[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 November 2023].
firethorn
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 November 2023].
I'm mixing things up a bit with a new Friday* series, fruitful, a series of photographs I've taken of fruit that complement two of my other series: a floral tribute and the fungus among us.
These berries are on the Pyracantha plant, commonly known as firethorn, and I photographed them overhanging the back fence of a home that backed onto Pondwicks Meadow in Amersham Old Town.
According to Wikipedia, the English have used firethorn to cover unsightly walls since the late 18th century.
Its thorns also make it an attractive and organic form of home security.
*I try to share photos from these series on Fridays, but sometimes they're belated. But I usually share them on social media the following Friday as part of #FloralFriday or #FungiFriday. This new series will fit the #FruityFriday theme.
the old contemptibles
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 November 2023].
a bird in the hand
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 November 2023].
granny-pop-out-of-bed
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 17 November 2023].
This post isn't the first time I've shared a photograph of hedge bindweed for my series, a floral tribute. And I'm sure this won't be the last.
Despite being considered a noxious weed in the US and being able to overwhelm and pull down cultivated plants, including shrubs and small trees, and potentially toxic to humans and animals, I think the flowers are beautiful. I tend to photograph them in most places I find them.
In particular, because they're often found in the least beautiful places: by railway lines where people have tossed their trash, growing by or over derelict structures, in the overgrown perimeters of parks and other tended spaces (often alongside brambles and, in this case, stinging nettles).
Reading more about them, they seem like something out of a horror film: they can self-seed, and their seeds can remain viable for as long as 30 years. And whole plants can regrow from discarded roots. Apply those concepts to "dead" humans, and you have the storyline of many of my favourite horror films and novels.
looking north (from henley bridge)
i only want to be with you
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 13 November 2023].
the heart of the birmingham waterways
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 November 2023].
Phil - my friend and fellow photographer - and I have been plotting and planning a photo walk along the Birmingham canals for the last two summers. For various reasons, we didn't manage it.
We came close in mid-June last year, but the day I'd booked a train to head up there, rain was forecast, so we cancelled the day before. The forecast showed heavy rain on the day, so we'd made a good call.
But last weekend, we finally made good on our plans.
We coordinated to meet on the train at Warwick Parkway at about 10:43. However, that meant me waking at 06:00, getting out of bed at 06:30 and leaving my flat at 07:30. I arrived at Marylebone Station at 08:10, about 50 minutes before my train was due to depart, which was even earlier than I'd been aiming for.
We set out from Birmingham Moor Street at about 11:20 and walked along the canals from Livery Street Bridge to Spaghetti Junction (the M6/A38 junction), finishing shooting under the bridges at about 15:00.
We walked back to Aston Station, arriving there in time to get out of the rain that had just started and to catch the train back to Birmingham New Street to seek out some food for Phil and a pint for me.
Despite the rain at the tail end of the walk, we had perfect weather and a pleasant and creative day. Phil had technical issues with his camera but managed to work around them to a large extent. I had a minor anxiety attack in the last half hour, heading back from Spaghetti Junction to Aston Station, but it was an otherwise stress-free day as far as my body was concerned.
I shared my iPhone photos from the day on my Instagram on the day and over the following days.
These are just two of the over 300 photographs I took with my D700 in Birmingham.
Thanks to Phil for suggesting the walk and the wide-ranging and engaging conversation throughout.
We'll return in the spring (hopefully!) with some other friends of Phil's to revisit Spaghetti Junction and complete the ambitious circuit he'd set out for us that we didn't manage on Sunday.
also perpetuating
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 November 2023].
happy birthday, anthony
This year's visit to Australia was predominantly about family and officially saying goodbye to Mum.
But alongside that and reuniting with some wonderful friends, I also had the chance to (officially) say goodbye to one of my oldest friends, Anthony Horan.
My thanks go out to Anthony's brother, Chris, and mutual longtime friends, Amy and Richard, for accompanying me and making the visit possible.
It was lovely to finally meet Chris and reunite with Amy and Richard after so long.
It was a sombre visit. Rain threatened. There was much mud on the 'lawn'.
But there was also cheeky humour amongst us, in keeping with the sort of comments and jokes Anthony would have made if he'd been able to reply to us as we stood by the grave his ashes share with his father's remains.
When I visited, there was a temporary marker for Anthony and his dad. I'm sure when I visit next it will look different (if it doesn't already).
I've been catching up on sharing iPhone photos from my trip on Instagram, and this morning, I reached my photos from that day. I thought I would share them on the second anniversary of his passing in January, oblivious to the date.
But, when I remembered later in the day it was his birthday in Australia, it was obvious today was the day to share.
It's currently his birthday in Melbourne and London.
So, the penguins and I are raising a toast to an old friend.
Love and miss you, Anthony. Always. xx
taste and see that the lord is good
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 29 October 2023].
shot through the heart
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 October 2023].
old man's mustard
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 25 October 2023].
Once again, my photography introduces me to new things. I learn from it all the time.
I had difficulty deciding on a title for this post based on the various names for Achillea millefolium: yarrow or common yarrow.
According to Wikipedia, it has many evocative alternative names, including arrowroot, nose bleed, death flower, eerie, hundred leaved grass, knyghten, sanguinary, seven-year's love and snake's grass.
I settled on the one I spoke out loud and chuckled at as I read it.
Apparently, in Ireland and Great Britain, it was believed to be able to foretell your romantic future.
It appears ingesting it has positive and negative effects on humans and animals.
And, for a kid growing up in the 80s, I was amused that yarrow was used to make pick-up sticks. (Though, if I remember correctly, ours were brightly coloured plastic).
These particular specimens were obviously at the end of the season. I photographed them on 10 September 2020 in Pondwicks Meadow in Old Amersham.
mere mortals
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 18 October 2023].
It might be hard to make them out online, but these photos I took of the nave of Ely Cathedral include my Mum (walking down the aisle) and my Dad (seated to the right of the frame).
The cathedral's Romanesque architecture dwarfs them.
I have a collection of photos of the exterior and interior of Ely Cathedral that I'll edit soon. But it felt appropriate to edit and share these two images for today's (slightly belated) travel photo, as next Tuesday - when I share them on social media for #TravelTuesday - will be Mum's first birthday since her passing.
like water for chocolate
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 October 2023].
darwin’s barberry
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 October 2023].
I took this photograph of Berberis darwinii a few streets from where I sit my "regulars" on my birthday this year.
This plant is a perfect example of my argument that "weeds are just plants in the wrong place".
From Wikipedia: It is a popular garden and hedging shrub in the British Isles. The Royal Horticultural Society has given the species its Award of Garden Merit.
and
Berberis darwinii is regarded as an invasive plant pest in New Zealand that escaped from gardens into indigenous plant communities via its bird-dispersed seeds. It is considered a serious threat to indigenous ecosystems throughout New Zealand and is listed on the National Pest Plant Accord.
ely
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 12 October 2023].
I have so many photographs I took during a road trip with my parents in 2017 that I haven't yet had a chance to edit.
I'm trying to fix that (not to mention trying to work through editing all the other photographs I have from other holidays or day trips with them over the years).
It was Mum's last international trip. Her dementia was evident during that visit and even more jarring for me as I hadn't seen her in person since our road trip through Belgium in 2014.
sundae fraise
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 October 2023].
Some Hydrangea paniculata I came across while wandering through Bounds Green in August.
I believe these particular ones are Sundae Fraise.
breathe in, breathe out
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 3 October 2023].
drinking birds
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 September 2023].
A semi-itinerant lifestyle has impacted my ability to keep my Patreon as regularly updated as I'd like, so thank you for sticking around.
I have one more sitting this month where I won't have access to a decent monitor to edit photos. But then I'll be down to much more irregular sittings until February, so I'll edit my heart out as much as possible while I'm more settled.
Since late March, I've barely been home.
And when I have been, I've been wrestling with flat-related shenanigans, life admin and such.
Please don't mention the scaffolding that has encased our building since late March and prevents me from opening my bedroom window more than four inches. Or the boxes of books occupying most of the space on one side of my bed since early August, as I can't yet replace them on the bookcase while we wait for a section of paint in the lounge to be retouched (it's located directly above the bookcase).
The prints I previously had hanging in the lounge have also reverted to an inconvenience, as the repainting required their hooks to be removed. I'm reluctant to replace them on the walls. For reasons I won't go into here.
I'm trying to locate appropriate wrapping to stow them safely in existing packaging in our lounge in a way that infringes less on our living space.
On a related note: if you know anyone who would like to purchase framed prints from my alternate worlds series or selected work from other series (largely self-portraiture), please send them my way...
In addition to the times I've been away from home with only my work laptop, I've had two periods of about two weeks in May and August without my iMac due to required repairs, which hasn't helped.
As much as I love the furry personalities I've been sitting so much this year, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for more than a few consecutive nights. To work at my own desk on a quality monitor with full access to my files.
In addition to the remaining sittings already booked for the next few months, I need to arrange other sittings and/or accommodation to take advantage of my rail vouchers, which will expire by mid-January.
But those will be trips with plenty of time for creativity, photography and being inspired.
I look forward to taking some proper annual leave after almost two years. (No, let's be honest, it will be four years in mid-November...)
But, on a positive note, I've been working on a new project inspired by a book a friend gifted me. And I've continued taking photos (not just of cats).
I look forward to sharing those with you soon!