Lens-Artists Challenge: Everyone should see…Petra
Posted on September 30, 2025
For many years, the ‘rose-red city’ of Petra, in Jordan, was right at the top of my bucket list. I finally made it for my 60th birthday.
The main approach to the city is through a narrow path called the ‘Siq’, which runs for about three-quarters of a mile (1.2 kilometres in the new money) between two high and rocky outcrops which, for most of the way, is all you can see. But then you round a slight curve in the path and there is your first glimpse of the Nabatean Treasury. Not something easily forgotten…
Monochrome Madness: Symmetry
Posted on September 20, 2025
The theme for the latest iteration of Monochrome Madness is ‘symmetry’ – which is always something that most photographers are on the lookout for.
Architecture – especially classical architecture – is usually a good place to look for symmetry in an image, and I think it certainly works here, in a view of the imposing nave of the Collegiale in Le Dorat.
Cellpic Sunday: A Mackerel Sky
Posted on September 14, 2025
Lens-Artists Challenge: Quiet Moment
Posted on September 8, 2025
I took this photo in Dubai, many years ago now. An immigrant worker seizes a – no doubt rare – opportunity to rest and relax, sitting on a bench and removing his sandals, enjoying a quiet moment.
Cellpic Sunday: Looking Astern
Posted on September 7, 2025
Earlier this summer, we took the ferry from Caen to Portsmouth (and very good it was too). Looking back at the boat’s wash as the French coast was about to disappear over the horizon, it struck me that it made an excellent leading line.
Lens-Artists Challenge: Scavenger Hunt
Posted on September 2, 2025
For this week’s challenge Anne has given us what’s almost carte blanche effectively, with her theme of ‘scavenger hunt’, for which we’re invited to scour our archives (or take a new photo) for something that illustrates any of a long list of potential topics.
As it happens, I only needed to go back to last month for my contribution. This is a close-up of a pile of battered old wooden pallets – which I guess is where the ‘scavenger’ element comes in – that I spotted on the quayside at Scarborough, in Yorkshire.
There’s ‘rectangular’ and ‘bumpy texture’ from her list for starters, although at the time what really attracted me was the pleasing contrast between blue and orange (I haven’t tweaked the colour palette in any way at all).
Last On The Card: The Fallen Leaf
Posted on September 2, 2025
After a period of strong wind and heavy rain, this oak leaf ended up on top of the wall of one of our raised beds.
Cellpic Sunday: Just Chillin’
Posted on August 31, 2025
Lens-Artists Challenge: Doors
Posted on August 18, 2025
I used to be a regular contributor to the ever-popular ‘Thursday Doors’ challenge: to the extent, indeed, that I eventually ran out of subjects, having snapped pretty much every interesting door within a radius of about fifty miles.
So when I saw that this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge was (drum roll) ‘doors’ I was initially at something of a loss. Did I have anything previously unpublished? As it turns out, I did, and here it is.
Unfortunately, all I can tell you about this particular door is that it’s French and the image was captured on my iPhone in September 2020. No doubt my eye was caught by the unusual pattern of the door itself and perhaps even more so by the carved stone frame.
Cellpic Sunday: The old pump
Posted on August 17, 2025
When this petrol pump was new – perhaps a century or more ago – it could well have serviced the fuel requirements of the Yorkshire town of Beverley on its own. Nowadays of course, it’s simply an historical curio.
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