Seeing again

With travel for recreation restrictions lifted I thought I'd go look for some local sheep to give me a break from my current project obsession. I knew where there'd been some sheep last time I'd been out in the car and planned to make a circular tour of the area to see what else I might find, The bloody sheep were nowhere to be seen! I went home and did some work.

Itching to do something I packed the superzoom and went for a walk at the quietest time - tea time. Taking a slightly different route to my usual I saw there had been some changes. First of all a bird-scaring kite within photographic range. I spent some time trying to make a picture of it, but it never quite felt right.

New crops planted made for a variation on my 'horizontal strip' series within a project.

And a variation on the 'vertical division' series was added.

More interestingly irrigation had started. Various framings and angles were tried. I keep being drawn back to dead centre subject placement, although wider, angled, views have their place as part of the story telling.

But how to frame the central subject - large or small?

It's not just hose reels that can be stuck in the centre.

Small changes to the area, perhaps, but I felt like they had made some contribution to the project as a whole. Reviewing the pictures I've added to the gallery I can see that the earlier ones are looking out of place, particularly the few of people at work. This makes me think that there are at least two ways to approach the overall project. One as 'landscape' photographs and the other as 'people' photographs. There may be a way to present them together. Or maybe not.

For a change I returned home through the wood. Usually I just want to get back as fast as possible, but I was in the mood for a wander as there weren't any dog walkers about. I try to steer clear of the clichéd shots, but a clump of bluebells illuminated by a shaft of evening sunlight was hard to resist. hard to photograph with the superzoom too as it kept missing focus in the gloom. A bit of contrast fiddling on the computer and there you have it.

This morning I set out with two photographs in mind. Nothing exciting, just two improvements to make to earlier 'record shots' with the sun in a better place. I got the first one no problem. Carried on a few more hundred yards. Stopped to photograph a gate. Why gates I dunno. Turned to carry on and felt a sharp pain in my right foot. Something had twisted. I tried to walk it off but it wouldn't. So I hobbled back to the car. Until I can walk without a limp the project is on hold!

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