Marina reflections, Worcester

A relatively calm and sunny day found us walking through the cathedral city of Worcester near the Diglis Marina and the canal. I've photographed there before, trying to make something of the narrow boats, refurbished warehouses and the new flats that are meant to echo and complement the old buildings.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Yachts, Lydney Harbour

Lydney Harbour is the name given to the lock and canal that connected the town and railway at Lydney with the River Severn. It is an early C19 undertaking that was built to ship coal and iron out of the Forest of Dean. Access to the Severn was possible only within half an hour of high tide. The historic harbour area is currently undergoing restoration as a tourist attraction. My photograph shows the old canal nearest the lock that is now a marina for yachts and launches. They are still able to use the lock to get out to the River Severn and the sea beyond the estuary.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

16:9 aspect ratio

During my first decades of photography I invariably found myself working with 135mm film i.e. film negatives or transparencies measuring 36mm x 24mm, with an aspect ratio of 3:2 and now badly named "full frame". When digital came along, after using a few cameras with small 3:2 sensors, I adopted the Four Thirds system with the sensor aspect ratio of 4:3. I was never entirely comfortable with 3:2, particularly in portrait format, and found 4:3 smuch better in this respect. But, over the years I've used cameras that offer both 3:2 and 4:3. In more recent times, following the widespread adoption of High Definition screens on TVs and monitors, and the fact that many images are now viewed only on such screens, I've become comfortable with the 16:9 aspect ratio. These three ratios (with an occasional 1:1) meet all my needs.

Compositions where the interest is concentrated in a wide, narrow area (such as horizons, streets etc) are particularly suited to 16:9, as are these shots of a canal basin in Worcester.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Watery reflections, ducks and swans

I think we all, photographer or not, like to see reflections in water. Non-photographers seem to prefer the most perfect reflections, but photographers have just as strong a liking for the less mirror-like effects. This is partly because the camera can freeze the moving water and allow us to see what we can't with the naked eye, something that was most forcefully brought home to me when I reviewed a photograph of a swan on the River Witham in the middle of Lincoln. It appeared to be swimming through paint! To the naked eye the reflection was just a background swirl of colour. I recently posted a photograph of a duck "smearing" a reflection and here is another one of a pair of ducks on the canal in Worcester doing just the same but to more spectacular effect.

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

Return to Llanfoist Wharf

Our first visit to Llanfoist Wharf near Abergavenny was last November when the canal-side trees were displaying magnificent colours. We thought it was time for another look at the canal and, this time, take a walk along it to a nearby village. We began our walk at the Wharf and I took this photograph from a more distant point than previously, including part of a narrow boat that was moored nearby. The sunny day notwithstanding, the colors are much more subdued than in my earlier photograph.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Rosie and Jim

Rosie and Jim were, in the minds of most British children, two rag doll characters in a T.V. programme. They lived on a canal narrow boat called "Ragdoll" in Birmingham, and each episode centred on their travels. The first two series were written and introduced by John Cunliffe (author of "Postman Pat"). It's no accident that two of the canal boats belonging to an excursion company in Skipton have adopted the characters' names.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Narrow boats, Skipton

The Leeds - Liverpool Canal is, at 127 miles, the longest canal in Britain built as a single waterway. It came into being two hundred years ago and is today a typical, leisure-boat filled canal, with the towpaths used by walkers and cyclists. Its dimensions allow the passage of boats no larger than 62 feet long, 14 feet wide, 7 feet high, and with a draught of no more than 3 feet 7 inches. Most boats seen on the canal are of those whose design derives from the canal "narrow boat". Like those at Skipton, North Yorkshire, seen in the photograph, they are often brightly (and sometimes ornately) painted.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Watery railings

The fractured reflections that seemingly still water can produce has been a frequent subject of my photography.The shot above shows the white painted railings of the road bridge over the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal near Slimbridge. A clear blue sky and the shadow under the bridge added colours that enhanced the broken regularity of the metalwork.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100