Words & Pictures – The homepage of JM Shackleton – writing, places and photography

Slightly Out Of Focus – Bognor, 2024

21/01/2025

One of the things I love about film photography is the feeling of anticipation when you get a roll processed – will the photos look like I remembered? Will there be anything there at all?

Most of my cameras are quite old – at least 40 years – so I have my share of nothing coming out at all. In this case the photographs from my 86 year old camera were correctly exposed (or near enough), but all slightly out of focus.

So I felt a bit disappointed as I clicked through the scans, until I came to this one, which I quite like.

In this case the blurry softness makes it feel more timeless, with just enough detail to give a sense of place.

Summer

The English Coastline

04/09/2024

Most of my photographs are simply recording things which I thought looked interesting. This was the view out the window of the airliner I was on as we approached the Bristish coastline. I’m wondering what the island is. I liked the texture of the sea in the evening light (think this shows even in a small image). I stripped away the colours because I thought they were distracting.

Summer

Deer in the Evening

24/06/2024

I live in an area surrounded by farmland. Quite often when I am out walking, I see a few roe deer – usually in twos and threes, but sometimes – as in this case, on their own. The secret, is to be quiet and be still. I tried to stay behind some branches, moving the camera around until I found a small gap between the leaves.

Lisbon

Tree Between Houses, Lisbon

17/09/2023

Originally, this photograph was in colour – but I think I prefer it in black and white.

Like the capitals of many once grand empires, Lisbon has an air of beautiful decay. This picture is authentic, with steep, cobblestoned pavements threaded through with trees which touch surrounding buildings.

Lisbon

Cristo Rei

29/08/2023

If you ever visit Lisbon, I would recommend crossing the bridge and visiting Cristo Rei.

When I took the picture with my phone, I wanted to capture the size of the statue and the hard light from the midday sun. And colour just didn’t work. The people were too prominent in the frame and the statue felt unimportant. So I changed to monochrome, and suddenly my eye is drawn to the towering pedestal and figure on top. Monochrome is great for bringing out the shape of things. And the hard black shadows under the people says how hot it was.

Spring

Sunset in St. James’s Park

16/04/202317/04/2023

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

W.B. Yeates

I thought I would share a few things I discovered recently. The quote I love, because it speaks to the root of photography and finding beauty in the world around us. It is there, waiting for us to be ready to find it.

The photograph I took earlier in the month, at the end of a long day walking along the River Thames. After a day of alternating rain and sunshine, I thought it had finally clouded over, when to my surprise, we had a beautiful sunset, which almost lit up the daffodills as they swayed in the breeze.

Spring

Back-lit Tree on Turnham Green

11/03/202316/03/2023

Sometimes, when we are very fortunate, the weather gives us what we want for a photograph. On this occasion, I noticed that when the Sun flickered into sight, it made the blossoms on this tree almost glow. But then, as suddenly as the light appeared it vanished under a thick rain-coud. More time spent hovering in the park staring at a tree

winter

If Only I Had A Camera…

22/12/202222/12/2022

Always carry a camera!

This morning, I changed bags – because I had to return something – and, after quick look out the window, I didn’t put my camera in. A signal to the Universe.

Fallow deer aren’t rare, but because they are small and they keep quite still, they tend to go unnoticed until you almost trip on them or they walk in front of a car.

winter

A View of Horsham

16/12/2022

After a long autumn, we are finally in winter. This is from a couple of weeks ago, when we had a hard frost, but more recently we have had snow which has stayed with us quite a while: gettting greyer, and shinier with every day.

Autumn

Tree in a Square

14/12/202214/12/2022

Sometimes, taking my camera for a walk, we find something colourful and interesting. In this case, I found this tree in Tavistock Square.