In this I suspect I am not alone, my photography is a journey. Sometimes something works and sometimes like the above picture, it cleary does not.
This is my old Olympus camera in action, its rather dated but I like it because with 3 lenses in my bag including a macro its pretty light for those days when I just like to carry it around wherever I may be. One of the snags with this older Olympus rather than my heavier Canon gear, is that the lens hood can show up in the picture.
Recently down by the canal I dropped the lens hood and it rolled away across the towpath and bounced into the canal, whoops. But its OK I thought its light plastic it will float and so it did for perhaps 2 seconds before sinking into the murky water! Oh well I thought pretty minor loss, easily get another lens hood. I casually mentioned it to a friend with a canal boat nearby and thought nothing of it. I got a text a couple of days later, the water had been clearer and it was lying on a swath of coloured leaves, he had seen it and fished it out.
I would be the first to admit I am not the best photographer in Leeds, far from it. Thats fine by me, I am and will most likely always be unpretentious by nature. There was a period, a year or so back when someone would comment, anonymously of course, that they would not have done it like that. At first it wound me up but then I thought, its easy to have a photography website with perhaps as few as 10 photographs showing off your work. I would not be too difficult to find a dozen great photographs and showcase those. That is not what my Leeds photography is about. Its about the days when the weather is just dull and damp rather than dramatic. Its also about everyday life here in the city of Leeds and the surrounding towns and villages so I often feature cats, dogs anything that I might think could be of some interest or not.
The above photograph was taken around a week or so back in Roundhay Park.
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You've done well in not letting those anonymous comments get to you!
ReplyDeleteIn this post, you write "Sometimes something works and sometimes like the above picture, it cleary does not." What do you mean? What's wrong with today's picture?
It works a treat, well done! You will probably find that a large part of your audience simply want to see Leeds, because they love the place and appreciate that you're showing them a little piece of it on a daily basis, keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteNow I know why I am so attracted to your blog. It is real life on life's terms. Nothing fake or pretentious. This tree shot is heavenly. It looks so pretty bending to the side in the wind. Glad you got your lens hood back. That was a great story...actually a one-in-a-million story. A happy ending :-) genie
ReplyDeleteWell I really love your blog - I don't often comment, but I visit pretty much everyday. I really appreciate the fact that while many of your photographs are stunning works of art, many of them are also just...Leeds. Snapshots of the day to day, momentary happenings of the city.
ReplyDeletePs. More countryside photos, please!! :)
I too enjoy your blog though I comment infrequently. I use Olympus gear because it is nice and light. It's the daily life that matters. I have followed for a while blogs of stunning photographers but I tire of them ... pretty pictures without life.
ReplyDeleteNice work, Paul. I would have thought the shading on the corners was deliberate. It looks great. You know that I am pretty new to doing this and I have enjoyed seeing Leeds through your lens and learning at the same time too. Keep it coming!
ReplyDeleteI too had assumed the dark bits were an intentional 'framing'.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about comments. I think my reaction to blogging is the opposite to yours. When I started, I thought people would be critical - that they would say 'it would have been better if you had done it like this . . .' and 'I don't like this as much as your others . . .' and I would learn from these remarks. When I found hardly anyone would say anything negative, I was disappointed. Although I like it when people say nice things (of course I do!) I would like it even better if people were objective, rather than complementary as a default - at least for some of the time! I've trimmed my own comments to conform to the norm - and rarely say anything that isn't entirely positive. But I think it's sad. We are missing rather a big opportunity here.