2016 Project 52, Second Quarter by Adam

[Adzman808]

Ok, I finally got round to starting my next 2016:52 thread!

So I think I need to share image 18?

Well you get another copy/paste blog post on this one

.......

It had been a stormy few weeks. Unseasonably wet, windy and even wild! Despite it being the month of April, the climate of northern Portugal has been anything but temperate.

In fact ill tempered might be closer to the mark. Winds had battered the coast, the rain had provided a merciless and daily onslaught of machine gun like fury, and worst of all it was cold.

One Saturday we suffered a deluge of hail stones; each around the size of a piece of corn, they had a tommy gun like delivery, covering the ground in only 2 minutes.

It’s funny isn’t it? When the weather’s bad, it’s bad – but when it’s bad when it really shouldn’t be, it’s some how worse.. It affects people. Negatively. People endure ruined weekends, forced in to goggle at the TV, or Google at the computer. Children are deprived of playing out, cats mope around with uncertainty.

Streets are filled with sodden folk, scurrying to get home; the roads seem extra specially gridlocked as rush hour traffic can’t quite rush as it wants.

Moods change as well, there’s no time to stop and chat, to window shop… A coffee at the outside Café? Forget it. Yes, this affects people. Negatively. Daily life becomes curtailed and truncated. Simple pleasures washed away.

Then; as if by magic, the weather clears – as if the sun had triumphed in some sort of primordial battle against the darkness!! The ambient temperature raises, having the net effect of raising the ambiance, the clouds disperse and the light radiates.

And best of all, this happened on a public holiday!

The streets, stores and cafes resound with people, the play parks hum to thriving children. The beach reclaims the lives of dog walkers, kite flyers, swimmers and surfers.

The rain is all but forgotten and all but forgiven.

But what about you? How would you celebrate this day of glorious weather, after so many weeks of grey skies?

Do you get out and about, cramming in activities – trying to make up for the missing sunny days?

Or do you stop, be calm and saviour the moment?

There’s no right answer!

But when we’re reminded that so much of what we can do is governed by our physical relationship to meteorological events, I personally think it’s only right to saviour the better moments in any way we can.


The Calm Sea by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

----not on the blog post------

This image will always hold a SMALL amount of charm for me. After 8 years on Flickr, and I've no clue how many images posted.... I posted this one, I mean I like it, a lot! But I've made cleverer shots (the swing one from #17 for a start), I've made more heartfelt shots... But still I like this one...

So I posted this one, and I can't remember, maybe 3 days later, I logged into Flickr, and it had 30 favs, and thousands of views... and an invite to be in the 'in explore' group

First time for everything I guess... maybe another 8 years.... But don't get me wrong... a computer algorithm likes my work *yay*

Not as pleasing as being published frankly, but still - not knocking it!

[Geoff F]

Not sure why that image should generate so much interest. Looking at it in the lightbox option, I wonder if it is part of the trouser shape that some people might find amusing.

Weather has been very unpredictable here as well. Once the clocks change and evenings start to noticeably lengthen there is a feeling that things should be happening but cool damp conditions are holding back the good times. I've noticed a lot of wildlife is running several weeks late, despite a mild winter.

[Adzman808]

Not sure why that image should generate so much interest. Looking at it in the lightbox option, I wonder if it is part of the trouser shape that some people might find amusing.

Weather has been very unpredictable here as well. Once the clocks change and evenings start to noticeably lengthen there is a feeling that things should be happening but cool damp conditions are holding back the good times. I've noticed a lot of wildlife is running several weeks late, despite a mild winter.

Not on flickr, but on FB I was asked how I was getting 'Such subject isolation from APSC'

Erm because the man is near, and the sea is far (and the lens is 35mm f1.4, which is 50mm f2ish in old money)

Gawd bless the little cotton socks of the online communities...

[CormacD]

Hi Adam, good to see you back after a bit of a gap, I really appreciate your originality, creativeness and fascinating write ups about your work. I like the guy on the bench and think the large amount of open space above him works very well. The light reflecting from the waves is a little distracting so I think it would have better at a different time of day to reduce the glitter... Cheers Lindsay

[Adzman808]

Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

I know I posted this one in a separate thread... (at the time)

But I really am happy with the scene, although, I might have another go at the PP.

Perhaps clone away the hole in the wall, try lifting the shadows on the (real) cat

[Adzman808]

OK, this one...

I've wanted a shot like this since I first saw those crazy kids do this!

It was the hottest day of the year so far... So I wondered if they'd be about...

Perhaps a longer lens might of been better...

But, think if this as a work in progress

an idea to be revisited...

But I'm always pleased when I set off with an idea in my head, and (more or less) manage to realise it before I get home!

I know that landscapers can plan for ages in advance, that meteorological sites and google maps can give you a hint of when and where....

...but spare a thought for us street/reportage/documentary types, that are rather at the mercy of many things

[I'm not trying to be snide, I'd imagine landscape presents it's own set of challenges]

Anyway... An idea to be hopefully revisited!

'Dem Crazy Porto Kids by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

[Shadowman]

OK, this one...

I've wanted a shot like this since I first saw those crazy kids do this!

It was the hottest day of the year so far... So I wondered if they'd be about...

Perhaps a longer lens might of been better...

But, think if this as a work in progress

an idea to be revisited...

But I'm always pleased when I set off with an idea in my head, and (more or less) manage to realise it before I get home!

I know that landscapers can plan for ages in advance, that meteorological sites and google maps can give you a hint of when and where....

...but spare a thought for us street/reportage/documentary types, that are rather at the mercy of many things

[I'm not trying to be snide, I'd imagine landscape presents it's own set of challenges]

Anyway... An idea to be hopefully revisited!

'Dem Crazy Porto Kids by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

Nicely captured.

[Geoff F]

Yes, I would definitely 'plaster over' the hole in the wall with the cat image. Brightening the live cat may work but I suspect this could cause more problems than it solves. In which case, the current cat works OK for me.

Diving from the bridge is also a good action shot.

Regarding landscapes, you can't plan ahead with the English weather. For me, landscapes just happen.

One day, everything may come together but there are so many occasions when I just take a quick look at a scene and walk away. Too often, I have left home in perfect conditions then when I arrive at my planned destination 30 minutes later; everything has changed. But of course, if I then return home, conditions become perfect again.

So now, I try to combine landscapes with other subjects for a more overall approach to to a day of photography.

[Adzman808]

There's probably some sort app for real time weather updates!

I took my camera to the place EVERYONE told me not to go too (for erm health and safety reasons), this week and we came out of it OK

The risks I take to take pictures!



I went into those streets!

[Adzman808]

WOW!

Even by my own standards, I've fallen desperately behind in keeping you up to date with my 2016:52 !!

The worse thing is, I've been quite on top of it... but rubbish at actually updating my thread (and website for that matter) about it!

So you're going to get a bit of a rush of updates!

starting with

Waiting for the Sun by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

I was meeting a fellow Porto based photographer for lunch, so obviously I brought my camera!

After our meeting had finished, it started raining… Now cameras and rain don’t generally mix…

….But if you take care, keep the camera dry and only use it to grab a shot then slip it back under your (waterproof) coat then you MIGHT (don’t come complaining to me please if this doesn’t work out for you) be ok…

I saw potential in this scene… a busy street, people with umbrellas and that wonderful blue mosaic so I set up my shot and waited to see what I could get.

[Adzman808]

Al Fresco with Ice Cream by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

The story behind this shot is described in this post here, basically I took my camera to the area of town that EVERYBODY told me not to go too… Read the post to see how I got on!!

(Or just look at the picture and don't click the link! I didn't want to copy past the entire multi shot/many words post here as that's more self indulgent than providing you the option of the link)

[Adzman808]

Low Lights by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

I actually shot this last year… on my birthday!

I liked it… But there were other shots from that day that I preferred!

Recently I’ve migrated a big chunk of my workflow to a new (to me) software.

Looking for shots to test, I raided the archives and found this one.

I thought the new software did a great job with the colour and the mood. So I stuck in on social media.

This shot, which had been sitting on my back up drive for nearly 10 months, then proceeded to get 1000s of views and attention online!!

And to think…. I nearly deleted it!!

There’s a message about the dark art of self curation and learning how to spot your own popular images in there somewhere!!!

[Adzman808]

Touch the Sky by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

The fair comes to town!

The end of May and June are very much party times here in Portugal!

There’s various celebrations and public holidays.

These festivities are underpinned by parties and gatherings.

It’s also a time when the fair comes to town!

In actual fact many fairs come to town, along with stalls, markets and impromptu eateries!

My work schedule meant I missed all of this last year, so this time around I got to experience it with a sense of child like wonder, staring up at the magnificent attractions!

[Adzman808]

Separated by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

I’m happy with this one!!

As frequently seems to happen… I’d done for the day, packed the camera away; caught the bus and was headed home. It’s a bus route I don’t frequently take, and it drops me off near where my normal route takes me, but a couple of hundred meters up the road. As soon as I got off the bus I saw this scene and it immediately appealed my eye. Dark, light, textured – dilapidated yet bright! I knew I have to grab a shot.

[Adzman808]

Family Dining by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

Family dining.

We spent a few days staying with my parents in the UK.

It was great to see everyone, and my folks really enjoyed spending time with their granddaughter!

As you can probably guess… a lot of my shots were very family orientated and once we got back home, I felt very proud curating the shots and sending the prints back to my folks.

I think a family evolves through many incarnations, together and apart, separated by age, distance, and then the pattern is repeated with the offspring.

As we all get older, as our individual lives fan out like a web, the times we’re all together become less frequent, but also become more special, less wasted and more poignant.

I have wonderful memories of the grandparents that I was able to meet. I sincerely hope that our daughter does too.

[Adzman808]

Stationary in Motion by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

It's back to some 'street' for #27

I saw the car (which I think might be a Ford Escort mkii RS2000 Rally Car, but I have no real knowledge in such matters) painted on the lorry from afar, and wanted the shot

There was a billboard showing a new BMW, and originally I wanted a shot of the Ford and the BMW together (I do have this shot) but as I got close enough to frame, the 2 figures appeared at the windows

I thought this was a lot more visually interesting (YMMV)

The lorry was parked near a junction, as I went to get the shot, predictably the lights changed, and the view was obstructed by waiting cars

Then the cars went, but so did the people in the windows

Then they came back, but so did the cars

Then finally there was a break in the traffic, and the people were still there and.... click-snap = shot!

[Adzman808]

OK, time to update this!

Circles in the Sand by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

Circles in the sand and marks on the land !!

I'd like to think this one is self explanatory ?!

As the day wore out, it seemed we were pretty much the only people left on the beach!

And isn't that sometimes the best time to grab to a shot?

[Adzman808]

Love at First Sight by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

Another street scene, another score for a bit being discrete! I thought there would be a shot with the woman, the dog and the skateboarder. I had to follow them around for a bit, pre focus and chose my moment. I'm pleased with how this came out.

This shot was 'Explored' on Flickr

Yes, I know, I KNOW

that doesn't mean jack s_

but equally I've been on Flickr since 2008, never been explored until this year and now it's happened 3 times in 3 months and 2 of the 3 have been street genre shots.

And I only started doing 'street' this year.

You may very well be indifferent to my happiness on this subject

But I assure you that I'm happy about it!!

[Adzman808]

Mum! by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

Testing a lens that I loved, but didn't really like!!

It ended up going back, but of all the test shots I took that week (and there were a few ) this one was my favourite!

Possibly for emotive reasons (it's my Mum) but mainly because she REALLY liked the shot, and personally I think when you shoot specifically to give an image to a person, and that person REALLY likes it, then no matter the IQ = job done.

(And my Mum is pretty fussy and critical of pictures of her and usually doesn't like any of them!)

[Wavelength]

Had a nice journey through your images..... thank you