Have You Had Your Daily Dose Of Beauty?
28 Apr 2011 9 Comments
in conservation, image, imagery, musings, nature, photo, photography, thoughts, Uncategorized Tags: beauty, floral, flowers, imagery, images, inspiration, nature, passions, people, photograph, photography, picture, pictures, random, reflections
beauty abounds
It’s about time. There is so much horrible stuff going on in the world I thought a timely reminder that there is free beauty out there we can all share just might be welcome. It’s easy to get caught up in all the war and nastiness, the economic doom and gloom and walk around with clouds around our heads. But if we blow the cobwebs away, perhaps with a short walk or drive into the countryside, perhaps just a stroll round the garden and open our eyes, beauty is all around us. My garden has been adopted by a baby blackbird who obviously left the nest a few days early. He sits listening to me when I go out to throw him some mealworms and apple to feed him up, then dives straight onto the food. He is gorgeous! I can’t show you, because the danger of me taking the camera out there is that he’ll panic and end up food for a local cat.
Calendula beauty. Pure sunshine in a flower
But flowers don’t get frightened! So today’s pictures are here as testimonial to the wonderful world we live in, even if us humans do make a mess of it, the beauty still abounds, and we should hang onto it with all our might. Some of these shots were taken before I bought my trusty Nikon, but nonetheless remind me of lovely times of gorgeousness that helped me switch my brain into a more positive mode. I hope they do the same for you.
Mint. Beautiful flavour, beautiful flowers
Spring has brought me inspiration. I’ve been taking photos, seeing friends (it was a long, lonely winter) and working on new projects. I discovered a couple of weeks ago a site called Squidoo. What fun! And it’s somewhere I can showcase my work with photography and with Zazzle. Having started with WordPress last year as a reluctant technophobe, I appear to be well and truly hooked on computer wizardry. I’ve been so wrapped up in all of this I hadn’t realised I’d been neglecting my blog. oops! Finding the time to do everything is getting more difficult, but I can’t complain. At least all of this keeps me busy and making lots of new cyberfriends. In case you’re interested, Squidoo is a great site for doing very tightly focussed ‘lenses’ that deal with one subject and really go into detail about it, usually with accompanying links to relevant sites and helpful hints and tips, plus where to buy relevant stuff. It’s quite easy to get lost in it for hours – much like on WordPress. I’ve so far made eight of these lenses, some of which are photography and flower ones. It gives me the opportunity to write about subjects that wouldn’t really fit under a general photography blog like this one, so I feel the two compliment each other. You might want to take a peek at my Grow Hellebores in Your Garden lens or Spirals or even wild flower garden one.
Happy Spring!
What Makes You Smile? A Photographers Humour
21 Mar 2011 4 Comments
in photo, photography, thoughts, Uncategorized Tags: humour, image, musings, nature, people, photo, photography, picture, random, reflections, thoughts
Smile
Go on
Snicker. Especially when I found these lurking in a friend's garden.
You've got to laugh. The birds don't mind!
They make me laugh!
They're all in birthday boy's garden
And this is his dog
So come on, cheer us all up. What makes you laugh, visually? Got a photo? Post a message on this blog so others can visit you and see your humour!
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Catching Up…Making the Photos Work
14 Feb 2011 11 Comments
in conservation, image, imagery, musings, nature, photo, photography, travel Tags: business, camera, conservation, digital art, flowers, images, LGBT, nature, Nikon D90, photo, photography, pictures, random, reflections
Well, after catching up with all of you yesterday after my week of yuk, I’m now trying to catch up on some work. I’ve got images coming out my ears (not a pretty sight), so I’ve been putting a few of them to work for me on Zazzle and keeping my fingers crossed. I’ve decided to do my own bit of campaigning on behalf of nature, so here’s one I did earlier, from Saturdays visit to Lilltle Ponton with my trusty Nikon D90.
This next shot is from a while ago, but I think deserves a poster for those who will enjoy it?
But I’ve also been playing with special effects for some products. I’ve not used any of these pictures on here before (I think) so it’s time you saw the results of my playing around.
The above shot of a shell was taken in macro then, well I played with special Photoshop effects and I’m really pleased with this one. what do you think?
I’ve lots more ideas, so little time…see you soon.
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Eden project astounding
09 Nov 2010 4 Comments
in conservation, image, imagery, nature, photo, photography, thoughts, travel, Uncategorized Tags: Eden Project, floral, flowers, life, musings, nature, passions, photo, photography, pics, picture, pictures, plants, prints, random, reflections, thoughts, travel
Sculpture at Eden
Last month I did what I’ve been threatening to do for a long time. I took my camper and myself down to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project. What an amazing place!!! It’s vast, it’s colourful and loaded with information about our wonderful planet. I completley wore myself out in an effort to see everything but still didn’t. The great thing is, once you’ve bought a ticket and registered it, you can return within a year on the same ticket. I will be going back, despite the five hour journey to get there.
The Domes
Outside, I tried to get a photo of the complete complex of the domes, but despite my wide angle elns, couldn’t fit it all in.
The stairway to the top of the dome
Inside, on encountering the steps, I decided my head would NOT cope with the hights, but for those who climbed these scary steps, the veiw was, I’m told, fantastic.
And some of the exhibits were very interesting.
The Rites of Dionysus
Explanation
This place is well worth a visit or two, and photographers beware. You’ll need a full battery, probably an extra card for your camera and plenty of time to take all the shots you want. I’ll post more on my Cornwall trip another day.
If you want to see more of my photos, please go to www.caffimages.co.uk (there’s also a link in the sidebar on the right).
Books That Inspire and Inform Me
06 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment
in art, image, imagery, musings, nature, photo, photography, photography technique, thoughts, Uncategorized, wildlife Tags: art, camera, floral, flowers, image, imagery, inspiration, musings, passions, photography, photos, pics, picture, pictures, prints, reflections
Books that Inpire and Inform me
Ok, So we had the art of seeing yesterday. I often find myself looking for inspiration, for something new. Of course, inspiration can be found everywhere (that’s my next post), but when the light has gone and I’m sat thinking in the evening and need a little direction, what do I do? Could what I do help you? I hope so. I read books, I flip through books full of pictures, and I find new ideas in old print. So in this post I’m listing a few of my favourite books I wouldn’t be without. They may surprise you as choices for a photographer, but why limit yourself to photography books which are, after all, mostly about technique. It’s not the quality of camera or knowing how to use it that makes a good picture, it’s the content. What you point the thing at and how you frame it that counts. So what do you point your camera at? What do you put in and leave out of the frame? What is the picture for? Is it a news item, a family record, an artwork for your wall? Do you want bright colour, a moody look or something to make you smile?
Some of the photos here maybe wouldn’t stand up to too much professional scrutiny, but unless you’re selling the photo, that really doesn’t matter. What matters is that you get creative and play with your camera. Until you try, you don’t know what you might be able to come up with. After all, since the digital camera became the norm, you can take and delete as many shots as you like without extra cost. So have fun with it!
OK, the books.
The Creative Artist – Nita Leland (1993 – also later editions)
Cultivating Sacred Space (Gardening for the Soul) – Elizabeth Murray
Gothic Fantasies – The Paintings of Anne Sudworth
The Colour Eye – BBC books
And a couple of photography books -
Photographing Flowers – Sue Bishop (includes Inspiration, technique and equipment)
Photography and the Art Of Seeing
04 Aug 2010 11 Comments
in musings, photography, photography technique, thoughts Tags: art, image, looking, musings, observation, passions, photography, photos, pics, picture, pictures, random, reflections, seeing, thoughts
As a photographer how many times have I heard the words ‘crikey, where did you spot THAT?’ Sooo many. So I thought it was time for a blog on the art of looking. We most of spend our days, heads down, storming through life just to get through the day without ever looking at what’s around us. Did you spot the colours of that butterfly that flitted past you? Did you see the patterns in that rusty old door or peeling paint? Did you miss the sunset? Did you ever look in a puddle at the reflections? Years ago I studied art. Drawing, painting, textiles, sculpture. My art teacher, Val, took us out into the yard one day and gave us a project. She had us sketch every detail of one square foot of the car park surface. That taught me a lot. The textures of the little stones and gravel, the muddy bit that was smooth and dark, the dead fly that had met its end on my bit of car park. I saw details I’d never noticed before.
I was only an average artist, but as a photographer, this was great training. I learned the art of looking and seeing. My partner caught me trying out some experiments on a piece of still life and said ‘haven’t you got that upside down?’ I replied that if you always look at something from the same angle, you’ll always see the same thing. It’s true of everything. Walk around your subject. Bend down, lie down and look from a different perspective. Get on a ladder and look from above. Look in a mirror or via a reflection in a pool/lake/river. What would it look life in different light? What would it look like at night? what if you get closer/further away? Turn around. What can you see that you’d missed because you were focusing in a different direction? If you want to take good shots that show your take on the world, first learn to see the world in your own way, then start shooting.
The couple of photos I’ve put with this are illustrations of what I’m talking about. The first is a bottle I filled with coloured water. I put the water in so the bottle would bring colour into the room when light shone through the window. Then I noticed one night what happened where the light hit the wall. This picture shows you my idea. I haven’t yet taken the final image of this, but I have several ideas to try just because I noticed this effect of light. The second is simple enough. I was on holiday, went to a pub for a drink and sat outside. I looked up into the tree in the pub’s garden. What interesting shadows were cast in the evening light! So, I got out my ever-present camera and started shooting. Cultivate the art of looking, and your photography can only benefit.
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Pride, colour, pattern and the photograph
02 Aug 2010 2 Comments
in musings, photography, photography technique, thoughts, travel Tags: art, camera, Diversity, image, imagery, LGBT, life, musings, people, personal, photography, photos, picture, pictures, random, random thoughts, reflections, spirituality, thoughts
Whistles
It was Nottingham Pride last Saturday. I thought I’d go along again this year. So we packed up a picnic, and of course my camera, got on a train and spent a lovely afternoon at Forest Fields. It’s one place you can get out a camera, start shooting and get tapped on the shoulder by strangers. They’re not complaining, not confronting the photographer, but asking for their photo to be taken. What a refreshing change! Lots of smiling faces, colourful sights and music. Lots to get creative about. I took 176 photos in a few hours, ran my camera battery down and flattened my own battery. I fell asleep on the sofa when we finally got home, exhausted but very happy with my busman’s day out.
I wanted to get the essence of the event. What makes a good iconic shot? I don’t know, but I try to find something a little different from the standard shots most people would point and shoot. I don’t know if I have managed to capture anything special, but I hope so. Having a good camera is all very well, but in the end, it’s the idea, the concept that I want to ‘bag’ at events like this. They’re not shots I would market on my website, but life moments I want to remember when I’m in my dotage.
Balloons at Pride
The lovely man selling balloons approached me at the end of the event. He wanted some pictures to help sell his wares. He explained he’s illiterate, yet he’s made a business, and his wife handles correspondence. Good for him! That’s what life’s all about. Of course, he can have copies of the shots, I told him, no problem. I came home on the train with a balloon he gave me, and had matched to the colour of my dress. Bless him. I just thought they made great abstract shots that would give me my memories!
Wave That Flag!
The flag, the balloons or the whistles? I don’t know which shot says the most about the day. There was colour, smiles and fun everywhere, despite protesters trying to stop the event, trying to put the LGBT community down, but look at them. Part of life, ordinary people, just different, as we all are, thank goodness. Diversity is absolutely essential to life. We couldn’t have evolved without it. Life is and should be colourful, happy and eventful if we look hard enough. Pagan Pride followed in Nottingham on the Sunday, and I would have attended that, too if I’d had the energy. It’s such a pity that we have to fight for the right to be different. Who wants to be a clone anyway? And who would decide what a clone should be? Which religion? which looks? what skills? Don’t we need them all, provided by different people?
Walk Tall whoever you are!
Fire Photos Fan my Flames
23 Jul 2010 4 Comments
in agencies, musings, photography, photography technique, thoughts, Uncategorized Tags: agencies, art, business, fire, image, imagery, images, musings, photography, photos, pics, picture, pictures, reflections, selling, websites, work
Burning Man
Whew! It’s hot in here. I’ve slaved over a hot computer for two days to sort out my website. I’ve finally got organised enough to put some of my work up for sale. Building a website, for a photographer who is not a geek, has been a labour of titanic proportions. I thought starting off with just one set of postcards, already in stock, would be a good way to start. I tried to think through the steps needed to get this up and running. Add the pictures and relevant text, set up Paypal, follow the instructions on my site to make payment possible. It seems simple when put like that, but crikey, what a job! I’d far rather be behind the camera. But nowadays, no-one else is going to sell your stuff for you. I tried agencies, but they really don’t do a good job for most artists, as competition is massive and they tend to concentrate on the photographers that are already selling. That seems a bit short-sighted to me, as they risk losing their best earners and won’t have replacements if they don’t back newcomers.
Still, now I’ve chosen to do it myself, I’m less worried about agencies and their foibles and more worried about my brain going into meltdown figuring out how to make my website work! The heat is now on. Smouldering fire images adorn my site along with a payment method. Hooray!!!
Now I’ve learned how to do it, I’m going through my site, picking out the best images and they too will soon be on sale. I know how well they look from past prints I’ve had in exhibitions and given as gifts. I’m happy with the top quality printing service I’ve found producing Fuji acid free, guaranteed prints, so that’s as close as I can get to ensuring my customers will also be happy with my work.
Now all I need to do is cool down, get on with it, and somehow let the world know I’m here. Wish me luck!
You could help, actually. If you have time to look through my photos, you could let me know which are your favourites. Which might you buy? Just follow the link to my site, caffimages.co.uk (link below) and leave me a message, either on here or via my site’s contact page. Thanks!
Spiral
A UK Farm Celebrating the Past
16 Jul 2010 2 Comments
in conservation, health, musings, nature, photography, thoughts, Uncategorized Tags: conservation, farm, farming, flowers, health, image, photography, photos, picture, pictures, plants, random thoughts, reflections, wildlife
A happy pig that enjoyed having his ear scratched
A happy pig with her new family
I thought I’d digress from my usual meanderings today. Looking at the shots I took on a small farm visit made me quite nostalgic. I’m sure the modern equipment farms use today are essential to keep us all fed, but doesn’t all the old stuff look great? It made me think about what we’ve lost in our countryside due to the pressures of so many people to feed. We can’t blame the farmers, as they simply had to follow policies government set for them to increase production. But having been back to a conservation site trying to redress the balance (see previous post), I simply feel whistful about what we have lost. The meadows full of butterflies and bees (their plight has been well publicised), the cornfields dotted with poppies, and people’s connection to the earth. In my own area, which is mixed private and council housing the kids watched me sprinkle poppy seeds over the grass verges. ‘What’ya doin?’ they asked me, so I told them. ‘Huh, they won’t grow round here.’ Was the reply. How sad that young people have given up before they’ve started, and have so little connection to the planet that supports them.
When I was a kid, I played in hedgerows, brought new ‘pets’ home in the form of caterpillars and watched them grow and change into butterflies. I visited my aunt’s farm at the weekend and fought the hens for their eggs. Now the latest game seems to be all young people are interested in. So my photos for the day look back to a time when less damage was done to the land and machinery was on a more human scale. Animals were treated well and the smithy was an important part of the scene. What do you think? Am I just a sad, aging hippy or should we all be taking more notice of what’s around us?
An old fashioned Smithy
Elderly, retired farm tractor
Spiritual Weekend with a Stone Circle
13 Jul 2010 4 Comments
in conservation, health, musings, nature, photography, thoughts, travel, Uncategorized, wildlife Tags: conservation, flowers, health, musings, people, photography, pictures, reflections, spirituality, thoughts, wildlife
Jon spinning six feet of flaming kevlar rope
Well, I’m back. Health issues are finally improving and stress levels are down. So I made it back to a very special place last weekend. Fifteen or so years ago I was party to a once in a lifetime opportunity. A new stone circle was built in a very special farm in Yorkshire. Only about 200 people in the whole of this country of over 60 million can say that. I feel very honoured to have had that experience.Lime tree farm is now on the map as a conservation site. Its owner, Peter, is a very special man. He sees himself as guardian of the land and its inhabitants. Being there again and spending time touring the site, talking to Peter and the other members of our camp who also helped build the circle has renewed my faith in human nature. This camp came at exactly the right time. Our lives had once again been disrupted by outside influences that threatened our sanity. People who are on power trips, eager to ensure tha they enforce their attitude that their way is the right way and the only way were getting us down. All gone!
I won’t allow any more of that negativity back into my conciousness. I’ve been brought back to my pagan roots, and now, with renewed enthusiasm I will resume my life as I want it to be. ‘Do as you will and harm none’ has always been my principle guide in life. Imagine if everyone used that principle. The people at the camp I attended all subscribe to it, and we had a fabulous weekend together in complete harmony. We all try to live life peacefully, to see the beauty in the world and try to conserve what we can of it.
I took a lot of photos. We have some talented people in our group. One of which is Jon, who spins fire on a 6′ length of Kevlar rope, purely for our entertainment. That’s todays photo. We enjoyed singing, guitar, drumming, flutes, singing, comedy and pasta donated freely because we forgot ours. We slept peacefully with our tents and camper doors unlocked. We felt safe. We left our stuff lying around knowing no-one would touch it. That’s the ideal world we should all live in.
On the site, I saw a field of wild, native orchids. Not one or two, but too many to count. They are there because someone genuinely cares. With us on the camp was an eighteen year old young man who had never attended such a camp before. He was very nervous when he arrived, but left with new friends, was accepted for who he is and went home very happy. He’s learned a lot in a short time, and I’m sure is one of the people who will continue to care when us oldies, or elders, have gone. My own son, ages twenty, also came with us. He has been through hell lately, and also learned a lot, shared a lot and found his place building the fire and keeping us all warm. He has a hard time in the everyday world because he’s a bit different. He was totally accepted by the group and had positive feedback from them. In the everyday world he gets nothing but problems and bullying because he finds it difficult to work out who are the goodies and who are the baddies.
Why does the world have to be such a mess of power trippers, ego maniacs and greedy people? What happened to caring, sharing, understanding and making time for others? Why do my beliefs attract such scorn and derision? I’m a peaceful soul. Why does trouble come and find me when I’m hiding away doing my ‘thing’?
Anyway, positivity is back, negativity is banished and photography is King. I’ll carry on trying to point people’s eyes at beauty in the world. I’ll try to lead by example and continue my quest for more understanding and appreciation of difference. Each and every human being deserves to be accepted for their differences. Forget skin colour, belief systems and sexual orientation. Those differences are what make us as a species. Without them we might as well all be snakes, cows or rabbits or any other animal. Even they have different personalities, but somehow they don’t spend their lives trying to make the others in their species exactly the same as them. And if they were, they’d die out. We need individuality. We need all the qualities that combined we have, or we’d still be living in caves and may never have discovered fire. We would have no-one to learn from. We would be extremely boring. I don’t think I’d want to be human if we were all the same.
Crow Circle
Long live difference and banish prejudice. Let’s open our eyes to beauty and be thankful we can all enjoy it.
