It's all in the details!

As I have made my first stumbling steps as an amateur photographer (and I use the title ‘photographer’ only in the most literal sense – as someone who takes photographs, I am in no way a ‘photographer’ in the professional sense!) it has become very clear to me that I have developed a very clear preference and bias. Which kind of weirds me out as my brain seems to only function when I can believe in a utopian world where everything is equal. You see, I’ve very much developed a taste for details.

I do wonder to what extent this has been influenced by some wonderful photographers whose work I admire, respect and hope to one day aspire to. They too are drawn to details, and not necessarily in the macro sense but rather the way the light plays on something, the texture of something, contrasts and juxtapositions that are interesting and eye catching, moments in time that are special, seeing into someone’s soul when you look into their eyes, their face and posture radiating who they are and how they feel. These kinds of details draw my eye like nothing else. But then I think perhaps I am drawn to the work of these photographers because they see things the way I do (but are much better at capturing it!). Perhaps it’s a little of column A and column B.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that it is in part due to my borderline OCD when it comes to getting the details right. I’ve never been very good at ‘that will do’, every little bit has to be perfect, whether it be cooking dinner or planning my wedding. (Which turned out to be a headache for the wedding planning). But I know that this is just the way my mind works – it worries about the little details, it looks out for the little things. So when I see some beautiful light or textures I’m drawn to it and want to capture it and convey it.

Despite acknowledging that this is the way my brain works, I am still jealous of those who work differently and can see and capture things in a way that I can’t. (Because of course I’m a perfectionist and I want to be able to do everything perfectly). For instance my brother takes amazing landscape photos. He has the patience to wait for the right light, to search out the right composition, to set up all the gear and capture the whole vista in one fell swoop. When we went out shooting together last year he took stunning photos of sunset skies and mountains and fields. I took photos of the leaves on the railway track. His photos turned out infinitely more breathtaking and had that ‘wow’ factor. I admit I was jealous. But as hard as I try I just can’t get landscape shots right. They end up looking dull and flat. Even when I get the composition ok, nothing else seems to work. They’re ok. Passable. Competent. But way under par. Sigh!

It’s hard to accept that this is the way I work and to let go of being sucky at other types of photography. I know I could improve with some lessons and a ton of practice, but why fight nature. My brain likes details. It likes the way light can play such an important role on something small. It likes trying to bring texture alive. It likes shallow depth of field. And so the way I photograph reflects this. When I see frost on a cabbage, I want to capture it. When I see a small patch of bright green moss on a bare brown branch, I want to capture it. When I see golden rays of light playing in the bushes, I want to capture it. When I see something that has an amazing texture, I want to capture it. I want to convey what I see and how I see it to others. I guess this is the essence of why we take photos beyond the happy snaps at birthdays. And accepting that I see things a certain way is a big part of that, and holds the tantalising promise of feeling liberated and at peace.

favourite photos - Venice

Ah Venice! I saved the best til last I think. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Venice, and despite only having 3 days to explore, we managed to fit a whole lot in. We found a square close to our hotel, the Santa Margherita square, and decided to eat and drink there ever day, it was just so fabulous and because it was away from the beaten track a bit it felt a little more authentic with a mix of locals and tourists dining there. I had THE BEST pizza ever in my life there!

We well and truly got lost in Venice, and spent our time wandering around the many alleyways, over the myriad bridges, and locating all manner of hidden and famous gems. We crossed the Rialto bridge, we stopped in at the Peggy Guggenheim museum, we visited the Galleria Accademia, we visited dozens of churches and the Casa D'Oro. We took the Number 1 vaporetto down the Grand Canal to San Marco and walked through the famous square and saw the famous Basilica and Doge's Palace. We also walked a full circuit of Venice and visited the original 'ghetto' where the local Jewish population was kept separate from the rest of Venice from the 1516 right up until the secodn World War when 1700 Venetians Jews were sent to the camps. Only 8 returned. It was a confronting moment to try and absorb that.

When we revisited San Marco's Palazzo the queue into the Basilica was enormous, literally about a thousand deep (it's free) so we decided to go into the Doge's Palace first (which isn't free but not very expensive) and explored the buildings there including the chambers of the fledgling 'parliament' and the 'court' rooms, the golden staircase up to the Doge's chambers, and the dungeons including crossing the bridge of sighs where the prisoners caught their last glimpse of venice from the tiny window before being locked and tortured in the dark dungeons (hence the sighs). When we emerged it was high tide which meant that the square had started to flood, scattering the line for the Basilica so that it was only a couple of dozen deep. We saw our chance and queued in the water. The Basilica was truly stunning, the entire ceiling covered in tiny mosaic tiles, most of which are shimmering gold. We climbed to the top and went outside on the 'balcony' to overlook the chaos of the flooded square below us and saw the famous 4 bronze horses which are thought to have originated from France and are carbon dated to 2nd century AD.



On our last morning I finally convinced my husband to lash out and take a gondola. We got up reasonably early and set out. As it was Sunday morning most of the locals were in church and most tourists were still having breakfast. We eventually found a gondolier (it seemed most of them were at church too) and set off around the smaller back canals. It was so utterly beautiful and peaceful. It was a warm sunny day, the sun played hide and seek down the steep alleyways and canals, the water was glistening blue, and we could hear nothing but the sound of the water lapping on the bottom of the boat, church bells ringing in the distance, and our gondolier occassionally calling out 'ouie' as he tured a corner. It was one of the most romantic experiences of my life.

I took this photo as we passed a house with an old boat parked out the front. The sun glinted off the small wake made by our boat and reflected onto the still boat. It captures beautifully the peacefulness and beauty of that precious 40 minutes. It's my favourite photo from the whole trip. Ah venice, we'll be back...

favourite photos - Dubai

Dubai book-ended our trip to Europe, so we enjoyed a couple of days on the way there and on the way home. Despite doing and seeing lots of thing while we were there, I actually ended up with only a handful of photos. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, we were visiting family, and as such we ended up just enjoying the time together rather than rushing around and seeing the sights, and with our 15-month old nephew in the mix, our hands were kept pretty full chasing him around. Another reason is that it was hellishly hot. I mean, I like the heat, but when it's 44 degrees with 80% humidity, it kind of saps you. So we spent a lot of our time indoors in malls and anywhere else airconditioned. When you stepped outside, the camera instantly fogged up and you spent the next 5 minutes wiping it dry and letting it get acclimatised, during which time you had started to burn in the sun and were soaking in sweat. Nuff said. It was also Ramadan on our first two days, and I was being extra careful to be respectful and not appear too touristy, in-your-face 'look at me I'm a Westerner' kind of thing.

And lastly, I got a cold. Which brings me to the photo that best sums up Dubai for me as well as the fact that I quite like the look of the photo. I was given a cold by someone on our plane trip, and on our second day it had it's claws sunk firmly into me and I was feeling pretty rotten. But seeing as we were in Dubai I decided to soldier on and enjoy what it had to offer and wanted to envelop myself in this strange new environment and culture. We headed into Bur Dubai, the old town, to take a boat across Dubai Creek (which is really a big river) and see the gold souk. Hm, nothing more likely to tempt a girl than the promise of all that glitters, even when she's sick. The added complication is that the old town area is even more traditional, so I had to cover neck to toe (tourists aren't expected to wear head scarfs). Oh, and another complication is that because it was Ramadan, noone is allowed to eat or drink in public. So there we were, walking through old Dubai, me head to toe in cotton and linen, it's about 48 degrees and 90% humidity, I'm feeling very sick and faint, and I can't have any water.

Needless to say I didn't last very long. I pulled the boys aside and murmured something about needing to sit down so we went into one of the gold shops for a bit of a look. And hallelujah, it was air-conditioned. But it clearly wasn't enough because after 2 minutes of looking around I felt an urgent need to lie on the ground, and my husband took one look at my white face and sat me down. The men behind the counter instantly recognised that I was struggling and immediately gave me a glass of water. I felt awful, there they were fasting all day every day and I a silly white girl couldn't hack it. I didn't want to be disrespectful and drink in front of them, but they were very supportive, and even dashed across the road to get me a juice. As soon as the cold water and sugar hit my bloodstream I started to feel so much better, but we decided that we should head straight home and get me some sudafed!

But anyway, back to the photo. We were on the boat back across the creek, and it was full of local men going about their business. They all stared at me, this (now very pale and washed out) young white girl with her camera. So I started taking snaps, because I realised in all of the drama I had hardly taken any. The creek was fascinating, it was flanked on both sides by so many beautiful old buildings and mosques, nothing like the high rises down the main drag, but smaller and more beautiful, slightly delapidated and worn out. It seemed such a stark contrast to the massive super-modern high rises in the new area. Along one bank of the creek were a collection of old boats, and it was only when we got close that I realised that these were people's houses, that entire huge families lived on them. Here we were, in Dubai - like Disneyland on crack - and there was such a huge contrast between the haves and the have nots. The boat in the photo caught my eye as it was the most brightly coloured boat in the flotilla, and seemed so beautiful despite looking like it was crumbling apart.

Later that night we managed to get tickets to the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building in the world - through my brother-in-law's boss's brother who was on the board. Ah Dubai, where you really need to know someone in high places! We took the lift to the viewing area on the 124th floor (of 200 storeys) and looked down on Dubai as if we were looking down from a plane. The height was incredible. Here we were in this amazing building, replete with all manner of beautiful modern embellishments, and I thought back to the boat. What a contrast indeed.

favourite photos - England

Choosing a favourite photo from England proved to be the hardest of all the places we visited. This is mostly because I was born there so there are shades of a certain sense of 'home' in so many of the photos. However, the one I want to share captures so many memories of our time there.



We took a day trip out to the Lakes District (a 2 hour drive from where we were staying) with my Aunt and Uncle, two of my cousins, their partners, and the three girls. We drove along Hadrian's wall, which was built by the Romans in the second Century AD to keep the rabbits.. er, I mean, Scots out. As you can imagine after almost two millenia a lot of it is ruinous and dilapidated. But much of it is still standing, including some old forts.

The wonderful and surprising thing about our time in England was that it was a bit of a gastronomic tour de force. Which, let's be honest, most people wouldn't really associate with England, it's not widely held to be a world leader in culinary delights. But it has so many hidden gems if you know where to look, and after all, no one does tea quite like the British. So we stopped very regularly for tea, lunches, bites to eat and refreshments. Let me tell you it's the way to travel the countryside!

This particular photo was taken at one such tea stop at a small tea house along the small road we were taking, just over a bridge looking onto the river. While the adults located a table to enjoy the rare sunshine (yes it was sunny the whole time we were there!) the two little ones began exploring the vast garden. Like so many old country houses in England, this house had a beautiful large garden that spilled out onto the walkway along the river. There were many trees perfect for climbing, little gates heaving with vines, bushes blooming their last flowers of the summer, and verdant green grass everywhere. And to top it off, they had a giant chess board. But something else caught my eye, or rather, my ear.

To my left I could hear a rustle under a small bush and caught a glimpse of black fur. Calling the girls closer and finally getting them to be quiet, we peered under the bush to try and find out who was under there. Then out dashed a beautiful black rabbit who made a mad dash across a patch of grass for deeper coverage under another bush. The girls screamed in delight and started off in pursuit. This photo is of one of them skipping along the paving stones in search of the elusive bunny.

It makes my heart warm every time I look at it. Although I quietly curse myself for not composing it better to avoid that ugly light (damn you everyday-ness!), at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. Despite carrying on later that day to the gorgeous lakes, taking in Ambleside and Grassmere before driving home as dusk through the moors as the mist settled into the valleys, it's still may favourite photo. Despite spending another day at the beach and watching my partner stubbornly wade into the freezing North Sea, or our day up at beautiful Alnwick gardens then home via the coast and the old 13thC Priory at North Shields, and a day spent walking through the the 10thC city of Durham and it's Norman cathedral and beautiful riverside, it's still my favourite photo. It represents so much innocence, happiness and life, which will always put a smaile on my face. ALice in Wonderland eat your heart out.

favourite photos - Paris

I thought I might do another quick post today to share my favourite photo from Paris.



We had 3 amazing days in Paris and managed to cram so much in. We walked from our hotel to the Eiffel Tower then caught the batobus along the Seine to the Notre Dame Cathedral which was spectacular, then on to wander through the Jardins des Plantes. On our second day it decided to rain, boo! But we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe which was beautifully breathtaking, then walked all the way down the Champs Elysees which is a mighty long way, befroe finally arriving at le Musee de Louvre.

Once ensconced inside we wandered through taking in so many famous sculptures and paintings, including the Winged Victory and the beautiful Venus de Milo. Despite my protestations, we went to see the Mona Lisa. I have to profess I wasn't particularly keen, the Louvre was already very crowded as everyone had clearly decided to go there to escape the rain, and the thought of the teeming crowds just for this one tiny painting didn't appeal. But we forged on, and I'm glad I did, because it really is something a bit special. But what was even more interesting for me is that she shares a large room with a couple of dozen other paintings, all of which are also very beautiful. Yet there she was, this tiny painting, with a huge wall all to herself and a mosh-pit style sectioned-off area. Everyone was straining to get close and take a photo, sadly many of whom were ignoring the directions for no flashes (which can eventually damage the paint just like sunlight), and they were all completely ignoring all the other beautiful paintings in the room. I felt sorry for these other paintings, it's like being the prettiest girl in the village then having to share the stage with Miss Universe or something.

I eventually persuaded my husband to go and look at the sculpture section, and we came across this stunning piece. It is Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss, by Canova. Despite being carved in the 18th Century, it was so flawless and smooth. The emotion and movement was captured so brilliantly.

It captures a lot of what Paris was for me. Apart from being inherently romantic, Paris is a very beautiful city, everywhere you turn there are gorgeous things to look at, such fine attention to every little detail. Parisians are also a stylish bunch, there is no such thing as overdressed in Paris. And yet, they take all this beauty in their stride, seeming to hardly notice it, taking it for granted that surely all the world must have such beautiful architecture and beautifully maintained parks and gardens and sculptures that you can glance at and then keep walking by. And while I stood there i awe of this work of art, so many people just walked right on by, barely taking it in. We had it all to ourselves for a minute before the next tour group arrived with their damn flashes.

Paris is a beautiful piece of the planet, and next time I'll be packing some much nicer clothes!

favourite photos - Croatia

I thought I would post a handful of photos from our recent trip to Europe. I'll post one photo from each place that is my favourite photo both for how it looks but also the memories it evokes and the story behind it.



This is, I think (there's a few to choose from), my favourite photo from our time in Croatia. We were staying on the island of Korčula for 5 days and had the most amazing weather. The sun shone for 4 of those days, it was warm but not too hot, with blue skies. The evenings were balmy and involved eating lots of food and drinking the local wine called grk.

This photo was taken on the day we hired a little boat and set out to explore the smaller islands in the bay. We arrived at the island of Sutvara first, which had a gorgeous little bay of small white pebbles, smooth faced rocks to one side, and looking out into the bay and ont Mount Ilija.

We had a delicious picnic when we arrived of breads and cheeses and fruit and biscuits. We walked into the water, which required those little 'rock hopper' booties as the pebbles are hard to walk on, and immersed ourselves in the cool water. To be fair, the water was a little cool as it was the end of summer so had started to cool down, but it was so refreshing. The thing about the water in Croatia is how crystal clear it is, and also how quickly it gets deep. We were out of our depth by the time we got behind the boat, yet you could see the bottom as clearly as if it was 2 foot deep.

After our swim I lay on the smooth rocks to get some much-needed sun after our long winter, then we re-boarded the boat to see some other islands including the restored monastery on the island of Badija and the quarry on Vrnik, where we had another swim in the cool blue ocean.

It was an amazing day, and every time I look at this photo it takes me straight back to the warm sun, the cool clear water, and the sense of calm and peace and esxcitement I felt that day. I thoroughly recommend it!