Photography challenges
Posts published in response to photo challenges appear here
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Gallery: making eyes at me
Giraffes’ eyes are beautiful but they can look rather mournful. Maybe that’s a touch of anthropomorphism, attributing human emotions to an animal? And yet …
Or what about ...?
Thar she blows – eventually!
The oddities of sloths
Tiger, Tiger, burning bright …
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Introduction to some monuments in Riga
Riga was a city in which I quickly felt very comfortable. It has a compact old town with plenty to see but not too ‘aspic-like’; by which I mean that it felt both touristy and homely at the same time, somewhere I could imagine that the locals don’t feel too overwhelmed by the history and the visiting population. It is also a city of monuments.
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Gallery: pick a word (June)
Not for nothing is this blog subtitled ‘travel snapshots’. In it I try to blend my two passions of travelling and photography, often both in the same post! I can be wordy, but sometimes it’s better to be succinct and let the photos do the talking. Well, most of the talking; being me, I can't resist a few words to accompany each!
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A visit to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain
Nowhere in England is the summer solstice more famously celebrated than at Stonehenge. This ancient site has been a place of worship and celebration of the solstice for thousands of years. Every midsummer it draws crowds, some committed Druids, others merely curious observers, to watch as the sun rises behind the Heel Stone to the northeast, and its first rays shine into the heart of the stone circle.
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Gallery: when one door closes …
We all know that saying: when one door closes another one opens. Doors symbolise opportunity, a chance to discover something new and maybe unexpected. There’s also a sense of mystery about a door, especially an unusual one. What would we find were we able to open it?
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Gallery: three flowers, three fruits
There are always flowers, and for those of us in the northern hemisphere, especially at this time of year. Is there a photographer anywhere, I wonder, who doesn't want both to see them and to capture them forever?
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Gallery: on our doorstep
Anyone who has spent even five minutes exploring my blog will know that I love to travel. The world is full of wonderful places to explore! But I have to admit that there are some pretty wonderful places right on my doorstep too.
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The Conversation Piece and the Eye
Some sculptures are all the better for being in just the right place; think of the Angel of the North or Statue of Liberty, for example. And in its own less dramatic way that is true of the Conversation Piece in South Shields.
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Gallery: the animals went in two by two …
The animals went in two by two. And three, and four, and five, and more.
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Gallery: less is more (minimalism in photography)
Keeping things simple doesn’t mean taking it easy. Sometimes it’s harder to leave things out when composing an image than to include them. There can be a temptation to cram everything in, to show it all in a single image. However, often your subject will have more impact on the viewer if it stands alone, free of clutter. This is something I try for in all my photography; leaving the non-essentials out of an image. But sometimes keeping it simple isn’t enough; I want to strip away almost everything to…
