Colour, Infrared and Black & White Photography by Andy Stafford

Fallen Tree in Hoar Frost

Mar 262012

Fallen Tree in Hoar Frost

For most of the year running up to the December that this picture was taken it was quite marshy around this tree in Cossington Meadows, making it difficult to get to – not that I didn’t try, I just got a bit fed up with having to cycle home with wet trainers after each failed attempt. This cold spell made reaching it possible though as the ground was rock solid.

A funny photo this – it’s not glossy or romantic, doesn’t feature a killer composition or great light, hasn’t been tarted up to make it look like a work of art and doesn’t ask the viewer to question their very existence – but it still causes me great happiness because it reminds me how great it is to see the changing seasons and to be able to experience them rather than watching their passing from a car window on the daily commute.

Available for licensing on Alamy

Blossom

b&w 2 Responses »

Jun 222011

Blossom

It’s not really blossom, but it’s what it reminds me of – and I didn’t like “Bridge” as much as a title.

Spring seems to be a good time for infrared photography – the trees are still bare enough to be visible but they also provide delicate dots of bright white leaves.

This is from a location I’ve visited regularly in the past, not far from home, but I normally visit for the (relative) beauty of it rather than to take pictures of discarded metalwork. I’ve always been fascinated though by this bridge just being dumped here, and it made a good choice as an item for a themed exhibition later in the year so I popped along with the IR camera to see how well the metal would stand out from its surroundings.

Line of trees, Win Hill

b&w, landscape No Responses »

Jun 092011

Line of trees, Win Hill, Derbyshire

Another from a leisurely stroll up and around Win Hill in Derbyshire with Dan and Al Brydon.

This work is available at redbubble.

Frosty Morning In Watermead Park

landscape, stock images, sunrises No Responses »

Feb 232011

Frosty Morning In Watermead Park

A shot from the last significantly cold morning so far this year, in late January. It’s seemed so wet and mild for the past few weeks, which no doubt will please many people as it perhaps signals the approach of spring, but I like cold mornings with comparatively late sunrises.

I usually photograph these trees from the other side of the lake but I was looking for something different this morning – the light hitting the frost on the fence and the shadow covering the path caught my eye.

Available for licensing on Getty Images

One Of The Last Days Of Autumn

landscape, trees, water No Responses »

Dec 282010

One Of The Last Days Of Autumn, Watermead Park

Watermead Park, while there were still leaves on the trees. Seems like a long time ago now, but it was taken just a couple of days before the first snows and winter arrived.

As the sun was setting around 4pm and the weather had been reasonably dry I’d been postponing my lunchbreaks and taking them later in the day so that I could cycle around Watermead Park in the hour before sunset. This mix of light stopped me in my tracks and was the first of a number of shots I took this afternoon, before the light faded.

Purchase print at redbubble

Tree Tunnel, Watermead Park

b&w, trees 2 Responses »

Oct 202009

Tree Tunnel, Watermead Park, Leicestershire

This shot is was taken one lunch time in Autumn. I’d gone out a few days earlier in search of rich autumnal colours but I didn’t really see anything that I liked. When I found this scene I was intrigued by the light more than the colours and knew it could look really striking in black and white.

Unfortunately it was windy and the end result had some movement in, so I made a note to come back again when conditions were better.

This retaken effort was processed in exactly the same way as the original but fortunately none of the leaves are blurred :)

Purchase print at RedBubble

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

hdr, trees 4 Responses »

Sep 052009

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

It’s funny how sometimes the last shot of the day, the one you aren’t really expecting to be that special, turns out to be the favourite. This was taken at the end of brief walk in and around Swithland Woods one lunchtime in February this year. It had snowed a few days before but it was all gone now, leaving water lying in the fields and paths. This still water had been my original reason for going out, but as I had a few minutes to spare and no shots that I really liked I ventured into the woods and noticed how the bare branches of the trees filled the view above me.

After finding a suitable spot and waiting for a plane to pass overhead I took 3 bracketed shots. These were then processed in Photomatix to produce a black and white HDR which I then toned Lightroom.

The title, which is borrowed from a Godspeed You! Black Emperor album, was the first thing I thought of when taking the shot.

Purchase print at RedBubble | imagekind

Misty Morning, Beacon Hill

textures, trees No Responses »

Jul 162009

It’s amazing how frustrating taking pictures in the mist can be. I took quite a lot the morning I took this before I noticed just how much water was on the lens itself – it was also bitterly cold and the last thing I wanted was to keep taking my gloves off to clean the lens.

I liked the composition of this shot at the time but it sat on my hard drive for quite a while before I worked out what I wanted to do with it. In the end I added a texture to give some extra substance to the mist and did some minor editing between the two trees to increase the light there, as for me this was the focal point of the shot.

Purchase print at RedBubble | Photo4me

Frosted Barbed Wire

b&w, hdr, landscape No Responses »

Jun 102009

Another old image that I was never entirely happy with. This was taken on chilly morning excursion out at Beacon Hill with Dan and was one of the few shots I got – the rest being spoilt by the lens misting up all the time.

Whilst I liked the original image at the time I thought the contrast could have been better.

For this newer version I went back to the original shots (3 exposures, each 2 stops apart) and reprocessed them in Photomatix. This resulting image was then desaturated and had contrast adjustments.

Purchase print at Photo4me

Visit http://www.hdrsoftwaretutorial.co.uk/ for tutorials and a discount code which will give you 15% off the purchase of Photomatix.

Sunset at Cropston Reservoir

filters, landscape, sunsets, water No Responses »

May 252009

Sunset at Cropston Reservoir

This was the first sunset I ever really paid attention to – and the first one I witnessed with my camera. I hadn’t previously been aware of just how much the light changes before and after the sun goes down and being there was accidental – I had actually gone to take pictures of some boats I had noticed there earlier in the week.

I’d just taken delivery of some new filters – a light blue grad and a light tobacco grad, both Kood – and was keen to try them out. After getting the shots I wanted I started to wander back to the car when I noticed that the sun had finally disappeared from view and there was a slight ripple moving across the otherwise still reservoir.

I used both filters here – the tobacco one at the bottom and the blue one at the top. Technically I should have included some foreground but the colours in this were pleasing enough for me to not mind its exclusion.

Technical details:- 0.125 sec (1/8s), f/8.0, 21 mm

Older Entries

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andystafford.co.uk

Fallen Tree in Hoar Frost

Blossom

Line of trees, Win Hill

Frosty Morning In Watermead Park

One Of The Last Days Of Autumn

Tree Tunnel, Watermead Park

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

Misty Morning, Beacon Hill

Frosted Barbed Wire

Sunset at Cropston Reservoir

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