Electricity poles, Mystole nr CanterburyThe rolling prairies of Canterbury! This was shot by simply turning round from the burnt out barn and is similarly converted to B&W and lightly duo-toned |
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Dover Castle and seagullsIt is only when I have gone through my files for this gallery that I have realized quite how many photographs involve Dover Castle in some form! This one was shot at sunrise from the top of Lydden Hill, about 4 miles up the road towards Canterbury and the seagulls are a bonus that I only spotted when I was going through the images later. This is a B&W shot which has been toned to try to bring out the sense of the spectacular colours. |
Moonlight curves, Chartham ValleyNot actually taken at night even though it looks as though it was. It is several shots stitched into a panorama and it is actually four feet wide when printed. It is an image of a field of winter barley just after it has been sown in a typical Kentish chalk downland valley. Because it has only just broken its way out of the ground you can still see the "bones" of the landscape in the underlying chalk, which is never far from the surface here. It was heavily manipulated using blending modes, curves and burning in before conversion to B&W and then multi-toning. I also produce this one as a tryptich. |
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Stormclouds over Faversham CreekThe clouds on this day really were an angry dark blue, although they have been a little bit burnt in in Photoshop and tinted. This part of North Kent also lies on the long distance footpath which goes all round the Kent coast - The Saxon Shore Way. |
Fifteen ponies waitingThis was taken a long time ago in, I think the very cold winter of 1987. What I did not realize at the time was that these fields were being used as layerage and the ponies were waiting to be transported across the channel to be part of the horsemeat trade in Belgium - hence the title. Scanned off 35mm FP4, cleaned up in Photoshop and lightly toned. |
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Small thorn tree in the snow, Dover.One of the first prints that I attempted in Photoshop and it has long been one of my favourites - it is another one from the winter of 1987. When I went to this location a few weeks ago, I saw that they had obviously ceased to manage the area through grazing by sheep some time ago and as a result this tree is now fully grown and it is surrounded by scrub growth three metres high. Shot at dusk and cleaned up in Photoshop. The scratches and general state of this negative can only lead me to conclude that I must have thrown it into the dustbin several times before attacking it with sandpaper - "thank you Photoshop for healing brush and cloning tool!" |
Seasalter fogEvery Kentish portfolio has a shot of the Seasalter foreshore in the fog and this is mine (or one of them!) It was quite bright at the time as the sun was trying to break though all time - hence the brightness of the sky. Converted to B&W and then quad-toned with one of the Photoshop pre-sets. |
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Fallen beech and pigeonThis was shot the day after the great hurricane of 1987 and the fallen trunk in the foreground was part of a stand of beech trees at Doddington (near Faversham. The whole centre of the wood was completely flattened and looked some of those photographs of the aftermath of first world war battles. However, the trees around the edge of the wood were left standing, because they were more deeply rooted than their more cosseted neighbours who had been used to the protection of the trees around them. The pigeon is there, honestly - you can see his head on the left of the trunk in the foreground. |