Morning light, studio, workplace — *Studio bathing in morning light*.

Not every morning, but just often enough, especially for this time or year, there have been mornings when the early sun has poured through the blinds, spilling winter gold onto all it reaches.

More often than not, this time of year feels like the light gets strangled out of each day for me. So I consider it a welcome advancement that I’m enjoying this early winter.

A major contributor to this has been my insistence on going out each morning on my bike, down to the beach, or into town, and then walking a distance while listening to Audiobooks. I’m Currently listening to ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ by John Cooper Clark, it is so absorbing I pass my locked bike and extend the walk to around the Headland, or up and down the beach one more time, just to fit another chapter in.

By my side is my camera, I don’t even make it to the corner shop without it.

Below are photos from a couple of mornings around Town Beach, and a rainy carpark.

Town Beach, Newquay, coastline photography

Sea swimmers, town beach, Newquay, Cornwall

Misty morning, coastline, ocean waves, swell lines.

Surfer, surfing left-hander, harbour wall

1:1 Aspect Ratio

Shooting with the camera set to 1:1 aspect ratio has fitted into my photography routine comfortably, like a whisky by an open fire on a winter’s day.

In a previous bulletin I mentioned my awe for the work of Vivian Maier, and in a blog post from August this year, my total admiration for the photography of Jane Brown. Both using a Rolleiflex camera, that produced 1:1 aspect ratio (6cm x 6cm) photographs. Although Jane Brown went on to use a 35mm Pentax.

Below is an excerpt from from the August blog.

I have been continuing to shoot with my Fujifilm x100f set to 1:1 ratio and monochrome. It is still enjoyable and satisfyingly different from my other/usual setups.

I haven't shot in black & white for a long time and so have been looking at some of my old photography books, namely 'The Americans" by Robert Frank, 'London 1959' by Sergio Larrain and 'A Lifetime of Looking' by Jane Bown.

Now with this enjoyment of shooting 1:1, it catches my eye when I see it in print, whereas before it may not have registered so clearly.

'A Lifetime of Looking' is fantastic – as it was the first time I got it, and still is now...of course. But when it goes up onto the shelf for a while and other things grab my attention, it goes some way to being overlooked. Then at some point, which is now, it comes down and has the dust blown off the cover, and her wonderful photographs are seen again.

They are so good the book has been open on various pages, over several days and on all the desks, worktops and surfaces around the house.

Jane brown, book cover, pages, a lifetime of looking — *Pages from the book ‘A Lifetime of Looking’.*

It's an amazing book, with a good amount of her work in it.

It feels a bit awkward posting a few of my attempts straight after showing snippets from the pages of 'A Lifetime of Looking', but I do enjoy it, while it seems to extend another way of looking and framing.

So the enjoyment hasn’t left, if anything it has settled in and is enjoying another whisky by the fireplace!

Shots from around Newquay in 1:1 and colour.

1 1 aspect ratio photography, square, taxis,

1 1 aspect ratio photography, square, beach, shoreline

1 1 aspect ratio photography, square, dead end sign-composition

1 1 aspect ratio photography, square, rainbow-newquay

Surfboards

Another month of spraying surfboards to add to the years.

A couple of sprays vying for this months prize of a published reel, although the Pyzel surfboard with flames and chequered rails is clearly the victor. Up until this board, I had never put checks on the rails, and now I know why, it is tricky and time consuming, but it does look good.

Surfboard factory, surfboard spray, pyzel surfboard

Surfboard factory, surfboard spray, pyzel surfboard, flames, checks

Not as challenging as flames & checks, but still getting on November’s podium, is this custom surfboard for Richard ‘Dodo’ Dodd.

A short reel of it being sprayed can be seen on my blog.

Surfboard factory, jack robinson graphics design — *Dodo’s board, ready to be surfed.*

It’s not all bright paint, flames, checks and nifty pen work. A good amount of standard sprays are welcome each month, they are necessary to bridge the gap between the more elaborate designs. You need some bread & butter to hold a fancy filling!

Below are two Lost/Mayhem boards just about to go to North Shore surf shop in Newquay.

A short reel with one of them being sprayed can be seen on my blog.

Lost surfboards at surfboard factory in Cornwall — *Lost surfboards.*

The wall at work is forever morphing as paints and spray gun pressure are tested before being pointed at a board. Sometimes a wave or doodle is added using the scattered paint test as a background to pop off!

Just One More Thing!

A final flurry of photos to sign off with. This month a look back to the North Shore, Oahu in January/February this year. Not just a visit, more a pilgrimage to the seven mile miracle.