Gallery: it’s all in the details
In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
With travel photography impossible right now, I challenged myself recently to see how many interesting details I could photograph within a mile of my own front door. I followed a path I have taken almost daily over the last year or so, and very many times before that. It took me along a couple of suburban streets, past the tennis courts and into our favourite local park, Walpole.
This is what I found along the way …
And another neighbour’s garden gate
I’m sharing these local details for Patti’s Lens-Artists challenge theme. It’s always rewarding to use your camera to try to see anew the things you see every day; and Focusing on the Details is a great way to do just that!
All photos taken in Ealing, April 2021
42 Comments
Hammad Rais
Amazing details you have captured 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Hammad
Photos by Jez
Love the bee on the dandelion & the dandelion clock 😃
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Jez, and for the follow 🙂
Photos by Jez
You’re very welcome 😃
Leya
Great variety, Sarah! Love the peeling paint especially, and the car stiches???
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Ann-Christine, I’m glad you enjoyed the images. I was amazed when I spotted the car stitches!
Leya
I can understand that…
Amy
I meant the dandelion image. 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Amy 🙂 I did wonder for a moment about your comment on the last image which I threw in for fun. But the dandelion is my own favourite so I’m glad that’s the one you meant 😀
Amy
No easy to capture the details of the dandelion like you did.
Amy
I love the varieties of the details, Sarah. These are beautiful The last image is amazing!
pattimoed
Wonderfully-observed details, Sarah. I love the dandelion and the layers of peeling paint. (Um…time for a new paint job, I think!). I like your idea of challenging yourself close to home. It really makes us look more carefully at our surroundings. I’m going to try that!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Patti 😀 If you do try the same challenge I hope you’ll share some of the results!
pattimoed
Let’s see how my shots come out first.😱
Sarah Wilkie
They’ll be great, I’m sure 😄
pattimoed
Well, I average 1 out of about 100! 😀
Sarah Wilkie
Well Ansel Adams famously said that ‘Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.’ So you’re in good company!
Oh, the Places We See
The dandelion may be the prettiest shot, but oddly enough, I’m drawn to the peeling paint. It’s interesting to me to see what nature can create just doing what it does on a daily basis.
Sarah Wilkie
That’s a good point – I should maybe check in on this garage regularly and photograph the stages of decay. Until our neighbour paints it, that is, after which it will become much less interesting a subject!
JohnRH
Great series and variety. Peeling paint is always a favorite.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks John – it certainly seems to be most people’s favourite in this collection!
JohnRH
No accounting for taste!
Sarah Wilkie
Very true 😂
I. J. Khanewala
Nothing as beautiful as peeling paint, is there?
Sarah Wilkie
I’m not sure I’d go that far, but it’s certainly up there as a subject for photography!
Tina Schell
Lovely choices Sarah – I too am a fan of the peeling paint. What IS it that draws our photographer’s eye to the decaying, rusting, misshapen sights??? Whatever it is you’ve captured it beautifully.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Tina 🙂 You’re right, there’s something about this sort of subject matter that catches our eye in a way it never would if we weren’t photographers. While I was taking this photo an elderly man passing by stopped to ask if I were a professional – I guess he didn’t think an amateur would be interested in something like that!
Teresa
Great details and selection, Sarah. My fave is the dandelion macro!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Teresa, that’s my favourite too, although most people seem to like the peeling paint the best (my second favourite!) 😀
Suzanne
It is the small details in life that make all the difference. Door nobs was an interest to me as we admired the many old buildings. Miss the history. Lovely capture of the bee.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Suzanne, I do enjoy photographing little details like this 🙂
Suzanne
You do a wonderful creative job of it and it’s fun 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊
rkrontheroad
You have a great eye for little details. Loved these!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you so much Ruth 🙂
margaret21
Like Simone, I’m very taken with the peeling paint. I like trying to find new angles on the over-familiar. Not only my camera, bur also my smartphone are being repaired. What am I to do??
Sarah Wilkie
You’re without camera AND phone at the same time? How unfortunate 😦 I hope you get one or both repaired soon!
margaret21
It’s a bit on an aagh moment, though I do have an old phone on duty.
Sarah Wilkie
It’s funny how reliant we’ve all become on technology we didn’t even have a few years ago!
Simone
Great detail photos! But I especially love the “Peeling paint on a neighbour’s garage door”, great capture Sarah!! As you know I do enjoy taking lots of unusual detail photos myself 🙂
And always interesting to realize that your home environment might be a travel destination for someone else. And sometimes look very exotic to boot! I have been realizing that the past year when writing about some nearby places; including my lunch time walk! But I should take my camera with me more often though.
Sarah Wilkie
You have been busy catching up on my blog today Simone – I can hardly keep up with you! It was thinking ‘I should take my camera with me more often’ that prompted me to do just that on this occasion 😆