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a quiet moment to end the week My Friday Image with  the words "Hope Means Hoping Even When Things Seem Hopeless' to Encourage Your Weekend Waiting for the mist over lift. I came across these words "Hope Means Hoping Even When Things Seem Hopeless" earlier this week, and thought they matched well with the image near Pugs Hole in Wiltshire, UK. There are times when life feels like this landscape. The way ahead is there, but you cannot properly see it. The wider shape of thing

A few days ago I took a number of photographs of the same small clump of flowers, initially from the same angle, to share with you the effect of choosing the point of focus by selecting a different flower to focus on, and how that alters both the whole image and our mental response to it.

There are times when I have become convinced that certain photographs simply do not wish to be taken.

A couple of weeks ago i was outside with my new puppy doing the sort of things puppy's do to profusion in the early morning. The outside table had been gently painted with a fine layer of frost, and had picked out the features of the grain to a qute remarkable degree, highlighted by the low angle of the sunshine..

I noticed this piece of broken glass on the beach yesterday morning and was taken with the whole idea that despite being essentially broken and of no value for it's original purpose, it had been smoothed by it's path backwards and forwards across the beach over many tides; and in doing so had developed a beauty of it's own for those who looked and saw, and appreciated the way the light changed it.

Seek to remove the horizon - it does things to the brain when you do. You Start to look for shape, and balance. Rowers and kayakers stop being athletes for a moment. They become lines, spacing and rhythm across the water.

Notice details of trees, moss on logs, or rocks, the way a wave surges back leaving a mist in the air. The light that shines through a hole in the cloud in the distance. Instead of concentrating only on the subject, notice the space between you and it. Notice how distance changes things. Contrast softens. Colours fade. Shapes simplify - either blending, or becoming more defined.

We were high in the Pyrenees, having risen early to avoid the heat as we climbed towards the col, leaving Spain behind us. In the distance stood Vignemale, the highest peak in the French Pyrenees at 3,298 metres. I found myself transfixed. Ridge after ridge dissolved gently into blue. It is an effect I have always loved.

With Image Two, I've changed the angle slightly, and cropped in enough to exclude the candlestick. The brain is now much more focused than previously, when it may have been rather distracted. Because of the background I didn't lower the camera angle, or there would have been too much extraneous junk in the background, and the artificial light, in the form of a spotlight, would have caught the surface of the lens and caused undesirable internal reflections leading to flare

Most of us were taught we have five senses. In reality, we also have senses that help us read our body, movement, and internal state. Sunrise and sunset are perfect moments to practise them, because the world slows down enough for you to feel what is usually drowned out.

I sent notification to my subscribers yesterday of a new Level within my Simple Photography Tips. If you've not read it, perahps have a look and see if it's of interest.

The weather is broken cloud, the sun peeking through, then hiding again. You’re in the mood for looking, for noticing. Seeking something quirky in this seemingly rather featureless wintery lane, as a diversion from Christmas 'festivities' perhaps. You might start to notice a few things; the way the recycled road material has formed a pebbly surface, with shapes and shadows. The trees either side of you, and the way their trunks sit in parallel up to the sky.

a quiet moment to end the week with inspiration through Photography and Words “Light doesn't ask permission — it just transforms.” Friday photo inspiration ;“A quiet reminder that the overall you is more important than the tiny details - don’t get too close.” “Nymphe couchée” (Reclining Nymph) by Léon-Ernest Drivier, Palais de Tokyo / Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris Not a simple photography tip as such, but more like inspiration through Photography and Words—a mix of visual with

The overall conclusion I'd like you to take with you is that there is very rarely a day devoid of photographic opportunity - you just need to stop and settle, and maybe imagine your'e a modern-day Monet, looking for the light to guide you.

Out for a few minutes walk before meeting Favourite Middle Daughter for a before work coffee from Roc and Floss at the market. I was able to capture a short video demonstrating how to use existing objects to cut the lens flare that occurs from bright light entering the lens at the wrong angle - this is usually sunlight, but can also be streetlights etc.

Not a simple photography tip as such, but more like life inspiration through Photography and Words—a mix of visual with sometimes meaningful reflections. Do you know anyone for whom this is true, perhaps you? Let me know, I'd be interested.

There's something hugely healing about walking through woodland, slowly, maybe with a camera in your grimy mitt. Your slower than normal pace allows you to notice the way light falls across a path, or is excluded by a tree blocking the light to form a shadow.

There are so many items around like this, with each of them, if you look long enough, and change your angle of view to allow the light to play differently, you will see a multitude of inviting images, pictures that would look great as modern art on your wall. Let's go through of the twenty or so that I took. Each image records something different, patterns of texture, contrasts of pattern, light playing on different surfaces in different ways.

1. Fog hides distractions. Third picture, misty day is like you've slung a big sheet from a couple of helicopters; background gone, eye focuses on the tree. 2. Try black and white I've turned both images to monochrome, you can see that the colour complicates the image too much. 3. Use roads as leading lines Oh, and the road running from either sides, makes visual use of the interesting thirds, and takes the eye straight towards the subject.

This blog is my first attempt at a video where I share a few thoughts on how you can get really stunning butterfly pictures here in the Uk. Earlier in the year, I spoke of the need for long lens or long and macro. This was based on the 'flittiness' of these beauties in the height of summer when they have much more energy due to the heat and sun, As summer comes to the end, there is a late hatch, in this case, of Red Admirals Vanessa atalanta.