Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Looking back at 2018 & forward to 2019


A personal report as the photographer for Polypodphoto


Over the past year I have increasingly been using a Canon compact camera rather than a DSLR and have been trying out a Huawei smart phone, I’ve been surprised with the quality of images achieved. 

The direction of my work has now moved away from commercial photography to a more personal interest based activity with a lot of time, effort (and expense) being devoted to the Neo-Gothic Guild Church Stained Glass Project. A series of exhibitions displaying stained glass images have been held and I’m now working towards a major exhibition of photographs to be held at Guildford Cathedral in January 2019.

My connection continues with the Guildford Institute where I teach photography and deliver courses on architecture and design, mainly with an emphasis on the Victorian period. On 4 April 2019 I will be leading a Guildford ‘PhotoWalk’ as part of an institute course and I’m now planning a course on stained glass for the summer term.

After exhibiting during March 2018 a selection of my photographs at the Allen Gallery in Alton I have been asked to give a talk at the gallery on 25 April 2019 about local church stained glass.

A selection of my photographs are online with fotoLIBRA and the number of my images on flickr is currently being increased. A revamp of the Polypodphoto website is due in the New Year, as well as a new website for the Neo-Gothic Guild Church Stained Glass Project.

I continue to contribute to my three Facebook pages but have rather neglected my two blogs and avoid regular use of Twitter as it’s too distracting and ephemeral. I plan to produce a booklet based on my PhotoWalks which will offer self-guided walks in a number of locations.

Monday, 30 March 2015

2015 PhotoWalks

The 2015 season of PhotoWalks run by Polypodphoto Courses is now under way. We shall be revisiting all the Historic Towns and Cities that we looked at last year. 

All walks start at 11am and last 3 hours for the main locations and 2 hours for local walks.

Booking for most of the main locations on specific dates can be made via the Hotcourses website. http://www.hotcourses.com/ 

For the shorter local walks these will be run 'On demand' and people interested in these walks can email Polypodphoto direct. polypod@gmail.com

Full details of all the PhotoWalks are on the Polypodphoto website. http://www.polypodphoto.co.uk/home 




Monday, 25 August 2014

'PhotoWalks' Sept & Oct.

Just over two months left of this years program of PhotoWalks. 

We will be visiting the following locations: Sat. 6th Sept. Kingston upon Thames, Wed. 24th Sept. Portsmouth, Sat. 27th Sept. London - Blackfriars to Waterloo Bridge, Sat. 4th Oct. London - Charing Cross to Westminster, Sat 11th Oct. London - London Bridge to Bank, Sun 26th Oct. Winchester.

There will be PhotoWalks in Guildford on: Wed. 3rd Sept. Wed. 17th Sept. Sun. 28th Sept. and Wed. 15th Oct.

The program will hopefully restart in March 2015, but short PhotoWalks in local towns can still be run 'to order' over the winter period.

More details on: www.polypodphoto.co.uk  with most of the walks pre-bookable on the Hotcourses website. 




Monday, 7 April 2014

City of London PhotoWalk 22 March

A windy and cold day but with bright periods for the PhotoWalk from Tower Hill to London Bridge with a small group of attendees.

High contrast scenes made getting the exposure right, especially the skyscrapers against the bright sky. Frustration with trying to set up the options on a compact camera, menu driven settings not ‘intuitive’ and we had to resort to using the Auto setting.

There are lots of buildings and details of interest in the city and this walk has a mix of Victorian and period buildings, together with the views across the River Thames. The Shard looking good across the water but the ‘Walkie Talkie’ looms over the area around Eastcheap  - I don’t like this building, it’s too big, overpowering and the design is poor (especially the defect of focusing sunlight so that it melts cars and shopfronts!).

Some good photos taken en-route. The next London PhotoWalk is Backfriars to Waterloo Bridge on Sat 19th April. See: www.polypodphoto.co.uk for details. 



Friday, 27 December 2013

Guildford 'PhotoWalks'

Dates for 'PhotoWalks' in Guildford from March to June 2014 have now been posted on www.polypodphoto.co.uk 

Gift Vouchers for PhotoWalks are available from Guildford Tourist Information Centre



Monday, 25 November 2013

Guildford PhotoWalk GIFT VOUCHERS

A useful Christmas Gift for anyone interested in photography and architecture. 

'PhotoWalk's - excursions exploring History & Heritage. An opportunity to look at and photograph interesting buildings, architectural details and streetscape en-route. Suitable for any type of camera and all abilities - beginners welcome. PhotoWalks are leisurely and sociable events

PhotoWalk Gift Vouchers are now available from Guildford Tourist Information Centre at 155 High Street, Guildford GU1 3AJ. Tel: 01483 444334. www.visitguildford.com

Costing £15.00 the voucher is valid for a PhotoWalk in Guildford (or any other PhotoWalk location) during 2014.


Friday, 2 August 2013

Chichester PhotoWalk

PhotoWalk in Chichester this Saturday 3rd August, 11am - 2pm. Meet under The Market Cross at 11am.
For further information please see: www.polypodphoto.co.uk