Woof, park and flowers

This week I have been out and about to the park and my own back garden as the flowers bloom in the hot sun. The dog and cat have also been out too lying in the sun...untill I get the camera out then they usually hide! But I have a few good shots of them to upload on to Flickr this week as well as some stunning flowers and I have been dabbling with textures again...feeling quite inspired of late....nothing like a bit of sun to brighten the mood :)

Fire and Fences

This weeks fence Friday shot is a close up of my own fence. Some of you may remember we had a fire a few months back well this is my new fence to replace the burnt one.
Although a perfectly good fence it really doesn’t have the same aesthetic appeal as some of the wonderful cast iron and metal ones I often see on the Fence Friday group so it required a little more thought to make it stand out. The fresh wood panels are a wonderful colour so I thought it best to focus in on that with a really strong focus and dof. When I was processing it I couldn't help but convert one to mono and see what it was like...very striking but I went for the colour one for the group.

Shoes Shoes and more Shoes

Today I have posted the first of an occasional project on Shoes. I have so many so might as well put them to another good use! I still have some Glasgow shots to upload too but for now its shoes shoes and more shoes :)

Textured Museum Image

As promised here's the textured version of the shot on Flickr, its taken at the Kelvingrove museum in Glasgow. I have used the Tuesday texture from Kim Klassen The Aurora...always a pleasure to use her textures, she is so talented.

Heres the fab link to Kims website Kim Klassen Cafe

I dreamed a dream...

If you read my post on Flickr you will see I am a little philosophical today.
One day can change everything in life.

Some words from Les Miserables...

There was a time, when men were kind
And their voices were soft
And their words were inviting
There was a time, when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they turn your hope apart
As they turn your dreams to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my dreams with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'd come to me
That we would live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from the hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed

Rain, groups and other such grumblings

This weekend has been rain rain rain and I'm not feeling so good either! So lots of time indoors this weekend and back to some serious Flickring....if that’s a word!

As I have said before there seems to be general drift away from Flickr and this weekend yet another contact upped camera and left...its sad but I suppose inevitable that people will leave. There comes a time I suspect when Flickr doesn’t hold the same enjoyment and on a photography level it may feel as if they have come as far as they can on there. If you have reached a level where your photography exists outside Flickr and going well in the real world then the validation and comments from amateurs may not mean anything any more.

From my own point of view I am not trying to be a professional photographer, I am more than happy as a hobby photographer. The enjoyment is the fact it isn't my day job, there’s no pressure, no client to satisfy, no deadlines to meet and if I wake up and don't feel like doing it I'm not going to go broke from it. If on the other hand I sell a few pictures and people seem to like them then I am over the moon.

While happily wandering through Flickr I have found some great groups...there is truly a group for everything and anything on there...but “Fashionable Fishnets (non trashy)” has to be one of the best names for a group...but then there's “Think Salmon” too ha ha. You can honestly type in anything and find a group for it.

(Unfortunatly not a photo of Salmon or Fishnets) :))

Busy week and explored again

This week has been very busy with lots going on...most days its all I can do to post and run, and what do you know I got a picture into explore! It seems it slipped in when I wasn't really trying...funny how things go some times.

I have lost my mojo lately for shooting pics, things have been busy and I haven't had the time...or made the time perhaps. Flickr has been quiet too, not so many posts by my contacts either. Maybe its summer and everyone would rather be outside than at a computer.

Hope to have some Flickr time soon and going to go through my contacts and get rid of the dead wood as they say.

More from Blackpool

This week after a lovely hot few days we are back to rain! So back to processing some shots...here are a few more from Blackpool Transport Day on the promenade. I am quite pleased that I have processed these quite soon after having been, it normally takes me weeks! I still have Glasgow ones to do yet...sigh

Transport Day

Blackpool holds a transport day once a year on the promenade. It attracts classic cars, busses, american cars, motoring clubs etc and also culminates in the Blackpool Mini run. I have had many Mini's over the years and was a member of the British Mini Club for awhile. Its a grand day out and especially like this year when the sun was shining.