Potential not realised

Sometimes you can see a photograph but the circumstances of that instant prevent you from realising the potential of the shot. This view of the River Wye, the medieval bridge and Hereford Cathedral, is one that I have attempted to capture before. But on that occasion, as was the case when I took this shot, all the stars were not aligned. To properly succeed this photograph requires the sun to be in a different position so that the bridge and the cathedral are better modelled by shadows. One day I'll be in the city when that is the case. However, the sky, the water and the trees were working hard for me so I'm not completely dissatisfied by the shot.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX10

St Catherine and her wheel

Like most children of my generation the fireworks that I knew included the Catherine Wheel. This spiral was pinned to a wooden post, the fuse was lit and the the wheel rotated rapidly under the power of the explosive until none was left. What I didn't know was that a Catherine Wheel was also the name of the breaking wheel on which, and with which, criminals were tortured and killed. In the early fourth century Catherine of Alexandria, a Christian, was martyred by this method on the orders of the emperor Maxentius. As Saint Catherine she became a venerated saint of the church, often depicted in paintings and stained glass. The medieval example above was photographed in the church at Deerhurst, Gloucestershire.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Dog walking

I often think of dog walkers in the same way that many think of motor-cyclists - relatively harmless on the whole, but the majority are tarnished by a small minority. The spoilers in terms of motor-cyclists are those who speed, accelerate too rapidly, and deliberately make their machines excessively loud. The dog walkers who smear the reputation of others are those with untrained dogs, the sort that rush up to you barking as the owner shouts commands to no avail. The dog in today's photograph was well-trained, inquisitive without looking threatening, and its silhouette along with its owner's made a good point of visual focus among the whites and blues of the snow, the shadows, the clouds and the sky.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Photographing the photographers

A light dusting of snow, blue sky and bright sun all suggested that the Malvern Hills would be a suitable destination for walking and a little photography. Others clearly had the same thoughts and so one of my subjects was the photographers with cameras and phones. This is the best of my shots mainly because it's quite simple and I can imagine a little dialogue going on between the subject (left) the photographer (right) and the dog with the hang-dog appearance (centre) being banished from the composition.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

A view of Ross on Wye

The characteristic view of the small Herefordshire town of Ross on Wye includes the River Wye, St Mary's church with its tall spire, the Royal Hotel and other buildings clustered on the high ground that comprises the settlement's historic core. These compelling features are hard to ignore and so any photographer looking to compose a view of the town must look for novelty not in these essential components, but in the location from which they are seen, the weather, the time of day and the season. Boats of one kind or another on the river can add a near ground focus, but these are not the omnipresent element that they once were.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

View of Sugar Loaf

Quite a few peaks across the world attract the name "Sugar Loaf". The best known is perhaps the one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its shape is a quite good approximation of the shape of an old loaf of sugar i.e. rather like an artillery shell. The Sugar Loaf on the edge of the Brecon Beacons above Abergavenny, Wales, is a less spectacular example and one that doesn't accord too well with the sugar loaf's shape, resembling (from some angles) the flattened cone of a volcano. In fact it is not made of igneous rock but is a ridge of sedimentary Old Red Sandstone. My view is taken from an adjacent, slightly lower peak, The Skirrid, made of the same rock.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Tree of Jesse

The Tree of Jesse is a pictorial representation of the lineage of Christ through the growth of a vine. It has been a popular subject in stained glass since medieval times. The example shown above from St Mary's Priory church, Abergavenny, is much more recent, having been completed in 2016 by the artist Helen Whittaker. Her example follows the traditional scheme of Christ and The Virgin in the centre with the subsidiary characters surrounding them. A departure from convention is the use of overlapping circles and the resultant double pointed shapes (vesicas) as a unifying device. You can read more about the design and iconography here.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Malverns weather

The weather man said dark cloud all day but thankfully got it wrong. Consequently our walk on the Malvern Hills to the summit of Worcestershire Beacon and beyond included a long spell of "interesting" weather. By that I mean the sun broke through the multi-level clouds and transformed the landscape, introducing pockets of light, long shadows and contrast in the sky. The effect was best seen as we strode up Summer Hill and looked back to the south.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Mandarin ducks

The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) was first brought to the Britain from China in the mid-eighteenth century as an ornamental addition to private lakes and ponds. Whether it became more widely distributed by further releases or by escaping from private collections isn't known. However, it fairly quickly found its way to woodland ponds and is now a naturalised species. Of all Britain's introduced birds the drake is widely regarded as the most colourful, with the only challenger being the cock pheasant. I've usually only seen them as singles or couples. However, the Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, where I found this pair, supports a population of over 200 birds.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon P900

A rubbish cyclist

It's a pity that organisations have to go to great lengths to discourage people from littering. Refuse bins to receive litter and signs imploring their use are not, it seems, enough to prevent people from simply chucking it down. On a visit to Cannop Ponds in the Forest of Dean I came across another, quite novel, appeal to people's better nature. Alongside a well-used cycle track through the woods was a cyclist made of litter astride a stationary bicycle. It was so well-made I initially mistook it for the real thing.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Ornate pub window

Britain's Victorian and Edwardian public houses (pubs) sometimes seem to have been decorated on the premiss that more is better. Ornate designs covered most surfaces, particularly walls and any area that was tiled. The latter often included the whole of the exterior. Windows were rarely left untouched. Typically they told whether the room behind the glass was the public bar or the saloon bar, and frequently designs celebrated the pub's individual name. This example, that I passed in London, is a mass of cartouches, foliage, flowers and fruit, with at its centre what looks to be a thrush or blackbird.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Britannia Warehouse, Gloucester

Gloucester's Victoria Dock was opened in 1849 to provide more quayside space for shipping. Three large warehouses were built on the west side of the dock for the merchant, William Partridge. They were Victoria Warehouse of 1849, Albert Warehouse of 1851 and Britannia Warehouse of 1861. All can be seen today, converted for flats and businesses. Britannia Warehouse, pictured above, was gutted by fire in 1987 and after much debate was demolished then completely rebuilt using many of the original bricks.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Reflected flats

I've long thought that photography helps you to see better. Not just in the way that you notice more, or how the mundane becomes more interesting, but also in the way that it can cause you to revise your perception. An example of the latter is exemplified by the photograph above. In taking this shot of new warehouse-style flats at Gloucester Quays I thought I was photographing a pair of mirrored buildings and their reflection. In fact, the buildings aren't perfectly mirrored - there are minor but significant details that prevent them being alike. And once you find one such difference you look for more. And then wonder why the architect did it that way.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Altar and corona, Hereford Cathedral

It is the modern way to bring cathedral altars forward from the choir so that the congregation in the nave can take more part in the service. Hereford has done this, and further accentuated the location by the addition of a corona hanging above the altar. The backdrop is the choir stalls, the original high altar the Norman arch and the Early English lancets and architecture of the Lady Chapel. From 1863 to 1967 an elaborate screen of iron, copper, brass, enamel, mosaic and polished stones hid the choir from view, Its removal was controversial and it now resides in the Victoria & Albert Museum's Ironwork Galleries. Some would like to see it returned. I think it is best left there.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100