Peacehaven

After a long gap, I'm going to continue with this blog.

 Harriet the Herring Gull marches round the corner to see if the cat's food's been left unattended.

 Composite picture of a Little Gull.

It was trying to land in this hole and not finding it easy.

I saw a photograph like this a couple of years ago and the calm simplicity has remained with me, so I had to try to reproduce it.

My next post will almost certainly contain chimneys!

Dr Sketchy's Deco Darlings

We had a great time at Dr Sketchy's Deco Darlings show..., Birmingham, 29/11/2014

 The beautiful Mysti Vine was in uncharacteristically serious mode, channelling Plavalaguna from The Fifth Element.

And then posing for the artists

This is the Mysti we know and love. I put together this composite because I couldn't select just one image of her laughing.

 

Kitten von Mew took her first pose very seriously. 

 Suki enjoyed the show.

 Fellow photographers Mark and Wayland.

The talented Liberty Pink compered and sang. 

Littlehampton

And Roy took us to Littlehampton:

 Which has a famous cafe, known locally as The Turd.

 

The East beach is very pebbly.

 Icecreams are much in demand.

So are chips.  It's not Bernie Eccleston.

People take...

 ...selfies

I wish his brother had left that shrimping net alone.

They relax on the beach

walk their dogs on the promenade...

 And do mysterious things.

At the west beach is the river, where you can fish...

 For crabs.

 But it's also a working harbour

 With a few wrecks.

 

Chichester

Roy took us to Chichester...

From the upper floor of the Pallant Gallery. 
An American choir was rehearsing in the Cathedral.

But we were really there for street photography:

I found Chichester to be a very romantic place:

 

 

 

Back at the Pallant, sculpture had been cloaked, to protect it from the builders' dust:

 

I doubt if this was intended to be art...

But I think it works.

 

B & W

Stripy dress in Midhurst.  I like the way that movement has separated the light and dark stripes.

The Trundle is a conical hill with a hill fort on top, giving views of Chichester Cathedral and the sea.

This couple was enjoying the view - and not getting along too well, it seemed.

Creative Photography at West Dean

The course tutor was Roy Matthews: http://roymatthews.wordpress.com/  
He taught a lot to a group of mixed ability and experience. 
Here are photographs I took on early sessions to catch the morning light:

What a cute little hut.

The pergola at West Dean is very long... 

The river Lavant borders the garden, but it's low now.  I had to pan to catch this sheep who'd sneaked in to browse the lawns:

 We experimented with depth of field...

The flowers are magnificent:

There's a rule of three that applies to flowers, but I think two sometimes work:

The buds are attractive:

And asparagus pots with their lacy shadows caught my attention:

 Well, they would, wouldn't they.

Steve and Sue

Steve and Sue invited us for lunch and we arrived early so that I could take their photograph. 

A conventional portrait, framed by the mirror, with family photographs on the mantlepiece behind them showing the domestic setting.

 

I asked them to look into each other's eyes.

 

Then, with Sue's head on Steve's shoulder:  

 

A fit of the giggles.

 

And here's my favourite.

 

Sue on her own:

 

Steve and Sue were lovely models and their affection for each other came across clearly.

 Thanks to both of you.