Project C by Kevin Maskell FRPS

PROJECT C

KEVIN MASKELL FRPS

Project C (Cancer) all became about towards the end of 2015, when I was diagnosed with

Prostate Cancer. My first treatment was chemotherapy, which started a week after a week away in the Lake District with a group of photographers. The leader of the group had been taking an image a day for some time, loading them on to a web site - www. blipfoto.com. So I decided it was a good idea to start doing this, to take my mind off some of the side effects that I knew I was going to get. I am still loading my images onto www.blipfoto. com/kevinmaskell and to-date, have not missed a day.

Due to the various treatment and bad side- effects that I’ve had during the last 4 years, I’ve been restricted to taking pictures in the back garden, or in the house, for long periods. But I’ve still been able to take images on various themes.

One of the series was my water droplets on the Iris leaves in the small bog garden. This all came about one morning when I couldn’t sleep. So I went for a walk in the garden, and spotted the water droplets. I then got out my 200mm macro lens and took a few images. This led to a two year project, as I had to look out for mornings with little or no wind. I often had to get out very early, as the wind would pick up by 7.00am. It wasn’t easy

Soft pastel blue by Kevin Maskell Pastel Daffodil by Kevin Maskell Flower Impression by Kevin Maskell

to get all the images that I wanted, due to being no gaps between the leaves, or the angles were wrong to get the effect I wanted. I also had to be careful not to touch any of the leaves, as any movement could make the droplets fall off.

Another of my series of images has been taking flowers in ice. This was something that I could set up for a rainy day, when I needed to do an image quickly, or when the side effects were very bad. I bought a few different size plastic containers with lids, so they could be stacked in the chest freezer. They only needed to be 50 to 75 mm deep, but the width and length needed to be larger than the flowers, to allow for latitude when composing the image. Also to allow for the ice to melt a bit. Over the last couple of years, I’ve tried to come up with slightly different approaches.

This is how I now do the flower in ice images. First of all, I put some water in the container and place it in the freezer. I then keep checking it until the water has a thin film of ice on the surface. Only then do I break the ice with my finger, where the flower needs to be, and then place the flower in the container. It is then left to fully freeze. This method stops the flower moving to the side of the container whilst freezing.

After taking some photographs of this frozen flower, I would add some more water to the container, and then freeze it again. This added water must be fairly cold, to try to reduce the effects of the ice from cracking. Sometimes, during this freezing process, I would take the container out of the freezer and take more images. This is done until the flower is completely covered. Then, on another day, I would take this container out of the freezer, and start to thaw out the ice, taking images at intervals. Once the session is finished, it is put back into the freezer. As the ice melts I sometimes add some more water, to make the ice wider and longer to get the correct composition.

All of the ‘Flowers in ice’ pictures were taken in our conservatory, using overcast lighting. Sometimes I’ve added a coloured texture to the image to get a different effect. Lately, I’ve been going in a lot closer with the macro lens.

Right: The Drop Below: Two Drops by Kevin Maskell

BEING IN THE MOMENT

VANDA RALEVSKA

The world is incredibly beautiful, astonishingly vivid, unexpectedly delicate, quite often surprisingly dazzling and delightful. However our hurried lives are the very reason we are seeing less and less of this wonderful world around us.

I believe photography can change that. It did it for me. It changed my perception of the amazing place we live in. It allows me to appreciate the beauty, the wonder and the mystery that is present all around us. It makes me feel truly present in those magical moments when something intangible happens right in front of my lens. That’s when I no longer focus on the photograph. When capturing the image becomes unimportant, because it is deeply etched in my mind regardless.

To me it is extremely important to learn how to slow down. How to take the time needed to experience the moment wherever you are. How to savour here and now, and enjoy the present for what it is - ethereal, otherworldly, extraordinary, or simple, ordinary, even mundane. When you realise that, it stops being about photography only, and it starts being about life itself. And how extraordinarily

beautiful it is. How important it is to be grateful for every single day, no matter how hard it seems at times. That is what photography is to me, enjoying life and beauty that surrounds us.

As John Muir once said: “As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can.”

Sunlit Stillness by Vanda Ralevska

BIOGRAPHY

My name is Vanda Ralevska, and I am a semi-professional landscape photographer living in London. My interest in photography was sparked in my teens, and over the years it became an inseparable part of my life. It enables me to see things that normally stay unnoticed, and appreciate the beauty that exists within everyday scenes. I am passionate about capturing the world we live in, always searching for those fleeting moments of magic that transform it into something extraordinary.

I am predominantly a landscape photographer. In my images I strive to reflect the atmosphere, feeling, and sheer wonderment that our natural world can evoke within us. Having grown up in an industrial area of former Czechoslovakia, I soon learnt how to appreciate beauty of the natural world, far away from hustle and bustle of a big city. Nowadays I find most inspiration in quieter scenes and intimate details, whether it is on the coast, in woodland, in the countryside, or even in cities, during quiet times. I don’t limit myself to one particular subject. Photography for me is more about the moments when I don’t want to be anywhere else but where I am.

I am a Kase Filters Ambassador, and a member of Arena Photographers, World Women Art and Echiquier groups. I have had several successes in international competitions, including the International Garden Photographer of the Year and Black and White Spider Awards. I regularly take part in joint exhibitions, and give lectures at photographic clubs, groups and festivals, both in UK and abroad. I hope to inspire others to find their own style, to look beyond the obvious, and to find joy while doing so.