Pauline Rook

At the start of lockdown, I was rather lost, walking long distances every day to use up the time. Longer distances took me beyond my usual walking routes into the flatter lands to the east of here.

I began to visualise images as the weather brought on the rapid advance of spring. I have never seen the cider apple blossom so beautiful and intense, the Cow parsley built up into great banks and swathes and the trees started to get their leaves and startling spring colours.

Infrared photography is particularly well suited to bright and sunny weather and a workshop that I had attended on line tempted me to get a fisheye lens for something new to play with. There was a day of particularly fine clouds, sky doesn’t emit infra-red radiation and so becomes dark and dramatic on a camera that is sensitive to it. I discovered that strong lines work best for fisheye, not a particular fan of curved horizons but a new technique of lying down under plants and photographing above my head worked well with wildflowers, I rather like the sky at the bottom of the image.

A phone call one day alerted me to a very strange sun phenomena – a halo caused y ice crystals apparently – the fish eye was the only lens able to capture the complete circle. I have tried to order an extension tube so that I can get closer to things with the fish eye for more even extreme effects but everyone in the world seems to want them and it is a long wait. It is very strange to be standing right under trees and get the whole tree in the picture!!

I have enjoyed having the discipline of Somerset Reacqainted to put these images together. Was a wonderful idea.

(10 June 2020)

Website www.rookphoto.co.uk
Instagram @rookpauline