"Coast" - Exhibition opens at Rayleigh Mill Coffee Shop

Coast - an exhibition of my photography from around the Essex coast opens today at Squires Coffee Shop, The Mill Rayleigh.   It runs till June 4th,  so you have plenty of time to pop in for a coffee and a look at the pics.

Leigh Creek

(Now Appearing at Squires Coffee Shop)

Essex on View Gallery opens

Today is the opening of Darren Chaplin's new gallery Essex on View at View Garden Centre.
Darrens plush new premises will be featuring some of my work.  The new collection includes a couple of rather fetching canvas prints I have had made by Fresh Pixel Design (highly recommended).  If you are in the area why not pop in.

Cockles
(Now available on Canvas)

Gallery Opening Times:
Mon, Thurs, Friday 11am - 4pm Sat, Sun & Bank Hols 11am - 4pm Tues & Weds by appointment only.

Dav Thomas is photographer of the month for April

After my trip to the Peak District at the beginning of the month,  it has been a joy to view Dav Thomas website and his stunning large format images of the region.  So I figured it would be a good time to make him photographer of the month so, you can all enjoy his work.

Burbage brook sanctury

by Dav Thomas

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Previous Photographers of the Month

Mobified

I have just been playing with mobify: http://www.mobify.me/ and have created a version of this blog that should look ok on a smart phone. It was really rather easy.

If you browse to the blog on a phone it should automatically redirect you to the mobile version: http://m.shepherdpics.com/ I hope it helps those of you with wizzy phones.

The Still fo the Morn

One of the things  I enjoy about landscape photography, is the complete look of shock on peoples faces when they hear what time of the morning a picture was taken.  "You got up at 5:00 in the morning..on holiday...are you mad?" is a not uncommon reaction!

Dawn Light

(click to view large)

I have just come back from a great week in the Peak District and whilst it was there I came to the realisation that getting out in the countryside is not just about bagging great light.  It's about experiencing these places without,  just having a well visited place to yourself is quite a humbling experience.

Overlook

(click to view large)

All the shots from this page were taken from Curbar Edge,  I got there at 6:10am and had the place to myself.  The only sounds were those of my footsteps on the frozen ground,  a rather agitated grouse who kept wanting everyone to know where it was and a very occasional car driving up the Curbar Gap.

Curbar Gap

(click to view large)

It was one of those magical moments when the experience of the photographer goes well beyond the process of picture making and into the realms of a spiritual experience. I hope the pictures go some way to reflecting that and if they don't well i have the memory anyway.

2009 Portfolio Updated

It's been a real busy start to the the year and things seem to be showing no sign of slowing down any-time soon. It's only taken till the beginning of March to get round to completing last years gallery.

The delay was mainly because I have been experiencing the joys of getting Lightroom to generate my galleries for me. When I get a moment I will produce some blogs explaining what I have learnt for anyone else brave enough to delve into the Lightroom SDK.

The 2009 Gallery includes images from across England and I hope you find something there you enjoy looking at.

Lost In The Mist

Pawel Bieniewsk is photographer of the month for March

Pawel Bieniewsk produces the most amazing insect macro photography. His website is full of the most amazing images of these tiny creatures and is well worth spending some time viewing it.

by Pawel Bieniewsk