a murpworkschrome blog
A short walk to Cawdle Fen on the 4th March 2022.
Cawdle Fen is situated just outside of the city of Ely. It is a drainage board for the surrounding area, taking rainwater from the higher area, into the river Great Ouse.
This was a first walk I took, in which to photograph. It had been raining slightly and this provided a doomy, moody feel.
I’ve added the best images of this day to murpworkschrome here and here.
Peace and photography
rp
Ely is famous for several things but one of the main ones is: its cathedral.
Founded in 672, it stands atop a hill in the flat landscape of Cambridgeshire. It has been likened to a ship: The Ship of the Fens. I see it every day and it stone pervades any walk I take around the small city.
Initially, I photographed in the cathedral in colour. This is my second attempt at capturing something of the majesty of the building, this time in black and white.
The following photograph was taken on a walk, back from the garage (had to take the car in for some work) and it’s the one I really like.
Go to murpworkschrome to see further images of the walk’s Ely cathedral.
Peace and photography
rp
A lot of boats of varying sizes can be found on the river Great Ouse. The river is serviced by the Cathedral Marina, Waterside in Ely. It provides the facility to lift boats out of the water and does this via a boat lift. It is basically a metal frame, with straps that can be placed underneath a boat, and the boat lifted out of the water.
The marina has a fixed boat lift that faces onto the Great Ouse. However, around the back, it has an older, movable lift. This is (or was) basically a large wheeled crane, which presumably used similar straps to the fixed boat lift.
It sits out of the way and provides a looming presence but one of old power, waning…
Go to murpworkschrome for three further images.
Peace and photography
rp
The Bagel Bar at Buttermarket, Ely was one of the first places we saw when mu and I first visited the city. Not only does it sell an excellent range of bagels but it is one of the homes of Silver Oak Coffee. Came for the bagel, stayed for the coffee.
My first image of The place, taken on 01-02-2022 captured it nicely lit by the early morning sun. It was in colour, using Fujifilm’s Classic Chrome.
I returned 23-02-2022 and captured it once again, early in the morning but this time in B+W which seemed to do it a little more justice.
01-03-2022 it was raining, and The Bagel Bar was closed but the chrome seating looked inviting – to photograph
Another visit on 08-03-2022, the latest, this time in colour and in the sun. Photographed purposefully using a square aspect ratio.
And then continuing on in black and white
I’m sure there will be more in the future…
Peace and photography
rp
In Ely’s Market Square, when the sun is out, the shadows dominate…
Peace and photography
rp
Corridors in Black and White initially started out with the idea of a series of photographs of corridors, in colour. It started here. However, it became apparent that some just worked better in black and white. So, under the monochrome stream, Corridors BW has started.
Both have a long way to go before I’ll be really happy with either of them. I feel they are pretty perfunctory so far. But, I’m showing my working out as it were as I think it will help me along the way.
This image is starting to get to somewhere near what I envisioned
Peace and photography
rp
I photographed the Boat Lift Beam in colour before but wanted to explore it a little more in B+W.
The lift is a fixed metal affair with straps that can lift a GRP cruiser, out of the River Great Ouse onto land in the marina. I assume it can lift narrowboats as well but haven’t seen it do this, as yet.
The last photo I took was of the light on the end of its beam, at night. I was pretty pleased with the result, especially its minimal aspect. Returning to photograph in B+W, I took a minimalist approach once again.
Wanting to explore the subject in a square format, I performed this on a second image in post, in Lightroom but this was just a trial, before going out with the camera set in square mode, to exclusively pursue this format.
Purposefully going out to shoot square, I believe will yield a better result but I was pleased with the crop. I’ve cropped a few images square recently and it’s definitely becoming a thing I think I might pursue.
The Boat Lift Beam in B+W proved to be one of my favourite current images. I have a few more images in mind, which will crop up later (no pun intended).
Full images at murpworkschrome.
Peace and photography
rp
Back on the 12 February I was in Norwich and found myself at Norwich Market Square.
Norwich is famous for many things; mustard, Alan Partridge, The Canaries and I would argue, its market. The striped, coloured canopies of the permanent market stalls are instantly recognisable.
It was a sunny day, cold and fresh and the stark contrast of market stall roofs to shadows was interesting.
Some of the images
You can see what I considered my best image captured at murpworkschrome
Peace and photography
rp
