When our first lockdown was introduced in March 2020 I knew I was going to find the coming weeks (as I naively thought then!) rather tough. I would miss my social life, my cinema visits, my travels and little treats such as coffee or breakfast in our favourite local haunts. I also knew that I would be helped enormously by focusing on the smaller pleasures of life: a sunset, a pretty flower, birdsong, a message from a friend …
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The massive radio telescopes of the Very Large Array, 27 of them, rise majestically out of New Mexico’s vast, otherwise almost empty, Plains of San Augustin like visitors from another world. But these are not visitors from another world, but searchers for such a world.
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Who hasn’t explored a building, maybe an impressive fortress or palace, and had one of those ‘wow’ moments as you emerge from the darkness of the building to an arch or window revealing the lightness outside?
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We could all use a laugh from time to time, and maybe more than ever over the last few years. It seems to be part of human nature to look for humour in the darkest times.
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Photography is of course all about colour. Even black and white photos are rarely just that but are all tones of grey. And good colour photography relies on the judicious combination of different shades, whether complementary or clashing or somewhere in between.
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Bokeh is a Japanese word that refers to blur used deliberately to heighten the impact of a photo, by isolating its main subject. It is an aesthetic technique and shouldn’t of course be confused with poor focusing or camera shake (both of which I am also capable of at times!)
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In recent years (well, not very recent, for obvious reasons!) I’ve often enjoyed celebrating my October birthday abroad. Sometimes these have been short trips planned just for that purpose; other times we just happened to be travelling at that time. Either way, it’s always a pleasure to mark the day with the variety of experiences that other countries offer.
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Earth’s story is told most clearly in its rocks. There the layers of the past are revealed to us, viewing in the present. And each of those rocks is shaped by the elements, evolving over time into natural sculptures, often of great beauty.
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The world is full of curves. A bend in the road; a gently drooping flower; the arch of a bridge; a spiral staircase. Animals curl up to sleep or to feel safer. Leaves gradually unfurl. The wind shapes a sand dune daily into new curves, and with time water does the same to hard rocks.
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I love to photograph details. So much so that when I review a day’s set of images I’m slightly disappointed to realise that I forgot to take any wider shots showing the whole of a building or statue or fountain or …!
