I have been thinking about this blog and I'm disappointed that I have strayed from the my reasons for the blog by what seems to me, a very wide mark. I go out every week to make sure I have pictures to put in the blog, however they are not necessarily the kind of pictures I actually meant to put in the blog. The blog is driving the photography rather than the other way round - if you get my drift. So I am going to try and go back to my aims of taking great photographs rather than giving you a tour of the Sussex [or otherwise] countryside. So in the future you may log on to a good photo, or you may log on to me raving and waffling about how my photography went that week or a great photography book or idea I have picked up. Wish me [and you] luck.
Newhaven Fort.
When you drive in to the upper car park [advisable if you don't want a steep climb] and walk towards the fort entrance you are met by bollards that look like large black shells and the above striking silhouettes. I loved these. They reminded me of the cartoons and posters I used to see in the comics and books about the war. They appeal to my childish side I guess.
I recommend a visit to Newhaven Fort if you are in the area. I took my mum and dad a few years ago and they enjoyed it. My mum however did find some parts a little too realistic. They have an imitation shelter you can enter to gain a sense of what it was like to be in one of these places during a bombing raid. As you come out you walk through an area of bombed buildings. While we were waiting and looking around the exhibit, the siren sounded for the start of a raid and to call people into the shelter. The dismal lighting and siren noise brought memories back for my mum and she couldn't quite bring herself to enter the shelter. From the outside we could hear the sound of bombs dropping and rattling so I guess it was quite realistic inside. There are lots of exhibits and information and a cafe for refreshments.
The kids will love it.
This is a picture of the fort entrance with Newhaven pebble beach in the background.
Regretfully from the car park for the fort, you can see a dismal sight of Newhaven which is in the beginnings of a regeneration. On the dull day I took my photos it looked, on the whole, quite neglected. Especially when you consider its near neighbour Brighton just a few miles further down the coast. On one side of the river Ouse there is the newly focused Marina with it's new flats and townhouses. This area has brought Newhaven into the 21st Century and is attractive to visitors. On the other side there is the terminal for the Dieppe ferry and, not even 20 yards along from it, what can only be described as a scrap heap. So tourists coming in on the ferry will have a different view of Newhaven depending on which side of the ship they sit on!!
Despite lots of demonstrations to try and stop it, the town has been chosen as the site for a new waste incinerator being built. I know someone has to have it in their back yard however I am not sure the people of Newhaven understand why it has to be them. Being honest, as you drive towards Newhaven from Lewes it looks like they are building a very impressive building, Almost space age. You can forget for a moment it's true purpose. It could be a modern Tate or a wonderful new station for the Euro Train. It is big and dominates the skyline. Lets just hope that when it is finally turned on, the claims of its owners are fact and not fiction. Visitors coming off the ferry don't want to be met with smog and smells. Not if we want them to come back that is!!
There used to be a lovely sandy beach in Newhaven, just around the corner from the fort. One of the few sandy beaches in the area [if not the only]. It is owned by the French company who also own the Ferry Terminal and surrounding buildings. Locals used to flock to the beach in the summer, in spite of the hazard warnings. You see, somewhere along the line, the sea walls and steps in this area fell into disrepair and became dangerous. This was not necessarily the French Companies fault as it has taken quite a few years for it to get into this state, however as they now own it, the local council have tried to get the French Company to repair it. The area it is now closed off with a monstrous great rig of some kind stuck there. Originally, there was a lot of posturing going on about this beach area, with the French threatening to throw their toys out of the pram, up sticks and leave Newhaven with no further investment. Have they now shot themselves in the foot by putting the rig on the beach area which adds to the very industrial, neglected look of the port. You can hardly miss it as the ferry comes in towards the harbour. Guess it will depend on the rental fees they are getting from the rig owner.
Am I campaigning [or possibly complaining] - no. I don't live in Newhaven and therefore don't have to see it every day. Next week I will add more pictures from another side of the beach that has a lot of history. Just to even it up a little!!
and...................... a lot of coach visitors to Newhaven visit the wonderful Paradise Park.
It is a garden centre with a difference. A cafe, with the usual garden centre bits and pieces, great variety of gifts to take home to the relatives, and a long standing dinosaur exhibit. Great for the little explorers [though small and nervous children can find the moving dinosaurs and their roar a little too life like - I quote from first hand experience]. There is a play centre with activities for various ages, a lovely garden with small, medium and longer walks. Fountains and a small train for both adults and children to sit in and enjoy. [Believe me, I have pictures of one of my friends from a couple of years ago, smiling and waving as the train goes past , along with the child she adopted for the day!!] All in all, it makes quite a nice afternoon out for the family.
The Competition..................
It is time for letting you know how I fared in the last competition of the season with Lewes Camera Club. I have not been setting the heather alight with my performance this year, though I think I have managed a couple of scores of 19. My aim to get the ultimate score of 20 is alas still a dream. This is my 3rd year of trying to reach the holy grail and what makes it worse is that a new member has attained at least 3 of them in their first year. I tell myself its because she knows what the judges are looking for rather than taking better photographs. [she does have an expert in the family]. Jealous? In a word - yes!!
The competition was 'Being Creative'. Though as the judge said, being creative means different things to different people. He gave us a presentation in October to try to explain what he was looking for. I took away the challenge [rightly or wrongly] to put in a picture I normally wouldn't consider.
This was my first. Sunrise.
For which I achieved a mark of 16.
The creative part for me is that normally you would break the composition of a picture into thirds. Perhaps a foreground, the main object and then the sky. Or it would be broken into thirds in some other way. In this case the picture is mostly of sky and breaks that rule. I adore the different colours in the sky with the sun just starting to pop up. The downs are a silhouette and just a fraction of the scene. I wish I could remember a lot about the thought process that went into taking this, however I really don't think there was that much. This is one of the scenes I can see from my bedroom window. I have a problem in that all my bedroom windows open up the wrong way [or to the wrong view for a camera]. So I had to stick the camera through a gap or under the window, try to hold it steady, get the right exposure and then click. You also have to be quick as the sun can rise quickly and you lose the colour that first drew you to the scene. So the only thought process was to try and grab the scene before it disappeared into the light.
He thought it very pleasing, however when looking at the other entries I can see that it was not quite as creative as some of the others.
My second entry
The Stranger in the Lift.
Achieved a mark of 19.
He really is a stranger and he didn't know I was taking this. So if you are out there sir, I would love to give you a print of this in the hope that you like it. I am personally really proud of this photo.
The judge was a tall man and found this photo unsettling and a little intimidating. [I am short and I am used to people being taller and sometimes a little intimidating.] I find it great that it had the effect I was trying to get over. I received a 19 instead of a 20 as the area under the chin is dark and could have been lightened [Photoshop]. From my viewpoint, I was in a lift with a stranger, trying secretly to take the photo [I think people are much more natural when they don't know you are taking a shot of them], it was one of the last pictures I took that day, and the lighting was what it was. I wasn't in a studio set up [don't have one anyway]. My photoshop skills are not ideal - though I might have managed to lighten it if I had thought about it - and I am still stuck in the thought process that the photo I take is the one I want to show. I am learning - slowly.
[Very slowly].
I should add for the record that this guy was with a blonde lady and a small girl, whom I assumed was his partner/wife and daughter. So he really wasn't intimidating as such. The lift in question [in Eastbourne] was a little depressing and dark and since has been upgraded. I would quite happily put this one in my make believe coffee table book.
and that is a very good place to end this week!!
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