Salisbury Cathedral

Cathedrals are big. Moreover, the space around them is often limited. Consequently fitting the building into the viewfinder can frequently be a challenge. If you haven't got a very wide lens then you either have to accept massively converging verticals or you have to move back as far as you can. On the evening of our visit to Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire, a building with a much larger "close" than is usual, this was the position where I could just about get the verticals to be vertical, with the trees making a dark, detailed "frame". This building was erected relatively quickly compared with many cathedrals. The main body of the church was built between 1220 and 1258. The chapter house was added around 1263 and the tower and spire were completed by 1320. Incidentally, it's the height of that spire, Britain's tallest at 404 feet (123m) that accentuates the photographer's problem described above.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

The London tourist trail

A commonly followed London tourist trail involves a walk along the South Bank. One of the optional forks in this trail is the Millennium Footbridge that crosses the River Thames between Tate Modern and St Paul's cathedral. The bridge is a good point from which to photograph Sir Christopher Wren's fine building. I've taken a shot (or two) from this point before and on our recent visit I got myself in position to take my photograph. But, too slow! The act of raising my camera to my eye here caused a few people around me to notice the view and stop to get their shot - as you can see.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Foggy pond

We are at a time of year in Herefordshire when both fog, and sun in a cloudless sky, closely co-exist. For the purposes of enjoying a walk in late February and March my wife and I prefer the sunny day. However, for photography there is possibly more to be said for the fog. The perfect blue sky is quite limiting from a photographic perspective and I'm much happier when there is cloud to add interest to the sky. The photograph above was taken late in a walk around Ross on Wye at a point when the fog looked like it might soon be burnt off by the sun, and the modest pond took on a more interesting character in the mist.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Autumn afternoon light

Some of the best light for capturing the colours of autumn can be found in the afternoon. Find the right angle to the sun and you can engineer greater colour saturation and stronger contrast in photographs. In this part of the Forest of Dean the trees, mainly beeches, were showing to great effect as we walked among them.

photos © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Church photography and trees

Seeing, appreciating and photographing the exterior of English churches is made much more difficult by people's enthusiasm for tree planting around the building. A few well-chosen and thoughtfully sited specimens invariably adds to the churchyard and surroundings. But the species, and more especially the position chosen for them, all too often blocks the best or often the only remaining good view of the church. St Margaret at Welsh Bicknor is a case in point. The building of the church was funded locally by an individual who chose a particular architect who produced a beautiful building. Since then trees have been planted that impinge on our appreciation of the structure. The latest is in the centre foreground of the photograph with a guard round it. Imagine its effect on this view when it is fully grown.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Houses in the evening sun

The word "photography" was invented by combining the Greek words for "light" and "drawing" and literally means "drawing with light". Remembering that helps photographers to recall the importance of light in the images that they make. Light can transform a scene and render the mundane memorable. In today's photograph the light of the low, evening sun has, I think, elevated the brickwork and solid forms of these mundane houses through colour and shadow.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Misty Town Bridge, Boston

I gave a talk about photography in our village recently and in it I emphasised how much I like the weather that many shun for the qualities that it brings to photographic images. There's nothing to beat snow, frost, showers, mist and fog (I exclude constant rain) for interesting photography. During January we've had quite a bit of fog and mist and this photograph of people crossing the Town Bridge in Boston, Lincolnshire exemplifies what I mean. The shot is made by the silhouettes, tones, different qualities of light, shadows, all of which was suffused in a soft mist that was lifting even as I raised my camera to my eye.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100