My blog
11th July 08
Firstly I would like to apologise for the lack of input in the blog department since May, no excuses offered other than I have been very busy with one thing and another.
Well since I last made an entry the Jurassic Coast trip to Dorset has been and gone. To be honest the weather was glorious pure blue skies everyday (not a monochrome photographers best wish) but for everyone else a real treat.
Although the light conditions were not as I would have wished for I did manage one image that was worth the trip alone.
This came very early one morning around 5.45 at the base of Swyre Head looking back towards the stunning & fearsome Bat’s Head. I had intended to go down onto the beach at Durdle Door, but the sky was beginning to brew up toward the south and so pulled me along the top of the cliffs toward Swyre Head. I quickly set up a camera & tripod, which I had managed to hump what seemed like miles as the drama in the sky was beginning to get overpowering!
The fruits of all the effort can be seen in the new additions portfolio and later will be transferred to beyond Norfolk.
Since returning I have been working on a few new ideas I have had, but I find this time of the year hard to obtain anything that I feel really satisfied with (roll on the Autumn)……….. I know, wishing my life away sad aye!
To end with I thought that I should mention that I have two images representing Norfolk, that have just been published in the U.K’s Best 101 Landscape locations in the Photography Monthly magazine, just out on the shelves in the August 2008 edition. This is well worth a look as there are some amazing images.
Once again Best Wishes to you all
Steve
11th May 08
Hello once again,
Sorry it’s been so long since my last entry but I have been very busy rushing about Norfolk putting into practice a few ideas I had, working mainly with infrared during this present good spell of weather, also putting the finishing touches to a photographic trip to Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
The Dorset trip is happening in around three weeks, most of the trip has been meticulously planned, as I want to spend a few days on the Kimmeridge ledges and around St Alban’s Head. Hopefully my next blog will include a little about the trip, that is if I don’t miss judge the tide on the ledges at Kimmeridge and come to a horrible watery end :-)
I have some very promising negatives waiting to be finished in recent weeks, but feel a little unable to shut myself away in the dark while the weather is so fine.
Trouble is I always seem to get drawn into the dark as I just can’t keep myself from what I believe is my home and the Sharp end of my photography, where it all matters and happens the darkroom!
To finish with I have been working on an idea with a friend of mine also a local Norfolk photographer on running some Traditional photographic workshops. At the present we are thinking of starting these in the Autumn, so if you would be interested in joining us all drop me a line and I will be hopefully be able to give you a little more info on what we intend to be covering and where.
Oh well I will be off for now, take care and I look forward to adding a little more in a week or two.
8th April 08
Hello,
Well I have had a very interesting few weeks sorting out my arrangement with my colleagues at the Norwich frame workshop in Norwich as if you had noticed in the latest news item my imagery will be very soon exclusive to them in the Norfolk area. I am as I have said pleased with this arrangement as it is going to allow me to spend an awful lot more time being creative rather than dashing all over the place. As always prints will still be available direct through the website.
Right now on to something a lot more interesting……. I have just decided after meeting a very talented young German fine art photographer Katja Becker, to let her shadow and work with me on occasion in the future.
She has only been living in the area a short time but has a very good knowledge of traditional darkroom processes, which she has self-taught herself amazingly to quite a high standard, and a stunning eye for the “something different” so I can see her being more than a big help to me :-)
So with this in view and her complete passion for the traditional side to photography (a very refreshing contrast to most young photographers today in this digital age) I have decided to let her work with me periodically in the time to come, that is until she gets fed up with my constant moaning about everything from finding somewhere to leave the vehicle to our ever changing weather, and the fact that I’m getting tired of humping all the equipment on my own.
I did not make this decision without a lot of thought, but after consideration and the thought of a little company after years and years of working in complete solitude, I thought it might make a nice change, also the fact I think I may benefit from her very bright and sharp mind.
I wish “K” all the best, as it is my intension to help her become a big force on the photographic scene in the area in period to come!
Well it’s about time to sign of again for now, as we are up at 5am tomorrow as the forecast is good and we have a few ideas to put into practice.
2nd March 08
Hello again,
I have not stopped since last sitting down to do this, as without being aware my son entered a literary competition “should the Holocaust be a mandatory taught subject at school”
About four weeks before he was supposed to fly, he announced that he had won the Government sponsored trip to Poland to visit Auschwitz concentration & Berkenau death camps.
He had no passport but after a lot of grief we got that sorted, and then an early morning drop off 4.30am at Luton Airport. Fortunately I did not have to make the pick up trip, but we waited up for him to get back, then after a long day and just drifting off we were treated to an earthquake!
Anyway the photography, I have been experimenting with an old-fashioned bellows camera and an up-tight tilt-shift lens. This has been great fun as I have now gone a step further by combining it with infrared imagery. Playing with the lens it’s giving me a wonderful pin sharp sweet spot of focus and zany controlled blurring. I am starting to acquire stunning visual effects, every photographer looking for an edge should have a set-up like this :-)
I am hoping as the year goes on and I get a little more daring to start showing some of my labours.
Well I shall sign out again for a week or so, but going back to my son Alex’s trip he managed to persuade my wife to lend him her digital camera. I spent hours looking at his images including some short video clips, one of which shows their moments walking through one of the appalling gas chambers. It portrayed a bunch of teenagers in complete silence, a fitting depiction of such a horrific but educational experience for such young minds!
After a little manipulation, I have put a few of his images online below.
Steve
16th February 08
Hello,
Last Thursday evening Nicky and I met up with a good friend and ex work colleague of mine, Mick and his wife Kathy to go along for a personal tour of Surrey House the magnificent heart of Norwich Union which opened in 1907.
I had been before and since have become good friends with Sheree Leeds, Norwich Union archivist, a truly inspirational and educated person.
We turned up at around 6.30pm in complete disarray all looking in different directions and sending security staff searching, but eventually came together and made our way through all the military like security to be sat down in the most magnificent canteen backing on to Surrey House under a new but beautifully stunning roof adjoining the old and new architecture.
After around 45mins sat chatting and catching up while being mothered and entertained by Sheree we made our way through into the marble halls of Surrey House.
Now I don’t know if any of you have been inside this magnificent building but I knew what a dramatic first impression was waiting! This building is a marvel and of course was the inspiration of without doubt the most important and influential local architect, in my opinion, George Skipper. If you are familiar with my site you will find a few images portraying architecture given to us by this great man.
After three hours, which seemed like the blink of the eye the tour ends in the boardroom of Norwich Union Surrey House, to be honest a very heavily intimidating; no expense spared but awe-inspiring room. I sat at the head of the boardroom table and imagined what it must have been like to be summoned to address the directors of this immensely powerful company, a situation that must have been very difficult to deal with!
I would like to thank Sheree and Norwich Union for their wonderful hospitality, but above all George Skipper for his wonderful creation that is Surrey House.
Steve
3rd February 2008
Hello All,
I have just had a rush of blood to the head, as this blog is an idea that I have had for a while now so here goes……… Well Christmas has come and all but been forgotten, halleluiah I can hear you saying.
Well to be frank I have been very lazy photographically since recovering from a few too many drinks and musty early morning heads over the festive period.......as you do :-)
Anyway this morning I thought I had better get stimulated and so have been checking on a few new image locations I have in mind, deciding how I shall go about certain tasks (sun & shadow orientation etc) secretly hoping I will still be able to lie in bed that little bit longer until first light, so as to get that important caffeine boost before I head out! Also looking through my film stocks, to find I have plenty (so no excuses there) :-(
To be truthful I am planning lots in the coming months including a trip to North Yorkshire as an invited guest of a good customer of mine.
So to be honest I feel very motivated after a few non-photographic distractions in my life in recent month’s.
How am I doing??? all in all I hope you like this little incite into my life, as I plan to keep it going for a while at least, so any encouragement from you would be much appreciated as I thrive on support and promise to reply to anyone who can be bothered to interact!
Well I must go now, as I have to find my earplugs as my wife is dragging me to the University of East Anglia to see the American band - 30 seconds to Mars.
Best Wishes to you all
Steve
steve.denby@virgin.net
Firstly I would like to apologise for the lack of input in the blog department since May, no excuses offered other than I have been very busy with one thing and another.
Well since I last made an entry the Jurassic Coast trip to Dorset has been and gone. To be honest the weather was glorious pure blue skies everyday (not a monochrome photographers best wish) but for everyone else a real treat.
Although the light conditions were not as I would have wished for I did manage one image that was worth the trip alone.
This came very early one morning around 5.45 at the base of Swyre Head looking back towards the stunning & fearsome Bat’s Head. I had intended to go down onto the beach at Durdle Door, but the sky was beginning to brew up toward the south and so pulled me along the top of the cliffs toward Swyre Head. I quickly set up a camera & tripod, which I had managed to hump what seemed like miles as the drama in the sky was beginning to get overpowering!
The fruits of all the effort can be seen in the new additions portfolio and later will be transferred to beyond Norfolk.
Since returning I have been working on a few new ideas I have had, but I find this time of the year hard to obtain anything that I feel really satisfied with (roll on the Autumn)……….. I know, wishing my life away sad aye!
To end with I thought that I should mention that I have two images representing Norfolk, that have just been published in the U.K’s Best 101 Landscape locations in the Photography Monthly magazine, just out on the shelves in the August 2008 edition. This is well worth a look as there are some amazing images.
Once again Best Wishes to you all
Steve
11th May 08
Hello once again,
Sorry it’s been so long since my last entry but I have been very busy rushing about Norfolk putting into practice a few ideas I had, working mainly with infrared during this present good spell of weather, also putting the finishing touches to a photographic trip to Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
The Dorset trip is happening in around three weeks, most of the trip has been meticulously planned, as I want to spend a few days on the Kimmeridge ledges and around St Alban’s Head. Hopefully my next blog will include a little about the trip, that is if I don’t miss judge the tide on the ledges at Kimmeridge and come to a horrible watery end :-)
I have some very promising negatives waiting to be finished in recent weeks, but feel a little unable to shut myself away in the dark while the weather is so fine.
Trouble is I always seem to get drawn into the dark as I just can’t keep myself from what I believe is my home and the Sharp end of my photography, where it all matters and happens the darkroom!
To finish with I have been working on an idea with a friend of mine also a local Norfolk photographer on running some Traditional photographic workshops. At the present we are thinking of starting these in the Autumn, so if you would be interested in joining us all drop me a line and I will be hopefully be able to give you a little more info on what we intend to be covering and where.
Oh well I will be off for now, take care and I look forward to adding a little more in a week or two.
8th April 08
Hello,
Well I have had a very interesting few weeks sorting out my arrangement with my colleagues at the Norwich frame workshop in Norwich as if you had noticed in the latest news item my imagery will be very soon exclusive to them in the Norfolk area. I am as I have said pleased with this arrangement as it is going to allow me to spend an awful lot more time being creative rather than dashing all over the place. As always prints will still be available direct through the website.
Right now on to something a lot more interesting……. I have just decided after meeting a very talented young German fine art photographer Katja Becker, to let her shadow and work with me on occasion in the future.
She has only been living in the area a short time but has a very good knowledge of traditional darkroom processes, which she has self-taught herself amazingly to quite a high standard, and a stunning eye for the “something different” so I can see her being more than a big help to me :-)
So with this in view and her complete passion for the traditional side to photography (a very refreshing contrast to most young photographers today in this digital age) I have decided to let her work with me periodically in the time to come, that is until she gets fed up with my constant moaning about everything from finding somewhere to leave the vehicle to our ever changing weather, and the fact that I’m getting tired of humping all the equipment on my own.
I did not make this decision without a lot of thought, but after consideration and the thought of a little company after years and years of working in complete solitude, I thought it might make a nice change, also the fact I think I may benefit from her very bright and sharp mind.
I wish “K” all the best, as it is my intension to help her become a big force on the photographic scene in the area in period to come!
Well it’s about time to sign of again for now, as we are up at 5am tomorrow as the forecast is good and we have a few ideas to put into practice.
2nd March 08
Hello again,
I have not stopped since last sitting down to do this, as without being aware my son entered a literary competition “should the Holocaust be a mandatory taught subject at school”
About four weeks before he was supposed to fly, he announced that he had won the Government sponsored trip to Poland to visit Auschwitz concentration & Berkenau death camps.
He had no passport but after a lot of grief we got that sorted, and then an early morning drop off 4.30am at Luton Airport. Fortunately I did not have to make the pick up trip, but we waited up for him to get back, then after a long day and just drifting off we were treated to an earthquake!
Anyway the photography, I have been experimenting with an old-fashioned bellows camera and an up-tight tilt-shift lens. This has been great fun as I have now gone a step further by combining it with infrared imagery. Playing with the lens it’s giving me a wonderful pin sharp sweet spot of focus and zany controlled blurring. I am starting to acquire stunning visual effects, every photographer looking for an edge should have a set-up like this :-)
I am hoping as the year goes on and I get a little more daring to start showing some of my labours.
Well I shall sign out again for a week or so, but going back to my son Alex’s trip he managed to persuade my wife to lend him her digital camera. I spent hours looking at his images including some short video clips, one of which shows their moments walking through one of the appalling gas chambers. It portrayed a bunch of teenagers in complete silence, a fitting depiction of such a horrific but educational experience for such young minds!
After a little manipulation, I have put a few of his images online below.
Steve
16th February 08
Hello,
Last Thursday evening Nicky and I met up with a good friend and ex work colleague of mine, Mick and his wife Kathy to go along for a personal tour of Surrey House the magnificent heart of Norwich Union which opened in 1907.
I had been before and since have become good friends with Sheree Leeds, Norwich Union archivist, a truly inspirational and educated person.
We turned up at around 6.30pm in complete disarray all looking in different directions and sending security staff searching, but eventually came together and made our way through all the military like security to be sat down in the most magnificent canteen backing on to Surrey House under a new but beautifully stunning roof adjoining the old and new architecture.
After around 45mins sat chatting and catching up while being mothered and entertained by Sheree we made our way through into the marble halls of Surrey House.
Now I don’t know if any of you have been inside this magnificent building but I knew what a dramatic first impression was waiting! This building is a marvel and of course was the inspiration of without doubt the most important and influential local architect, in my opinion, George Skipper. If you are familiar with my site you will find a few images portraying architecture given to us by this great man.
After three hours, which seemed like the blink of the eye the tour ends in the boardroom of Norwich Union Surrey House, to be honest a very heavily intimidating; no expense spared but awe-inspiring room. I sat at the head of the boardroom table and imagined what it must have been like to be summoned to address the directors of this immensely powerful company, a situation that must have been very difficult to deal with!
I would like to thank Sheree and Norwich Union for their wonderful hospitality, but above all George Skipper for his wonderful creation that is Surrey House.
Steve
3rd February 2008
Hello All,
I have just had a rush of blood to the head, as this blog is an idea that I have had for a while now so here goes……… Well Christmas has come and all but been forgotten, halleluiah I can hear you saying.
Well to be frank I have been very lazy photographically since recovering from a few too many drinks and musty early morning heads over the festive period.......as you do :-)
Anyway this morning I thought I had better get stimulated and so have been checking on a few new image locations I have in mind, deciding how I shall go about certain tasks (sun & shadow orientation etc) secretly hoping I will still be able to lie in bed that little bit longer until first light, so as to get that important caffeine boost before I head out! Also looking through my film stocks, to find I have plenty (so no excuses there) :-(
To be truthful I am planning lots in the coming months including a trip to North Yorkshire as an invited guest of a good customer of mine.
So to be honest I feel very motivated after a few non-photographic distractions in my life in recent month’s.
How am I doing??? all in all I hope you like this little incite into my life, as I plan to keep it going for a while at least, so any encouragement from you would be much appreciated as I thrive on support and promise to reply to anyone who can be bothered to interact!
Well I must go now, as I have to find my earplugs as my wife is dragging me to the University of East Anglia to see the American band - 30 seconds to Mars.
Best Wishes to you all
Steve
steve.denby@virgin.net
