Photography: Black Country canals
There’s a narrow-boat gathering and a beer festival next weekend so I was on the canal on Sunday, getting in some practice. Here you can see the narrow-boat has just come out of the lock near the weighing station. (more…)
Photography: Different directions
The sun came out a little last week and I took advantage of that to take this photo of the river. I’m shooting in a westerly direction, the sun is southerly and to my left. You can see it shining through the trees and giving an interesting effect. (more…)
Photography: Images to treasure
Imagine medieval knights trying to find their way through the English countryside. They might follow the river. This photo might not look too much like the river, I think it been made deeper here and canalised. I can now reveal that beyond those trees, ‘treasure’ was found once! (more…)
The Review: Spring – day 3
Spring is finally here and we have got the budget out of the way. What a damp squid that was. It seems our national debt as a percentage of GDP is higher than ever and still climbing. (more…)
Black Country photography
It makes it a little more interesting to add words to the pictures. This is the Midland Metro coming into the station. They have a new tram that I want to photograph soon, I’m told it’s longer. I hope it’s a lighter colour too… (more…)
The Review: The end of winter
It’s the Spring Equinox on Thursday; winter is finally ending. Some weather forecasters are saying we will have a heat wave again like last summer. The ones on the BBC have said Spring starts on the 1st of March; so we’ll ignore them… (more…)
Photography: Black Country landscapes
It’s still winter for another 9 days in, but the sun is coming out a little now. The light for this shot was quite good, but the sun was low in the sky and so lots of shadow. It’s the canal and shows two 18th century bridges. (more…)
Photography: Getting a message across
Today I’ve tried to get a message across with an image and with words. This is a picture of the bridleway where it goes under a road bridge in Sandwell Valley Country Park. (more…)
The review: Too Black Country?
I’ve had an interesting week. I walked around the local market on Tuesday and took a few photographs. It wasn’t a good week on the stock market, the banks let the market down. Of course many other businesses depend upon banking and so confidence in the whole economy falls. Maybe, they should pay bankers a bonus when the bank actually makes a profit, rather than double pay on a loss? (more…)
Photography: Cropping pictures
I took this photo on Sunday. I’ve added a little contrast. I was disappointed, the light wasn’t as good as I expected. I also took my tripod and couldn’t find anywhere level to use it! My Nikon doesn’t zoom in very much compared to some of the bridge cameras. My Fuji is a few years old and even that has a 10X zoom. (more…)
The Review: A week of floods
We haven’t been affected much by the floods here in the Black Country. The River Tame flooded a little and I managed to get a photo. It probably flooded a bit in Sandwell Valley Countryside Park too, but the excess would go into Forge Mill Lake. Maybe they need a balancing lake on the Thames?
Photography: Preventing blur
Today’s photo isn’t particularly interesting, but there is a lot of detail. You can see the fine branches of the trees and the ripples on the water. The image could have been much sharper, but I managed an interesting effect with a filter. I also kept the camera very still and used quite a fast speed. (more…)
The Review: Appreciating the countryside
The photo today is one I took in Sandwell Valley last Sunday. The car park at Forge Mill Farm was quite full. Many of the visitors who visit the farm and lake aren’t British. Perhaps they appreciate the English Countryside more? (more…)
Photography: Sandwell Valley
The Black Country isn’t known for beautiful landscapes, but I only had to go about a mile and a half to take this photo. I added a border and title with PhotoScape. The winter colours were interesting with the sun quite low. (more…)
Art in Walsall?
I photographed a few of the exhibits in the local art gallery on Sunday. I think this exhibit probably has a cultural significance to a minority of people. Is it art? Does it belong in an art gallery? The gallery serves the people of Walsall.
The Review: Another week of writing and photography
Today’s photo was taken on the Walsall canal at Ocker Hill. I do try to show the Black Country in a good light; that’s when I get a good light to take the photo. This is one of the pictures I’ve entered for the waterways calendar competition.
The weekend review
I took today’s photo in bright sunshine, unfortunately I don’t have that picture any more. The original was wiped from my computer. I only have this smaller one now, which isn’t suitable for a calendar. I’m hoping the sun will come out this weekend so I can try to get the same shot again. We do have some nice places in the Black Country, it’s a shame they’re not always appreciated. (more…)
Photography: Competition Photos
I took this photo yesterday when the sun came out. It looked like a great shot, but it was into the sun. The tow path was damaged and uneven and I was on a very narrow part next to the water. You need to be careful in such locations! (more…)
Living life in a balanced way
The present and the future are connected to the past and partly determined by it. If we have prepared for the future, we will have a better future. That might mean guarding against the bad things that might happen in the future by driving carefully, taking precautions and saving for the future. We just have to find a good balance between our present and future needs, so we can enjoy both. (more…)
Photography: Trams and trains
I took this photo on my last outing, the weather since has been terrible. The camera speed was too slow for a fast train, but I like the effect. The train and the station in the same frame! (more…)
Britain needs a little luck
Another week ends as a New Year begins. We are still at the beginning of winter in Britain and some parts of the country are on severe weather warnings; there has already been flooding. We need a little luck with the weather now, less rain and we need the rest of the winter to be mild. No snow like last winter please! (more…)
Photography: Slow speeds.
At first glance this photo looks good, but it’s slightly blurred. It would have been good if I could have held the camera perfectly still. The other option is to use a faster shutter speed. You can see the frost on the tow path of the canal, so I was shivering a little! A faster shutter speed was the obvious answer. (more…)
The Christmas review
Are you thinking about making New Year resolutions? Setting goals in life, whether it’s to lose weight and keep fit or something even more challenging can be useful. Try writing some things down and thinking about what is achievable and how you might achieve it. I have a few goals that include more photography. (more…)
Photography: Calendar photos
I need some photos for a waterways calendar competition, so I was out in the freezing cold on Sunday taking photos of the canals. The sun came out a little for this one, but there were still dark clouds. It’s a nice picture, but is it good enough for a calendar? I would have preferred more light and camera shake is also a problem when it’s that cold. You shiver! (more…)
