10/01/25

Hello hello! Hope you’re entering 2025 ok? I felt a bit low towards the end of last week, so I made sure that I headed into town to look at some art. It was the perfect reset, just like I knew it would be. I’ve also got a new camera which I took with me, and I really enjoyed trying it out. I usually shoot with a wider angled lens, so the 50mm one that I used on Friday is literally like looking at the world with new eyes. I’m not sure it’s right for me, but we’ll see. It’s funny how much the blog format dictates whether I shoot landscape or portrait, and I was a bit miffed that I kept going for landscape again, when I’d managed to wean myself off it in the past six months. I never crop pictures afterwards, but when I took the last picture - landscape - I immediately realised that I’d made a mistake. The guy moved before I could re-take it, and I felt Saul Leiter on my shoulder, shaking his head with a sigh. Well, I’m cropping it here Saul - especially for you. And I reckon the picture with the water being swept (NOT cropped) was a little high five between the two of us.

Born to run

January’s theme was running, quite an apt one for the month, seeing as probably quite a few people would’ve taken it up as a New Year’s you-know-what. It was actually quite a fun theme, as I’d see someone running, and would have to react pretty much immediately, with only one chance of getting the picture. Catching people running, rather than out for a run, was more along the lines of what I had in mind, but you really don’t see it that often, unless you stake out a bus stop, in which case I’m sure you’d see it all the time. The guy in the last picture really made me laugh; I saw him miles away coming running towards me, and I turned to face the doorway and meant to take a picture ahead of time to take a light reading, only to have him run past me at exactly that moment, saying “Sorry!” as he did. I love his facial expression and the ducking of his head, which is exactly what people do when they try their best to not walk (run) through someone’s shot. Little did he know that’s exactly what I wanted.

Silly silly silly

The week that Z was here was brilliant. We laughed so much, to the extent that I noticed it, so in a sort of response to my recent jumping picture of her, here’s a triptych (if you’re reading this on a computer) by her of someone behaving badly in a gallery (no art or fellow visitors were hurt in these pictures).

December's theme

Well, December’s theme wasn’t a particularly hard one to pick, as it was IN MY FACE, but I didn’t capture as much of it as I would’ve wanted. There were times when I just didn’t have a camera on me, and then it was the malaise at the holiday itself, creeping ever closer, with me staying at home to avoid the insane crowds, and then finally my little family all catching you-know-what and missing out on the whole shebang. This theme would’ve lent itself well to a zoom lens, but the one I have is unfortunately too huge to lug around. So Santa, you know I don’t like you and all, but if you fancied dropping a small zoom lens off with me for next xmas, I’ll happily accept.