picsandlight.blog
January through March 2009 available here
Archive available here
5th September 2009
For some time my web-based efforts have been focussed on my other website PeterTrumanPhoto and I have decided that from now on this site will no longer be updated. It has become somewhat cumbersome and unwieldy and to keep it up to date involves a lot of effort. As is plainly evident from this blog it doesn't get updated very regularly! My other site has been designed from the ground up to use a content management system and database driven image gallery which makes it much easier for you to search and navigate, and much easier for me to update and maintain.
I will be transferring selected content from here to PeterTrumanPhoto over the coming months and eventually redirect all traffic when this site is closed down and archived.
21st June 2009 - Renishaw Hall
I just never get fed up with visiting the gardens and woodland at Renishaw Hall. The experience is always uplifting and with so much change in both the garden itself and the artwork displayed there is always something new and different. Today was billed as a Dephinium Day - in 2008 Dave Kesteven, the Head Gardener, managed to restore the amazing display of Delphiniums to its original form. The display was stunning and it was great fun to sit in a corner of that garden and listen to people's expressions as they walked round the corner to see the display. More oxygen must have been sucked from the air than your average builder's estimation process as people gasped at the sight. So today was supposed to be a celebration. The display was good but not brilliant and just too early. Last year the best display was later in July and today there were many buds yet to open. So we will be back in a few weeks to see the display again, no problem. Still do not know what happened to the billed event though!
The Renishaw diary also listed an exhibition of chainsaw sculptures by Lorraine Botterill and Lea Torp Nielsen and the photograph below is of their demonstration piece from Saturday 20th.
(2009-0739) Chainsaw sculpture by Lorraine Botterill and Lea Torp Nielsen, Renishaw Hall
7th June 2009 - Venice, May 2009
A couple of days spent in Venice, a place I had never been to before but have read much either in travel books or novels. I took my wife for a surprise for our wedding anniversary, so it was never intended as a photographic trip but who would go anywhere like that without a camera? I was completely bowled over by the city, it's atmosphere, the culture and the very 'feel' of the place. Needless to say the shutter clicked many times and we have a great record of some of the many sights we saw, but I also have a few photographs that please me and convey something of the feel that we found in one of Europe's most exquisite cities. I have put together a few notes that may assist others who want to see and photograph Venice but have never been before. Read more...
(2009-0744) Canal Grande from Ponte dell Accademia
26th May 2009 - Within the Frame, The Journey of Photographic Vision
Over the last few days my eyes and brain have been treated to more visual stimulation than I have managed for a long time. Nothing involving substance abuse, but a book and a few days travelling. The book first.
"Within the Frame, The Journey of Photographic Vision" by David duChemin is quite simply the best non-technical photography book I have read. I knew nothing about him until a few weeks ago when I heard him being interviewed on the This Week in Photography podcast. I rarely look at the show notes but on this occasion I did and followed the link to his blog. I was completely blown away by his photography. His photographs are so captivating and I found myself going back to them time after time and spending quite a lot of time looking and simply enjoying the photographs. Then there was his very recently published book of which an example chapter was available. I read it, stared at the photographs and placed an order! I have now read it all the way through - it will definitely be re-read and those photographs enjoyed again. If there is one photography book that every photographer should read, I think this is the one. See my brief review.
The second will be covered in the next post - a short trip to Venice.
21st May 2009 - Stock photography available via Alamy
I have started to make a large selection of Derbyshire Peak District landscapes available for licencing via Alamy. This replaces the shopping cart functionality for stock images that was part of this website. Existing licences will of course be maintained, but in future all stock searches and previews should be made via Alamy. Prints will continue to be available from this site.
Stock photography by Peter Truman at Alamy
2nd May 2009 - Burbage Rocks and Higger Tor
For years Higger Tor has been a favourite place to go and watch the evening light stream along Stanage Edge and many a time have I driven up to walk a very short distance to get the view. This time I decided to walk there from Longshaw, a 3 mile walk around Burbage looking down into the valley and up Higger Tor. A delightful walk timed to coincide with the sun starting to set providing that magical light. The only real drawback is that the east side of both Higger Tor and Carl Wark are in shadow in the evening and I will need to get back at sunrise to see them lit up. A great excuse to return...
I have added a couple of photographs to the Along Gritstone Crags page on Higger Tor and Burbage and updated the gallery.
(2009-0167) Higger Tor and Carl Wark from Upper Burbage
1st May 2009 - Full Screen Slideshow!
I have just completed the feature that has been the longest on my "to-do" list, to enable a slideshow to be displayed at full screen (see the little button in the right hand corner). This allows the gallery images to be viewed at full screen on your monitor. On very large monitors such as 20 inch and up you may see lack of sharpness but on normal desktop and laptop screens this should not be a problem. I could load images that would display perfectly on a 30 inch monitor, but the filesizes are getting rather large and I want to optimise the viewing experience for the majority! This is only optimised for the Along Gritstone Crags gallery so far, but will be extended to all as time permits.
30th April 2009 - Nine Edges walk
I am walking the 20 mile Nine Edges walk from Derwent Edge to Birchen Edge on 26th September in support of the Edale Mountain Rescue Team. If you could sponsor me I would be particularly grateful - please use the justgiving website if you are able to contribute. Many thanks.
25th April 2009 - Birchen Edge
The sun shone all weekend and we managed to get a good walk in on the Saturday evening just in time to get the warm evening light. What a walk! At the Robin Hood car park there were three vehicles from the Edale Mountain Rescue Team, plus an Ambulance and a doctor. The obvious guess that a climber had fallen from the Edge was confirmed by the doctor and the team of people at the base of Birchen Edge. I didn't want to gawp or get in the way, but it is human nature to look (and mine to photograph...) but it was interesting to see how the rescue team carried the stretcher straight up the rocks; it was as if the stretcher was being carried by a wave in the sea. He was then taken off to hospital in the air ambulance. Quite amazing. According to our local paper the injured was a Sheffield man who had damaged his pelvis and I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.
(2009-9934) Edale Mountain Rescue team at Birchen Edge
The Edale Mountain Rescue team are all volunteers and are one of the busiest teams in the UK. Just this weekend was their busiest since 2005 with five callouts across the area. Please visit their website and make a donation if you possibly can. Having watched them at work they deserve much better funding to continue their work.
Having watched this for a short while we then carried on to cross to Baslow Edge and Gardom's Edge before getting back to the Robin Hood car park, thankfully quiet by now!
(2009-0060) Dobb Edge from Gardom's Edge
Additional images of Birchen Edge can be found in the Along Gritstone Crags section.
23rd April 2009 - London
I was walking from the office to King's Cross railway station to travel north and when walking past the British Museum I saw this painter on the top of a telephone box. One of those occasions when I was delighted to have the camera with me...
(2009-0093) Painting the fence, British Museum
12th April 2009 - Southwold
We have just spent a week in the Suffolk town of Southwold, a week that for once was sunny most of the week! This time I tried hard to take photographs that are not the stereotypical views of Southwold's pier, lighthouse, beach huts, cannons or pubs... Read more.
(2009-9572) River Blythe
If interested there is another short piece on Southwold from a previous visit in 2008. Available here.