I love the Cremyll ferry. It is the quickest way into Cornwall and takes you from Admirals hard to Cremyll in less than 8 minutes. They take foot passengers, bikes, prams and the staff are always helpful. In the summer months, they often finish after the sun has already set.

The hills of this area are a tough cycle but you are rewarded by the stunning scenery of the south east Cornish peninsula at the top of virtually every ascent. Once I had got to Looe I felt I had done some exercise, so on the way back I took it relatively easy and stopped along the way to take photos along the coastal roads. I’m still not used to being ‘locked’ into the bike, this resulted in a very comedic fall onto my side just before I started taking any of the photos below.

To try and save weight on the 60km cycle I took only two lenses a 35 mm FE f2.8 (which is the lightest lens I own) and an 85mm FE f1.8.  Next time, I hope to get a few more shots of the actual cycle including cycle bars etc. I am trying to do more photograph panels which work together and have a consistent tonal range of colours.

As always, feel free to comment below with any suggestions/alterations.

Mills Bakery reflections

I recently got a new lightweight travel tripod (Manfrotto BeFree) so I thought I would get a grip on the controls and set up in my local area. The Royal William (Victualling) Yard is an area I have photographed a lot but not often from the “blue hour” to darkness. For those unfamiliar with the term, blue hour is the period before sunrise and after sunset when the colours of the sky turn mainly blue. It was a clear and still night which led to some amazing colours in the sky and wonderful lights from the Royal William Yard staircase.

The Royal William Yard is a wonderful example of Victorian architecture. Designed by Sir John Rennie (the designer of London Bridge) and constructed between 1825 and 1831, the Yard forms the largest collection of Grade 1 listed military buildings in Europe. Restored to mixed-use shops and housing, the Yard is now living and breathing, having been decommissioned in 1992. At the end of the site is the Royal William Yard staircase. The cantilevered staircase was designed by Gillespie Yunnie Architects and links the Yard to the South West coastal path. A stunning piece of architecture, at night, the staircase comes alive with changing LED coloured lights.

Please feel free to comment on the photos below.

Relaxing

In my day job, I tend to do things in very methodical, ordered and sequential fashion. Often there is a definitive purpose to this and doing the same thing over and over again is important in terms of maintaining quality. Although there are an almost infinite amount of subjects to photograph, and we can choose to photograph them in a variety of conditions, from different focus points, or length of exposures, or viewpoints, with different lenses or formats, we often see the world in a similar way on each occasion we photograph.

A good way of breaking out of this is to have a set plan of different shots to take when documenting the world around you in your own style. With this in mind, there are a few types of photographs that you should be looking to take when showing a story of the world around you. In documentary and travel photography these are:

• Establishing the scene
• People at an event or at work
• Details or close up
• Decisive moments – any of the above
• Conclusion

Keeping these categories in mind or in a notebook when taking photographs gives some ideas of how to expand the types of photos so that they relate to a wider audience. Like in my previous blog post, you then have to choose strong photographs which explain the story or feeling you are trying to give to your audience. What are your tips? Comments below.

Establishing or Setting the Scene

People and portraits at an event or at work

Details

Decisive moments

Conclusion

What are your tips when you are out and about? Comments below.

Clifton post box in Snow, Royal York Crescent

Now that spring has finally arrived, I thought I would reflect on and edit my photos from the last of winter.

Recently we were ‘trapped’ in Clifton village, Bristol during the “beast from the East”. The snowfall really changes the city. Clifton is a beautiful location to photograph at any time, but especially in the snow. The pristine white snow really provides a wonderful contrast to the Georgian architecture and the striking Clifton Suspension Bridge.

I focused on including people wherever possible in the photographs. It was freezing and slippery but I loved every minute of being outside with my camera in the ever-changing conditions. I hope I have provided some novel views of the village.

Please post comments or criticisms below the photos.

Cycling on vandalised bridge

I recently attended the European Association of Urology Annual Meeting in Copenhagen. This was my first time in Copenhagen and there is always something special about visiting a city for the first time. Denmark is the third Nordic country I have visited and like its neighbours provides clean streets, efficient public transport with an amazing Danish twist of style with substance. Copenhagen is a beautiful city. There is an amazing mix of colours and history and we were blessed with great (but cold “beast from the East 2”) weather for the conference. We were staying near Nyhavn and this is a great location for exploring the city.

The featured image is of a girl cycling on a pedestrian footbridge, Nyhavn, Copenhagen. It was inspired by Lartigue’s work and the bokeh is created by a vandalised piece of shatterproof blue glass which created an amazing light show in the morning light. The photos have been processed with a film emulation preset in Lightroom with some alterations including removing grain. Please leave any comments below.