Norfolk natter introduction - 2009
Welcome to the bit of the website where I will try to chronicle the changing Norfolk year . So if you are
stuck at home for whatever reason I would like to share my photographs of the country with you.
I may also vent my frustration about subjects that affect the local area, who knows it may prove to be
therapeutic for me!
Perhaps for the first of these blogs I should explain a little about my photography. I am not one for
whizzing round the county and taking snap shots of everything on a mad race to fill a website full
of hundreds of images. Over the years I have found that the photographs that have given me the
most satisfaction have been taken at places that I have visited regularly. Perhaps going to these
places in all different weather conditions, and knowing where the sun will be at a particular
time of day is an advantage.
An added benefit of wandering round out in the sticks is the wildlife that I have encountered.
Until I was in my mid thirties I had never seen an adder in real life, but when I was walking at
Marsham heath one day, looking to take a picture, I came across one. What an amazing creature
they are. It was very dark in colour, I understand their colouring can vary quite a bit. Could this be a blackadder? On other occasions when I have been to Oxnead and Burgh next Aylsham I discovered that the Heron that fishes the river Bure at Burgh will happily stand on the other side of the river as you pass by without even flinching, whereas the herons further down the Bure at Oxnead were always spooked at the mearest glimpse of me in the distance. Although my true passion is landscape photography these encounters with the local wildlife really add to a photo session in the countryside.
Also I try not to let foul weather prevent me from venturing out, sometimes brutal or unusual weather can really make a photo. It has to be said though, trying to operate the fiddly controls of a camera when your fingers are frozen stiff can be a challenge. I seem to be drawn to photographs that have a kind of solitude to them. Norfolk suits this type of image as we have plenty of lonely countryside where you can still spend time without coming across anyone else, blissfully distant from the busy streets of our towns and city.
The equipment I use is all film based. One camera, an olympus 35 mm slr, I bought in the summer of 1985. The other is a mamiya 645 which is a more recent acquisition.
I hope you continue to join me for a Norfolk natter in the future as we make our journey through the Norfolk year, I also hope you enjoy the photographs that I will be adding to the gallery shortly.
The river Bure
NORFOLK NATTER AUGUST 17th 2010
I was amazed to hear about the fate of paintings of nudes by John Vesty, that had been on display at the council offices in Cromer. They have been taken down following complaints from staff. Of the pictures I have seen, none were remotely obscene and they seem to be nudes as traditionally painted throughout history. Is this is another case of political correctness gone mad ? Some of the paintings have already been found a new place for display, in a gallery in West Street. Lets hope the political correctness police don't stick their noses into this gallery!
Sadly it seems that political correctness has infiltrated every aspect of our lives.
