[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 20 April 2024].
blossoms against bricks
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 13 April 2024].
prunus cerasifera
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 1 March 2024].
Some Prunus cerasifera flowers I captured last Saturday during a solo photo walk in Hitchin.
Spring is coming.
coaxing life from death
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 February 2024].
west lane baptist church
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 24 February 2024].
a nice pear
laxton's epicure
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 January 2024].
the heart of the birmingham waterways
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 November 2023].
Phil - my friend and fellow photographer - and I have been plotting and planning a photo walk along the Birmingham canals for the last two summers. For various reasons, we didn't manage it.
We came close in mid-June last year, but the day I'd booked a train to head up there, rain was forecast, so we cancelled the day before. The forecast showed heavy rain on the day, so we'd made a good call.
But last weekend, we finally made good on our plans.
We coordinated to meet on the train at Warwick Parkway at about 10:43. However, that meant me waking at 06:00, getting out of bed at 06:30 and leaving my flat at 07:30. I arrived at Marylebone Station at 08:10, about 50 minutes before my train was due to depart, which was even earlier than I'd been aiming for.
We set out from Birmingham Moor Street at about 11:20 and walked along the canals from Livery Street Bridge to Spaghetti Junction (the M6/A38 junction), finishing shooting under the bridges at about 15:00.
We walked back to Aston Station, arriving there in time to get out of the rain that had just started and to catch the train back to Birmingham New Street to seek out some food for Phil and a pint for me.
Despite the rain at the tail end of the walk, we had perfect weather and a pleasant and creative day. Phil had technical issues with his camera but managed to work around them to a large extent. I had a minor anxiety attack in the last half hour, heading back from Spaghetti Junction to Aston Station, but it was an otherwise stress-free day as far as my body was concerned.
I shared my iPhone photos from the day on my Instagram on the day and over the following days.
These are just two of the over 300 photographs I took with my D700 in Birmingham.
Thanks to Phil for suggesting the walk and the wide-ranging and engaging conversation throughout.
We'll return in the spring (hopefully!) with some other friends of Phil's to revisit Spaghetti Junction and complete the ambitious circuit he'd set out for us that we didn't manage on Sunday.
shot through the heart
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 27 October 2023].
ely
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 12 October 2023].
I have so many photographs I took during a road trip with my parents in 2017 that I haven't yet had a chance to edit.
I'm trying to fix that (not to mention trying to work through editing all the other photographs I have from other holidays or day trips with them over the years).
It was Mum's last international trip. Her dementia was evident during that visit and even more jarring for me as I hadn't seen her in person since our road trip through Belgium in 2014.
hypoxylon
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 31 May 2023].
Some hypoxylon I stumbled across in Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries a few weeks ago.
against her yellow i'm no longer me
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 12 December 2022].
Yellow baby, a yellow baby is a bad sign.
But I don't mind, I don't mind.
Ohhh, Forsythia.
Spider monkey, a spider monkey is a good lie.
But I don't know why.
Ohhh, Forsythia, oh-ohhh.
I don't mind sitting in the way, way back.
I don't mind, lying to my friends.
One thing about Forsythia,
She comes around and I get lost
Against her yellow, I'm no longer me.
Yellow daisy, a dandelion or a pussy willow,
It's a different thing.
Oh-oh, Forsythia. Forsythia. Forsythia.
One thing about Forsythia,
She comes around and I get lost
Against her yellow I'm no longer me.
One thing about Forsythia...
There's one thing about Forsythia...
Forsythia - Veruca Salt
between the bars
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 6 November 2022].
rue des mineurs
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 26 October 2022].
visions from the big tree
magnolia on blue (bromley)
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 May 2022].
wisteria sinensis
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 7 May 2022].
cherry blossoms
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 30 April 2022].
shirotae
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 23 April 2022].
I'm happy to be corrected, but I believe this is shirotae, a cultivar of Japanese flowering cherry or cherry blossom trees.
Found a couple of doors down from the house at which I've been semi-regularly cat-sitting since Christmas time.
Such a lovely sight to behold over the Easter weekend.
birrna
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 April 2022].
Banksia integrifolia or coastal banksia.