Looking forward to Spring?
Retailers always have another way to get us to part with our money. The latest one seems to be ‘pay-day deals’. I wonder how they know when we’ve been paid. It all sounds very Orwellian to me. (more…)
Focus keyword for photography post
Focus keyword
Today I’m going to look at how to do a photo blog, because many of my readers are bloggers! I’ve started with an image from my media library. This saves uploading another one and saves server space too. There is no alt text yet, I want that to match my focus keyword for SEO (search engines). (more…)
The Review: autumn events
We are half way through Autumn and winter is fast approaching. I managed to go to one event this week and take photographs. The bonfire and fireworks event caused traffic chaos so I didn’t get there, but at least I kept writing! (more…)
The review: I want to be different
The reason for today’s picture is that I want to take the same picture this weekend to see the changes in autumn. I want to try different camera settings too. I don’t have grand ambitions, I write, take photos and see things differently. (more…)
The Review: first day of summer
It’s the first day of summer here in the UK and we can now enjoy three months of mowing the lawn, washing the car and trying to get a bit of a tan. People will be getting their summer clothes out; the shorts and the tee shirts. There will be some sights out there to photograph in the coming weeks! (more…)
Photography: Black Country tradition
Horse drawn carriages are a tradition in the Black Country and so when I saw a meeting on Sunday, I took some pictures. I had the camera (Nikon D3200) on the sports setting, because the light changes quickly and I was shooting in lots of different directions. You can see the shadows in this picture and it was still early. (more…)
Neodigital Art: More artistic edits
This image is quite artistic, but not very complicated to create. I have bought a new speedlight (flash) and so I tried it out to see if it would provide some fill in light on these leaves. It wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped for, but I made the image lighter and added a frame and it looks okay now. (more…)
Easter Sunday reflections
I’ve visited a few art galleries in the past year. This is our Victorian art gallery and museum here in Wednesbury. I’ve also visited Bilston Craft Gallery where I was impressed with an exhibition there. I was less impressed when I went to West Bromwich and went in the ‘Public’ with it’s pink neon lights. (more…)
The Review: Easter
Easter means different things to different people these days. To many the religious significance is still important, but to others religion is in disrepute. The Prime Minister claiming divine guidance hasn’t helped. (more…)
The Sunday Ramble: Creativity
My photo today is a good one of flying geese. I like the background colours too. The sun came out a little and although it was a cloudy sky, it gave quite good light. I like the Spring colours. Many photographers would wait for hours for a shot like this. I just pointed my camera and got lucky. There might have been a little skill… (more…)
The Review: heritage
Britain has a diverse heritage. We have culture, a industrial history, a history of commerce and of incredible architecture. This wealth is passed down from one generation to the next. Except that not everyone shared in that inherited wealth. (more…)
The Review: Setting up a blog
The Black Country isn’t the prettiest place to live or take photographs, but I manage and get a lot of interest in my photography. So if you’re blogging adding pictures to your words, can get the message to your readers across a lot more effectively and you don’t really need fancy equipment for online photographs. (more…)
Clocks forward this weekend and a full moon…
You are probably wondering why today’s photo is of a electronic fly catcher. I decided to photograph the things I see, with my phone; just one a day. The patterns in this photo are interesting and you also get a glimpse of my garden. (more…)
Touching the world via Skype and social media
I use Skype and social media a lot. I get to know people in exotic places and chat via Skype and we share snippets of our lives through the social media of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I think it gives me a broader outlook on life; a valuable diversity… (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…)
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…)
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…)
The Review: Subjects for bloggers
Today’s picture is the Birmingham canal at Tipton. I’m hoping this photo will win the waterways calendar competition. Tipton isn’t the prettiest place in the country. In fact the whole of the Black Country can’t be described as pretty. I do take some good photos though, I just wish the planners could see views like this. (more…)
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.
Will this sunshine last all day?
It’s Sunday and so my thoughts today are with photography. I can see a blue sky and sunshine! I have to do some shopping though, I’m running out of food and essentials. I have a busy week planned too, so it would help if I could get the shopping out of the way. I tried yesterday but there was a queue of cars not only trying to get into the supermarket car park, but trying to get out too. (more…)
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…)
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…)
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…)
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