A bit of everything in this Blogpost; some images of my Family, Street Photography from yesterdays walk around Bath and my quick visit to Malmesbury Abbey.
I wish I had photos of me and my friends playing when I was say eight or nine years old, this generation will capture everything at some stage, once they're allowed a smartphone that is. I remember those summers that lasted forever. They were as endless as the fun I had, memories that were created when I was a young boy still linger; Halcyon Days. In the moment we just take it for granted, it's only when we look back that we realise it was the time of our lives. The thing is that the same applies as we get older, the current moment is much better than we can possibly imagine. The photo below of a guy reading his book in Malmesbury for example, or me when I go out to take some Street photos and grumble that it didn't work out very well. I've been looking back through my archives and all those walks or outings were fantastic, no matter how much I moaned at the time. So, no more whining from me, I get what I get and enjoy every second.
I made that shot on a fleeting stop off in Malmesbury. Took a quick look around the Abbey and made a mental note to re-visit the Abbey Gardens that I last entered around 20 years ago. The house and gardens next to the Abbey is home to 2,000 roses, a river runs through it and when I walked around them all those years ago a quite eccentric couple lived there. They we naturists, fortunately they had their clothes on. Well, almost, I spotted him in a rose bed sporting just a pair of speedos and wellington boots whilst visitors strolled around averting their gaze! We'll leave that for now, here's a shot inside the Abbey itself. I had framed the window and the light on the seats. Three or four people were in the building and all I needed was one of them to stand in that exact and only spot, call it divine intervention if you like, I prefer to call it pure luck. Although in fairness I had to be stood there with my camera to capture the moment.
We'll leave Malmesbury and return to the title of this blogpost for a moment. I take photos of the children and the dogs constantly, I've said before that apart from anything else it's good practice. If nothing I will at least leave some reminder of the times we had. Some shots from this last weekend; Firstly Amélie, whose zest for life I only wish that I could bottle and distribute around the globe free of charge -
and continuing the theme of Halcyon Days, Louis and two of my grandsons messing around in a river -
Believe me it was colder than it looks -
As I'm lacking many commissions currently I might get into dog portraits....just kidding, here's one of my dogs, Dottie and then some quick Street photos from my last Bath visit.
So, once again some Street Life in Bath. I suppose this could be part of another Blogpost, but if you've read this Blog before I don't need to tell you much about Bath and my photowalks. If you haven't read it before then it's all there in the Blog archives. I usually fire off some practice shots as I begin -
Nothing much going on. One of my reasons for using Leica is that it should make you a little less conspicuous in the street. I can only imagine that it must be my incredible presence and good looks because I seemed to get noticed a lot yesterday -
I was just stood there, you'd think I was waving at them or something. What about this reaction -
Okay, I'll come clean. This tourist asked me to take some shots of using her Nikon DSLR which I obliged and then grabbed a couple of shots with the Leica. I looked at the back of her screen and I made a better job on the Nikon than I did my Leica! I know why, because I made an effort for her photos and none for my own, the camera doesn't matter....we've discussed this before I feel. I was getting slightly hot and bored, hold it John, no moaning, this will be another Halcyon Day. I started thinking in Colour, so set about finding some. Here's "The Sunburnt Kid" at close range -
I grabbed a sandwich and leant up against a wall opposite some bright blue hoarding that had been put up for some building work. There was my background, and the sun was casting shadows through the trees creating a beautiful pattern. Just needed someone to walk past it, close enough to the blue painted board to catch them in the sunlight, this seemed unlikely as there were far easier ways than taking that route through. Eventually someone did -
I moved along a little way and wondered about black and white. These two walked along and her checked coat might work, not too sure though the lady nearest gets in the way, in any case this scene was always about the colour -
I moved back to my original position and this lady obliged by sitting on one of the security blocks. What's more she'd evidently known that I was going to take her photo on this day because she'd selected from her wardrobe that morning a blue top, a blue leafy kind of skirt and accessorised with a beige cement coloured handbag! They're all Halcyon Days and I hope for many more to come...
As usual I would be delighted to read any comments and my sincere thanks go to anyone taking the time to read my blog.
All images can be opened by clicking on the thumbnails and are taken using a Leica M with either a Noctilux 50mm or Summicron 35mm lens fitted.
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