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.
Cellpic Sunday: Topsy-turvy
Posted on August 10, 2025
Could we find it? Honestly, we had the whole house turned upside down…
Monochrome Madness: Backlighting
Posted on August 6, 2025
This is ‘Fred’, a sculpture who sits gloomily on a bench, looking out to sea, in the town of Scarborough. In the county of Yorkshire, where he finds himself, he would probably be described as ‘a reet miserable bugger’.
Even with the warm afternoon sun on his back, as here, he doesn’t look happy, and no doubt if the sun was in front of him, he’d complain that it was getting in his eyes. Yorkshire, eh?
Lens-Artists Challenge: Tools Of Composition
Posted on August 4, 2025
This week’s challenge is to demonstrate through an image or images the tools of photo composition. John, who’s overseeing proceedings this week, specifies lines, colour and patterns.
Certainly no arguments there, although I would argue that a photographer’s most important tools of composition are their very own eyes: to be able to see the image before it is captured, even if it’s not immediately apparent.
This image is, I think, a decent example of what I’m droning on about. It was taken outside my sister-in-law’s house. the dark triangle on the right is part of her garage roof, while the white triangle and dormer window form part of the neighbouring house.
There are lines and shapes a-plenty, of course, but what draws them together is the composition, and in particular the two triangles meeting at top right. The point is that at first sight this was not immediately obvious, although I could see it had potential. All it needed was for me to use my eyes and take two steps to the left in order to align the various elements as seen here.
Last On The Card – July 2025
Posted on August 2, 2025
This is Poppy, my niece’s chocolate brown Labrador puppy. Daft as a brush, obviously, but here she had found a (relatively) quiet corner during a frenetic children’s birthday party. I was already there….
Monochrome Madness – Any Colour
Posted on July 24, 2025
There’s a very interesting twist on the idea of monochrome in this latest Monochrome Madness Challenge. The automatic assumption is that monochrome must mean black and white or, at most, sepia. However if something – or image thereof – has only one colour, whatever that may be, then it can fairly be described as monochrome.
This is, of course, a rose – and Madame’s favourite to boot, as it reminds her of her grandmother, who grew these in her own garden. I don’t recall us ever having so many blooms at the same time as this summer, and the scent is blissful: just what you imagine a rose should smell like: heady and almost sensual.
Cellpic Sunday: When life gives you lemons…
Posted on July 20, 2025
Lens-Artists Challenge: Quiet Hours
Posted on July 14, 2025
This week’s challenge is to post an image that captures the idea of ‘quiet hours’. Clearly, there are many interpretations: the ‘hours’ element can refer to a particular time of day, while ‘quiet’ could be just something conveying tranquility or serenity.
I’ve gone with the latter, with this photo having been taken in the late morning on an inlet of the River Creuse. Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath of wind, scarcely a ripple to distort those crystal-clear reflections. It was very quiet….
Cellpic Sunday: Canoes at Crozant
Posted on July 13, 2025
The photographer’s dream scenario: a leading line, reflections and red foreground objects. An idyllic summer’s day on the River Creuse at Crozant.
Monochrome Madness: Begins with ‘H’
Posted on July 9, 2025
An interesting challenge for the latest iteration of Monochrome Madness: can I spy something beginning with ‘H’?
Well yes, albeit after a little thought. This is the harbour of the city of La Rochelle, as the sun begins to set.
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