Looking up

With a camera in my hands, I am perhaps inclined to spend too much time looking around and not enough time looking up. When taking these photos I made a conscious decision to get as near as possible to the trees I was photographing and, in so doing, to change my customary perspective.  The results were pleasing.  For example, the first picture has quite an oriental feel with its hint of eastern hieroglyphs, and the last one seems to be peopled with characters from L S Lowry or Breughel, I’m not sure which!

Sunlight on the sea.

No context is needed for this photo.  It was just a beautifully peaceful late afternoon.  If you listen carefully you can hear the gentle rippling of the waves and the shingle scurrying back to the sea.

Sunlight on the sea

Abstract 123 ‘Shades of Pink’

When introducing Abstract 122 ‘Crocus’ I wrote, ‘My interest is primarily in the colours, the lines, the textures and, above all, the feelings evoked in the viewer.’  The source of the present ‘abstract’ is a cyclamen and the colour range, as the title indicates, is restricted to shades of pink. Again I am mainly interested in the instinctive response of the viewer.  This is not a botanical record.

Shades of Pink

Pussy Willow time

It’s pussy willow time!  As a small child I enjoyed the arrival of the pussy willows, catkins and lambs’ tails.  They were somehow different from the leaf buds appearing at this time  –  they were unusual, they had character, they were ‘friendly’.  That early attraction has remained  –  I still look forward to pussy willow time!

Winter Grasses in black and white

The bleached appearance of winter grasses provides limited colour interest but, at the same time, seems to emphasise shapes and patterns  –  features that make them a source attractive to black and white photographers.

Flowering moss

I came across this small cushion of flowering moss whilst tidying up the flower border.  It was perched in isolation on the stump of an old laburnum blown down during a gale a few years ago.  In size, the entire plant would comfortably sit in the palm of a hand, but its delicate details were perfectly formed  –  a miniature, magical grove.

Flowering moss

Rotting tree stump

I came across this tree root beneath the hedgerow beside the bridle way.  At this time of the year, when the grass is comparatively inactive, all sorts of things become visible that are normally not noticed.  At a first cursory glance I was not sure what I had found  –  you can perhaps understand why!  It is, in fact, the rotting root of a hawthorn.  The photo has not been ‘doctored’, except that some of the growth around the trunk has been removed to show its shape more clearly.

Scilly Rocks 8

To the best of my knowledge this granite rock on St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly has no local name, but when I first saw it it became the ‘Mysterious Feline’, and so it has remained.  I apologise for the quality of the image  –  it was edited during the first wave of enthusiasm after I acquired Photoshop 7.  But I still feel the grittiness enhances the character.  Maybe that’s just an excuse!

Scilly Rocks 8

Evening Stroll

Man and his best friend take a relaxed stroll along the beach, alone with their thoughts and the soothing sound of the lapping waves.

Evening Stroll

Just think about it! (8)

‘Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.’

Henry Van Dyke

Go away!

The swan was intent on chasing away the intruder.  The ducks just couldn’t watch the carnage!

‘Spring is bursting out all over’

On the first day of Spring the sun shone, the birds sang and an explosion of colour in the garden lifted the spirit.  These are a few of my friends welcoming the new season.

Winter Abstracts 4

This is certainly the simplest of the four abstracts and probably, for the time being, my favourite.  It seems to have about it an air of innocence and purity  –  at least, that’s what I hoped to convey!  But, of course, it’s for you to decide.

Winter Abstracts 4

Winter Abstracts 3

Like the previous two, this is a genuine natural pattern in the snow  –  nothing added and nothing subtracted except the texture of the snow.  If pressed to give a title I would probably choose ‘The Playground’  –  I can see the movement and exuberance of children dancing.  But I’m quite content just to enjoy the pattern in the space.  See in it what you will. 

Winter Abstracts 3

Winter Abstracts (2)

There is something of an expletive about this pattern  –  it’s not difficult to provide a first and last letter and an appropriate number of asterisks to suit your choice!  But I’m attracted by the way the marks use the available space in, for me, a very expressive manner.

Winter Abstract 2

Winter abstracts

So, I think we can say farewell to the winter.  But before it officially ends I would like to post one or two ‘winter abstracts’.  These are simply black and white abstract patterns created by plants, stubble and grasses protruding through the carpet of virgin snow.   Initially I planned to include them in a single post, but it then seemed that each required its own space.

Scilly Rocks 7

In my introduction to Scilly Rocks 1 I mentioned the extraordinary granite outcrops on the Isles of Scilly.  This photo provides yet another example.  I recommend that you click the above link and, indeed, look in on the related images.  It is scarcely necessary to comment on the similarity of this rock formation to a giant tortoise.

Scilly Rocks 7

Sunlight on the sea

Sunlight on sea

Winter grass abstracts

The winter grasses beside the bridle way form their own abstract patterns which seem to change in character  and mood depending on the colour palette used.

The picture on the wall

At the end of my garden is a dry stone wall.  It is home to a wide variety of lichen that combine to form fascinating, and often quite beautiful, patterns.

The picture on the wall

Click to enlarge