Longrider

It is a truism that people often do not explore their local area. So, with my sister and nephew staying with us while in France, we took the opportunity to do a little grockling* ourselves and show them about. The Grotte De Labeil is but a few minutes drive from our house so we decided it was worth a visit. This part of the Languedoc is riddled with natural caves bristling with stalagmites and stalactites. The mineral deposits in the rocks contribute to colourful formations. Many of these are open to visitors for a few euros and are worth the trip. We were also plied with cheese and wine after the tour - and, naturally, we were tempted by a nice little Roquefort…

Tomorrow, it’s back to the plumbing…

* Grockling: West Country slang for sightseeing. Not usually a complimentary term.

I made a start on the garden today. The grass was close to five feet tall in places and needed cutting. Whizzing round with a motor mower is a therapeutic activity. Once finished, a long cold drink in the shade of the walnut tree feels well deserved. It is then that I can take the time to quietly observe the teeming life around me in the trees, bushes and now well trimmed grass. It was while sipping my drink that I noticed this character.

Not sure I’d want to mess with her…

To mark the launch of the BBC’s Photographer of the Year competition, John Levy, editor of foto8.com asks; do digital cameras make us better photographers?

He makes some interesting points - that with the ease of editing and selecting the better, stronger pictures from a photo set, the whole set becomes that much stronger. And he is quite right when he says

“In this new mindset of “cheaper by the pound” shooting a greater quantity does not ensure greater quality. “

The camera is only as good as the photographer. The skills needed in conventional photography remain; that of composition, the “eye” for a picture, correct exposure, focus, depth of field, keeping the damn thing still during the exposure. Digital photography solves none of these things. What it does do is provide instant feedback - you get to see immediately if the picture worked or not. And, hopefully an opportunity to have another stab at getting the picture while still on site.

He also makes a point that hadn’t occurred to me:

“My main warning about digital photography concerns the ease with which image files can be deleted. Deleting files presents a fundamental difference between the old analogue archives and the modern digital ones.”

He goes on to say that the mediocre rejects provide context. Interestingly, I never delete the rejected images. They are all stored. This is simply because I might want to go back to them at some point and change them. Here is an example; last year I was at Rhossilli bay taking a mixture of landscape and rock pool shots. As I framed this picture of the cliffs, a seagull flew into the frame and made the difference between a reasonable picture and a good one. When I had that image on the computer screen, I was disappointed. In attempting to focus on the bird, the cliff edges were too soft - the whole image lacked punch. Yet the lighting and overall composition was worth saving. I used my editing software to change the image. I put in pencil lines to sharpen the edges of the cliff face and soften further the sea and the edges of the frame. The result was better than my original premise - and different. I would never have attempted this with conventional photography - the picture would have been discarded.

Does having a digital camera make me a better photographer? No. It does give me more scope for my creativity, though.

I’ve been out photographing the cats again.

Some of my recent pictures. Photography has been a lifelong passion. Someday I’ll get around to scanning in some of my older pictures. As you see, a significant proportion involve cats…

Sometimes you just know when you’ve taken a picture that is a little bit special. It might be the subject matter or the lighting, composition or a subtle combination of all of them. I spend much of my time photographing animals. I have a special affinity with cats and enjoy following them around just capturing them doing what they do (which is frequently nothing much).

This morning I was doing just that when this picture filled the frame. I had been trying to get a profile shot of Nefertiti when Thutmose wandered through the picture. I waited until he was no longer obscuring my viewfinder when both he and Nefertiti looked round at the same moment. Nefertiti is sharply in focus concentrating on whatever it was that captured their attention for that precise moment. Thutmose is out of focus in the background but his pose mirrors the main subject so the the eye follows both cats’ gaze.

I love this picture, the composition is just right and I couldn’t have planned it if I tried. Cats doing what cats do best…just looking.

I’ve been trying to get a picture like this for a long time. There’s something comical about the way cats split their heads wide open when they yawn. But just try getting them to do it when you’ve got a camera handy. Well, it looks like we’ve finally cracked it. My wife, Frankie stands out of shot and yawns loudly at the subject (in this case, Ptolemy) and right on cue - a head splitting fang filled yawn. Cracking.