Steam days

One of my favourite camera days out is visiting the various steam Railways we have in the south west.
Buckfastleigh is one of my favourites, where during the course of the year, they host a number of events that are always well attended.

The original railway ran from Buckfastleigh to Ashburton, first opened in on 1st May 1872!

The railway never made much profit but was used to carry coal, cider and agricultural goods.
The railway stopped carrying passengers in 1958, freight continued to be carried until 1962.

A group of businessmen announced an intention to reopen the line as a tourist line and in 1965, the first rolling stock arrived.

In 1969 services commenced between Buckfastleigh and Totnes, the line to Ashburton was lost in 1979, due to the widening of the A38

In 1990, the line was taken over by the South Devon Railway trust, the line renamed South Devon Railway.

I doff my metaphorical hat to those volunteers who help keep these wonderful reminders of our heritage going, giving so much pleasure to many.

Sunday’s outing started with a cloak of grey cloud and drizzle, my immediate thought was to capture the essence of this in monochrome photos, to create a ‘film noir’ or ‘brief encounter’ style shots

 

A mixture of steam and mist really brought my vision to life…..

A big thank you to all the staff here at SDR, they are so obliging to requests of photos, they helped make this trip one of my favourites by far!

Once the weather began to brighten, I saw an opportunity to use a vintage style post edit on some of the shots, some of these are my favourites of 2018, but I am certain there will be many more to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black and white

Throughout my own photographic journey, I have always been inspired by black and white photos, from the early pioneers, to the masters of photojournalism and street photography.

It is not hard to be inspired by the work of Henri Cartier Bresson, Gary Winogrand, Vivian Maier and Jill Freedman to name just a few.

There is something about working in monochrome that seems to capture the essence of a moment in time, and while it is clear that one has to master the tools we use, being in the right place at the right time is an art in itsself.

I experimented with black and white film, in the very first few steps of my own photographic journey, but in all honestly lacked the knowledge in utilising it to its full potential.

It was once I had bought my first ‘proper’ DSLR that I began to take an interest in the masters of film, honing my photographic education from books or information gleaned from the internet.

There is something I still love about leafing through pages of photos from around the world, of so many different subjects, borrowing ideas or becoming inspired by so many talented photographers of a bygone era,

My own photographic philosophy is to attempt to capture the everyday, but to add my own touch if possible.

Any photographer will tell you that they look for textures, shapes or contrasts, all these become so much more relevant with black and white images.

The image of the cranes in the above sequence of images is such an example, through early morning cloud, there was something about the contrasts I liked and while the image looked good in colour, the monochrome was just so much better, especially with a slight vignette to focus on the centre.

The underside of the road bridge just had to be taken with a conversion to black and white in mind, the textures, light and shadow are all the things I love about photography.

Had anybody told me that I would take great enjoyment from street photography, I would have never believed them, I never felt confident about portrait or street photography, but as I have become more assured as both a person and a photographer, I have found that talking to a possible subject breaks the barriers, often the conversation turns to the cameras I use.

In Exeter, we have a plethora of very talented buskers, today, finally I had my camera with me to take the following shots

Today was just one of those days when I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and while I will always hope to be as good as those that have inspired me, I always come away from a photo walk with a sense of enjoyment and achievement.