Black and White | Christopher John Photography

January 15, 2020July 19, 2020

It’s cold

I’d forgotten just how cold it gets in winter here. I’d not experienced an English winter for close on 30 years and the bitterness of the breeze was something I’d long forgotten. Even with no snow outdoors is a bit of a sad place to be. It goes dark early, and the sun doesn’t rise until late. It feels damp and most of the trees and bushes look dead without their green coats of foliage. All the same, it’s a great place to be to take a few photos. I felt the shots look best in black and white … well, to be honest at this time of year things do look pretty grey!

Shot with a 50mm lens at f2.8. I didn’t want to take anything heavy or cumbersome out with me … something that would fit inside my coat was the idea, just in case it started raining again!!

February 20, 2016

Just for fun …

Back to Maraetai again today … wifey fancied a stroll along the water’s edge between Omana and Maraetai. There’s a lovely walkway called “Tracey’s Walk” from which there are some really gorgeous views. Needless to say I took my camera along for the stroll.

View #1 from Tracey's Walk — View #1 from Tracey’s Walk

Most of my images of this area are in colour, but after reading a few books and articles by Ansel Adams I decided, just for fun, to try processing today’s images in black and white. I used to do a lot of black and white photography many years ago, before the advent of digital cameras, and still have a fondness for black and white. A few folks would argue that black and white isn’t the best choice for these views due to the significance of the glorious colours in the scenes. The shades of blue in the sea and sky were really quite lovely. Mind you, being as the camera takes colour photos I do have colour versions as well! What I did notice of interest as I processed the images was the significance of the sun’s rays in the photos. These “Jesus Rays” were not at all obvious in the colour images, yet seem to show up quite well in the black and white versions.

The first view is looking north towards Omana and Beachlands. The second view looks more south towards Maraetai. Quite a lovely gentle stroll if you’re in the area with the added bonus of some very pleasant cafes at Maraetai!

View #2 from Tracey's Walk — View #2 from Tracey’s Walk

May 12, 2015

Friendly folks …

I’ve already mentioned how much I enjoyed visiting Singapore, but one thing I forgot to mention is how friendly I found the people. I visited a number of places, both tourist destinations and places off the usual tourist trails. No matter where I went I met charming people happy to help with directions and more than happy to chat and make you feel welcome in their country. There’s lots to see with respect to the scenery and sights, but there’s also a lot to see if you take time out to look and chat to the residents of Singapore.

I’ve three photos in this post. A lady in a happy mood at the Botanic Gardens, a gent at work and another gentleman deep in thought at one of the temples. The lady was more than happy to pose for me in the shot you see here. I’m not sure if she though I was a famous photographer or something, but she seemed desperate to be in my photo. The working man just wanted to get on with the task at hand but didn’t object to the camera pointing his way. The man at the temple seemed deep in thought. This must be my favourite shot of the three. There’s something that appeals to me in this photograph of the elderly man.