An occasional Photo Blog
After a week of atypical summer weather it was very nice to take breakfast outside this morning and once again feel the need for lots of sun cream. Today is 1st August, a national holiday. A day of flag waving, barbecues and fireworks. Straight after breakfast (early afternoon) I took the dog and the Pentax for a leisurely stroll and then spent a little time basking in the sunshine and experimenting with a few camera settings which I’d never used before.
These two charachters seemed to enjoy the recent heavy rain enormously. Together with their slimy little friends they have happily eaten their way through most of our vegetables and flowers. For reasons known only to themselves, and perhaps a handful malacologists, they left all the weeds alone…. what a nice gesture.
Today is Saturday. Having cut the hedge and mowed the lawn I decided to relax. If I were many years younger, today’s image would no doubt have been a selfie. So be thankful I’m not!
When the children have flown the nest and a slow, cosy life in retirement is just a few years away, many couples start downsizing. The house is far too big for just two people so the search for something smaller and easier to maintain begins. The car, once the much loved people carrier is exchanged for something smaller and more economical… or perhaps better still, a sporty two seater!
Well we still live in the same house and unfortunately I still haven’t bought that much dreamed about two seater, but I have just taken the first step on the downsizing ladder…. a new grill.
For years I have been a devoted smoker user, indeed I still use it fairly regularly on those family get-togethers when quantities of roast meat, several chickens and all manner of things are cooked for hours to feed the starving visitors.
But for just a couple of sausages or perhaps a spontaneous steak or two for Darby and Joan on a balmy summer’s evening the smoker is simply too big and clumsy.
So, we decided on a “LotusGrill”. A table top, charcoal grill which is ready for action in just four minutes! Actually my first attempts took a good five minutes, but still quite speedy. It has a fan which blows air where it’s needed and therefore the heat is quite adjustable.
The smoke produced by it is minimal, so it can be used easily without coughing, and the outer case stays nice and cool so as a table top grill it really is ideal.
Being Easter, the temptation to post pictures of eggs and rabbits, not to mention crucifixes and things theological, was quite difficult to resist. But I’m sure there will be plenty of those images on show elsewhere, so I decided to stick to Spring stuff. Last Sunday was excellent Spring weather and I was of course out and about with the K-30, totally motivated by colours, blossom and the like. Today, Good Friday, is a completely different story. I’m sitting in front of the TV warmed by a blazing fire and a warm pullover.
The apple tree in our garden has one big disadvantage, it was pruned by me. It therefore doesn’t look particularly fantastic as apple trees go, so I thought the view under the tree was somehow more pleasing.
Bleeding hearts are a firm favourite with my wife… and indeed we’re very lucky to still have this example because previous plants have either been trodden on, pulled up by the dog or fallen foul of my trimmer.
This weeks images were all captured very locally. On Friday evening I couldn’t resist a look in the barbecue’s fire box as the coals glowed ready to offer the sausages a warm welcome;-)
Saturday afternoon the sun smiled and I felt obliged to actually do something in the garden….. no photos on Saturday.
Sunday I managed to capture these seasonal images.
Waiting for the barbeque to get a nice red glow yesterday afternoon, I used the time more or less productively by strolling round the garden. My original aim was to ponder over the work to be done, but having already cut the lawn I decided to forget about all the other jobs and concentrate on the blossoming bush in the corner of the garden. I’ve no idea what it’s called, but I thought it would make a nice subject for today’s posting.
Having just enjoyed a remarkably warm and sunny couple of weeks I was mentally geared up to sticking my lens into all manner of spring flowers, and pointing it in the general direction of colourful blossoming trees. Alas that was not to be. Saturday’s sunny intervals were few and far between and today even saw a mild snow shower or two. So instead of roaming the surrounding countryside for things in bud, I decided to spend a little time getting to know the K-30’s manual settings and experimenting a little with and old lens or two.
The first of today’s offerings is a view from the dining table through the kitchen window. Admittedly a filling station is not particularly scenic, but the large sign does provide me with a little, albeit very limited, entertainment if the conversation over dinner should lull. How many words can be made up from the name “AGROLA”? – A very warm welcome to all our Spanish speaking readers!
I read a very interesting article about high and low key images in my favourite photo magazine this week. (Black and White Photography). This ‘high key’ shot is by no means perfect and I obviously have lots to learn… but as soon as the sun shines brightly again I’ll no doubt be having another go.
Another Saturday in the garden. There’s still not much to show for it, but at least the grass is now a respectable length. During one of the many refreshment breaks I found myself strolling about with the camera, and I felt it would have been a shame to have turned my attentions to Monochrome when there was such a lot of colour about.
Today is Ascension Day. Quite a nice day weather wise, although it is raining as I write. This morning’s walk through the colourful Spring countryside was really quite pleasant, so it’s a pity I left the camera at home and missed many very promising photo opportunities. But as luck would have it I had a day off yesterday too, and took care of a backlog of garden chores in the warm bright sunshine. It wasn’t until early evening, whilst quenching my thirst with a cool beer and fiddling with sausages on the barbecue, that I decided to take the camera for a walk round the garden. Totally inspired and motivated by the latest issue of “Black + White Photography” magazine, I decided to do something in Black and White.
