Nature’s Effortless Disrespect

Humans modify their landscape—they are compulsive builders. We memorialise our perception of greatness, and such things long outlive their subjects—ask any Pharaoh. But the natural world is oblivious of such things, and competes with the human need to control entropy. Like the need to weed a garden—perhaps the ultimate expression of futility—we erect monuments to last the ages, while nature has a casual disrespect for such notions, in fact is in permanent violation of them. I took this picture in Mowbray Park, Sunderland, in November, 2011, during my fourth UK trip. This statue is of General Sir Henry Havelock, a local, who distinguished himself in India in the early 19^th century, and while he may be standing up there in cast bronze, on a stone plinth and surrounded with canons—how many symbols of imperialism can you get into one place at one time?—nature casually mocks such human constructs. It’s the seagull, of course. I shot the statue from several angles and distances, under that glowering, stormy sky, but that bird did not move an inch, and finally, I accepted it as part of the tableau of the moment—embodying the narrative of nature’s obliviousness to human precocity. The man may have been a hero and a figure associated with national and imperial power, but to a bird—nature—he’s just a perch. And that’s a profound observation on human nonsense, really. Minor adjustments to colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Looking Down on a Rainforest

 

Apologies for the dearth of posts this month—I’ve been concentrating on other tasks and it slipped my mind!

One can almost feel the humidity, a sticky heat surrounding these tropical broad-leaf trees—but the warmth was a relief. The structures amongst them are a giveaway: this is the Wintergardens in Sunderland, a cold, northern city, in the grey November of 2011. I was my fourth UK trip when I wandered through the Museum and its associated hothouse, before taking a stroll in Mowbray Park behind them. The lighting conditions were grey and flat, and this image is enhanced to bring up colour and contrast in Irfanview. It was an interesting aside from the grey streets, and the only other tropical house I’ve been in besides that Victorian classic in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Classical-Style Composition

As with the “Hidden in the Woods” post, this is another ‘see-it-snap-it’ composition. When one’s eye is attuned to composition in the manner of art, landscapes and structures sometimes come together from various perspectives and ‘gel’ in the sense of looking just-so. The buildings, half seen through the trees, may be taken to be the subject matter, but the woods are the statement of nature overlying human influence on the world. The arch of the foliage at the top almost frames the picture, while the conformation is suggestive of Fragonard or Constable. It was a grey, soft-light day when I snapped this, in November, 2011, in Mowbray Park, Sunderland, during my fourth UK expedition. I adjusted colour, contrast and sharpness in Irfanview, plus some squaring up with fine rotation; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Colourful Night

This was the very last frame I took before leaving Sunderland after the conference at the university in November, 2011. I was almost back to my boarding house just off the Roker seafront, and took this shot from the street corner. As I recall, I had the camera balanced, held rigidly against something, probably a post cross the road. This was the best of the set. Fog had rolled in and I got many interesting studies as I walked back from the last social with colleagues from the event, but all suffered from softness and camera shake to one degree or another, as light registration speed was just not there in those days. Oddly enough, I still use the same camera all these years later—it’s reliable and keeps on going! The colour always engages me with these shots—the late evening blue sky scattering through the fog, the burn-in of the street lights, all very atmospheric. Minor adjustments to colour and contrast in Irfanview; Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

The Art of Accepting What’s There

Every photographer hopes for spectacular lighting conditions and weather that is kind to his or her composition. The plain fact is that we don’t always get those things (I was sunny when I left Adelaide, and the grey skies and rain began at the first stop, Melbourne), and we work with what we have—making a silk purse from a sow’s ear at least some of the time! But when you’ve travelled across the world and have a particular day available for walking out and shooting what’s there, you make what the conditions give you, and with any luck you can come up with something that’s worth looking at. This was my first day in Sunderland in November 2011 (I don’t have accurate dates, I forgot to set date and time when I cleared the flashcard for the trip!), and I would be occupied at the conference at the university from the following day, so this was it—sight seeing, if possible, through mist and drizzle. Well, I went out and walked, and I shot all sorts—Roker Park, Mowbray Park, the Wintergardens, the museum, street scenes, the river, the foreshore. It’s the same outing as my post “Nature’s Effortless Drama,” and one or two others. This is a view over the lower river, looking out into the North Sea. Sunderland is a busy port for shipping, and the river is a highway for trade. This picture has almost the texture of a watercolour, created by a buildup of washes to depict the flat, misty conditions. This is what it looked like, and I recorded the thick, hazy day in all its glory. I think there is aesthetic appeal in this—the starkness, the apparent “hardness” of the day, metaphorical, if you will, of the bulwark of human industriousness against the impersonal forces of nature. A bright, sunny day would give this view a very different emotional context, but here the dreary weather asks the viewer to think more deeply about the scene. Colour and contrast were adjusted slightly in Irfanview. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

 

Nature’s Effortless Drama

I took this shot in November, 2011, during my fourth UK trip. It’s a view over the Sunderland foreshore in thick and hazy weather, one of a series, this one with a fair measure of zoom used. I took a walk when I got into Sunderland (for a conference at the university) after a long journey from Australia, and you can see by how low the sun is that the date is well advanced toward winter. This was probably mid-afternoon but the sun didn’t seem to pass about 25 degrees of elevation at that latitude at that time of year. I did not process this image at all—it speaks for itself. The haze, the sun through cloud, the way the chip exposed on the brighter sky and plunged the land and sea into twilight, are, to me quite perfect in their own right. This is the kind of show nature turns on all the time, and thick weather can deliver images far more dramatic than bright sunshine and sharp shadows. Fuji FinePix S5600. Image by Mike.

Hard Streets

 

These are ordinary suburban streets in Sunderland, in the English North East, but the light from that overcast and the wet ground conspire to make the tableau seem very “hard.” I took this shot on either the 11^th or 12^th of November, 2010, having just arrived for the conference at the University. I took a walk down the sea front from my B&B in Roker, took in the sights of a wet, chilly day, had hot chocolate at a small corner cafe, and generally looked for atmospheric images to record. This one has a brooding quality created by that angry sky, and a certain human plaintiveness—the utter lack of green, not so much as a weed showsng between paving stones. The overall effect is somewhat dystopian, though on a sunny day in summer the impression could be quite different. Some enhancement was done—contrast, colour, sharpness and gamma value. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

The City By Night

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This is the third of my night shots in Sunderland, UK, taken during a chilly walk on an evening in November, 2007. Here I'm approaching the St Peters bridge, just visible at right, from the south side, and the streetlighting has registered the muted tones of buildings and grass amazingly well. The image was enhanced with gamma correcion to bring up the middle values, then contrast and colour saturation were used to restore visual density. The camera was held solidly against a lamp post to defeat shake, allowing the long exposure to do its magic. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Deceptively Calm

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The shelter of cliffs buffers a town from the weather, and just as the old town of Whitby nestles in the protection of the Esk River estuary, so Sunderland grew up around the mouth of the Were. This is the Sunderland marina, a new residential complex sheltered by the shoulder of the Roker cliffs from much of the force of the North Sea weather, and here the marina seems placid, almost Mediterranean. The frame was taken from St Peters Rd, in November, 2006, and was sharpened and colour- and contrast-balanced. The horizon line was squared up with fine rotation. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Vanishing Point in Stone

This is a pleasing perspective shot, taken on the south side of the north breakwater on the Roker foreshore of Sunderland in November, 2006. The low lighting angle was about 3.30pm. The conditions were very cold, with a stiff breeze, and I went down a flight of old boat-landing steps to capture this angle on the stonework. This engineering is 19th century, and the deterioration of stone and iron under the impact of the environment creates always-interesting images. Sharpened and colour enhanced, Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Deceptive Summer

These marching columns are streetlights on St Peter's Rd, Sunderland, UK, photographed in November, 2007. The colour factor is the important point here, besides the composition of the poles and the tower to the left. That blue sky feels Mediterranean, it certainly creates a visual feeling of warmth, which is totally deceptive. Note the distortive effect of the lens on the verticals. November in Sunderland is decidedly chilly, and the wind was like a knife all week. The image was sharpened and colour- and contrast-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Visually Deceptive

This is the Sunderland,UK, marina, a residential development at the mouth of the river, off the entrance to Sunderland harbour. The modern high-rise apartment blocks are partially protected from the north wind by the Roker cliffs, and from the often heavy North Sea swell by the breakwaters. The colour of this image, barely enhanced from the raw file, along with sharpness and contrast, suggests a very Mediterranean climate, which is the deceptiveness of photography. This picture was taken in November, 2007, it was cold and a biting wind had been blowing out of the north all week; these yachts are laid-up for the winter. The vertical format is here the result of cropping the central body of the image from a horizontal format frame. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Night on the Street

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Sometimes digital cameras can amaze you. This is a full night-time shot in streetlighting, and it's as clear as if you'd stepped into the street and looked around. It was a bitterly cold night in November, 2007, and I was leaving a function at the Bonded Warehouse Restaurant in Sunderland, UK, to walk back to my boarding house. I held the camera against the wall, rock-steady, to let the chip work its magic with a long exposure. Note how the wall is distorted with the wide-angle effect of the lens. Mid-tone areas were enhanced with gamma-correction, then contrast and sharpness were increased, and a slight custom rotation (a fraction of a degree) was used to minimise the proximity-distortion of the wall. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

One Serious Breakwater

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Actually it's one of two... These great, curved breakwaters extend way out into the North Sea from the Roker foreshore, just north of the entrance to Sunderland harbour. They are Victorian engineering, all solid stone and cast iron, and are capped with typically 19th century lighthouses. The area enclosed between them seems to be a safe beach for the summer tourist trade rather than guarding the mouth of the river, as the twin breakwaters do at Whitby. The photograph was taken from the esplanade, and was cropped down to a panoramic image, removing some foreground and a lot of sky. The horizon line was levelled up using the fine rotation tool, and the image was sharpened progressively to regain the clarity expected of such a shot. Colour and contrast were also adjusted slightly. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic; November 2006. Image by Mike.

Sunderland Marina

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This is the new residential waterfront complex in Sunderland, at the very mouth of the river, a high-rise apartment development surrounding parking for a great many vessels. I took this photo in November 2006 from the cliff above, in late afternoon light on my way from the university to my boarding house. The sun angle is probably around 3pm, certainly no later than 4. The range of colour in the image is rich and eye-pleasing, and the chip has focussed firmly on the subject matter: note the foregound vegetation softened out. The frame was sharpened and colour-tweaked for publication. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, telephoto. Image by Mike.

Texture-on-Sea

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Sunderland is the farthest north I've been, and in November, 2006, it was very cold. This was around 3.30 in the afternoon and the sun was low, daylight would be gone in an hour. This is the lighthouse at the end of the north breakwater of the pair protecting the beach on the Roker foreshore, and I walked out there in the sea wind to explore stone, iron, rust and light. The texture of the stone construction of the tower appealed very much to the lens, and is characteristic of the way all coastal engineering fares at the hands of the elements. The shot was a simple one, looking up the tower against the late afternoon sky, and enhancements were simply sharpness, gamma correction and contrast. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Lights on the River

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This is the River Wear in Sunderland, in the stretch just beyond the Wearmouth Bridge, looking across to the St Peters Campus of the University of Sunderland. At top left is the church of St Peter and St Cuthbert, on the site of a church where the Venerable Bede was based in the 7th century. It was about 10 at night, and very cold in mid-November, 2007, and I shot several frames on my walk from a dinner at the Bonded Warehouse (now a trendy venue on the south side) back to my boarding house by the Roker seafront. The streetlighting was quite strong enough for me to be hopeful that a supported camera would get the goods, and it did. A handrail provided a firm footing for this shot. At least three frames were good enough to be shortlisted for the blog, and this one has the most interesting subject matter. Enhancements include sharpness, colour and a tiny bit of contrast, otherwise this is a verbatim example of night photography -- what the camera can see that the eye on the night might not, at least not consciously. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Perspective Compression

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Sometimes you see the most unexpected things, and it's good to have a camera handy. I had just arrived at my boarding house in Sunderland, near the seafront, having dragged my bags up from the St. Peters railway station, and what should I see on this cold, bright, windy afternoon, but a ship manoeuvring to enter Sunderland harbour via the twin breakwaters. It was a real gift for a spot of maximum telephoto action and the phenomenon of perspective compression. The foreground and background in focus simultaneously suggests the ship is much closer than it really is. Sharpened, contrast-tweaked and colour-enhanced. November, 2007. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

The Same Moon

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I remember once emailing with a friend on the other side of the world, the time zones balanced up so it was night in both places and the moon rising here was almost setting there. It was an amazing thought to be so far apart but both looking at the moon at the very same moment. So when I see the moon when I'm travelling it gives me a smile, it makes me feel more connected with home, if only in that it reminds me we're one planet here. This was a simple framing of the daytime moon among the trees of early winter on a street in Sunderland, UK, by the river and half a mile from the sea, in November, 2006. The clear blue sky and bright colors mask the fact it was cool: a chill wind off the North Sea was biting hard out on the breakwaters, and it was downright cold after dark. The picture has been mildly enhanced, sharpened and the colours tweaked a touch. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Low Sun and Industry

There's always something engaging about the juxtaposition of the natural world with the pure artifice of human technology, and industrial buildings against the sky are the simplest of such compositions. But an industrial complex with a design aesthetic is not common at all, and the eye is drawn to the composition. These towers appear to be the chimneys from underground furnaces or kilns, at Britain's National Glass Centre, by the river at St Peters, in Sunderland. A rare clear sky framed the low sun of early winter; this would have been mid-afternoon and looking into the south, which tells you how far north Sunderland really is! The chip did an admirable job of balancing the extreme glare with the total silhouette of the towers. Fuji PinePix S5600, automatic. November, 2007. Image by Mike.