I took a few images in Exeter’s museum yesterday. I’ll add a few more over the next couple of dayes. here’s the first.
Birds of a feather exhibition, RAMM, Exeter
Samuri, Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM) Exeter, Devon
Large mammals exhibition, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon.
Photography courses and workshops
Exe Estuary fine art prints
Dartmoor fine art prints
Stripey Howling Handcock busking, Exeter city centre.
Nigel ‘Stripey howling’ Hancock is almost a landmark in Exeter. His distinctive guitar style, a blend of ragtime, blues and celtic, can be heard somewhere in the city centre on most days. Stripey doesn’t just play in Exeter though; at different times of the year he can be heard in Poland, Switerland and other European countriesw, taking part on busking and street art festivals, most notably the buskerbus tours. Stripey has his own page, while his music can be bought here or simply ask him for a CD if you’re in Exeter.
For those interested in the technical aspects, this is an HDR image, created from a single RAW image, then converted to monochrome and slightly tweaked in Photoshop. If you are interested in Photoshop training please contact me ,
Book-Cycle volunteers load up container with books for Ghana. image no. MBI000947
Book-Cycle (www.book-cycle.org) is a dynamic young charity based in Exeter, Devon that collects donated books and allows you to choose how much you pay for them (they have a bookshop in West Devon Street, near the Cathedral in Exeter). The charity is run on an entirely voluntary basis, with all the cash raised going to fund their environmental and ‘fairer World’ projects. Perhaps one of the most exciting, for me at least, is that many of the donated books are delivered to swchools in developing countries such as Ethopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar. Yesterday was quite a big day; a container truck was being loaded up to deliver books to Ghana, and I was lucky enough to meet up with Ant. and some of the other guys behind book-cycle , and basically lounge around taking the odd picture while they sweated away loading the container on a very hot afternoon. From the warehouse in Exeter the books travel to Thamesport deepwater container port. They are being sent to the rural ashanti region of Ghana to help build library facilities, primarily for local children. If you’re in the Exeter area their bookshop (next to the ‘house that moved’ ) is well worth a browse, or check out their website (www.book-cycle.org) for other outlets in Exeter and along the south coast.
Book-Cycle volunteers loading boxes of books into a container truck at their warehouse in Exeter, Devon, for delivery to Ghana. Image No. MBI000944.
Book-Cycle volunteers loading boxes of books into a container truck at their warehouse in Exeter, Devon, for delivery to Ghana. Image no. MBI000948.
Nana Clara Aldrin-Quaye singing with London based cuban samba, timba and funk fusion band Wara at Exeter's Respect Festival, 2011. Image No. MBI000925.
Juanita Euka, singer with London based cuban samba, timba and funk fusion band Wara at Exeter's Respect Festival, 2011. Image no. MBI000923.
Slightly left field for me, but good fun. Had a great day at the Exeter Respect Festival with my son earlier this month but have only now got around to doing something with the pictures from then. A highlight was watching London-based samba/funk/fusion band Wara perform; real high energy, get-up-and-dance stuff. The marquee covering the stage was kind of gloomy so I was pushing iso’s and working with wide open apertures and as slow a shutter as I dared to get some half-decent shots (not always succesfully). Here are a few that worked.
London based cuban samba, timba and funk fusion band Wara performing at at Exeter's Respect Festival, 2011. Image No. MBI000926.
If you’d like to know more about them this is there myspace link http://www.myspace.com/waralondon
Hungry geese paddle across the snow-covered footpath on Exeter's Quayside
Snow has finally arrived in Exeter, just in time for Christmas! Despite sub-zero conditions that have lasted for weeks we have escaped the heavy snowfalls that have paralysed much of the UK. This morning I woke to a couple of inches in light, fluffy snow covering my boat, and pretty much everything else. Just enough to look pretty without causing too much disruption.
Close up of an inquisitive goose in snow, Exeter Quayside
Close-up of inquisitive goose standing in snow, Exeter Quayside
Mute swans (Cygnus olor) congregate under Cricklepit Bridge
One of the advantages of living on a boat is that you get to see a lot of aquatic life go past. Exeter is famous for its mute swans (Cygnus olor) with congregate in large numbers on both the River Exe and the Exeter Ship Canal. The swans have become very used to the tourists and locals strolling along the river and canal side in the centre of town, so much so they even nest next to the footpath in the heart of town. At this time of year pairs of swans can be seen cruising around guarding clutches of fluffy grey signets. The adults will shepherd the signets along, occasionally pulling bits of weed off the botton for the youngstesr to feed on, or paddling furiously with their webbed feet to stir up weed in the shallows for them.
Mute swan cygnet (Cygnus olor) only a few days or weeks old.
Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) feeding in shallows.
Mute swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) swimming.
A pair of mute swan (Cygnus olor) cygnets swimming, Exeter Ship Canal.
As always my images are available to license and as fine art prints. If you’d like to use one of my images for publication please contact me. If you’d like a print of one of the images drop me an email stating image number and print size (costs for prints can be found on my fine art prints pages, e.g. Fine Art prints of Devon. Email me.
To my main website www.colinmunrophotography.com
Standing on the edge of suspension bridge crossing the River Exe in central Exeter a little after midnight attracts a little attention from passing dog walkers and late night revellers. Was I suicidal? Those that came closer breathed a sigh of relief when they saw my camera and tripod. No! I was obviously simply deranged; why else would I be pointing a camera down towards almost totally black water.
The swans of central Exeter are a glorious sight, skimming low over the water or congregating along the quayside to be fed by tourists, children, couples….pretty much everyone really. At night they float noislessly along the river like luminous ghosts. Sometimes they gather in large numbers, as in this picture, to squabble, converse, exchange ideas, debate, bicker, cogitate, fraternise and flirt – who knows? In early spring (as this was) the water is muddy and dark with suspended soil washed in from moorland upstream. At night the darkness enhances the already striking contrast between the pure white swans and the inky water.
Mute swans (Cygnus olor) gather at midnight, River Exe, Central Exeter, UK
Boats locked in ice at midnight, Exeter Canal Basin, Exeter city, Devon, England.
Apologies to John Mills and co for the bad pun. By chance this next blog was going to be about Alexandria, Egypt (well, Abu Qir actually, a small seaport nearby). Things came up and I haven’t quite completed it yet. As temperatures plummet and my boat is once again locked in ice I somehow managed to prise myself away from my woodburner last night to play around with some long exposures and high dynamic range shots. Returning to the warmth of the saloon around midnight, after a couple of hours freezing my butt off, I decided I had suffered exposure long enough and a warming whisky was required. Feeling began to return to my fingertips and I felt reassured they weren’t frostbitten after all.
Reviewing the pics afterwards I felt reasonably satisfied my time wasn’t entirely wasted. The one I’ve attached is an HDR composite of three exposures, ranging from 30 seconds to around 10 seconds. In the end I decided to combine them manually rather than use software such as Photomatrix, layering alternative exposures and combining as looking pleasing to the eye (well to mine eye anyway).
I’ll upload more images as i get around to editing them. Expect a blog about Abu Qir soon too (possibly titled ‘Soaking wet in Alex’)