portrait

Albatros, Mum’s best photo

/ Richard Flint / 3 Comments
albatros-norfolk-2007

Albatros : Wells Next the Sea, Norfolk – 2007  | Photo by Enid M Flint

Well the blog has been quiet for the last few months due to my Mum’s death in December after a five month battle with cancer.  She was 69 years old.

To be honest i think i’m still processing the events of last year. The whole horrid situation in 2016, from Mum’s cancer diagnosis to the day of her funeral, seemed surreal at times and moved with a speed that was hard to keep pace with. Then it’s over and you have to pick up the pieces, and get on with life again. Not exactly easy.

Fortunately Spring is nearly here and I’m starting to turn my thoughts again to  photography. It’s a sort of therapy if truth be told. To start with I’ve been going through my archive and I came across some of my Mum’s photographs saved alongside mine.  Ten years ago  she got a small Pentax Optio S7 digital compact after the photo bug bit. Over the next decade she enjoyed taking photographs here and there, but one image always did stand out from the rest. Her best shot.

The photograph above is what i always referred to as her ‘best photo’.  The one she had to beat. It was taken just as the Albatros ( a sailing ketch with a fascinating history) was being tied up in the harbour after a trip out. My Mum was always fascinated by the people in the image. Were the two figures on the right hand side of the photo related – mother and son perhaps? She always thought so. Was that the father leaning forward? Only the crewman with the mooring rope is obviously identifiable.

It has the look and feel of a painting. The way the figures stand on the deck, the light, the framing of the photo and even the subject matter all lend themselves to canvas. Sadly my Mum never had the opportunity to surpass this photograph, though it has to be said that it would be a tough image to equal, let alone surpass.

Bedside Portrait

/ Richard Flint / Leave a comment

The bedroom i had during my Norfolk trip ( I visited at the end of last month) featured a rather large  bedside table that was soon covered with this little lot.

I realised that it’s a pretty good appraisal of me and my interests. A portrait even. Not much is missing from the picture.

It also reminds me of a photo i took in Callander, Scotland a couple of years ago that was along a similar theme.

 

Favourite Photo?

/ Richard Flint / 4 Comments

There is a website, for a British newspaper, that runs a regular article where a photographer picks his or her favourite photograph. While the choices made by the photographer in question can be revealing, I often think that the idea of picking ONE photo to sum up your work/talent is just asking for trouble.

The photograph above is just one of my favourite shots. I’m certainly not going to limit myself to picking just one unless I have some rabid photo fanatic, holding me hostage with a gun to my head. Then I’d have to pick one! If so the photo above would make the list.

The photograph was taken in 2003 at Beaumaris on Anglesey, North Wales. It was the classic story of walking along and behold, there was the image. The couple were taking in the view, looking over the water to the Snowdonia national park with the mountains just visible through the mist. Really the picture sums up, at least for me, what most people seek out of life – a companion to be with and to admire/share the view/experience with them. It also reminds me of the W.H Davis poem about having time to stand and stare.

I was worried that they’d move position or decide to walk further along the sea front, but they remained like that for some time, completely unaware that i’d taken their photo. Two frames of HP5 taken on a Nikon F4s fitted with an 80-200mm zoom.

The only other consideration is the telescope to the right of the couple. Is the fact that it is in an upright position relevant at all??? 🙂