Amateur Photographer- An A.R.P.S.

Hi, If you just want to see the photos without me boring you to death with ABOUT ME and MY PHOTO GEAR blurb, click the following link TO THE GALLERY

ABOUT ME AND MY PHOTO GEAR

Hi again, unless you are really interested in photography, I'm going to bore you, I promise. For editing/post processing I use Affinity Photo (a good Photoshop alternative), Paint.net, Faststone and GIMP (last three programs are free) and Canon cameras and lenses and I have added an Apple iPhone and a HUAWEI MATE 40 PRO to my gear.

Please have a browse of Eyemouth, Berwick and the Scottish Borders. I've used Lee Filters, Cokin Filters, Hoya filters etc. but reckon post editing, my extreme bracketing method and occasionally HDR (or tone mapping) is the way to go. I also always use a tripod, right angle viewer or finder, electronic cable release, mirror lock up, small aperture f16 or f22 with many of these settings pre-configured and dialled into Custom Settings C1 to save time. Yes it's a lot of extra work but I feel the results are worth it, especially contra-jour or backlit photo's.

THREE DIMENSIONS TO TWO

Remember we have sound, smell, hearing and touch all present when we take a photograph when we are compressing a three dimensional object onto a two dimensional image, so there is nothing really true or pure about photography IMO anyway. As for the 'purists', were you aware that the eye/brain sees 20+ ranges of tone, a good digital SLR only 7 to 14 ranges of tone or EV as it's often referred to? Already at a disadvantage, maybe that's why modern cameras and phones have an HDR setting and the older masters were always on about burning/dodging, to balance the tonal range of pics?

PHONES

Also, were you aware that the technology in some phones take several shots before and after the main image then combine them to produce a pseudo HDR pic? Due to powerful processors, this happens in blink of an eye, appearing automatic - amazing. Just a thought, each to his/her own though …


MY STYLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

I reckon photos fall into two main categories, pictorial images and record images. Someone once asked me the difference between record images and pictorial images and I simply said a record photo should IMO be a straight record of a particular scene, in other words a fairly true representation of the scene as we saw the photo whereas a pictorial photo may have some artistry applied at the point of taking or in post processing e.g. sepia toning or HDR techniques applied. A rather simple comparison but it will do for now. My photographs tend to fall into the pictorial image category and I make no excuses for this, sorry, just my choice and the way my photography developed.

IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY

If you are interested in iPhone Photography, you can go to a section of iPhone photographs. As a rough guide, (leaving aside the quality of your lens, viewing distance, the sensor size and other factors) you only need about 7.2 Mega Pixels for a 10" x 8" print at 300 D.P.I. (top quality) so my iPhone at 12 Mega Pixels is more than capable. We are a bit fixated with quality and in reality, we can usually get away with much less in term of D.P.I. , sensor size and lens resolving power. It's good to see what a modern smartphone can do photography-wise anyway. Back to range of tones in a photo again. Did you know that an iPhone takes 9 photographs and produces a kind of HDR pic for you automatically, look up 'Deep Fusion' on the Internet? I'm not referring to Smart HDR here, Deep Fusion works in addition to Smart-HDR. If you are interested in seeing some iPhone pics, please click on the link below and scroll down to the iPhone section of photos near the end of the gallery.

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SOME INFORMATION ABOUT EYEMOUTH…..

Eyemouth is located on the North Sea coast of the Scottish Borders about 8 miles North of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Eyemouth offers something for everyone and the slight detour off the A1 is deemed worthwhile. Eyemouth is partly a seaside resort and partly a working fishing harbour and boatyard. Its attractions include shops, beach, piers, a working harbour, and enough visitor attractions to keep you entertained when the Scottish weather is at it's worst

The Eye Water tumbles into the North Sea here and the harbour has been used as far back as the 1200's.. During Henry VIII's visit's into Scotland during the 1540s the English used the port and built an artillery fort on the east side of the Eye Water. This site used in 1753 for one of Eyemouth's treasures, Gunsgreen House.

Fishing played a vital part in the local economy as early as the late 1200s, but it also caused tragedy. During the 1800s, While the fleet was out at sea on 14 October 1881, 189 local fishermen, including 129 from Eyemouth itself, lost their lives. The harbour was improved to provide a much safer entrance, but too late for the victims of the disaster and their families.

In earlier times Eyemouth had it's share of smugglers. As the Scottish port nearest the continent it became a natural place for the illicit import of spirits and other goods. One report suggested that the roof space of Gunsgreen House overlooking the harbour was regularly used as a store for smuggled tea.

Most of Eyemouth's current harbour dates back to a major rebuilding in 1965, while the "new harbour" and fishmarket were added at the seaward end of the east side of the river mouth more recently, along with a new access road.

In the part of the town nearest the harbour you find the Auld Kirk, now used as the Eyemouth Museum, which tells the story of the fishing and social heritage of Eyemouth. The museum has on display a tapestry commemorating the 1881 fishing disaster. Opposite the Auld Kirk is the attractive Town Hall now closed.

As you move north west the sense of a working fishing harbour is quickly replaced by that of a seaside resort. Eyemouth offers a sandy north-facing and in a curve, the beach framed by the rocks of the bay to the west and the harbour walls to the east which enclose the harbour, worthy of a look.


Some info on Berwick Upon Tweed now ……….

The history of Berwick-upon-Tweed and its effect upon locals, has added to the strength and character of the town. The strong fortifications of this fairly complete walled town date from the 14th-century when the wall stood at a height over 20ft high and boasted 19 towers. To ensure complete safety for the town, Elizabeth I ordered a new wall to be built on the northern and eastern sides of the town. Elizabeth, secured Italian's to build the new wall, they were said to be experts in building defences that would make full use of Artillery and fire protection was assured for all parts of the wall by the building of 5 large bastions. This wall was rebuilt in 1760 and has survived as a complete circuit round Old Berwick. It remains today in excellent condition and a walk along the top gives great views of both the town and the harbour. Interestingly, the Parish church, is one of the few churches built during Cromwell's period. It is well preserved and in the latter part of the 19th-century, there was further work on an extension.

Berwick Upon Tweed Castle was built in 1150 but owing to the extensive use of railways the castle was almost completely demolished by the Victorians who used the site for the railway station. The Royal Border Bridge was built by Robert Stephenson in 1850. There are 28 arches and the bridge stands 130ft high. Berwick has two other bridges, one is dated 1624 and the other was built in 1928.

Ravensdowne Barracks was built around 1717, known to be one of Britain's first barracks in the area and they were built due to the protests of the townspeople who objected to billeting soldiers in their homes.

The Berwick of today is a charming and historic town. Within the walls, old grey-stone buildings include fine Georgian and Victorian houses hidden under pink-red roofs together in old cobbled streets. The town hall is of classical design, it has four Tuscan columns, a bell tower and its steeple soars nearly 150ft. This building was built in 1750 and its top floor was once the town goal!

This historic town is surrounded by super countryside. Travel a few miles inland and you will come to the Southern Upland Way, which runs through some of the most beautiful scenery in the Scottish Border country. Well worth a visit.

SHARING STORIES

Through my prints, you will see some of the best photographs of Eyemouth, Berwick and Spittal. Most of the photos have been taken in good light which can be critical for photography to be successful. The shots are quite varied and if a few of my favourites from outwith Eyemouth and Berwick slip in, I apologise in advance.


PHOTOGRAPHY AS COMMUNICATION

I am surrounded both by natural beauty, photogenic locations and lots of interesting people who I've met through photography. I use my camera to show where I've been and then display the best of my images to highlight my results. My pictures tell my stories and part of my life too. Having learned with film then moving into the digital age, I've seen many changes in photography but at the end of the day, you take the picture, the camera just helps the process.

MY BACKGROUND

I have photographed many different subjects over the years and if I was to label myself it would be primarily as a landscape photographer. There's a picture around every corner and I am rarely without some means of taking a photograph, even now. I've covered many things in my time, with photographs for the law courts requiring some strange work, to babies and horses. I'd label myself as a Jack Of All Trades in photography perhaps concentrating mainly on Landscape work where my extreme bracketing (HDR, bracketing and blending in post-processing) mode, good lighting and often backlighting became my normal for photographs.

MY PHOTOGRAPHS

Photography is a hobby to me and although I've photographed more than one hundred and twenty weddings in my time, made silly noises for baby's, waited for various species of four legged and two legged friends to display that perfect pose, I.T. was my background, not photography. You are here on this website presumably to see photographs, see images of Eyemouth, Berwick or the Scottish Borders or simply learn more about me.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GALLERIES

The GALLERIES features photos from LANDSAPES, EYEMOUTH/BERWICK, MONOCHROME, PHOTO JOURNALISM, NATURE, MISCELLANEOUS AND IPHONE and are sufficiently varied to give you a flavour of what I do.

PRIVACY POLICY

Any information submitted by users will be treated as if submitted anonymously and information will never be identifiable as belonging a particular user. No data is saved or analysed, I'm not a company and now only do photography for myself as a hobby. I don't know everything but might be able to help you on computing too if you have a problem but photography is really my forte. Don't be afraid to ask ANY questions no matter how basic you may think they are.

IPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY - AGAIN

YIP, Again. You know the drill, click the link!

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The MAIN GALLERY is just below, please scroll down a little further

Enjoy, happy snapping.