SparkyFizz

Snow, snow, snow...

I was so amazed today to see the TV footage of the student demonstrations in Trafalgar Square.  There was no snow... and yet 10 miles down the road, which is officially Kent, this is my garden...

Extraordinary difference.  Here all the schools have closed and the roads are chaotic.  This morning I set out gung-ho style, wondering what all the fuss was about.  I swiped the snow from the car, set off, determined to get on with my day. As I turned out of my drive, I thought the cars were being a little too cautious, until I skidded from side to side across the road and immediately saw two cars slide into each other!  Of course there's no turning back is there?  Who would consider a three point turn in those conditions?  I could feel the ice crunching under the tyres, and not a gritter in sight.  

My youngest child  finished school early but had to walk home a few miles, no buses and no possibility of driving to pick him up.  He loved it, of course, snowball fights, wet through, but along the way he and his group of friends helped several motorists by pushing their cars.  

This evening trains out of London to Kent and Surrey are not doing well...

I think tomorrow we will stay home, make orange and clove pomanders, play in the snow and tuck into all the lovely food I stocked up on today.

Physalises...

Also called Cape Gooseberries, I think they are delicious, both sweet and tart and resembling tomatoes in texture.  They also have a lovely perfume.

I have been concentrating on developing some still life images this week.

The teenager is coming home next weekend, having completed his first term at university!  It's gone very quickly.  I'm so looking forward to having him home, but I haven't pined over him as I thought I would.  My other children have two weeks holiday, but he will have six weeks!  He also has to bring all his things home with him which is a drag... and means we have to take him to college and pick him up every term.

Vintage gardening books...

I remember my mother taking me out into the countryside to collect plant specimens with the help of these lovely books.  There are still wild grasses and flowers nestling in the pages where she placed there. She bought the books second hand, the publishing date is 1896.

I fear many of the specimens she picked have long since disappeared.

Egg obsession...

I seem to have found a new obsession to replace the hydrangeas...

If you're as old as me, you may remember the wonderful advertising campaign on TV in the 1950's/60's starring Tony Hancock and the slogan 'Go to work on an egg'.  The slogan was allegedly created by Fay Weldon.

A New British Royal Wedding...

Wishing Prince William and Kate Middleton every happiness for their forthcoming marriage...  and just wondering if we will get a national holiday as we did on 29th July 1981 when Prince Charles and Lady Diana married...?  I suspect not, as William is only heir to the heir of the throne, as opposed to Charles who was heir.  

It's being said that her name will be changed from Kate to Princess Catherine - I hope the poor girl is more able to cope with the Paparazzi than Princess Diana was.  From this day forward her life will change beyond recognition - imagine the security, the duty.  She seems to be incredibly elegant, which I suppose one might expect for a princess, but she has no royal connections or lineage.  On the other hand, she's hardly a 'bit of rough'.  She did attend one of England's top public schools - Marlborough College in Wiltshire.  Her parents are self made millionaires.  In fact I used to buy all their produce when my children were little - they run a childrens' party company.  Every year they used to send me a reminder that it was their birthdays... as if I needed that!

Although I don't consider myself  a Royalist, it was touching to see Kate wearing Princess Diana's engagement ring.  I also think it will be a tall order for her, filling Princess Diana's shoes.  I don't think the royal family will expect that, but I think the great British public might...  I still remember the amazing national outpouring of grief after Diana's funeral, it was surreal. They have been looking for a replacement ever since.  Still, I'm sure she's considered that, and the pros clearly outweigh the cons - well I'm sure that's what I would think!   

I remember Charles and Diana's wedding as if it only happened five years ago, and what a wonderful day of partying and revelry (euphemism!) there was all over the country.  I was in my early twenties and living in Oxford at the time.  We did watch most of the wedding, but also attended several parties.   Everyone had woeful hangovers the next day...

It's being suggested that the possible date may be 13th August 2011, to fit in with the royal calendar.  As yet unclear where the ceremony will be held.  The future King will probably have to marry in London, so St Paul's (where Charles and Diana were married) or Westminster Abbey (where the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were married, and where Diana's funeral was held) are high probabilities. There is also the possibility of a smaller, more private affair at Windsor Castle I suppose, which is only just outside London, and would be a certain demonstration of reducing pomp and circumstance in these harsh economic times.

I don't suppose I'll be invited to photograph the occasion... shame, I'm reasonably priced, could save them a lot of money and impress the nation.

Help-Portrait 2010...

 

 

The top video has been created for the event in 2010, the bottom video refers to the 2009 event.

Blog birthday...

I have been blogging for exactly one year today!

This was my first picture...  Reflecting on what has happened in a year is quite interesting.  Some things never change though.  I'm still wondering what to concentrate on when I blog.  I think I thought back then that everything would just fall into place somehow.  A year ago when I started, I thought I would concentrate on the various craft activities I enjoyed.  I did this for a while, but then photography came along.

That took me by surprise, I hadn't intended to study photography last November. I had considered it, but only in the same way that I'd considered learning a language or a musical instrument or an English degree...  

So now I find myself immersed in the study of photography, and I don't find it easy.  I find it technical, hard to understand, frustrating, very time consuming - but I'm still doing it.  I sometimes wonder why I'm doing it - I'm not naive enough to think it will be a life changing event, or that it will enable me to become a professional photographer, I suspect I'm a little too old for that.  

It's partly because, having invested in the equipment, I now feel I must put it to good use.  It's a horribly expensive hobby, there is no end to the amount of money you could spend improving your kit!  Apart from the original purchase of camera and kit lens, I've only bought one lens, the cost made me gasp!  I'm also going to purchase a decent flash gun, but then I'm going to stop for the forseeable future.

I know what I don't want to do, but that isn't very helpful.  I don't want to shoot weddings, the fear factor of screwing up would be unbearable.  I don't want to stand out in the cold for hours on end to get a fantastic landscape shot, although I greatly admire others who do.  I don't want to be involved in the fashion world with all those egos to consider.  I have no desire to take photos of posh watches and jewellery.... so what's left?  

I love taking pictures of flowers, fruit, vegetables and food of all kinds.  I don't know why, it just pleases me.  I love taking pictures in low light, with lots of shadow and sludgy colours and great textures.  I like pictures to look fairly natural, so no food dyes or pizzas screwed to the table top for me.  I love to take close up pictures, or parts of pictures,   Hmm, not doing very well here, can't imagine I'll ever make any money...

At some point I'd like to try crossing photography with art in some way, the creative direction appeals.  I think I would also be interested in food photography, so long as it could be fairly natural.  I love the work David Loftus does for all the Jamie Oliver cookery books.  I think I would also enjoy 'lifestyle' photography, the kind of thing you see in Country Living or Living Etc.  

But all this is just wishful thinking.  Such opportunities are very unlikely to materialize.  Meanwhile, this year I'm hoping to do quite a bit of studio work, with all those massive lights etc.  Portraiture could be good I think.  

So I wonder what I'll be writing about on my 2nd blogging birthday? 

National Schools Music Proms...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...at the Royal Albert Hall (RAH) on Tuesday evening celebrating the wealth of musical talent across the country.  I was very proud to be watching my daughter, Kate, playing there with her group 'Forty Flutes'.  This is part of the Bromley Youth Music Trust, (BYMT) where Kate and her sister, Rosa, are lucky enough to attend to play and have lessons in flute and saxophone with wonderful teachers, Kerry Anne Searle and Charlotte Buxton.  There were three evenings of music altogether, and BYMT also had their symphony orchestra playing the following night.  

I think we are very lucky to have this facility funded by Bromley Council.  I presume not all councils are willing to fund this sort of activity.  One or the other of my girls attends BYMT every evening except one, and every Saturday morning to play in one of the many orchestras.  We are lucky enough to live within walking distance!  

One day I'd love to be able to take some pictures at BYMT, health and safety permitting...  At the RAH I only had my iPhone with me, and flash photography wasn't allowed.  The photos show the end of the performance, when ticker tape and balloons floated down to the stage accompanied by fireworks!   I couldn't take my eyes of the various official photographers, watching eagerly what they were doing.  I wasn't very impressed by the many unofficial photographers, clogging up the aisles, spoiling my view After all, I could have done that if I'd realized it was possible... hmm,  sour grapes I think!

Such a wonderful opportunity for the participants, I think they felt very special...

Remembrance Day...

Lest we forget...

Shadows...

This was our photography homework this week.  Shadows can be quite complex, it isn't always obvious how the shadow pattern is going to fall. It's difficult to get natural shadows at this time of year.  Today we have gales and rain, but when the sun does shine, the autumnal effect can be lovely.  In my house the sun streams in more beautifully now than during the summer months, due to the placement of my windows and the sun being lower in the sky.  So I chased shadows around the house...

The time of day makes a big difference to the image, even in autumn.  Long shadows in the morning and evening when the sun is very low, slightly shorter in the afternoon.  How far the object is from the light, and the height of the object make a difference.  Also, whether the light is diffused to create soft light or direct to create hard and crisp images.  The surface the shadow falls onto makes a huge impact on the result also.  Sometimes the shadow just doesn't photograph well, the reflection is too weak. This week I tried to create soft and crisp images.

I don't have one to show here, but I love the type of shadows that effortlessly bend planes and climb up walls.  Overlaying shadows can also give interesting results. Pictures of shadows can be quite abstract, especially if you don't show the source image.

Soft lamps can also be used to replace sunlight of course.  In this picture you can see that the shadow has been 'lifted' from the source image due to the placement of the lamp at the lower right.

I like the way the source image intertwines with the reflection

Autumnal Figs...

Autumnal fruits such as figs, pomegranates, apples and pears are plentiful now. Figs are particularly  delicious with air cured hams and soft goat's cheeses...

Delicious Chocolate Brownies...

I'm not normally a fan of the chocolate brownie, but these are an exception...

These are Nigella Lawson's chocolate brownies from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess', and are far removed from the dry and crumbly brownies you buy in the supermarket.  These are squidgy and yummy and very calorific!  Half of one of my squares above is enough, I promise...  

The important thing to remember is not to overcook.  I cook mine, religiously, for 21 mins, Nigella suggests up to 25 mins, but I suppose it depends on the oven.  I usually put dried cherries in mine, not the sour type, and the addition of salt is important, I think.  I usually make these for my daughters' birthdays.  I agree with Nigella that these are far more impressive than most birthday cakes, especially when piled roughly on a beautiful old plate and festooned with lighted candles and edible glitter - heaven!