At Last a Summer's Day

This afternoon was an absolute joy, I spent 3 hours walking on Blackdown - no waterproofs, no sweatshirt, warm sun all the way, still in a tee shirt at 6.30pm.

I tried out my new polarizer, this being the first day since I received that there has been enough sun for me to really appreciate the effect. Its crazy to think that I have gone all these years without ever using one, however I'm sure it will get some good use now. Clouds really pop out so their real beauty can be seen. Which leads me to the Cloud Appreciation Society........

Its a while since I visited the CAS website, I couldn't bring myself to look at the stunning images of clouds from all around the world while our skies were so dismally dull. My walk this afternoon inspired me to keep looking up at the wonderful Cirrus formations, my favorite being the image below, delicate layer upon layer so perfectly placed, so high up that I had to sit down and lean back to take the picture, otherwise I would have toppled over.








A real gem is the first CD to be released by The Cloud Appreciation Society it has no songs on it. It has no melodies, no lyrics, no instruments – just beautiful recordings of the most under appreciated sound in the whole of nature: the sound of rain.
You can listen to a demo from the CD here - I just love it !!!!

Counting Down the Days ........

Its only 10 days to the start of my holiday trip to the Lake District, I'm desperate to get out and try my new Lee filters but the rain just keeps falling. Its not that I'm a wimp but everywhere is just so soggy, and today the fog and rain were here all day.
This picture was taken a year ago, just to remind me that the sun did shine, and it didn't rain all the time.

Someone's Son .......

I was shopping in Wells yesterday afternoon, and as I came out of a store in the High Street I saw a couple of homeless people I know huddled in the doorway of an empty shop facing me. A dog was curled up beside them and they were deep in conversation, instinctively I knew something was wrong and went across to talk with them.

It was Luke a young lad I've seen around Wells for a while now, usually drumming in a doorway hoping for some coins to fall into his hat, he had been attacked during the previous night while he was sleeping. His back and ribs were really badly bruised as he had lain himself over his dear old dog Ninja to protect her from the attack. He had also lost his drum a couple of days earlier and was feeling pretty down. We had a few words and I remembered there was a drum in our loft which he might like to play.

He has a family somewhere, people who care about him and love him but nowhere to go and rest up for a few days while his aching body recovers. My heart aches for him and others like him.

Autumn ?

Since I last wrote anything here it seems as though the seasons have fast forwarded from summer straight into autumn, the rain that has dominated our summer weather now has a coolness about it and the winds are blustery.

Several things have happened in the past 10 days that simply need recording so they are not lost in my mind in the future. Working backwards :-

Tony Jarrett of Bat Products Wells, who lived at Priddy died on Sunday 31st August @ 12.40 am. I knew he was terminally ill and went to the shop today to see if he was there, just for a chat. There were flowers and candles outside, and a helmet. The caving world and many on Mendip are very, very sad.





Dave Freeborn, of the Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team who found my nephew Jim Cullen on 19th January 1994, after a fall from Helvellyn, contacted me - I had been trying to make contact in preparation for my forthcoming visit to the area. Anyway he is going to take me to the place where Jim was found on 20th September at 9.30 am. Jim died as he was being transported to hospital in a helicopter, apparently from internal bleeding - he was a Jehova's Witness.

While walking on Blackdown I met David Parfitt and Martin'Benny'Bentham, (no website) who were sitting in some bushes behind a wall with paints and easels under huge umbrellas to shelter them from the rain. Benny is a friend and I'm privileged to have some of his work. I've long admired David's work but it is beyond my budget sadly. It was really interesting to see what they were creating on a dull and dismal day with totally flat light - a complete killer for landscape photography. Actually it was quite inspirational and encouraged me to do some wet weather photography.

At vast expense I ordered a filter kit from Lee Filters - Oh my this will take some getting used too !

Eventually Charlie Waite and I managed to speak on the phone after several days of leaving messages. He was so helpful with advice about filters, tripod etc but mostly we talked about dogs and the Blue Cross and will take this further when we are in the Lake District. I am so looking forward to the holiday, especially since speaking with Charlie, I'm sure it is going to be a great inspiration and learning process as well as great fun.

TGIF

This has been such a busy week, its taken quite a while sorting and uploading pictures from the Fair to the secure area of my website but its almost done and I'm preparing a selection to illustrate this year right now.
Done at last - Priddy Fair 2008 photos are HERE
Each year I take photographs which are intended to simply illustrate the few days before the Fair, some of the people I have got to know over the years who ask for their photographs to be taken, and the actual day of the Fair. Please look back at earlier years to see how things have changed in just the 10 years covered on the website. This year many familiar faces were missing and generally it felt that it had lost its spark. The Fair committee have worked really hard to make it safe, something that was of major concern to some people, and to return it to a more traditional event. It just didn't quite work for me this year.

Another Year - Another Fair

It seems today, the 658th (I think) Priddy Sheep Fair, has passed off successfully and without any major incident, to the delight of both the police and the Fair committee. My feelings about it are somewhat different mainly because of the different perspective I'm looking at things from - the photographic viewpoint.

Trotting Ponies













This was the absolute highlight of the Fair for me this year. As usual there were quite a number of Travelers camped at Splotts with their ponies and Sulkies. Its always been a feature that the ponies would be raced along the road in the evening when there is less traffic, I can sometimes hear their hooves clattering from my home and can't resist going out to find them and watch.
noun ( pl. sulkies)
a light two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for one person, used chiefly in harness racing.

Often the evening light is so dim that its impossible to photograph them but it takes nothing away from the excitement. This year was the best ever thanks to Brian, his son Buddy and grandson Joey, and of course their spirited and beautiful ponies.

More to follow .........

Priddy Fair 2008

The Fair will be held on 20th August this year and once again the committee have been hard at work to make it a really good day with minimum problems.

A PLEA TO ALL TRAVELERS VISITING THE FAIR
As usual I will be taking photographs before and after the Fair. You are really important to the photographic record, without you it would not be a true representation. Many of you already know me and have been kind and helpful in the past - I am asking for your help to continue making my record of the Fair. PLEASE let me photograph you, I don't make any money from this, the pictures are for own personal project - not the papers, etc.