I think that the steps to or from a building or area are supposed to give you a particular impression, that is how they are designed, not just as a way of getting from one level to the next.  If a building is well maintained then the original impression may remain.  These steps however, are being taken back by the ivy that is climbing from the bottom.  The tendrils seem alive and in the process of going further; the peeling paint on the woodwork is not the only thing that gives away the fact that this house doesn’t have regular visitors.

What do I like about this photo apart from the fact that it has steps in it?  I like the fact that the ivy growing up the stairs leads the eye into the picture, the wood of the porch continues the journey, but there is nothing but the corner of the doorway at the top, so you are left to imagine what the house is like.  The steps aren’t very well worn, so maybe the house isn’t that old, or maybe there is another way in?  I also like the warmth given to the steps by the Winter sun, even if the house isn’t inviting or maybe because it isn’t, there is a reason to linger on the steps and not go in.

This was again taken with my 50mm lens, this time ISO200, f/11 and 1/250 secs.

Anyway, this is what you get – this is part of the sculpture that is on the side of the new Coventry cathedral which I have taken many times before.  I am now trying to work out which is more at fault for the grain and poor focus – me, the camera or the developing.

Anyhows, the film was a 36 exposure (bit of an error there) Ilford FP4.  I did the developing with the prerequisite chemicals, although, they were admittedly suffering from cold as it was Winter (despite sitting in the house all day – the water came from the tap!!).  So, whilst pleased that I have actually developed a film, I am a little disappointed in the results, but as they were of steps, I thought I would put them on anyway.  I now have to work out whether the issue is the camera (it isn’t the lens because it was my favourite 50mm lens) although there isn’t much to go wrong, the age of the film and the fact that it has been sitting around for ages, or my developing.  I am placing my bets on the last two, and, so have loaded the camera in the last week and am going to attempt to take 36 shots and develop the film in the next week or so.

The second thing that struck me is that it is very similar to a photo I took at the Papal Palace in Avignon.  Whilst this should not be a surprise as the two buildings are contemporary, I still think it is interesting that there are similarities in buildings built for different purposes hundreds of miles apart in different countries.  However, I also found it interesting that with my 50mm lens in hand I was drawn to the same feature on each building.  But that’s just me.

The light wasn’t brilliant when I took this shot and the side of the church is in shadow for a lot of the Winter, so at ISO200 I was down to f/5.0 to give a shutter speed of 1/100secs.

I have taken to travelling lighter these days and so just had my 50mm lens with which I am obsessed (along with taking photos of steps) attached to the EOS 400D.  The light levels were quite variable, so I was mainly using ISO200, which at f/8.0 gave me a shutter speed of 1/640secs which allowed the water droplets to be frozen.  I converted it to black and white in Lightroom, and cropped a little off the top and a little off the bottom.  Out of all the shots I took around that feature I think this one works the best, possibly because it also has the highest level of contrast with the area of shadow beneath the window.

This is another picture where I couldn’t decide whether it looked better in black and white and whether to crop it in.  The wall is a warm yellow colour with lots of green from where the damp has allowed algae to grow and the leaves were a lovely bright, autumnal brown.

I decided to crop the photo because I wanted to highlight the main leaf (I may put a non-cropped picture on Flickr) and liked the way they seemed to spread themselves down the steps.  I put the picture into black and white to emphasize the texture of the wall next to the steps.  However, the cropping to a square format and converting to black and white were the only modifications that I made.

The photo was taken with my 50mm lens, ISO200 f/5.6 and 1/40secs (only just got away with that shutter speed!).

These are the steps from outside the city walls to the Rocher des Doms – a public garden near the Palais des Papes and overlooking the River Rhone.  It was quite a trek to get down them to get to the free shuttle boat across the river.

The reason for the photo – obviously it is the pattern of the zig-zag steps working up the frame, the texture of the stones, and the light on the weeds that have grown on the steps.

I converted it to black and white to highlight the details, but it also has the effect of making it busier.  I have included a colour version, I am not sure which is better.  Once again, 50mm lens, but ISO100, 1/80secs at f/9.0.

The problem with this building is that it is large and covered in tourists.  It is therefore difficult to get a decent shot of the entire thing.  I did try, did the tourist photo, didn’t work.

In an ideal world I would have the people at the entrance forcibly removed along with those irritating signs – but, unfortunately I couldn’t.  However, ignoring the intruders, I like the fact that something that was built to worship gods 2000 years ago now works as a place to have lunch.  I like the olive tree in the foreground which balances the two figures on the diagonal corner.  I also like the vertical columns which, with a shot with a portrait orientation serves to make the photo look taller and thinner adding to the sense of scale given by the difference in the size of the figures on the stairs compared with the height of the steps and columns.

I took this with my 50mm lens, at ISO200, 1/640secs at f/5.6.

This was taken inside the Palais des Papes, on the bright, sunny Monday.  I took it using my 50mm lens, 1/160secs, f/10, ISO100 (I told you that it was sunny!) and converted it into black and white in Lightroom.

When I go through my photos, one of the first things that I do is check that the pictures are sharp enough that I won’t be ashamed of them.  All I do is zoom in to 1:1 and look at the picture closely.  When I did this with the picture here I actually liked the texture on the stairs and so have also included an additional crop on this post.  Although the size is about the same, I think it emphasises the textures more and is more abstract.

Settings for my EOS400D with a 50mm lens; ISO100, f/9.0, 1/320 secs.