What we in the UK call autumn is known for the most part as fall in the US. On our recent California trip we made sure to comment on the ‘fall colours’! But why the difference?
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This morning I was transfixed by the sight and sound of the waves crashing against rocks off Laguna Point, just north of Fort Bragg in northern California. Trying to capture the sight I stood waiting for a bigger wave to create more spray, I remembered being told as a child that the seventh wave is always bigger than the others.
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The discipline of selecting just seven images for my various #SevenforSeptember Squares posts has been good for me, as I know I sometimes go over the top and present more shots than is really necessary! However, that restriction to seven shots has been the only acknowledgement of the ‘sevens’ theme – until now!
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Orange is an attention-grabbing colour, shouting ‘look at me’! You can’t easily ignore an orange. It suggests optimism, vitality, happiness, warmth. For many it is a spiritual colour, worn for instance by the Buddhist monks of Southeast Asia. But it can be aggressive and harsh at times, and overpowering if used in large amounts.
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One of the things I most enjoy when exploring a city is photographing the little details of the buildings. Carved stone, wrought iron, weathered wood; all these things add to the picture of the city streets I hope to create. Doors especially are full of such details: knockers, handles, decorative features.
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It’s not Christmas and I don’t have seven swans a-swimming, only the lone one above photographed in a local park during a Covid lockdown. But I do have seven other birds from various locations across the world. I hope you enjoy this ornithological world tour!
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As a child I loved to see butterflies in our garden of course. But I was also fascinated by caterpillars, daddy-long-legs, even worms! Today I see insects and other bugs mainly as potential subjects for photography. I love to stalk bees as they move from flower to flower.
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Who doesn’t love flowers? Very few people indeed, I am sure. And by extension, who doesn’t love a flower photo? Of course, no photo can fully convey the beauty, and no scents were ever appreciated through an image.
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I can remember a time when wildflowers were always just that, wild. They grew randomly in places where they had self-seeded, in hedgerows or on verges. In towns they were too often seen as weeds, not part of the gardener’s plans. If we were lucky they might pop up in odd corners of our urban concrete jungles, softening them and giving us a lift whenever we spotted them.
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As a photographer I’m often fascinated by the way my camera allows me to capture a single moment in another person’s life. Especially so when I travel, when I’m very conscious that my out of the ordinary adventure overlaps for that moment with their everyday. They are getting on with their regular lives while I am taking time out of mine.
