Bills Posts

You might recall that last week I wrote about a newly discovered feature of the iPhone 12 camera namely in live mode, the ability recreate long exposures. In order to take advantage of what appears to be an extremely useful feature, you need opportunity. Now, to me one of the ways I would like to test the the facility is seeing how it works with movement. Now, I need to be careful here if you come from Gosport and read this blog. Movement is the thing. Gosport is not a fast moving town, especially at 6AM.

Then , the next way of trying it is nighttime. Of course, we are now moving to more hours of daylight. The opportunity for nighttime photos receding into the distance. Oh well.

So, I thought as I was out walking I’ll do something different. I took a picture of this door. Looking at it as a picture, I quite like it. I can’t tell you why I like it, I just do.

As I was about to write tonight’s blog I was thinking which picture to use, I thought the door. Then, when I uploaded it, there was a fair bit of the walkway I cropped that away. It looked better than the original. Then I wondered what it looks like in black and white;

Yeah, I like that I one as well. Now, I don’t think I going to start making all my pictures of doors. But this does go to show that I need to move in to things. Whilst my perception of photographic opportunities appears to be shrinking in one direction, for the time being at least, just as another door opens.

That’ll do for tonight I think.

Normally, I try to go to bed at 2200, last night it was 2230. It shouldn’t make a difference because the light usually goes out at 2300, as it did last night. Sunday night, I had been disturbed by Rascal. Monday night I must have been stressed by something as I awakened at around 0300 and could not get back to sleep. What with the clocks changing Sunday Morning, I think it all caught up with me, and I didn’t wake up until 0622. I didn’t go for a walk.

Not going for a walk is not a good thing. As of my writing this I have done 1400 steps – utterly pathetic. I am hoping that this is not going to be a regular thing as I don’t want to set an alarm. If tomorrow I wake up after 6, I’m still going to get up and go for a walk.

It was doubly disappointing this morning, when I looked out the window, it had been a lovely sunrise. Deeply frustrating. The picture is from Sunday’s walk. This time we stayed away from the promenade waterfront. We went over the Forton Creek Bridge up to The Jolly Roger. That area has a bit of a reputation for Anti Social Behaviour. There were a lot of teenagers there. They were a bit noisy, but that is absolutely normal. We didn’t see anything untoward. The Sunday walk was very nice.

Hopefully, things will be back to normal tomorrow.

I know I’ve posted (variations) of this image on numerous occasions, but I think each one is different. This one strikes me as being a bit atmospheric, even if I think so myself, so as usual – I like it.

And so to tonight’s piece. Earlier in this week’s writings, I spoke about a film, The Monuments Men. The film was released in 2014, based upon a book; The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves And The Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. Hugh Bonneville plays a character Donald Jeffries. Jeffries is hunting the Madonna of Bruges and goes to the church where the statue is homed. Jeffries gets shot and whilst he is dying, there is an interlude where a letter he’d written to his father.

I can’t find the text of the letter, and I know it is a piece of fiction (admittedly, I haven’t read the source book, so the letter may not be), anyhow. The letter was lovely, incredibly well written in my opinion. Made me feel quite emotional really. But, it was that I felt it was so well written.

I really can’t recall a piece of writing that had that kind of impact on me . I ‘ve read books that I love reading, but this was somehow different. I’ve bought the DVD, and I will watch it soon. I don’t know where I stand with copyright, perhaps I will transcribe bits of it with attribution.

This then leads me on, strangely enough to the book of the week; Gosport’s Railway Era, by G. A. Alcock. Now, hang on a second, how can a leaflet written by a person from Gosport, in 1975 for the Gosport Historic Records and Museum Society be compared with a Hollywood success?

Now I started reading this a couple of weeks ago, it’s taken me a bit of time, because we are in magazine season (my walking magazine has just arrived, another interruption). I read the introduction, Mr. Alcock has written a piece that doesn’t I still the same emotional impact, but it is nonetheless an entertaining, humorous, informative, very easy piece of writing, of a quality comparable to the letter. I’m on page 33 (of 60 – so not a long book) but the read is of the same easy read all the way through. Now, I need to work out what it is that appeals so much about these two pieces. Should be an interesting piece of research.

What with nearly 28 miles completed, I think it’s reasonable to say that the week has been reasonably successful. I have been fortunate to be able to get out every day, and every day has been a pleasure.

My worst day was yesterday, but even that, at 2.36 miles, that was a success, achieving as I did Run three of Week 7, so that I can start Week 8 tomorrow. The bulk of the walks are early in the morning, and if you are reading my Face Book page you’ll (and that is most of the time) hear about my whinging about my reluctance to get up. I am invariably pleased when I do so.

Because I have been following the clockwise route I have been getting a little bit of the sunrise, and on most days one of the Brittany or Condor ferries coming in which has been very nice. My intention is that I will continue with the clockwise route for the time being. Now that the clocks have gone forward, I will get another shot at the sun rise.

I’m not really sure what the problem is. I certainly have more than enough equipment. I know it isn’t just a matter of setting up and starting recording. Whilst I could do that, with no preparation, and no real subject, it would be an incoherent production.

There are then, two issues preparation and subject. Preparation means scripting – what am I going to say, and where am I going to say it. More importantly, what am I going to talk about? Whilst I never talk about it here, I am interested in politics. I thought I would get hold of the minutes of council meetings of the 1970’s and talk about them, and how things have changed. I then thought that it would be awkward as there would be people involved that would still be in the area. I don’t want that.

There is a period during the 1880’s – 1900 when it was quite interesting here. It was the incorporation into a borough of Gosport and Alverstoke. I don’t think I am understating things to say that it caused a bit of strife. Now I do want to research that, so I’m wondering if there are council minutes from then. Also, there is a Hampshire paper, I think it is the Hampshire telegraph -you have to pay a subscription to get that, but that’s OK.

Well, as you can see, I have been thinking about it. I just actually need to get up and do something.

I don’t know how many pictures I’ve taken this week. I’m willing to bet that it’s not far short of 100. That equates to three rolls of film. The last time I shot a roll of film would have been the early nineties. Between 1992 when I left Berlin and when I acquired my first digital camera – way before I got my first mobile phone with a camera. I don’t even recall having a camera, but I must have done.

I was out for my walk and just as I turned on to the High street a small car pulled up outside a shop. I hadn’t noticed that there was a person sleeping in the doorway. The driver of the car is the owner of the shop. He shouted at the rough sleeper “Hey You.” Of course, the sleeper had to move. I didn’t stay to see if there was any kind of confrontation. But I felt for both the sleeper and the shop owner. Who would have either of their problems sets in these times?

I have this feeling that none of my writings this week have been difficult to commit. No sense of Writers Block. This is obviously a good thing. But at the same time I don’t feel that any of my writings have any kind of sense of adventure about them. This coming Monday’s article will delve in to that a little bit, I have been thinking about the book of the week since I read the introduction. It isn’t really a book, more of a pamphlet. I’m not going to say any more about it at the moment.

In the meantime, I want to briefly talk about a film; The Monuments Men. Hugh Bonneville plays an officer on the British Army, whilst searching for a piece of religious art he gets shot. There is then a breakaway to read a letter he wrote to his father. i will try and find the words, but I thought the letter was beautiful. I know it was only theatre, but it really did quite move me.

The picture is absolutely nothing at all to do with the weather. I took it this morning, and with a little bit of cropping, I thought I wonder what that looks like In B&W? I have to say I quite like it,

OK, perhaps I should give you one which does bear a passing resemblance as to how things were this morning. Rascal, my elderly cat decided that he wanted a bit of attention at around 3AM this morning, so he plonked himself on my chest. I say that because the disruption to my sleeping pattern meant that I awoke at 0533, and had great difficulty in rousing myself two minutes later to get out of bed. Looking out the window, seeing a clear sky with the sun rising and some rather nice colours meant that the best of thee dawn would be past me by the time I reached the waterfront.

They were, but that didn’t matter. There was a slight chill in the air. I always look at;

http://www.Gosportweather.co.uk

I have no idea who runs it, but it seems like a very professionally run site. Anyhow, it was telling me that it was 3.8C outside at 0550, cold – balaclava weather, especially if there’s a breeze. Which as it happens, there wasn’t. By the time I arrived at the water front my handheld anemometer was telling me it was 7.5C, so it had warmed up quite a bit, but there was still a chill in the air. Lucky, there was no wind. I think the windchill would have been biting.

This unfortunate squirrel had a bit of an accident. I heard a crack, and then the sound of something soft hitting the ground. This squirrel had fallen with a branch out of the tree from at least 15 feet off the ground. I was concerned for it, but luckily it picked itself up and ran off, so I guess it was OK.

Once again, a lovely walk, that I am glad I made the effort to go on.

Two photographs for you;

Same Camera, same time, same picture. The first picture taken with the iPhone in Live mode. Those brief few seconds of movement that are Live don’t translate across to WordPress, so you can’t see the movement.

Live mode on the iPhones camera has always annoyed me, I’ve never seen the point of it. Until last night that is.

https://secure.iphonephotographyschool.com/iphone-photo-academy

There was a clip on FaceBook how to do long exposures with the iPhone. The iPhone can’t really do long exposures. There are two basic things I didn’t know; 1. In live mode, if you keep your finger on the button it records video – I didn’t know that. When you take a live video and pull it up, it displays adaptations that can be done to the picture, repeat, round and long exposure.

Whilst the iPhone can’t really do long exposures, it is a very clever piece of kit and can merge the multiple frames of a Live Photo into a long exposure. The first picture is the original Live Photo showing the ripples. The second is the long exposure where the ripples have been smoothed out. I just did not know it could do that. To be honest, I’m quite impressed.

I am now looking for opportunities to explore Live Mode.

Not a picture of the waterfront, about halfway down the half of the High Street on the left hand side as you are walking towards the waterfront is St Mary’s church this is where the Magnolia tree is growing. A Magnolia in mono seems just about right.

Without driving anywhere, there are only a couple of walks that I can reasonably do that end up somewhere interesting. Obviously, the one I do is the most obvious with what realistic the most interesting visiting point; the waterfront.

Then I could do down to the “Iron Bridge”. Down the footpath that used to be the railway track to Stokes Bay. Getting to the Iron Bridge offers a couple of photographic opportunities, but not very interesting from a shipping point of view, well non-existent really. Still, if the sun is right, pictures can really be quite nice.

Another route would be go to Weevil Lane. The first few hundred yards have only St Georges Barracks which in their own way quite photogenic, and you end up on the bridge at Forton Creek. Its’ a bridge can be raised to allow small boats through – I’ve never seen the bridge in its raised state. I’d quite like to see that.

There are a few routes that don’t go anywhere near water, I could explore some of those from a historic point of view. There’s quite a lot of history just on the Waterfront. I’m not sure I’ve finished exploring that yet.

It’s Magazine Time again, issue 250 of B&W Photography turned up last week, and I have spent the last few days reading it with pleasure – I must admit I didn’t enjoy No. 249 as much as this one. Don’t know why.

There were several pieces, apart from the news and the general articles that I enjoyed reading this month. It’s interesting to discover how professional photographers have coped with the lockdown. Understandably some have not enjoyed it, but others have engaged in projects. Starting on Page 8, Alys Tomlinson describes the project “All Dressed up and nowhere to go” produced a series of pictures of students who would be missing out on their Prom, and demonstrating their strength and resilience as individuals.

It’s not often that B&W photography does not feature an article on Street Photography, this month’s is no different; Daydream Believer by Luc Korea’s takes us through the streets of New York. Whilst I am glad that Gosport is not as busy as that great city in the current circumstance, I really must look for more opportunities for street photography, I am sure they are there.

The article by Tim Daly “Forgotten Icons” is a walk through the sculptures and scenes of different locations. Politically sensitive; statues portraying literary giants, forgotten propaganda and a colonial past now mired in controversy – I really am not going to go there.

All of it made for a fascinating read.

I’m not going to leave today;’s piece without a comment on the iPhone. It has a feature called live on it’s camera, this takes a sequence of shots when you press the button, that makes the picture move very briefly when you view it. To be honest, I’ve never had much time for the feature, and the first thing I normally do is turn it off. Whoooo, how wrong am I? this feature has massive potential. Which I will try to use, and talk about in this weeks piece on Photography.