Trying to stay afloat

Have been thinking and planning of taking photographs in water for some time now..always hoping to emulate the greats and get that perfect image of a sleek body swimming perfectly through the deep clear water…

The reality however is a complete farce and very difficult to do..

While on holiday on the ‘Other Coast’ I thought would take advantage of the clear waters of the lake and the Atlantic ocean, I bought a Fujifilm disposable waterproof camera and off we set, a family of competent swimmers all with decent bodies, except mine but that didn’t matter cause the idea was I was taking the pics.  We soon discovered that when the subject of  the shot starts to laugh while furiously treading water and the photographer tries not to lose patience, trying to capture anything remotely decent is near impossible 

and after numerous attempts …

with the subjects floating away leaving me with endless blue.

.. I just lay back, tried to stay afloat and not roll over, balanced camera on chest and finished the roll of film. I will definitely do more of this, will need more practice before I manage to get the sleek body diving beneath the waves but its really good fun and as soon as I can get the kids back in the water will be doing it again.

Advertisement

People watching & eavesdropping

Overheard conversation about the beautiful endless grey light we often find on the prom in Blackpool, the cool damp fog creating a colorless wall making it hard to define where the sky ends and the sea starts…or as a friend called it ‘The Horizon Mislaid’

Dance everywhere

Caught these two rehearsing in the sunshine on Blackpool prom yesterday, love how the people sat down are watching them and probably wishing they could still do that.

Horizontal

I saw these light fittings yesterday when, after a day of shooting dancers on Comedy Carpet and capturing the finishing touches of a new piece of urban art on a wall in a car park, I decided I deserved a brew. I ordered my cup of tea and as I sank thankfully on to the soft leatherette seating I spied these lights. I had to sort of move around a good bit and slide nearly horizontally along the seat as I tried to capture them so there wasnt too much natural light and end up overexposing the bulbs. People did exchange questioning glances but one of the benefits of getting to my age is I am past caring what people think and will do all sorts, go in places I shouldn’t, talk to all sorts and everyone and go to any lengths to get my shot of the day.

And yesterday that meant nearly lying down prostrate on the sofa in Caffe Nero.

Drapes

Out and about in Manchester at weekend and looking for one thing found something else..

The bright pink of the walls and ghostly torn drapes made me stop and exhale a sigh of sheer happiness and excitement. How could I not? Well you would too wouldn’t you?  This wall, these windows and the fabulous torn sheer drape are what makes me really believe art is everywhere and everything is photographable.

Platform 5

Red leatherette seats in Preston Railway Station, caught from platform 4 just before the Glasgow to Manchester train rolled in to the station.

Women of street photography

The idea here is to have a jumping off point to some of the great work out there by women in the street genre, addressing extremely low representation in visible, published street work online, in e…

Source: Women of street photography

JD2 in Blackpool

Just a few of the hundreds of images of the thousands of fans from yesterday’s Judgement Day 2 in Blackpool.

Signature Signs

More meanderings around back streets and I happened upon this distinctive mark clearly indicating the identity of where I was. A characteristic sign reflected in the windows of yet another closed shop.

Status Curlers

Well Blackpool is always full of surprises and great photo ops and yesterday was no different than any other Saturday…pink bikes, wall art, old signs, Stags & Hens everywhere and then I saw these two lovely ladies dressed up made up and curled up too! The Scouse ‘Fashion Statement’ of going out with your hair in curlers seems to be catching on in Blackpool and so giving me another reason to stay in town just a little bit later on a Saturday evening.