with my in-laws. Whenever we come, I try to make space for a bit of street photography, but it really depends on a number of factors, the prime factor being whether the car is available for me to use to drive into the city. If it is, and the conditions look right, then I’ll try to squeeze in a bit of time in the city with my camera. Sometimes I end up trying to do a bit of street photography when I’m out with the family, but it’s not always easy, I find I work best on my own as I’m able to concentrate more on my photography and not get distracted.

This time, however, I was only really able to squeeze in a few hours in the city centre to take pictures. To be honest though, it wasn’t a big problem. In the run-up to the New Year, the city centre is ridiculously busy. For the Spanish, the main celebrations are New Year and Twelfth Night, somewhat less so Christmas Day. And unlike the summer, where Sevillianos escape the heat and head off to cooler areas, everyone very much stays local. Which means the city centre can get incredibly busy (it’s one of the largest cities in Spain after all) and the roads can be a complete nightmare. Consequently, I find it quite difficult for photography as it’s really difficult to work a scene or concentrate on particular compositions with all the noise and bustle all around. Nonetheless, whilst I didn’t get anything I was particularly proud of, I did manage to get a few shots in the short amount of time I was able to spend in the city.

Every now and then I wandered down a side street and found some space from all the noise and had some opportunities to do a bit of fishing - waiting for someone to walk into the scene. Like this shot through the window of a bar/restaurant that was closed:

Or this shot looking through an empty commercial building:

And there were the odd street corners to make use of:

And, of course, just some standard street photography shots that really aren’t anything special…just fairly obvious opportunities that presented themselves to me as I was walking around.

I also managed to get some shots at nightfall, which is somewhat of an obsession with me at the moment. Of course, I had to be careful taking photos at night in a vibrant part of the city (we spent the evening around Alameda - a part of the city that is the go to area for nightlife) and opportunities were few and far between as it was more of a social thing. Nonetheless, I managed to get a handful of shots I was pleased with (if not my strongest photos of 2022).

This one would have been nice if someone popped up in the window. Sadly no-one inside came over to look outside…probably because they saw someone loitering in the street with a camera…

Still, someone walked past at least…

Of course, it wasn’t all photography, we had plenty of family, festive fun too…eating and drinking way too much, as is standard practice this time of year. I’ll spare you the family photos, but here’s a few shots taken during the festivities…

It had been a few years since I last ate migas, and was pleased to be able to experience it once more. A hefty dish, it is primarily made of breadcrumbs with a variety of meats (ribs, pork belly and streaks in this case) and peppers and garlic. One thing I’ve learnt over the years is not to overdo it on the tapas before the migas comes out…you’ve got no chance finishing it off if you do!

So that was Christmas/New Year. But how did I get on with the Peak Design backpack I purchased before we went away? Well, it worked out really well. I had dithered over which size to get, but the 20l option was perfect for taking my XT-3, three lenses, my laptop, my iPad, accessories and a couple of books. Looks like I’ve finally found the perfect bag for travelling to and from Spain. So that was a bit of a result too. Should also work quite nicely for day trips out, so overall it seems to have been a pretty good investment. Hopefully, no more camera bags!

Winter came...

in

After a hot summer and a pretty mild autumn, it came as quite a shock when winter hit last week. Of course, we didn’t get snow in this part of the country, but we did have freezing conditions, fog and some good hard frost across the county. Fortunately for me, this cold snap hit on a week where I had a weekday off work - huzzah! A rarity for the conditions to suit my diary, so of course I grasped the opportunity with both hands.

Between Thursday and Sunday I managed to squeeze in four locations and a couple of evening street photography walks too. All in all, a pretty great week. And it all started, where else, but in Fairfield.

Fairfield

Now, I’ve not been to Fairfield since that epic day earlier in the year that had me giddy as a school child. It’s one of those locations that is easily overdone, and so I like to space out my visits (helped somewhat by the long drive to get there from our neck of the woods). Taking the opportunity of a weekday off, I checked the weather forecast, got excited about the potential for thick frost, packed my camera bag and prepared myself for an epic trip.

After a swift detour to pick up Aga McPherson (the famous girl in a yellow jacket), we headed down to Fairfield, wrapped up warm and eager to capture the wintery scene we had pictured in our minds the night before. And we weren’t disappointed. Sheep roamed the fields, the water was frozen, the grass thick with frost…you couldn’t ask for better conditions (well, I guess you could ask for fog…but then, you know, there’s always something isn’t there?). I tried to get a few different compositions, some worked, some didn’t. But then there’s no point driving all that way only to get the exact same composition as before, right?

Of course, the photo above isn’t really a new composition, but there are a few in the gallery below. Just in case you doubted me!

Fairfield was great, it was freezing cold (as you’d expect in a relatively remote location this time of year), but it was fantastic. Sheep roamed around the church (which resulted in some very careful tripod placement!), and we were the only two photographers to enjoy the scene as the moon went down, the sun came up and the light caught the frozen grass. All in all, well worth the trip. And a brief nap awaited me on my return home before setting out into Canterbury and onwards to Folkestone for some street photography. Then it was all about planning for the weekend and considering where would be best to make the most of the freezing conditions.

Hothfield Common

On Saturday I had planned to go to Wye. But the roads were all closed, it looked like a horrorshow to get to the top of the Downs, and so I changed my plans and instead headed towards Hothfield Common. It’s only relatively recently I’ve “discovered” Hothfield. I had never been before last year, but there’s something about the place that’s quite captivating. Whether it’s the Highland Cows, the Konik ponies, the heather or just the unusual nature of the landscape, there’s something about it that makes you feel you are not in Kent at all, that you’ve been transported to another place altogether (at least until the dog walkers arrive and you hear the familiar East Kent accent).

Anyway, I’d not yet been in the winter time, and I’d had a few shots in mind if there was ever the opportunity to go in ice cold condtions. And…well, I wasn’t disappointed.

This was pretty much the compostion I had in mind. I’ve been returning to this tree a few times ever since my first trip to Hothfield, and been fascinated by the potential given it was surrounded by ferns and heather. As always, I had hoped for something slightly different. I felt like a bit of fog in the background would have helped simplify the scene, and it would have been nice for none of the branches to overlap with the background (I could get no lower than this) but nonetheless, I was pleased with this shot. I felt like it really captured the conditions that morning. And, fortunately for me, it was a scene that I had pretty much to myself.

Seasalter and Whitstable

Finally, Sunday saw a trip to Seasalter and Whitstable. The conditions once more were epic, with the added bonus of some fog (finally!) thrown into the mix. Although this time the problem was too much the other way…perhaps a little too much fog! Yes, I’m never satisfied. Seasalter was particularly pleasing though. The long grasses were frozen solid, the water in front of the beach huts was a sheet of ice, robins danced in amongst the grasses around me…you couldn’t really ask for more.

Not quite satisfied with my lot, I decided to head down the road to Whitstable and see what was on offer there. I’ve been wanting to capture a foggy view of the harbour for some time, and this seemed a good opportunity. And so it turned out. Thick fog enveloped the harbour. To the extent that, once more, you wished it was just a little less thick. But, again, one could hardly complain. These conditions don’t come along very often and expecting perfection is asking a bit too much. You just have to seize the opportunity and get what you can get.

And so that was a pretty hectic week. Freezing cold, but wonderful epic conditions the likes of which we rarely get the opportunity to shoot. And even now, a week later, it’s not quite done yet. Milder conditions are not forecast to hit for another 24-48hrs, so there might still be some time left to grab some epic wintery conditions before we head into Christmas. Fingers crossed there’s more to come, and maybe some snow at some point…just not around Christmas itself (we’re flying to Spain). If it can just time itself as well as the conditions did this time, I’ll be happy.

Thank you, Fairfield. It was epic.

in

Decisions, decisions. Trying to work out where to shoot on a particular day seems to take up almost double the amount of time the actual shoot lasts. Not just the trying to decide where to go, but the planning. Checking weather conditions. Looking up tide times for various locations. Checking the weather conditions again. Thinking about potential compositions. Checking the weather conditions again. And so on and so on. Before you know it, hours have passed and you still don’t know where to go.

Sometimes, even after all the planning, I still can’t decide where to go. To the extent I wake up, pack my stuff, jump in the car and decide while I am on the road. Which has its drawbacks. No point driving west only to decide that you want to shoot somewhere east. But, you know, sometimes you just go with the flow and see where it takes you. Yes, sometimes I can be spontaneous. Sometimes.

And so it was that I packed my bag, grabbed my winter coat, jumped in the car and headed off…somewhere. All I knew was there was going to be fog. Question was…where should I go? Wye? Folkestone? Somewhere else…? Hmm, tricky.

Left for Folkestone, right for Wye. I’ll take a right I think.

Fog looks promising…could be a great morning if things pan out as I hope…

It’s looking good in Wye and around Ashford…left turn to the Devil’s Kneading Trough or straight on?

Hmm…straight on.

Where am I going? It looks like it’ll be epic in Wye, why would I not stick with Wye? No, let’s chance it…let’s head to…FAIRFIELD.

Fairfield. That magical Kent location that every photographer visits looking to capture this unique church on the Romney Marshes. I’ve been a couple of times before and got some decent shots, but never anything quite as good as I would have hoped for. Largely because the conditions have never really been that epic. Someday that has to change, surely?

And so on I drove to Fairfield…through the thick fog in Ashford to…er…no fog at all. At least, I could see for a fair distance without any difficulty. Where had that fog gone to? I…I think I may have made a mistake. Why not Wye? Oh well, too late now…let’s just get there, get some shots, get home, have a cup of tea and pretend I made a good decision on the A28. No point dwelling on what might have beens…not whilst I’m driving on a national speed limit road at this time of the morning.

But wait…it’s picking up again…it looks like it might be promising…just take this right and follow the road and just maybe…oh bloody hell…I can’t see a damn thing in the field…the church is definitely there somewhere, but…this could be interesting. I’ll just pull over into the laybay…oh dammit…someone else is here. Ah well, I guess it’s too much to ask for me to have all of this to myself. Just grab my bag and let’s go have a look…

Ok, this looks like fun….let’s head around this way…there should be a good composition from this angle…it’s a bit creepy walking around here, but I’m sure I’ll be ok…ok, maybe I probably should have told my wife where I was…I can’t see more than 5yds, what if I fall over and have an accident…I could be here on my own for hours…ah, here we go, just around here and…oh shit, I can’t get there. There’s a fence in the way. The light is changing. Oh crap the sun is coming through and the light is looking epic. Shit. Run. No wait….climb over the fence…now run…Christ I’m so unfit…I can’t run all the way down to the main gate again. Dammit, I’ll climb back over the fence…one leg over, now…crap, my foot is stuck…down I go….I’m ok. I think i’ve got everything, nothing has fallen out, has it? No, still got my inhaler, car keys…right…QUICKLY!! GET THE COMPOSITION FOR GOD’S SAKE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.

Got it, right, set up…I think I need the wide angle lens for this one…let’s go for f8, ok, check the light meter, set the shutter speed…got it. I BLOODY GOT IT! YES! I’m knackered, my knees hurt, my shoes are wet, but I bloody got it! Now…let’s check the focus…it’s looking good. Hopefully not disappointed when I open it in Lightroom, but it looks like it should be ok.

St Thomas Becket, Fairfield

The fog is shifting again….it’s getting denser…it looked like it was lifting, now it’s getting denser again…I need to move to change the composition to make the most of it…where should I go? Maybe get the sun behind the church? Yeah, that might work…at least I don’t have to climb any fences! Ok…this looks good. I think the focus is ok…can’t really tell with the light shining in my DAMN EYES. But i think it’s good. Ok, let’s take the shot…

St Thomas Becket, Fairfield

Bloody hell, the fog and light are shifting around again. Where to now? I guess over the other side? Yes, over the other side…OF COURSE OVER THE OTHER SIDE, WHY WOULDN’T I HAVE TO NOW CHASE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF WHERE I AM SHOOTING NOW, IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE.

Damn, this is the best workout I’ve had in ages. I mean, it would be nice to stay in one spot, but I am suffering from a bit of a post-Christmas energy lull so maybe this is doing me some good. And besides, LOOK AT THIS AMAZING LIGHT EVERYWHERE.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone yet. Have I seen anyone yet? No, I don’t think so. I can’t believe it. Have I got Fairfield all to myself? I must have. I HAVE THESE EPIC CONDITIONS ALL TO MYSELF?!? The photography gods have shone their light on me today…I can’t believe my luck.

Ok, this is good, let’s shoot it this way…get the framing right, this looks like quite a creepy shot with the fog around the church, the stillness of the water…I think it’s frozen…I don’t want to test it, but I think it is frozen…wow, what’s that noise? Ah yeah, it’s definitely frozen…sounds like the ice is cracking. Good job I didn’t put my tripod on it after all…

Ok last shot…was that a gate opening and closing? Yeah, there’s a figure there in the fog…doesn’t look like a photographer. Looks like he’s running. Seems it must have been his car in the laybay. Dude, you’re missing the most epic view! Don’t run away…well, not until I’ve got you in at least one shot anyway…

Person walking from a bridge across a field with heavy fog

What’s the time? Man, I’ve been here 2 1/2 hrs. I need to go. But I can’t. I want to stay here all day. But what about your wife and children? They’ll understand, right? I mean…LOOK AT IT. No, I better go. Ahhhh. What a morning. What an unbelievable morning. I took a chance and it was quite the reward. Thank you, Fairfield. It was EPIC.