St David's Church, Holmbridge

We moved house recently and one of our new neighbours is 93. She is an amazing lady, still driving her car, very fast, to the shops and church. She made us very welcome when we moved in and brought us a copy of the church magazine. We're not religious but accepted it with thanks and asked about the church in Holmbridge.

She has been going there for about 50 years, was the warden and is still heavily involved in what goes on there. I mentioned I'd really like a look around and she said no problem, I have a set of keys. With permission to take photos, my wife and I had a guided tour a few Sundays ago and learnt a great deal about the church and its history. We had a fascinating and very enjoyable afternoon.

Hip to be square

As I'm trying different things I thought I'd take a few shots using Hipstamatic on my iPhone. Had this app on my phone for an age but not really done much with it.

Food and drink

Two of my favourite things! Surprising then that I've lived in the Holme Valley for about 15 years and this was my first visit to the Holmfirth Food and Drink Festival. Had some lovely food and a wander around. It was also my first attempt at street photography and I think it shows. I have a lot to learn.

Dappled light

Walking with the dogs a few days ago the sun light shining through the woodland created amazing dappled light which led to the following images. I like the background effect more than the subject in the following shots.

The nice light also highlighted the wooden fencing in the wood.

Animal magic

Using the long lens has certainly helped me take images of animals and birds without having to get too close.

Film noir

Not only have I been using a different lens, but recently I've also been editing my shots using some new software (Nik Silver Effects 2) recommended by my friend. Today, I tried out a new preset called Film Noir which certainly gives images a different look which I like. I must try to not overuse this though.

Bumper day

I've had a great day today in terms of photography. My decision to use a different lens made me look at things a little different on my walk with the dogs this morning. Not only have I published some colour shots, but everything shot today was with my long lens and I even managed a couple of landscapes too.

Bilbo Baggins

This is Bilbo Baggins the cat. He's not a Hobbit. He's a stray that has taken up residence in the stables up the path from my house. He's been called Bilbo Baggins by the three women who keep horses at the stables. They've no idea where he came from, but feed him and he sleeps in the stables. He's is one miserable looking cat and he is a little aggressive. Long lens very helpful here. However, I think I would be miserable too living in a barn.

Change is as good...

Not only have I put away my wide angle lens (only for the short term), I'm also going to publish a couple of colour shots. I looked at them in black and white, but they didn't work.

Rain, in close up

I appear to live my photographic life in wide angle, very rarely shooting anything above 18mm. What made me think about this recently was a friend of mine bought me a book by a local photographer called Andrew Sanderson. I've taken inspiration from him before, in fact, have one of his landscapes, obviously shot in wide angle, hanging on my living room wall.

The book is a collection of eclectic subjects and it got me thinking that I should set myself a project to think differently about my photography. So today I put my long lens on my camera and decided that that's all I can use. I thought it would be interesting to see what happens. What has happened is that it's rained, rained very heavily, all day. Maybe tomorrow inspiration between 55 and 200mm will happen.

Stairway to heaven