An occasional Photo Blog
While our visitors braved the weather for a trip out, I stayed in the village to expose the dog and myself to the elements and a brisk walk along the village paths.
The weather forecast told tales of rain, rain and even more rain so I expected the very worst and didn’t take my camera with me.
As it turned out the dog got soaked whilst bathing in a very large puddle and again during a hose down upon arriving home, but despite the somewhat threatening clouds, I stayed dry.
Once again the Swiss flags are flying, fireworks will light the evening skies, politicians will sprout forth and a good time will be had by all.
I can’t help thinking back to the early sixties when William Tell was running up and down alps fighting for independence once a week on the BBC’s children’s hour – perhaps that’s just because I’m foreign… anyone else remember that?
Being on call means staying around the village and not venturing too far from home – just in case. But seeing a break in the clouds, dry pavements and pleasantly warm temperatures, I decided to throw caution to the wind and at least venture out with the dog.
Photographically speaking nothing very spectacular, just a field or two here, a tree or so there, but having posted the last few photos in B&W I decided a splash of colour would liven up the blog a little.
Easter Sunday, despite a few badly needed drops of rain this morning, yet another splendid day. A brisk walk to burn up the excess chocolate, a Barbecue and an hour on the computer before dozing off in front of the television. I think that sums the day up nicely.
Much to the annoyance of the local farming community, the weather has once again been splendid. Pleasantly warm, very sunny and loads of typical Springtime scenes.
This morning saw family, dog and me strolling about the countryside, marvelling at the colours, sniffing eagerly at all things smelly and keeping an eye out for worthwhile pics (roughly in that order). I decided to publish six pictures today, not because they hold any particular merit, but simply because I felt like it. Once again I went out without my tripod which, upon reflection, was a mistake.
At the beginning of February I posted a couple of pictures showing the work beavers had been eagerly doing on the banks of a local stream. A few small trees and bushes had been felled, and although what they had achieved was indeed quite a feat, a milestone in the history of dam building it certainly was not.
Imagine then my delight as I stumbled across this engineering masterpiece during this morning’s jaunt by a stream in another part of the village! – Absolutely fantastic!
I suppose I must be a bit round the bend really. Toward the end of last year I embarked on my retro photo project “Soggy Pictures”. The idea was to put a 36exp. B&W film in my old point and shoot Yashica T5, wait for a rainy day, and paddle about town taking pictures of rain soaked subjects. The project proved more difficult than I first thought because the weather was far too pleasant. The expected downpours never really came, and if it did rain heavily, then only at night when I was tucked up in bed or during the day when I was in the office and the camera at home. Well, last night I did actually finish the film and this morning I sent it off to be developed. I hope to have it back in the next couple of weeks.
I have now told the world to expect the results in about two weeks time, but have absolutely no idea if the photos will be any good.
Dull days, a bit of rain, and I can’t even remember what I actually took pictures of!
Imagine how silly my project will look without any usable photographs. Imagine how silly I will look, having this huge build up with nothing to show for it. Well I’ll just have to keep the old fingers firmly crossed for the next two weeks or so… I must be round the bend 😉
About a month ago I touched on the subject of inspiration. It’s well known that holidays, or a complete change of scenery, tend to inspire enormously. Creativity flourishes as lots of new images present themselves in front of the lens. But most of us can’t just pack our bags every weekend and go grazing in pastures new.
In my case, walking the dog at weekends usually means strolling about the local countryside for a couple of hours or so. The chances of new, awe inspiring scenes popping up before me are somewhat remote. With the passing years the local landscape slips into everyday routine. It has been viewed daily, covered in snow, beaten by rain, bathed in summer sun and tinted with golden autumnal colours.
So, what exactly am I getting at?
Well, I’m either going to have to start travelling all over the place at weekends in search of inspiration and stunning scenery or I’m going to have to start looking at everyday scenes a bit differently, play with light, start doing a few experiments with photo software.
To start the ball rolling I tinkered with the following photo a bit. Using ‘Gimp’ I increased the sharpness and eased the contrast up a notch or two. I suppose it is fun, but oh dear, quite time consuming!
The reason for taking three days off work this week was actually to do a bit of clearing out. All those old bits of hardware that seem to fill my office floor, desk, table etc. Cables galore! All those cardboard boxes that are kept, just in case. Screws, pieces of wood, paint pots and bits of wire that gather around my workbench in abundance. These three days were meticulously planned, a new broom would sweep through my cellar leaving it clean and clutter free!
Well…. I’m delighted to tell you I did make a start. If the truth be told, it was a somewhat half hearted start, but a start it was!
Unfortunately the weather was not on my side – OK, a feeble excuse I’ll agree, but it did make a difference. My plan did allow for a certain amount of ‘quality time’ of course, but with sunny days bringing out the spring in me, it was difficult to adhere to my original strict time schedule. So, after a quick removal of surface junk I ventured forth into the great outdoors and enjoyed myself.
Today Merlin and I took the post bus to the next village and meandered home through the early spring sunshine.
The marking posts will soon be removed I expect (marking the path for the snowplough) but March is always a bit unpredictable.
Still quite chilly, I couldn’t get much closer without getting my shoes full of icy water. Merlin peering into the picture top right.
Is there really such a thing as a typical day? I suppose my normal working day could be described as typical for me; Waking at six, eating, a train journey, working, eating, working…… I suppose my typical day, compared with some of society’s better known, may seem a little mundane. But you see, I like train journeys , I enjoy eating too and I certainly can’t complain about work, so my typical day is really very enjoyable.
Today, however, was not typical. It was the second of three days off. Time to potter about in the cellar and dispose of some junk, time to go for a good brisk walk with the dog and time even to take a photo or two. Perhaps not typical but most enjoyable nevertheless!
