Category: from the blogroll

My photography summed up

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And summed up perfectly too, in this entry towards the end of an epic description of a day out in Bournemouth by diamond geezer:

20:45 Start looking through today’s photos (I appear to have taken 342).
Most are not as good as I’d hoped.

This is exactly the case with my photography – although usually on an entirely different south coast.

But that’s the way with photography today, isn’t it? And at least we have the luxury of taking that number of photographs in an attempt to capture something decent. Remember when you only had 24 or 36 shots for an entire holiday? And the expense of film and developing? That made each photograph precious: from the composition to the actual, tangible image at the end of the process.
That said, despite the fact that they now cost “nothing”, the fact that we’re still chucking 90+% of them away doesn’t speak much for our talent, does it?

The questions remain

Proportionately, are we now or were we then taking better photographs? And then, are our best photographs now better than our best ones then?

Sorry, I don’t think I have a considered answer, although I’d like to think that I’m improving bit by bit.

Meanwhile, talking of that photography, some of it has been Micklethwaited – which could be the catchall verb for “thinned, improved, made more interesting”. Something else that wouldn’t have worked very well or have been anywhere near as straightforward with a physical, old skool photograph.

London Calling…

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Can I actually be homesick for London?

Technically, no. No, I can’t. I did study there, but I’ve never lived there – it was never home, so that surely rules out any homesickness, even if only on semantic grounds.

But I have found myself wanting another trip there after our week in December. And while I will obviously never rule out a trip Up North to Sheffield, it’s London that has been specifically occupying my mind of late.

Perhaps it’s the fact that this used to be my playground – I used to describe London as like being someone else’s kids: lovely to look at, delightful to engage with, but nice to be able to leave behind at some point and go back to real life. It’s probably even more true now. I don’t think I could cope with living there, but visiting… well, apparently, that’s something I need to do again.

Perhaps it’s the fact that there’s always something to do there.

Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

So said Samuel Johnson back in 1777. And that was even before the London Eye was built (book online to save some £).

Could we have missed something? Well, yes. Lots, I’d guess, but already on the list (before we left, in fact) for next time are the Dangleway and the London Transport Museum.

Continuing with the transport theme, maybe it’s my nerdy side enjoying the amazing underground. And yes, I realise that it’s full of flaws and problems when it’s your daily transport.
But I’m just visiting. Just playing.
Aside from the iconic (and now tearjerking) iconic “Mind The Gap“, there’s such a mix of functionality and history in that network.

Then again, it could be those London bloggers…

BTTower+TreesS

The daily photography and opinions of Brian Micklethwait, or the fact-laden postings of Diamond Geezer (both readily available in the blogroll, bottom right) keeping the Big Smoke firmly at the forefront of my otherwise occupied mind.

I’m writing this to acknowledge that the thought is there. I have noted its presence. And now it can go away until I can muster the time and money for another trip to the UK, please.

Be kind to one another…

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Wise words from wise wordsmith Jacques Rousseau on his synapses blog this morning, as he admonished some (or more) atheists for exploiting the death of SA author Andre Brink

to score political points for atheism

I can actually think of very few occasions when it’s acceptable to use the death of anyone to score political points for anything. Much like those “No Fly-Tipping” signs you see at the side of the road, this is one of those things that I don’t even think should need saying.

Evidently, I’m incorrect. (Yes, it happens.) (As does the fly-tipping).

It was the choice of words used when expressing condolence that apparently upset some atheists. “RIP” obviously doesn’t fit with their (or my) view of what actually happens when someone dies. But as Jacques points out, it’s also:

a shorthand for extending commiserations, for demonstrating shared membership of a community of caring, and for marking the passing of someone who was considered valuable to that community.

It’s not that the semantics aren’t important here. They are.
It’s more that being judgmental about people using words and phrases which are – in your view – technically incorrect, and more especially, being judgmental about them at a time when emotions are already running high, is not going to change anyone’s mind – certainly not the way you would like it changed anyway.

Yes, I’d prefer for us to use alternatives. But for any alternatives to gain traction takes time. And motivating for them, and gaining consensus for their usage, won’t be easy if you approach that task by being an ass.

Yep. There’s a time and a place for this. Neither of which were ‘the immediate period after Brink’s death’ and ‘on the internet’. Get a grip.

Personally, I’m less inclined to chase people down because of the words and phrases that they use in this context. Live and let live, and yes, educate (but do try to choose your moment more sensibly).
In fact, I even used a quote from Ephesians 4:32 for the title of this post. Just because something comes from what you consider to be a work of fiction doesn’t mean that it has to necessarily be a bad idea.
You only have to look at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate River for evidence of that.

LCY

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Nice shot of London City Airport approach from Flickrer/Blogger Diamond Geezer. Here’s the blog that I’ve popped  onto the blogroll for 2015.

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This was taken back in 2007. I wonder if you can still get as close to the flightpath these days?

Unconnected, and quite by chance, I’ve just noticed that Diamond Geezer was over in the Isle of Man last July. Nice.

Brian on photoing photographers

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Brian has been photographing photographers for a long time now, and when you do something for a long time, your ideas around the subject tend to evolve:

At first, my photos of photographers were just photos of photographers. But soon I was subdividing that huge category, into photographers taking selfies, photographers looking at the photos they’d taken. Recently I have found myself making further subdivisions, often of photos I have been taking for some while but which I had not been putting into a separate category in my head, if you get my meaning. So, above, in addition to all the photos of photographer’s camera screens, we see contributions to the photographers taking selfies category (subdivision: couples taking selfies), to the photographers looking at the photos they have just taken category, but also a good addition to the bald blokes taking photos category, and two for the photographers with interesting hats category.

Those photos mentioned above are here. And (much like Brian, as it turns out) I was immediately drawn to this one:

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That’s near professional composition right there. The guy with the phone has spotted something in the London dusk, but then Brian has added the extra elements of photographer and phone screen and made it very special.

Great shot. The only thing missing is an interesting hat.