For many of us the combination of red, white and blue symbolises freedom, unity, and patriotism because of its use in our flags. But individually they have their own meanings. Red is the colour of passion and energy, although it is also a warning sign. Blue is a much calmer colour, indicating peace and stability. And white brings a sense of calm, hope and simplicity.
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Even when the sun was absent during our recent visit to Broadstairs, we found enough colour around the town to brighten even the dullest day. The traditional seaside beach huts are the source of much of this colour.
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Let’s have a few days by the sea this summer, we said. Let’s enjoy walks on the beach and cliffs, ice creams in the sunshine, maybe even paddle in the sea! But of course the British weather had other ideas. So while we did enjoy our few days away this week, and did indeed go for walks and eat ice cream, sunshine was in very short supply.
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WIt took its time, but towards the end of June summer finally arrived in London. Overnight it seemed we went from cool and dull early spring days to a heatwave, with temperatures briefly touching thirty degrees Celsius. But throughout the month, whatever the weather, our gardens sprang into life and there were flowers everywhere!
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All of us have places where we feel at home and are comfortable. Places where we can find all the necessities of life. And animals are no different. A sloth must live in a tree, a whale in the sea, a lion on the plains of Africa, a bee where there are flowers.
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Irving Penn defined a good photograph as, 'one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it'. If I can do even one of those three things with an image, I’m satisfied!
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If like me you live in the Northern Hemisphere, there’s something magical in discovering the world of the Southern. Africa in particular seems to draw us to explore, with its vast plains and forests, still-wild spaces, fascinating animals and very different cultures. Maybe too there’s a lingering romantic sense of the continent as an unknown frontier to be opened up, despite the somewhat negative associations attached to our historic explorations there.
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Shapes and lines are important elements in photographic composition, but how often do we stop to consider them? I think I am more aware of lines than I am of shapes, to be honest. I look for leading lines and for dynamic diagonals in particular, but I’m less likely to look for specific shapes.
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There is something rather haunting about standing on a spot occupied by people millennia ago. Stone circles such as that of Stonehenge, the Treasury and other tombs of Petra, the pyramids and temples of Egypt …. Sardinia too offers just such an experience, or rather, 7,000 of them!
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Some people are passionate that black and white is the only true medium for photography, others that a photo without colour is lacking in something. I’m inclined to take a middle stance, as I believe that both have their merits, depending on a number of factors. Subject matter of course, but also time of day, lighting, composition and, perhaps most important, what story you want to tell.
