Tanning Centre

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a northern town, Blackpool, candid, coast, colour photography, northwest, spraytan, street, street photography, summer, sunbeds, sunshine, The Daily Post, the daily post photography

Spotted this lady seeking the sun outside her place of business …there was no need for salon spray tans or sunbeds in Blackpool yesterday, the sun shone and as the tide went out the beach filled with children enjoying the last weekend of the summer holidays.

The Letter Box

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Baci Perugina, Bersano Barolo Wine, colour photography, family, Italia, letter box, letters, love letters, love notes, love poems, memories, photography, romance, scandal, writings

Had forgotten all about this box of old letters…about 45 years worth of letters, cards and telegrams…some from family when I first left home to study and work in theater, others from friends from all over the world..many of whom I still keep in touch with though others have since died so the letters and cards are all the more precious. At the bottom of the box was happy to find a bundle of love letters tied together with string. There are little notes on the back of envelopes, scribbled love poems on cards and train tickets, others long 3 or 4 page missives, some written in pencil others in Biro or colored crayon and some in fountain pen…and hundreds of Baci Perugina wrappers, little Italian love notes written on silky transparent paper.. As I sat in the garden reading these lovely letters I wondered to myself what will the kids and grand kids say when I die and they get to read all the saucy secrets of Mamma and Papa’…maybe I should burn the letters now? No… will leave them in the box, put the ‘Letter Box’ back on top of the wardrobe and leave all our scandalous secrets for the kids to discover!

decorating …and the space where the picture was

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A Widow for One Year, decorating, empty frames, friends and familiy, John Irving, memories, old photographs, paint, photographs, photography, picture hooks, postaday, The Daily Post

I have been helping a friend to decorate, not my favorite pastime as would much rather been on the streets shooting the unsuspecting and unusual, but am a firm believer in pay it forward and so I thought would lend a hand. Was there early morning to empty bookcases and shelves and move furniture, we tackled all the heavy jobs covering the lovely table and vintage furniture with dust covers. The last thing to do was take the framed photographs of family and friends down from the walls………....what a strange feeling to see the empty place where the memories had once hung, I was reminded of John Irving’s novel ‘A Widow for One Year’ and had to stop all thoughts of paint and masking tape to root in my bag to find my camera. The painting will be finished tomorrow and we’ll print and frame new images for the wall but the shadows of the space where the picture was will stay in my mind now even though I know next year there will be new shadows and marks made from new memories.

Tate Modern & reading

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books, bookshops, brickwork, colour photography, iPad, Kindle, London, Panasonic lumix, people, reading, street, street photography, The Daily Post, The Tate Modern

A recent trip to London saw me taking hundreds of photographs of tourist spots, works of art and all the usual stuff one shoots when in our beautiful capital but these two images are among my favorites mainly because they’re taken at The Tate Modern.. this first one because it shows that book shops will always have customers even though we can now read anything and everything on kindle and iPad....and this second one cause it shows that reading is still one of the nations favorite pastimes…and ’cause I love the brickwork behind her.  

 

drying sheets and shadows

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bushes, crank up, f18 grain, garden, nature, oriental, Panasonic lumix, photography, plants, postaday, shadows, stop down, sunlight, The Daily Post

Making the most of these last warm days before we are plunged into dark damp autumn I sat in my garden this afternoon reading and noticed the shadows of plants and shrubs on the sheet drying in the sunshine. I spent the next 30 minutes lying on the grass muttering to myself, to the wind and the sheet, cajoling the wind to blow in the right direction and the sheet to billow towards the bushes so I could capture the shadows. I could see all this in my mind’s eye…imagining gusts of wind lifting snowy white sheets and me capturing romantic oriental type shadows on the crisp linen. The truth however is completely different and much more difficult than I initially thought…after half an hour messing about and getting blur and washed out images I cranked up the shutter speed to 1/4000 sec to capture the sheet in the wind and stopped down to f18 to keep the bushes dark while shooting into the sunlight…. getting so close to the sheet as it whipped around the bushes that I could see the green color of the plants through the damp clothNot quite the elegant stark minimal images I imagined but a fun way to practice and enjoy the afternoon.

a better than good day …

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black&white photography, icecreams, Panasonic lumix, photography, summertime, The Daily Post, The weekly challenge

because this little fella came to play in the garden and have ice creams in the sunshine In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Today Was a Good Day.”

Today Was a Good Day

roadside

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colour photography, countrylane, motorists, nature, Panasonic lumix, photography, roadside, summer, The Daily Post, traffic, verge, wild flowers

Driving down a country lane near home recently I noticed the verge was in full bloom and asked my long suffering very supportive husband to stop the car while I rummaged through bags trying to find the right lens.           Risking life and limb on the roadside while cars flew past at what am sure are illegal speeds I crouched amid the wild flowers, nettles, wasps and beautiful fat bees and quickly filled my viewfinder with sunshine and flowers.

Hubby coasted along the roadside to find a passing pull in place leaving me with my ample derriere in full view of passing motorists some of which slowed down..am not sure if for a better view of aforesaid derriere or concern that I had in fact lost the plot and was foraging for berries and herbs….but that’s another story with more photos from my time in the countryside   

Another serendipitous moment

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colour photography, fashion, humour, London, Panasonic lumix, photography, postaday, sartorial elegance, serendipity, street, street photography, The City, The Daily Post, urban art

Sometimes things just happen in photography and I know the moment I press the shutter button I have caught my ‘image of the day’ . I couldn’t believe my luck when on a recent trip to London to photograph urban art I spotted this guy and everything fell in to place…the door artwork by ‘skeletoncardboard’ –instagram.com/skeletoncardboard–  seemed shocked that someone would even consider leaving the house dressed in such a manner and the art on the wall next to door seems to have nothing but contempt for the color of this guys trousers, which do in fact match it’s background, and his Pringle sweater. Everything came together, everything worked and even his socks if you look carefully match the blue on the wall. Oh! the joys of people watching and photography, there is treasure everywhere!

..and someone walks in to the frame..

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a northern town, airshow, Avro Vulcan Bomber XH558, Blackpool, North Pier, northwest coast, postaday, selective focus, spy story, street, street photography, The Daily Post

The Annual Airshow in Blackpool this year saw the Avro Vulcan Bomber XH558 making one of its last flights before retiring..I of course was waiting eagerly with hundreds of others on Blackpool’s North Pier, long lens on my Lumix, camera raised to eye as the aircraft turned to fly past the end of the pier, aimed, focused….and in walks a guy with a panama placed jauntily on his head to keep the sunshine out of his eyes and almost block my view!

Have to admit though that i do like the finished ‘spy story ‘ book cover sort of image have ended up with..oh the joys of saving a duff image from deletion by converting it to black & white!

Scary

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city of London, London, Panasonic lumix, photography, postaday, serendipity, street, street photography, street surprise, street treasure, The Daily Post, urban art

Just turned a corner in London and there it was..how could I resist? I did have to back up a wee bit to fit it all in and was still struggling but wasn’t going to leave without capturing it. The best thing about street photography for me is that it always surprises me…there isn’t a city street, small town, coastal town or village anywhere in the world that doesn’t hold some sort of ‘treasure’ waiting to be captured by some crackpot like me with a camera.