Cellpic Sunday: The Finger
Posted on May 24, 2026
I spotted this on a shelf in the handicrafts section of our local ‘Action’ store. For the uninitiated, Action stores sell a whole variety of items that you never knew you needed: think Lidl, but without the food – and cheaper.
I can’t help wondering whether it was put in this position by a mischievous customer or a disgruntled employee.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Choose A Colour
Posted on May 20, 2026
For this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, set by Ritva, we’re asked to show an image that features, almost to the exclusion of all others, just one colour.
I went for blue, and chose this other-worldly photograph of a tank of jellyfish featured in the Aquarium of the city of La Rochelle.
Cosmic: Symmetry
Posted on May 19, 2026
I’ve just encountered the ‘Cosmic Photo Challenge’ for the first time and, as this week’s topic is ‘symmetry’, which happens to be one of my favourite photographic themes, I thought I would play along.
This is a view from below of the ceiling/roof of one of the new buildings being constructed in Guédelon, in central France. It’s a new build castle complex, but using only medieval construction methods. Its an absolutely fascinating project to visit.
Cellpic Sunday: Collecting Nectar Points
Posted on May 17, 2026
Lens-Artists Challenge: Texture
Posted on May 14, 2026
Last week, I used an image from Petra to illustrate a quotation, and when I saw that this week’s topic was ‘texture’, it made perfect sense to go back to the same folder, especially as texture is one of my favourite things to photograph..
The ancient city of Petra is largely constructed from sandstone and the effects of the weather over thousands of years means that almost the entire site offers jaw-dropping images of textural potential. This is just one example (and believe me when I say that I’ve got plenty more where these came from).
Lens-artists challenge: illustrated quotation
Posted on May 6, 2026
“Match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
a rose-red city half as old as time.”
John Burgon – ‘Petra’
Cellpic Sunday: The Hostas Are Back
Posted on May 3, 2026
Last On The Card April 2026
Posted on May 1, 2026
About six or seven years ago, we (i.e. Madame) sowed a wild flowers mix in a couple of our raised beds. The most successful of these proved to be the orange poppies. They returned and proliferated for the next couple of years before their numbers dropped steadily and, as I recall, last year there were none. Now, however, they’re coming back and there already five, of which this was the first.
Lens-Artists Challenge: On the water
Posted on April 28, 2026
This photo was taken from the promenade in Scarborough at low tide last summer. My eye was caught by the juxtaposition of the stark lines of the steps with the abstract free-form ripples and reflections in the pools of water.
Lens-Artists challenge: History Through The Lens
Posted on April 19, 2026
The Lens-Artists challenge this week is ‘history through the lens’.
If I were being pedantic (pedantic? moi? surely not) I could argue that every photograph ever taken is an example of history through the lens, because it captures a moment in time that has already passed into history, even before you get a chance to look at it.
Of course, this isn’t really helpful for the purposes of the challenge. What we’re after is something indisputably old, and preferably crumbling.
But enough about my selfies. Like most photographers, I suspect, I have plenty of images of old buildings in various states of decay and disrepair. However, I wanted to find something a bit different.
This is part of a tableau in a museum set in an old chateau (I forget exactly where, unfortunately). The table is set with furniture and crockery of the interwar years, but what made it stand out for me was the blown-up to life-size old photograph that had been somehow printed onto a cloth sheet to form a backdrop to the scene.
Two particular features worthy of note: the massive wooden clogs worn by the gentleman on the right. And I hope that the other man in the picture is not really who he looks like.
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