"We are terrified, and we are brave. " Elizabeth Gilbert Am I the photographer who writes? Am I the writer who takes pictures? Almost 5 years ago I began to blog. Writing would have to be part of it, but I would never, ever call myself a writer.....I would be a photo blogger..... The first steps were so terrifying that . . .
There is human time and there is wild time
There is human time and there is wild time....... Clarissa Linkola Estes This morning it's wild time. A slow motion sunrise, where nature's spinners have draped everything in layers of lace. Barely present. Fragile and momentary. Later when the day fully arrives, dew drops are blow dried from the faces of leaves. Webs disappear into the . . .
Out of the shadows
We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul. John O Donoghue It wasn't a great summer; grey skies, too much rain, cold seas. But for a couple of days the golden sun lit up our lives and we all came out of the shadows. Photographers call it the "golden hour". It's that time of . . .
Wild honeysuckle is the thing
"If you don't love things in particular, you cannot love the world, because the world doesn't exist except in individual things" Thomas Moore The ditches are a jumble of briars, a tangle of weeds, a mess of curling browning leaves. They cascade onto the lane, in the subdued light of early autumn. A heady scent draws you into the . . .
12 minutes in Bruxelles Nord
Up the wide stairs onto the platform of Bruxelles Nord Station. The clock said 7.43, the train would arrive and leave by 7.55. In the golden light filled space there were constant comings and goings. For twelve minutes I am pure presence. Absorbed in what I miss most about city living. Straight lines, . . .
It’s OK not to feel OK
Blue is never more blue than it is when paired with orange. And the orange is never bluer than when eaten on a cloud in the sky. Jarod Kintz It started from the first view of the Montbretia filled hedgerows along the Dingle Peninsula, now orange is everywhere..... Opposite . . .
Those dark elements
You are on your knees in a lavender patch, following the music of bees. In the distance a harvester is droning, and the evening sun highlights wings and petals. You are obsessing about the need for a soft bed and a warm hearth as the autumn sets in; for a safe place to pause, for a warm . . .
The freedom to imagine
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. Albert Einstein Sometimes he is Link, a character from The Legend of Zelda, other times he is Oisin (pronounced Ush-een). Sometimes I'm an outgoing professional, other times I'm a burrowing, childlike, introvert. While we are working together, or perhaps playing . . .
Grounded by light and shade
These days I am using a fixed lens (no zooming) and resisting any kind of cropping or editing. This means that when capturing an image you have to be scrupulous about the composition. What you snap is what you get, an "in the moment" photo. It's good discipline for the eye, and does away with the need for post processing, . . .
Up all night at the Martello Tower : 20.8.15
“The sea, the snotgreen sea, the scrotumtightening sea.” ― James Joyce, Ulysses We spent one night only, camping near the Martello Tower in Sandycove, Dublin. It features in the opening chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses, so they say. All night long they came and went, up and down the walkway from Sandycove to the 40 Foot (famous . . .
