Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Stewart Mckeown Photography

Feb 11

by stew in Uncategorized 0 comments tags: blue, landscapes, seascapes

Feeling Blue

I’m a fan of the colour blue. I’ve noticed a growing collection of blue-dominant images in my work with the sea, skies and pre-dawn fog exhibiting the hues that I am increasingly drawn to. I have compiled together a few of my favourites in this blog. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for looking!

Feb 09

by stew in field report, location guide, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: church, fairfield, field report, romney marsh

Fairfield Church

Fairfield church, also known as St. Thomas à Beckett church is an iconic isolated building on Romney Marsh in Kent. Little remains of the village it was first built to serve in the 13th century, Fairfield along with many other villages on the marshes vanished as the population fell, notably due to malaria which was prevalent in the area into the 1800s. The medieval church now sits alone in among the fields of grazing sheep, intersect with various watercourses and drainage ditches. These waterways offer fantastic opportunities to frame and reflect the church in all directions and are evidence of the practices in use to keep the sea from reclaiming the marshes. I have compiled some of my favourite shots of the church in the different seasons and times of the day. As you will see, there are many ways to shoot this iconic structure..! I’d better stop there although I have a few more..! As you can see, I’ve shot here a little bit over the years and yet it is still appealing to me due to the variety of angles available which all change depending on the time of day and when in the year you visit. Thanks […]

Jan 01

by stew in Canterbury, field report, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: canterbury, christmas lights, decorations, faversham, kent, marina, photography, ramsgate, xmas

Christmas lights!

A selection of photographs from this years Christmas decorations from Canterbury, Faversham and Ramsgate Marina. As I have been supplying images for calendars recently I thought it would be a good idea to shoot some festive images for next years designs. These images were all taken in December 2019 during the blue hour which would show the lights off at their best. Canterbury I live in Canterbury so you would have thought I’d get these images easily. However, the crowds of shoppers at this time of the year made shooting in Mercery Lane near impossible so that one required an early Sunday start! Faversham I was due to go into The Refinery to restock my greeting cards anyway so it made sense to shoot some Christmas lights here too. I was lucky that there was a light shower just before shooting which reflected the lights nicely on the town centre streets. Ramsgate The illuminations at Ramsgate Marina in aid of the RNLI have been going for years but I had never made it over to see them. If I get sunsets like this every time I’ll go every year..! Thanks and I hope you have enjoyed seeing my 2019 Christmas […]

Nov 08

by stew in field report, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: dungeness, fishing boat, kent, landscape, romney marsh

behind the shot – dungeness fishing boat

Dungeness is a vast shingle headland located on the tip of Romney Marsh in Kent. The abandoned fishing boats and huts of Dungeness’ fishing past are popular subjects for photographers and I am no different. I have been visiting here for years, often coming in bad and changeable weather to utilise another of the locations best features; its huge skies! On my more recent trips, I have been focussing on the small fleet of charter fishing boats that are still in use here. These well maintained, colourful boats are often in prime unobstructed positions on the very edge of the shingle heaps next to the coast. I took this above shot in November 2018. It had been a clear, bitterly cold and windy day. As the day came to an end, I made my way to the fishing boats where I spotted potential in the incoming clouds to the south. As I made my way there I kept stopping to take a shot as the light changed. These shots below show my attempts to make sense of the scene with these improving conditions. By the time I made it up close to the boat I was buzzing as I found […]

Nov 07

by stew in field report, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: behind the shot, broadstairs, kent coast, thanet

behind the shot – viking bay tidal pool

There are numerous tidal pools on the Isle of Thanet in Kent which are fun to photograph. This paddling pool off of the Broadstairs coast at Viking Bay is one of the more innocuous ones and is very easy to pass by as it gets completely submerged at high tide. I first set my sights on photographing this scene because of the interesting shapes to use. The symmetry of the pool with the two little blocks that stick out make it unique and the position of the sea post beyond is an important compositional element too. I did my research and I found that the ideal tidal range looked to be an hour or so before/after high tide. This would reveal the outline shape of the pool and the top of the larger rocks in front whereas at low tide the extra features can look cluttered and distracting. The view faces east which is ideal for sunrise but it would make planning for this shot that little bit harder and uncertain. See the images below..! On the morning that this shot was made the light and tides had coincided nicely. There was the right amount of cloud to hold in […]

Aug 31

by stew in location guide, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: creek, exhibition, faversham, oare

Faversham – The start of a new project

I had my first solo exhibition earlier this year at Garage Coffee Canterbury. The show lasted for about a month and it was a great way to get my work and myself out in the public a bit with the chance it could lead to sales and other opportunities. And it did. After the exhibition finished I was contacted by the owners of a new venture in Faversham who had some fresh walls for me to fill. In April I moved my Kent Landscapes and Seascapes exhibition over to ‘The Refinery‘ in Faversham’s West Street and since then I have been focussed on producing new local Faversham landscapes to display. I had a few good images local to Faversham anyway but I would need to get out exploring again if I were to fulfil my aim of filling the space with purely local shots. Over the next few weeks, I visited previously known and unknown locations looking for photographic potential. I’ve come to discover that Faversham is blessed with marshes, creeks, historic buildings and charming town streets which offer a lot to the photographer. There are a few locations that I think will come into their own in Winter but […]

Mar 16

by stew in Canterbury, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: canterbury, field report, fog, mist

Canterbury in the Mist

I always try to take advantage of the misty weather. Shooting in the mist and fog can be great for adding atmosphere and mystery to images; it’s just a shame it doesn’t happen often enough! I’ve been waiting for the right conditions in which to shoot viewpoints of Canterbury and the recent unseasonably warm weather would bring that opportunity. The 1st Morning No mist hadn’t been forecast the night before but luckily my partner woke me up just in time. I jumped out of bed to get to the top of Whitstable Road for sunrise and I witnessed the drama unfold as the sun slowly burnt through the fog in the valley below. This event couldn’t last forever. As the sun rose higher in the sky, a thick haze had replaced the earlier mist, which made visibility poor as I walked onto the grounds of UKC. I found a row of trees that I could frame the silhouette of the Cathedral around to add some depth to the images and I made a few different compositions before calling it a day. The softness to these images gives them an almost romantic feel which was fitting as it was Valentines Day. […]

Feb 22

by stew in Uncategorized 0 comments tags: dover, english channel, ferries, photography, white cliffs

White Clifftop view

I’ve put together a series of images taken from on top of the White Cliffs of Dover. Facing East, this is a great spot to watch the sunrise from and catch the ferries as they cross the Channel to the continent. The Strait of Dover is the busiest shipping route in the world and the ferries leaving from Dover can make for great subjects as they catch the first rays of light on their sides. A simple shot of sea and sky can work nicely though when there is a gap in the traffic. It is hard to plan shots like this as you have to get lucky with the weather and then react to the light. Often I have been out with the intention of shooting something else and have just happened to turn around and change my plans. For example, this above shot was taken on a very frosty morning at South Foreland. My original plan was to capture first light on the lighthouse surrounded by frost but as you can see I got distracted by these incredible skies out to sea! Thank you for reaching the end. I hope you have enjoyed the images..!