Which way?
The bad tempered ladybird
This season, stylish ladybirds wear spots to match their flower.
And for my next trick…
I just want to be left alone
When will this winter end? Clearly no-one has remembered to tell these snowflakes, on the windscreen of my car, that it is supposed to be Spring.
Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with it tail – Proverb
“The English winter — ending in July, To recommence in August.”
– George Gordon Byron
Thank you to those who have enquired about my recent absence from Focused Moments. I am fine, just flat out with college work and having to be very strict with myself about all things photographic as otherwise they might easily take over. ‘Normal service’ will hopefully resume next month, after we return from a brief visit to one of my very favourite European cities where I will be putting my new travel camera through its paces!
Hello there!
This tiny spider has been hanging out in my olive tree for weeks now, happily oblivious to freezing temperatures and snow. It is a colourful and rather acrobatic addition to my garden.
And, for my next trick…
“Imperio!”
Moody jerked his wand, and the spider rose onto two of its hind legs and went into what was unmistakably a tap dance.
Everyone was laughing — everyone except Moody.
“Think it’s funny, do you?” he growled. “You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?”
The laughter died away almost instantly.
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I haven’t been around much in the last week as I have had my first ever bout of flu! Needless to say, I haven’t been taking photographs, so here are a couple of shots from last year, revealing how unkind I can be to my camera. It doesn’t seem to mind being dumped onto wet grass, thanks perhaps to its weather seals. I love the unpredictability of this sort of shooting.
What a lot of fun I have had today photographing fruit on my lightbox. I liked the colours of this particular combination of healthy food.
My little A4 lightbox was a nice investment. I think it set me back £50 but it has repaid every penny.
I love the curliness of rhubarb and celery strings.
And the rhubarb’s bold, graphic stripes.
And best of all, the fridge is now full of delicious fruit for endless weekend snacking. More foody madness tomorrow.
Instead of a moongazing hare, a moongazing concorde. Except that its windows/eyes are covered in snow.
This 40% model of the famous aircraft used to be at the entrance to Heathrow Airport but, with the demise of its full sized brethren, the model was decommissioned. It now stands sentinel at the entrance to Brooklands Museum and Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey.
I am excited to have some of my images included in this forthcoming exhibition. If you are in the neighbourhood, I would love it if you could pop by. Follow this link for more information.
I don’t yet know which images have been selected by the exhibition curators. Here are a few of the possibilities:
Last Light at Kimmeridge
The Cobb at Lyme
Dunstanburgh Castle
View from City Point, Moorgate.
Storm Approaching Birling Gap
Cobb Cottages
Blue hour, La Corbiere
If my images don’t float your boat, there will be lots of others that might, and some beautiful paintings and sculpture.
“Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will stop my delivery”
It’s the slogan of the pony express, but I thought it would do for this postal rider too. Good to see the postal service still worked today even if no-one else did.
I would dearly love to photograph butterflies in flight but this is no easy task. Their flight path is ridiculously erratic and their wings flap right over their heads making focus on the eyes almost impossible.
It’s teasing me
I tried to capture this one for a long time one day last summer. I can almost imagine it’s looking at me thinking: shall I, shan’t I?
Seriously dodgy, but it’s a start
This is the best shot I got that day. Yes, it’s not terribly good, but at least you can tell it’s a butterfly 😉 I will try again this year. Although I have planted for insects, my garden sees very few butterflies, but a wildflower park has recently been planted not too far away and it will hopefully be open to the public for the first time this spring. Come on Spring, hurry up!
“Crepuscular rays are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky, specifically, where the sun is. These rays, which stream through gaps in clouds (particularly stratocumulus) or between other objects, are columns of sunlit air separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. The name comes from their frequent occurrences during crepuscular hours (those around dawn and dusk), when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious. Crepuscular comes from the Latin word “crepusculum”, meaning twilight.” – Wikipedia
Not surprisingly, perhaps, this spectacular meteorological phenomenon has often been connected with spiritual beliefs. It is known colloquially as ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, referring to Jacob’s dream of seeing a ladder to heaven in Genesis. The ‘ladder’ also has significance in Islam which revers Jacob as a prophet. It has inspired spiritual leaders of all faiths.
“God is the Sun and when His rays fall upon your heart, not impeded by the clouds of egoism, the lotus blooms and the petals unfold.” – Sri Sathya Sai Baba
The movie Jacob’s Ladder (1990) starring Tim Robbins tells the story of a vietnam veteran haunted by visions. The story deals with questions about life and death, heaven and hell, and the film’s promotional poster shows a staircase spiralling out from Robbins’s face, like rays of sunlight.
Jacob’s Ladder is also a song written by Bruce and John Hornsby first recorded by Huey Lewis and the News. In the song, a fan dancer rejects evangelism in favour of a step by step, one day at a time, progression through life:
All I want from tomorrow is to get it better than today
Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob’s ladder
Focused Moments 