David Amis digital photography

Branches and leaves

I realise that in the early part of summer, black and white shots of trees in leaf are counterintuitive. However, there are things that can only be seen once the distraction of colour has been removed. The greens of the leaves are still pretty vivid and were a distraction from what I wanted to convey so come the editing stage, I opted to create these black and white versions…

Summer vistas - 9.6.26

It was windy yesterday. Too windy for a day in early June in a location that's a fair way inland. Restlessly windy in a way that reflects the restlessness of a troubled and divided nation.

On a lighter note, the wind meant it wasn't a day for close ups. That was frustrating because there was plenty of potential for close ups walking through the meadows with the long grasses and wildflowers. All of which are due to be cut for silage in the not too distant future so, opportunities for close up shots in these meadows are running out:(

More dead trees…

I've been thinking about why I keep photographing dead trees in the summer. It's not just because they're there. To a certain extent, there's something about the aesthetics of bare branches that's almost sculptural and that's definitely one of the pulls. At a deeper level, the dead trees in the midst of the green of summer are a reminder that death is always with us - it's part of the cycle of life. Now I've been on this planet for seventy years, my eventual passing is something that I have to contemplate and come to terms with. Which is why I'm doing what I can to live for the day and get the best I can out of what time remains to me, even if the world is heading towards dystopia…

Tree trunks along the river

These were seen on a gentle Sunday afternoon stroll through my local park. I'll never not be grateful for having this pretty much right on my doorstep:)

An absence of colour…

I know, it's June and despite the dull weather, the greens are vivid and the blossoms are colourful. I should be celebrating this with my photography. However, there are times when colour can be a massive distraction. This may be my own subjective judgement but with the images of the reeds and the blossom, I felt they would work better in monochrome. As for the sepia treatment on the image of the blossom, that's an attempt to add a certain moody atmosphere…

Modern architecture vs nature

What caught my eye as I was walking past was the stark contrast between the minimalist, urban lines of the apartment block on top of the hill set against the glorious, complex tangle of nature on the slope below. The block is the kind of building you'd expect to see in a city such as Bristol where, whether you like this style of architecture or not, it wouldn't look out of place. However, in Keynsham which some people still like to think of as a country town, it looks totally out of place. I accept that this is my subjective judgement.

I've posted a colour and a black and white version as I'm not entirely sure which one works the best.

Scenes seen on a walk - 4.6.26

It was a windy, frisky day yesterday and, it wasn't a day for taking close ups of flowers, that's for sure! So instead, I went for a mix of vistas and close in views of field boundaries:)

Walking up through the wood - 4.6.26

This wasn't the peaceful walk I was hoping for as the wind blowing through the leaves was making a fair bit of noise. There was also the issue of having to negotiate a few fallen trees across the paths. Disturbance and having to deal with obstacles…that kind of sums things up at the moment…

Vistas seen along the Avon - 30.5.26

A walk taken on the penultimate day of the spring. A day that felt like summer should be. It was good to get out in the open and wander through the yet to be cut meadows by the Avon. Given the not so good weather forecast for this week, this was the last chance for such a walk…everything else could wait as far as we were concerned:)

Shelter on a warm day

This shady part where the River Boyd empties into the Avon provided some much needed shelter from the sun on our walk yesterday:) With the subject matter being the interplay of light and shade, I decided that colour was going to be a distraction so at the editing stage, I created these black and white versions.

Bare branches on the cusp of summer

There I was on a beautiful summer day, walking along the banks of the Avon just two days before the start of June, and I was photographing dead trees and bare branches. I do wonder about myself at times. The only tentative conclusion I can come to regarding this choice of subject matter is that this is me semi-consciously trying to resolve a few issues…

Afternoons along the River Brue

I've been looking through the images I shot on a short break on the Somerset coast a month ago (feels like a lot longer than that) with a view to processing and posting them.

Walking along here and half closing my eyes, I was definitely getting some Essex coast, creek and saltmarsh vibes:)

Apex Park in glorious black and white:)

I've been looking through the images I shot on a short break on the Somerset coast a month ago (feels like a lot longer than that) with a view to processing and posting them.

These two were shot on a somewhat moody and overcast afternoon so when I was editing them, it seemed to be the right choice to render them in black and white.

A walk on a hot day…

All of a sudden, it's hot. Really summer heatwave hot, even though we're still in May. It was one of those days where we felt we had to get up to Meadow Wood in a bid to find some temporary escape from a world that's sliding into dystopia. Despite the heat, we did find some sense of peace in the wood and the nearby meadows.

Tree trunks in glorious black and white:)

It's May and the greens are really vivid. It can be a beautiful time of year, one full of hope and promise for the summer to come. That's if your head is in the right place and you're ignoring all of the doom and gloom that's being pushed onto us every day. I'm not entirely sure my head is in the right place if I'm being honest.

Anyway, back to the photography. The greens, beautiful though they are, were a bit of a distraction to what I was trying to convey with these images. So at the editing stage, I made the decision to create some black and white versions. Monochrome and late spring, going into summer, can work well in my humble opinion.

An escape to the woods - 17.5.26

We wanted to get away from the madness of an increasingly dystopian world for a bit so, it was off up to the woods for a gentle stroll:)

Vistas seen on a walk - 17.5.26

Yesterday was one of those rare days when we had almost proper looking clouds and also, plenty of patches of blue sky and sunshine. It was like a day in the month of May should be…in an ideal world that is. Having seen the forecast for the next few days - grey skies and rain - we had to get out to make the most of this gift while we had the chance:)