Waking Up Chawton Wood
Waking Up Chawton Wood - f/4 at 5.1mm, ISO 80, Shutter speed 1/800 sec
If you follow me on Twitter (and actually read my tweets), you'll more than likely know that I've been spending a fair amount of time in the pool lately. Something else I enjoy is mountain biking, although, the fewer the mountains the better, if you ask me. Not a mountain in sight in this photograph. It's no coincidence, believe me. I cycled out to Chawton Wood on Sunday and after about an hour in the saddle decided it was time to take a few quick shots (with my Leica D-Lux 4) of the wood (but more so, it was time for a rest).
Back when I was in high school, a time when Bryan Adams broke the record for having the longest number one in history, positioned at the top of the charts for 16 weeks straight (kinda impressive), I remember being captivated by the photography in the CD booklet. Reading through the album liner notes all I could find was Bryan's name. I was shocked. A wildly successful musician, and now this. Great. Clearly Bryan hasn't heard about giving others a chance. In fairness, he's probably spent a lot of time shooting while leading his rock 'n roll nomad lifestyle. Something he used to enjoy. Anyway, this blog isn't about Bryan, I think he's successful enough as it is without me helping his cause. Next thing you know, he'll be expecting a free plug once a week. Not happening buddy, not on this blog. Plus, I've bought most of your albums, I think I'm entitled a little space of my own online, don't you. Cool. Wow that Bryan Adams guy really tries to take over eh? Anyway I hate celebrity. Not celebrities, just the whole idea of being famous. I realise it's a tradeoff few get the opportunity to make, but it's a shitty tradeoff if you ask me.
So anyway, before I even rode out to the wood yesterday I thought I'd process whatever photographs I took, keeping in mind those images in the CD booklet. So that explains the first image. As for the color version above, I just happen to enjoy looking at it in color too. Not a surprise considering I used to bike out to the wood about 4 times a week several years ago. I forget the year, but it's easy to look up, because I as I recall it was a remarkably good summer, and well, how hard is that to spot in England's weather history?
If you're interested in the processing of the black and white, I used Kodak 400T MAX Pro film in Silver Efex Pro and modified the first Coffee tone preset (I think). Download the preset file at the end of the post for a closer look at the details in Silver Efex Pro.
Before I forget, check out Bryan's really awesome work on his photography site BryanAdamsPhotography.com
