Markets #GE2015
I photographed the local market in Wednesbury this week. Do you suppose all the goods on sale were British? Me neither. We live in a global market now and everything seems to have a price. I have been helping students with their writing and one has graduated and got a job in Shanghai, she asked my advice this week. (more…)
Tipton Narrow-boat gathering #photography
It was Easter weekend and there was a narrow-boat gathering and although the weather was cloudy I got some decent shots. I took this shot on a landscape ‘scene’ setting, but then switched to manual for this better shot. (more…)
Offers and bargains #thrifty
The Aldi super-six this week are parsnips (600g), leeks (500g), snack pack grapes (170g), mangetout (150g), carrots (1.2kg) and white potatoes (2.5kg). They are all 49p each. Those offers finish on the 8th of April. (more…)
Creating a Black Country image #photography
I’ve been using pictures of daffodils lately, to signify spring in my recent articles. I’m not sure where the quote ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ comes from. Some say it comes from a Chinese proverb. It does sound Chinese… (more…)
Photography: creating illusions
I took this photo in January out of the window. I was warm, but these guys on the horse and cart were freezing. I’ve edited it by converting the colour picture to sepia and I blurred the background a little more to highlight the subject. (more…)
Tipton Canal and Community Festival in pictures
I photographed the Tipton Canal and Community Festival on Sunday. It’s organised by the Tipton Community Association and features stalls and a fun fair as well as the colourful narrow-boats. The weather was quite cloudy, as usual… (more…)
The Sunday Ramble: referendum
I have some new readers today, so I thought I would remind everybody that I live in the heart of England, here in the Black Country. I have some readers overseas and so I should explain that the United Kingdom consists of 4 parts. (more…)
The Sunday Ramble: Enjoying summer
It nice and sunny in the Black Country this morning. It’s early yet though, the forecast is for cloud this afternoon. We have to enjoy summer now, it passes so quickly we can’t waste a minute of it. I shall be out taking photos again today. (more…)
Photography: weekend pictures
The weather was a little better last weekend so I managed to get a few unusual pictures. These steps lead to the top of an aqueduct. The elderberry trees make it more interesting and natural. The canal goes over the road quite high up. (more…)
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 and Art: colours
I lost a few of my pictures when my computer crashed, so I don’t have so many new pictures to choose from this week. The weather hasn’t been very good, but I have managed to take a few autumn photos. I have used the gradient border to make some photos look more artistic. Here I’ve used it to obscure some houses on the right of the picture, you can use that gradient on either side.
Events | Something to do
There are events all over the UK today as part of heritage open days. Churches and museums will be opening to the public and historic houses that aren’t usually open. The weather doesn’t seem great, but I might see how it goes and find somewhere local to go. The Oak House at West Bromwich is a good choice.
Black Country Art
I like photographing derelict buildings and Victorian buildings. This is in red and blue brick and is a pump house on the canal in Tipton. The half marathon ran past here on Saturday. It seems a shame to let it decay like this.
The Black Country Season
The London Season
It’s all go in London, after the excitement of the Queen’s official birthday. People turned out to watch the trooping of the colour and waved their flags and took up the customary grovelling positions. Some of them were hoping that, if they sucked up enough, they would get a gong in the birthday honours list. We have a season here in the Black Country. Last night the London set, went to the Hampton Court Palace Festival to partake in champagne and canapés, be entertained by the likes of Jools Holland and end the evening with a really, really expensive firework display. Up Tipton there was bingo and karaoke. The Tipton set celebrated with Banks mild and prawn cocktail crisps. Entertainment was by an Elvis lookalike from Prince’s End. (more…)
Neodigital Art | Transport
Yes, I have been out taking transport photos. This is of two locks on the canal that are side by side and I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere else. These would have been built in the 18th or 19th century. (more…)
The Black Country–be proud of it
None so blind
There is none so blind than those do do not wish to see. Local councils spend money trying to attract tourism to the Black Country and don’t see the attractions that we already have or to be more accurate don’t appreciate. Regular readers will recognise the pool in the photo as the ‘Milky Pool’. I took this photo yesterday afternoon, when the weather changed to unusually warm and sunny for February. (more…)
Neodigital Art | Winter locations
Art or photography?
I regard photography as a branch of art. Just snapping a picture isn’t art but if you put some effort into producing something aesthetically pleasing, then I think it’s art. I don’t edit a great deal and wouldn’t consider making the sky in my photograph blue. I think the trees looking like silhouettes against the sky and the rather dull colours tells you this is a winter photograph. It was in fact freezing! It was a nice church though, a shame there was no where else to park my car. (more…)
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