Anglesey 26th-29th June

Steve Lewis Workshop Day 2 27th June

Weather - Sunny, at times very hot and humid, not considered great for photography but it turned out very well.

Journey - I like to do the "pretty" route, checking out potential locations for future trips away and generally enjoying the scenery. Being in the campervan means I can take my time, I'm not worrying about being late arriving at a B&B or hotel and being higher up than when driving a car I can see over hedges too :-)

Locations - campsite Brynsiencyn, photography at Newborough, Llanddwyn Island and Beddgelert, my last night at the lovely Rynys Farm campsite.

Summary - Apart from the heat and humidity which I don't enjoy, this was a perfect trip, plenty of varied photo opportunities, good company and once again Steve Lewis was excellent as a tutor and companion. Relaxed, informative,enjoyable and productive photographically.

Conclusion - Some brutal culling of photos is required, need to implement advice given, don't be distracted by unnecessary detail when making the picture.


***** Just after taking this shot I got stuck in the thick black mud which was concealed beneath some sand. I was soon in up to my knees and stuck fast, somehow I managed to protect my camera but got completely (well almost) covered in the mud including my hands whilst trying to extricate myself. To cut a long muddy story short, I walked-?? a couple of hundred yards along the deserted beach before I saw anyone who might be able to help. Some kind people came to my rescue, took my camera, back pack and a bemused Bessie to safety and then hosed me down as I stood in the road.

At Last - My Photo Library is Organized

Its taken weeks to combine three photo libraries into one and tidy up my rather loose system of categories. It was a real chore but in many ways quite rewarding, as I discovered long forgotten and sometimes lost images from the past seven or eight years since I started using a digital camera. I think it will be fun to post some as a reminder of how digital photography has progressed. This image was taken in January 2000 at Blagdon Lake which at that time was a regular walking place.

Bessie

Bessie is now 14 years old and since Fly died she has moved up in the canine hierarchy to become my 'no.1 companion'. She accompanies me on my special photography trips and behaves impeccably which seems always to endear her to everyone. Sadly she is now quite deaf and a little jumpy at times but still enjoying life to the full. I regard her as very good for her age in most respects though a little weak on her rear end.

On Friday however I had a real wakeup call when she had a minor op to remove an epulis from her gum. Her blood test results were good so there was no reason not to give her a general anesthetic but despite only being given it for about 2 minutes her recovery was very slow indeed. 12 hours later she was still very wobbly when walking and couldn't stand for long - her back legs would just buckle beneath her. I was very fearful that this minor procedure was going to have serious consequences for her. However, yesterday she was much improved but now with very bad diarrhea and apparent associated discomfort. I gave her Diarrsanyl with several small meals of chicken and mashed potato which helped, and this morning she seems back on form. This experience showed so clearly how an older dog reacts to even very short anesthetic and definitely reinforces my view that its best avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Spring has been very different this year, it was late arriving because of the snow we had, April was warm and sunny, gently easing plants into life but May has, so far, been unseasonably cold, with strong winds at times. For this reason the bluebell season seems to have been extended with marked differences between the stages of flowering up here on the hill and down on the south side of the Mendips.

I give you todays photo - my favourite spring flower - the bluebell !!

Upton on Severn Folk Festival 20th Year

The first weekend is an annual pilgrimage to Upton for the festival. Its a lovely place to visit, the festival is friendly and so is the town. Its an opportunity to meet up with old friends and play some music.

It was good to see the town has recovered well from the floods of July 2007 although there are a few empty shops. Last year's festival was a bit subdued possibly due to uncertainty following the floods.

The were a good number of Morris sides both Border and Cotswold, sessions in the Swan and Kings Head were enjoyable but the Plough should be blacklisted for the sheer badmanners of the landlord/manager.

Four Photographers in the Rain

This is Duncan's shot of us sheltering from the rain at the end of our day on "his" beach!!! Taken using a £20 infra red remote control.

Motivation and Inspiration

Its almost a month since I last wrote something here and the longer I leave it the harder it is to get back into the swing. It's not that I've been slacking, the weather has been giving us some beautiful light and of course spring brings its own joys of new life. I've taken hundreds of photographs which all need sorting and uploading, and I've begun re-organizing my individual photo libraries into a complete one, I'm also in the early stages of a new website for my 'alternative' work.

I've made some new friends through the wonders of the internet. First the is Lovely Linda Emmans (Abledogs Group) with Megan, Benji and Devil Child Lucy, we met up so Megan could try out Fly's Buggy, it looked to be a success so I hope it will give her some happy times.

Then there is Steve Nash of selfhelpcollective.com and numerous other extremely interesting and useful websites - a former VSO volunteer this is one very special man. Check out his evolving dreadlocks and their subsequent demise here and there is more. I first came across Steve in the early days of howipromotemywebsite.com and then forgot (How could I !!!!) his name. This is a real person actually making a living from the internet, something I have always wanted to do but never had the committment or ability to do so I really admire him. However, not only is he a clever guy, he is funny, facsinating and a cross between motivational and inspirational.

Thank you also to Dan Jasker who helped me understand how to create the navigation for my new website using FreewayPro 5. It will be a while before the new site goes public though :-)

On the photography side of life, Sunday 27th was spent at 'Duncan's Beach', great fun with Christina, Mari and Duncan, some amazing rocks and a bit of an adventure. The object of the day was to try and achieve some successful abstract images, a real challenge for us 'landscape lovers'.