Uphill Reconsidered

I've never been much good at analysing my own work. When I did my Master's, I had no idea if my dissertation was any good until I got the mark. When I have a lesson observation, the observer always kicks off the feedback the same way: "so how did you feel that went?", again I usually have no idea. It's the same with photography; those which I think are my best shots are not considered as such by others, and vice-versa. In January, I posted what I thought was the best shot from a shoot at Uphill. Others have said they like this one, though. On reflection, I think they're right.

Butterflies

This was taken about a year ago. I thought I'd put it on the blog ages ago, but I guess I only put it on Flickr.

Kath and I, and our youngest son Jacob went down to the creek which runs into the Bristol Channel a couple of miles from our house. We had a fun time exploring and I took my camera hoping to get some photos of land/seascapes or of the boats, in various states of repairs, which are moored (or sometimes abandoned) there.

I didn't really get anything interesting though, but the bushes around the place were full of butterflies. I got some nice shots of Jacob walking between two bushes with butterflies flying all around his head. For this one I used a long lens and a wide aperture to get the shallow depth of field.

Canal in Varreddes

During the summer break from school, we stayed in a place called Varreddes in France. The idea was that we would be close enough to take the kids to Disneyland Paris, which is what we did on five of the six days that we were there. I am not a fan of Disneyland. I don't want to sound like a misery, but I regard it as a place for children - which I am not - and I don't really like visiting places which are built simply to be visited. I trudged around the place failing to have a good time and trying not to spoil it for everyone else.

Still, the good thing about being into photography is that, even when you are somewhere you'd rather not be, you can take your camera and still have a good time. This canal was just outside the camp we were staying in. There were enormous freshwater fish swimming in it. As my father-in-law said to me, it's strange to think of this place being occupied by the Nazis only seventy years ago.

Uphill Tower

This weekend I was due to go to Prestatyn as a guest of Nick O'Hara Smith for an event called The Gathering, which is an annual celebration held by Mike Peters of Love Hope Strength and The Alarm. Unfortunately, I didn't confirm that I wanted to attend until Thursday, and Nick had to confirm his guest list on Wednesday. I was disappointed to miss the event, and to miss the opportunity to get involved with Love Hope Strength, and I wanted to avoid having another weekend of sitting at the laptop planning lessons, which I don't mind doing, but after a while it starts to crush the spirit.
From my bedroom window, I have a great view of the Old Church of St Nicholas, on the top of a hill in Uphill. I had never been up there though, so in the afternoon I went up and took some photos as the sun was going down. From the top of a hill, you really get a sense of perspective, and of your place in the world. I am so looking forward to climbing Snowdon with Love Hope Strength in the summer.