Sue and I were in Roker in the North East of England recently. Whilst at dinner in the Roker Hotel we sat next to Ian Macdonald, a photographer from that area. We got talking and Ian looked at a couple of small images on my phone. He made suggestions about the editing of the one you see here. I made those alterations. The image looks all the better for it. Thanks Ian.
Before you switch off with boredom, I don’t want to talk about the “Terminator’ effect. No, mine is a more mundane topic and one I have not heard discussed thus far in relation to AI. As I understand AI, insofar as it relates to the production of images, is the production of a specific machine created image and is made possible by “Talking”, and I use the word loosely here, to a machine instructing it as to the type of picture you want produced, what you want included and telling it what you want to see. Sorry if I have been over simplistic here. The machine then constructs the image and delivers it to you. I understand it uses data, i.e. images, from the vast resources of the web to make its construct. The question comes to mind; Do the AI packages pay for the use of these images to fabricate the final images? I’m guessing not. So the images are simply misappropriated, not in monetary terms, but for the benefit implicit in using those …
I took this picture of a (then) young man at a travelling fair in Hay Mills, Birmingham (Just off the A45 Coventry Rd) back in the Late 70’s / Early 80’s. I have a few others from the day but I was recently drawn to this image by the far away look in the young man’s eyes. If anybody can put me in touch with the subject – just to say hello – I would be grateful.He would be in his 50’s now I suppose. As I say Time Flies.
We stayed in a hotel in Coventry last weekend. We were at the elegantly re-fitted former home of the Coventry Evening Telegraph, a purpose built structure, now a sensitively styled 1960’s hotel. All around the hotel there are reminders of its past, not least of which are old front pages placed all around, even in the bathroom in our room. This one, being placed above the toilet was impossible for me to miss. The piece recounts an accident in Marston Green, once a small village in my childhood – it even had a blacksmiths forge. The main railway line between Birmingham to Coventry and further, was sandwiched alongside the village and a municipal golf course on the other side of the tracks. As you can read several carriages of an express train were derailed in the station. This occurred, according to the Coventry Evening Telegraph, in 1963. I was 16 by then. Prior to this, in my pre-teens, I would stand on the skeletal metal bridge over the rail line (pictured below) waiting for the …
A while back we visited an area of Egypt near to Luxor in the Valley of the Kings.Here are few images from that trip. (The balloon in the main picture above, taken very early morning above The Valley of the Kings, crashed a year or so later, killing most on board.)
Recently, I asked on Twitter who amongst my ‘followers’ sold their pictures on line and if they did would they mind sharing their experiences; the reason being I wish to sell some of my own pictures on line and I thought I could benefit from the experience of those who had gone before, as it were. I had some interesting comments and help.
The brown leaves of Autumn show themselves on the trees. The season is changing and with that change comes fungi. Walking in the woods with Bess, our Chocolate Labrador, is something I do all year. I like the peace and quiet. I like to watch the seasons change. Sometimes, I just like to sit on a tree stump and listen. Coming from a city, I appreciate the lack of noise. The best time of year, in my opinion, is early Autumn. The sun still holds some warmth and its light remains strong, creating dappled patterns on the freshly carpeted floor of the woods.
As the calendar year draws to a close there is a temptation to take stock of where you’ve come from, how the journey has been and where you have arrived at. So here goes… This has been a year of change. I suppose you could say that about most years, but I do feel this year has been about re-evaluation and change. Simplification and stripping back have been recurrent themes running through most of what I have done over the past 4 years but none more so than this year. That extends to camera gear, clothes (though don’t take the ‘stripping back’ too literally here), car, the accoutrements of daily life even my watch; all becoming as simple as possible. Simplification even changed our travel destinations. Sue and I haven’t travelled long-distance this year. No trips to the far-flung. Southern Spain and Greece have been our chosen countries this year. That, in itself, was a sizeable change. However, more significantly, photographically I have been working on other projects. For those who are curious: I have …
Finishing the “I didn’t travel far” posts, for now at least, with this 5th part. They were all taken within the city of Lincoln, an ancient small town of some 96,200 people (2014 figure) in the East of England.
Continuing the “I didn’t travel far” posts. They were all taken within the city of Lincoln, an ancient small town of some 96,200 people (2014 figure) in the East of England.
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