FolkestoneDailyPhoto

Aerial.

2010-08-28T00:06:00.000+01:00

Another shot taken whilst flying above Folkestone. I've put up many many pictures of this area before, as Dean and I spend a lot of time walking arond the harbour. The white building just by the harbour is the Grand Burstin Hotel which I have uploaded pictures of before.

When talking to my friends about our flight above Kent, I explained how I had experienced it in a way that I had not expected to. I assumed that looking down on Kent from a distance would make everything seem less significant but oddly, seeing everything so close together and seeing how everything is connected gave me a great sense of belonging.

There was something nice about being able to look down at all the places that had witnessed my greatest days at once.

Horse.

2010-08-27T13:37:00.002+01:00

I've been meaning to put a couple of pictures up for a while. My little sister had a flying lesson as a present and she took me and my dad along and I took loads of aerial photos of Kent. I only got a couple of Folkestone though and this is one of them.

It's fairly faint but if you look in the top-right corner, you can see the Shepway emblem, which is a horse. You used to be able to see it from my secondary school once it was first put it in.

Leas Cliff Hall

2010-08-09T15:51:00.002+01:00

Yeah, here's another shot of the Leas Cliff Hall. It's very similar but I think I prefer this one.

Loitering.

2010-08-08T15:47:00.002+01:00

Oh yes. More seagulls. When I took this, there were actually families either side of this flock.

Seascaping.

2010-08-07T15:44:00.002+01:00

I took this down by the harbour. I find the sea-wall in the background rather visually exciting in this picture. The foreground is supposedly an old lighthouse.

Boats.

2010-08-06T15:42:00.002+01:00

The other evening, I waited out on the sea-front waiting for a friend to finish work and whilst waiting I took this picture. The lighting is bizarre but beautiful, I think.

Watercolours.

2010-08-05T15:39:00.002+01:00

The sea was about 50,000 colours this day. If you look closely, you can see France. I took this from the Leas.

Paddling

2010-08-04T15:36:00.002+01:00

I know I post pictures of seagulls all the time, but to be fair they are the main feature of Folkestone. Besides, they have funny faces :)

Cliffs.

2010-08-03T15:54:00.001+01:00

I adore the light on the cliffs in this. Lovely.

Nested.

2010-08-03T15:33:00.001+01:00

Just now, having posted this, I noticed an orange speck on my black and white photograph only to discover it was a bit of oil pastel on my monitor. Good times.

This is the Leas Cliff hall as seen from the beach.

2010-04-16T00:16:00.002+01:00

Hey, look. Steps. Guess where they go? Well, I'll tell you. They go down to the harbour, mmhm. I went down them for the FIRST time the other day and it seems to have prompted an over-dramatic caption to this photograph now. Oh dear. If I'm honest, walking down those stairs was a bit underwhelming, but the weather was lovely :)

Hm. More pigeons.

2010-04-15T16:18:00.002+01:00

Yeah, Folkestone's population is made up almost entirely of pigeons. Fact. Here are some in one of Folkestone's graveyards, having a meeting on an old tree stump. I suspect they are discussing Petre Andre's recent visit to the Leas Cliff Hall. Or perhaps not.

Coastal Park.

2010-04-14T14:12:00.001+01:00

I took this one down in the coastal park, beneath the Leas. There were loads of different yellow flowers around as well... It's nice to see them all coming out.

Roadside.

2010-04-12T05:00:00.002+01:00

Another shot taken on the Leas with Dean and Tony. These are those mini little daffodils you get. I've been enjoying seeing flowers around again lately. It's weird how spring always takes me by surprise. I mean, the things that I haven't seen for just a few months seem to be completely wiped from my memory everytime, hehe.

Daffodils.

2010-04-11T09:37:00.002+01:00

Oh, spring. Spring spring spring. I'm enjoying the vague good weather. I probably won't appreciate it when it's boiling hot but this cool sunshine suits me.

Frames.

2010-04-08T09:11:00.001+01:00

It's a shame that you can't quite see it but it's just about visible... So, uh... in the distance is Dungeness powerstation. I'm rather into framed shots at the minute. The frame here was provided by a balcony on the Leas which overlooks the sea :) Oddly, I think France was actually more visible this day than Dungeness was, haha...

Silhouettes in Sandgate.

2010-04-07T23:50:00.002+01:00

Sandgate is the little town hanging onto the side of Folkestone. I quite like that in the bottom left of this picture, you can see a little bit of the coast and land across the bay. Yum. The clouds were really nice that day! I think I took this on Easter Sunday perhaps.

Puddles.

2010-04-06T23:04:00.005+01:00

The weather here has been quite wet lately but now and then the sun has been popping out and in the end, today was actually on the warm side.

Tony and Dean walked me back to my dad's house today so we wandered down, along the Leas and I enjoyed the reflections in the puddles. The lamposts are so ornate along there.

I thought I'd put up another shot alongside this one to contextualise the puddle, haha... so uh, there it is.

Easter.

2010-04-05T17:59:00.003+01:00

I took this one yesterday, on an Easter Sunday walk along the Leas with my family. In the distance you can see the bay stretching around, extending all the way to Dungeness. It was a nice day for clouds yesterday :)

2010-04-04T23:36:00.000+01:00

Mm, one of the grittier views around Folkestone. They're not too hard to find. This set of stairs is just off of the old high street.

Gulls.

2010-03-31T09:08:00.005+01:00

I must have taken about 25 versions of this shot. I mean, my SLR has been playing up a little bit lately anyway with it's mad file-corrupting habits but no matter. I got a few decent shots. I prefer the chosen one by far but I quite like the addition of the second bird in flight in this second one so I thought I'd upload that alongside. The composition is all over the place though which is a shame. Either way, I'm still enjoying all of these misty shots :)

I thought for a moment there that I'd taken this from the Leas but I actually took this from near the foot of the Leas Lift, with that building quite far in the distance. Looking at it now, this actually reminds me quite a lot of a shot I took in Paris which I was ridiculously proud of for a while and then recently I realised how awkward it actually is.

More mist?

2010-03-30T06:12:00.002+01:00

I am now back in Kent again so with any luck I'll get lots of new pictures to put up over the next couple of weeks. Here's another from that misty day... another taken from down near the harbour, whilst wandering with Tony. I've never been too sure how I feel about that building. I've taken so many pictures of it but mainly because it's so prominent and an obvious focus but I'm not sure it really fits in. Incidentally, this is also how I feel about the "new" shopping centre :P

2010-03-29T05:29:00.002+01:00

I took this in the park, just off the Leas. It's quite a nice park but as I was wandering through it with Tony, it was briefly discussed how it is one of the many nice places in Folkestone which is probably worth avoiding at night. I was mentioning it particularly as it seems like it would be like a really nice place to be at night in terms of the atmosphere, if only it weren't for the other people who agree that it's a nice place to be at night.

It's quite close to the sea so you get the sound of the sea and a bit of the breeze but it's a little bit protected so it's not overwhelming. Plus, there are lots of lamp-posts so the lighting is rather pretty at night. I suspect that if I lived in Folkestone, I might risk going down there at night anyway, haha.

Seagull.

2010-03-28T05:25:00.002+01:00

The desolation is so strange. The vast space in the background is around the area where the funfair used to be. My pal, Dean, pointed out the other day that a lot of the posts still say JGs on them which was the name of the fair. That was a pretty good observation :)

2010-03-27T05:22:00.002Z

This is one of the old grimy blocks of flats down at the harbour. I do rather love them.

The Lift.

2010-03-26T05:19:00.002Z

This is the old Folkestone lift that used to go up and down the leas. I'm not sure if it still runs but it was still running not so long ago... it made a horrible screeching noise though, haha. Mm, more mist :)

The Crow.

2010-03-25T05:18:00.000Z

I took this one down at the harbour. I actually love this shot. It's so gritty and grimy. I can't believe I thought it was a good idea to leave my SLR back home for the next week :( I'm going to have withdrawal symtoms. It's so beautiful :(

2010-03-24T05:10:00.002Z

Mmhm, I took this from the Leas whilst hanging out with Tony-dearest. It was a really lovely misty morning (what a combination of words!) and so photography was definitely on the cards. I love that in the background of this you can see the sea... Lovely.

The Mist

2010-03-23T05:07:00.001Z

This is a pretty hot shot. The composition drives me nuts but it's totally worth it. I'll probably be putting up a few misty shots over the next few days. I'll be back for easter soon which will give me lots of time to take many many pictures, not to mention arranging lots of picnicking! :)

Pidgin?

2010-03-04T21:40:00.002Z

Uh, yep. I was sitting on the Leas with my darling Jungle Deano and Tony and whilst they rambled on about something manly (sports perhaps... or moustaches?), I was stalking this pigeon. I took a lot of pictures of it because I thought it was cutely funny, watching it drink from a puddle.

Mmhm.

2010-03-02T23:40:00.001Z

Mmhm, here is a picture. I can't be bothered to say anything about it... but I quite like it.

Snow in France.

2010-03-01T22:05:00.001Z

Mmhm, I took this picture from the Leas on a day that was so clear that this is how visible France was :) It was really surreal seeing it all snowy from such a distance...

2010-02-28T22:54:00.001Z

Mmhm, a winter sunset from the Leas. I'm really looking forward to being back there again and taking even more pictures of them, haha.

2010-02-27T15:44:00.002Z

My various blogs around the internet have been somewhat dormant lately but hopefully they'll start to pick up again soon.

When I was back in Kent over Christmas, Dean and I naturally ended up spending a lot of time in Folkestone and I have a massive collection of photographs just itching to find their way onto this very blog.

Down near the harbour, there is a massive stretch of beach where there used to be a funfair called the Rotunda which closed down when I was a little younger. If you ask a group of people in the area why it was closed down, you'll probably be met with a whole selection of different answers. Personally, I've heard ones involving rats, people dying, rides collapsing.. and so on.

Anyway, where it was, there is now just a huge ugly void... massive carparks and broken tarmac. But naturally, Dean and I always seem to be drawn to the ugliest parts of Folkestone on our wanderings.

I hope you enjoy this shot of the vast void on Folkestone beach, haha.

Scaffolding.

2009-08-20T23:15:00.002+01:00

I took this down the old high street, which I adore by the way. They've been selling off lots of the little shops down there and doing them up and so there's always lots of scaffolding down there. So far, most of the shops seem to be being replaced with art galleries and cafes. I approve.

The Grand Burstin.

2009-08-19T15:45:00.004+01:00

Here is a shot of the Grand Burstin Hotel over the harbour. As you may or may not be able to tell, the hotel was built to look like a ship and in some ways it's quite nice in a quirky way and in other ways, it looks kind of unsightly. Well, I think so anyway. However, I'm still somewhat attached to it.

Pigeon.

2009-08-18T11:56:00.003+01:00

My sweet Andrew befriended this pigeon briefly before it waddled off, somewhat apprehensive about the cameras. I think he may have been a little camera shy due to his unusual physique. We chanced across him down the old high street in Folkestone, when wandering down to the harbour.

It was nice dragging Andrew around Folkestone and showing him bits of it for the first time. I wondered for a long time what he might make of it as someone who hadn't been there before. A few weeks before, I was talking to a very good friend of mine, Vik, about how Folkestone has a real look to it of an abandoned seaside town in that you can tell it used to be really nice but that it's quite rough around the edges now.

I'm going to miss Folkestone when I leave.

Everyday is like Sunday.

2009-08-17T09:00:00.002+01:00

I rather taking this picture. I was with Dean and he pointed out this looming cloud that slowly grew over the sandy beach near the harbour and so I went and took some moody pictures of it. I feel inclined to quote the Morrissey lyrics "just a seaside town that they forgot to close down," as they fit here so perfectly.

Sometimes I'm not sure what to make of the dying tourism industry in England because I've always loved holidays in the UK. There's something really wonderful about staying on a wilting holiday camp near a beach that isn't entirely pleasant. I love chalet's and summer days out when it's raining. Surely I'm not the only one? Maybe I'm just easily pleased.

Ugh.

2009-08-16T09:14:00.003+01:00

Ew, seafood. But look how pretty the colours are! Having said that, it's also very very creepy.

Boats.

2009-08-15T09:14:00.002+01:00

Down at Folkestone harbour...

Strawberries.

2009-08-14T09:14:00.002+01:00

Aw. How lovely. They sell fruit salads and things down at the harbour as well as seafood. I think it's quite sweet.

Clutter.

2009-08-13T09:14:00.000+01:00

I adore the depth of field in this one. Isn't it lovely?

Weeds.

2009-08-12T09:14:00.000+01:00

I've found a new appreciation for weeds recently.

Buoy.

2009-08-11T09:14:00.000+01:00

The sea looks surprisingly pleasant in this picture. Mm, summertime.

Holiday Town.

2009-08-10T09:13:00.001+01:00

I was really surprised by how busy the beach was the other day. It always seems so deserted when I go down there but in the summer holidays there are lots of people there. It was rather nice to see.

Rope.

2009-08-09T22:10:00.002+01:00

Phwoar, it's been a while. I rather like the colours in this one. I've been playing with white balancing quite a bit lately. Basically, I've just been abusing it.

Grazing.

2009-06-02T02:55:00.001+01:00

Dean and I were walking through one of the many graveyards in Folkestone when we stumbled upon a large potion of pigeons who didn't seem too bothered by our passing so I took a quick shot. Pigeons are quite ridiculous animals so I enjoyed seeing them in such a morbid and serious place.

From the Bus Station.

2009-06-01T02:45:00.002+01:00

I was sitting in Subway looking across the Bus Station at the way the leaves from the tree intertwined with the image of the old materials used to build some of Folkestone's old grubby-looking architecture. The sun was really beautiful and really exaggerated the feeling of life in the tree's leaves and so I wandered out of Subway to take this pic-a-ture.

Tower.

2009-05-30T05:17:00.004+01:00

This church is very close to the Leas. Thinking about it, I took this picture on the last day before half-term. Look how blue the sky is! Wow.

Strolling.

2009-05-24T20:33:00.002+01:00

Dean and I walked down to Sandgate from Folkestone the other day after college and I took this picture on the way. At the time I commented on how it didn't look like England, but somewhere much hotter... I think partly because of the white houses.

Some Strange Brand of Mysticism.

2009-05-22T23:56:00.005+01:00

I took this looking down from the quieter end of the Leas. Perhaps I've been immersing myself in Derek Jarman a little too much but the circle of rocks reminds me of his garden in Dungeness.

Experimental Installation.

2009-05-21T01:55:00.006+01:00

I haven't posted anything in a while but I always seem to drift back after finishing a big assignment. We had an exhibition of experimental films at college today. The main post is my film called 'Black Rabbit' which was a film projected onto a back-drop with the aim of creating an atmospere which was relaxing and beautiful.

The second is Jamie Fuller's film 'Mind' which was the star of the show. It was a really impressive film about a composer's struggle to write. Absolutely everybody was impressed.

"My video is about a music composer under stress, his imaginary enemy (the composers mind), shown above, is physiologically distracting the composer in order to not compare to the potential perfection of the human mind.

The bars across the top screen symbolise strength in a confined space, the mind is powerful yet has nowhere to escape to, showing limited but effective power."

And the third is Dean West's film, 'It's All For You' which was a piece of counter-cinema designed to be unpleasant to watch by breaking a few of the rules of film such as the thirty degree rule.

"The aim of the film was to create something that is hard to watch and is hideous in its design. While most film-makers pride themselves on making something really beautiful and glossy, with the use of bright, flamboyant colours and rich textures, I have gone the opposite way, using a dark, grungy location, I have managed to create a film that distorts your viewing and completely and never allows you to fully immerse yourself in what you are watching."

Westernhanger.

2009-04-02T16:40:00.003+01:00

This is the train station nearest to Folkestone Racecourse. It's basically always deserted, haha. There's nothing quite as eerie as a deserted train station. Mmhm.

Theme Day: Yellow.

2009-04-01T02:17:00.003+01:00

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

I was tempted to put up another picture of double yellow lines but no, I went for the more clichéd daffodils, as though I would dare avoid it. I mean, you've got to love them. They're so strange looking, like some bold illustration in a children's book :)

Besides, spring is always a nice season, full of rain and sunshine :)

Sheep.

2009-03-31T02:09:00.005+01:00

Gotta love lambs :) I went for a really long walk first thing in the morning the other day and happened to take a lot of pictures of sheep and lambs. It's amazing how aggressive sheep get about their babies because I would never think of sheep as being aggressive animals because they just look kind of ridiculous... haha. It's very similar to the concept of a violent granny.

Also... check this cuteness out:

I love the cute little chirrup. Sorry for all the animal shots, haha. I'll put up another dirty urban pic soon :)

Toad.

2009-03-27T23:43:00.003Z

So I went into Kingsnorth Gardens earlier today and my beautiful friend, Cassie, saved this here toad from certain death. What a star. Anyway, here he is in all his sliminess.

ASDA Lights.

2009-03-06T22:26:00.002Z

Almost every Friday I go and hang out in Folkestne with my friend Sian and we usually end up in the ASDA cafe at some point. Today I went there twice. Magical.

Buildings.

2009-03-05T23:56:00.001Z

This is just round the back of the high street by the Leas. I love the perspective of this shot.

Double Yellow.

2009-03-04T23:46:00.001Z

I took this today. The weather has been a little erratic this past week. Right now it is half raining, half... sleet-ing? Either way, it's crazy. I love double yellow lines.

From Capel.

2009-03-03T02:30:00.002Z

I was up in Capel recently, eating muffins and we got out of the car for a bit and I took some pictures. This is Folkestone seen from Capel Le Ferne.

A view.

2009-03-02T02:19:00.002Z

A nice framed view, I thought. It was really nice weather considering the time of year :)

Theme Day: Glass.

2009-03-01T02:25:00.003Z

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

I'm officially back now that i've even got a theme day post, haha. I saw this by the front of a car and was squatting down to take photographs when I looked up and noticed that there was a man in the car looking at me, wondering what on earth I was doing.

Whoops!

The Coastal Park at Dusk

2009-02-28T02:24:00.000Z

Framed.

2009-02-27T00:32:00.002Z

I took this down at the harbour last week when I dragged Sian down there. It was actually a really nice day. A bit later when the sun went down, the shadows everywhere were lovely :)

A Road.

2009-02-09T22:44:00.001Z

Winter Coast

2009-02-08T22:49:00.001Z

I took this before Christmas :)

SAGA

2009-02-07T06:42:00.001Z

I had the luck to be in Folkestone at night the other day, confronted with a nice view of the lights by the bus station while Sam went to buy a Subway Rainbow Cookie. Yummm. Anyway, so I played with exposure a bit because it's what I do best.

Sheep At Sunset.

2009-02-06T20:41:00.002Z

I thought this was kind of endearing. This is the nearby hill to the one in the last post. I am really sleepy.

Snowy Hill.

2009-02-05T23:25:00.002Z

This is a hill on the A road that we take to Folkestone. I thought it looked really nice in the snow, especially with the contrast of the winter trees. The snow actually lasted quite a long time. I think there might still be some around there in fact...

Hopefully the 'daily' element of this blog will return soon.

Carpark

2009-01-25T06:19:00.000Z

Hehe, so this was taken at the top of the new giant carpark. Lovely :)

Bridging the Gap.

2009-01-14T16:01:00.003Z

I realised that I never put this up! This is a screenshot from our film 'Bridging the Gap' that we made in October. Folkestone was the perfect setting for it. I mean, there are some great locations around there. This is at the massive Victorian bridge. We shot lots of little bits there because it's such a great spot.

Sadly, the weather wasn't entirely pleasant during filming so some of it looks a bit dank. But for a film made entirely in a week... (pre-production, production and post-production) not bad.

Frozen Over

2009-01-12T22:42:00.002Z

This is a pretty low quality picture because it was kind of dark and I just had my little camera with me. Anyway, this is the local canal frozen over. I'm fairly certain it was the first time I have ever seen it frozen over.

Stop 24.

2009-01-12T00:57:00.002Z

I took this out the back of Stop 24, my local service station. Interestingly, I had my last day of work there today. Upload has been giving my gip for about a week. Anyone else getting problems? Oui?

Um, yes. So here's a nice bit of wasteland for you. They've been talking about building a hotel here... which would be pretty cool. For a start, it might give the service station a chance to survive!! :)

Look at that sky <3

Upload!

2009-01-09T23:35:00.001Z

Yeah, I've been having trouble with uploading pictures for a couple of days. But here we go... a new picture for you. This came straight from the camera with none of my fancy colour touches.

Shells.

2009-01-06T23:41:00.000Z

Benches.

2009-01-06T01:31:00.001Z

We found these benches down on the beach, further along than we usually go, and so I thought it seemed like a good idea to take a picture of Dean on each one. Obviously... :)

Kilroy.

2009-01-02T04:13:00.001Z

Um, I found this on the floor by the beach :) It made me laff. I thought it was nice to keep my feet in the composition because it gives the stencil some context.

Leas Cliff Hall

2008-12-29T22:06:00.002Z

I actually took this months ago. It's quite a scary experience being in Folkestone at night, as many people would tell you. There's an abundance of drunks and drug addicts at night... and it's a little weird. Um, anyway. This is right next to the Leas Balcony that I love so dearly.

Even at night =P

Frozen Over.

2008-12-28T21:07:00.001Z

I just wanted to share with you how cold it has been. This was the view from my window this morning, haha.

Christmas Tree.

2008-12-26T21:25:00.003Z

Ah, Christmas. Done and dusted. Still! Have a picture of a Christmas Tree that lives in Folkestone Town Centre. I wonder when it will come down...

Christmas.

2008-12-25T23:44:00.000Z

Happy Christmas everyone :)

Christmas Lights

2008-12-24T17:57:00.001Z

Oh, dinginess. How very tacky, haha. It's a shame that this one is so underexposed but it was the best way to make the lights visible.

Reflect.

2008-12-23T20:22:00.002Z

This is down at the beach near the harbour, late on a winters day. Phwoar. Look at all that orange.

Leas Balcony View

2008-12-22T21:48:00.002Z

Everytime I am up on this balcony, I think about how I'd like to get married there. Deary me. Being a woman, huh?

Orange Coastline.

2008-12-21T14:57:00.002Z

I took this late in the day so the light has that lover-ly orange tint which offers a nice contrast to the blue of the sea. I'm doing a bit better at keeping up with this blog now, huh? :)

Glass.

2008-12-20T22:04:00.002Z

This makes me think of The Great Glass Elevator, hehe.

Manky Pondwater

2008-12-19T15:55:00.002Z

I often go and sit by this pond even though it's quite nasty looking. I have actually taken many pictures of the reflections in it and thinking about it now, I have probably posted one before, haha. But have another one :)

Chairs.

2008-12-18T23:52:00.001Z

This is the service station where I work. The lighting is absolutely amazing at certain times of day.

Nice Sunset...

2008-12-16T02:35:00.000Z

See? <3

Balcony

2008-12-15T18:21:00.003Z

I am getting very pathetic in terms of keeping up with this blog. But I am doing my best. I took this on the Leas Balcony. There was a really nice sunset that day.

Flight

2008-12-06T02:12:00.002Z

I took this on Folkestone beach. It is a very chilly place to be at this time of year, by the way!

Moon.

2008-12-05T00:12:00.001Z

It's been quite a while since I have posted. Basically my camera stopped working and I didn't get to take any pictures for a fairly long while. But I consider service resumed, as it were.

I took this outside my mum's office...

White Balancing

2008-11-01T21:30:00.002Z

Okay... so this is an unusual post. For the past week I have been filming out and about in Folkestone. These are a couple of shots from our from the harbour. I saved this because the white balancing was so different in the two. But I quite like them together anyway.

Opposite colours are tasty.

Barbed Wire.

2008-10-30T21:56:00.001Z

Looking Up.

2008-10-29T01:27:00.001Z

Another shot of the bridge. What can I say? It fascinates me :)

A Road Views.

2008-10-24T16:37:00.001+01:00

Because of operation stack, we've become very much prone to always travelling via A Roads and this is the one we take to Canterbury. The hill on the right used to have the horse symbol on it in chalk until the new one was put up, elsewhere.

Bridge.

2008-10-23T23:05:00.001+01:00

Giant Bridge! I took this when Dean and I were location scouting :)

Double Yellow Lines.

2008-10-22T16:30:00.002+01:00

I'm not sure why I liked this so much... but I did. It's near the massive bridge that I like taking lots of photographs. And gee, look at the crazy yellow.

2008-10-16T22:35:00.002+01:00

This is the shopping centre in Folkestone. Specifically, the big ole shiny Next. It was just around here that a girl killed herself earlier in the year. It was very sad for everyone but also, the most exciting thing to have happened in a couple of years.

Hogging the Bench

2008-10-15T23:50:00.001+01:00

I thought this guy looked particularly scraggly. Like a hobo seagull :D