Photober 20, 21….

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Guthlac

With winter coming along one has to wonder ‘just how bad will it be?’

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Photober 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19….

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Guthlac

As we enter the next phase of the Coronavirus pandemic (don’t believe the hype…it is not over…it is far from over when, here in Britain, yesterday over 45k were infected and 45 people died. A pandemic is over when both of those figure are 0). One of the strangest change to my life is that I have abandoned the world of social media – I recognise the irony (is this ironic?) but I have almost given up on following all sorts of things. Has this made me a better person? Better is a bit strong but certainly different.

My social media drug of choice was Facebook – I know….so 2010. I no longer log in for days on end and when I do it does look really trivial. Now, of course, Facebook is hardly the latest and greatest on the block but all social media is the same: Post, Comment, Like and Subscribe. The more you do that the more money they make out of you and I just don’t care anymore. Yes it is nice to see friends and people I used to know having a great time but my life carries on just fine without knowing all of these details.

Will things change? Will I be sucked back into the morass that is the Social Media world? I can’t answer that but I suspect it is more likely to be no than yes. The world seems a lot worse for such sites. We seem to be able to find new and more horrible ways to hate one another. Our views are hardened and I don’t think that is price worth paying for the undoubted good that has been delivered by the social media epoch.

Is this ‘Old Fartism’ taking hold of me? Of course it is – afterall I am fast approaching the age of being a fully paid up member of the Old Fart club. One of the advantages of getting old, as Yusuf Islam wrote many years ago, is:

I was once like you are now
Just relax, take it slowly
But take your time, think a lot
Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy

Perhaps I’m too much of hippy which really would be Ironic.

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Photober 13 …

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Guthlac

The sun sets in the west and this is about as far west as you can get in Wales (roughly in line with Newquay in Cornwall so not quite as far west as you can go in mainland Britain). It is magical to stand on a beach and watch the sun go down – especially after a warm sunny day.

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Phototober 12…

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Guthlac

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Phototober 11…

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Guthlac

My favourite water fowl – the Common Eider Duck. The best time to see and hear the males in all their prime is early in the New Year. Standing in the harbour at Seahouses and doing just that is a really enjoyable thing to do. However, you do have to remember that the North Sea is bloody cold in January! So wrap up warm.

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Photober 09 & 10….

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Guthlac

A mixture of one of the smaller and the largest (cattle and horses accepted) fauna in the country. There is also a topical nature to the Red Deer given we are entering the rutting season.

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Photober 08

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Guthlac

There was a time not so long ago that such a sight was a relic that was deemed to be in the past. Well funny how things work out and now this sight is going to be around for a while longer because this government, which has been in power for over a decade, appears to have done little or nothing to develop energy security let alone a real move away from a carbon based energy policy. This is something to think about as we approach COP 26. If we don’t sort something out then the current refugee crisis will be nothing compare to when millions upon millions of people are on the move because either their former homes are now under water thanks to sea level rises or their former homes are uninhabitable due to heat and drought. This is just one of the many things that will come about as a result of global warming.

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Photober…

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Guthlac

It has been a rough few weeks for me for many reasons and I am still not sure whether I have fully recovered. One thing that is clear is that I have lost my drive to capture images. I know this will change, I’ve been through these dry patches before, but until that time comes I thought I would remaster some of the images I captured in previous years. I plan to make one image a day for the month of October, hence Photober. I have been a little tardy in my posting so these are the first seven images. They were captured between come from 2005, and 2007. Oh simpler times.

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Wot no Werewolves?…

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Guthlac

I am glad to report that there were no werewolves on patrol in the park at dawn this morning – although as it was nearly dawn I suspect they may well have been reverting to their human form.

Just prove me wrong this morning the aircraft were flying once more – I even saw the U2 out of Fairford heading north to do whatever it does.

Other than that it was very much situation normal on the dawn patrol…apart from a Mute Swan preening itself on the playing field. I guess a Swans got to do what a Swan’s got to do.

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Too Warm….

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Guthlac

Autumn is here with a vengeance only it’s not. We are now well into September and the temperature still has a pleasant feel to it. When I was out at dawn this morning I didn’t need my gloves!

Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining about the weather in general it is just that the warmer it is the less mist I get and that affects the images I can capture and make. If that doesn’t qualify as the most first world problem you can have I don’t know what is: Millions around the world are still suffering as a result of the Covid pandemic; Other parts of the world may no have enough water to survive and Millions are on the move because of War or Famine and all I’ve got to moan about is the lack of mist!

In my defence I’ve never claimed to be anything other than me. I’m not a saint or man of virtue. I’m just a middle aged man (although that is becoming less the case with every passing day!) who is trying to get through the day and so not giving myself a chill for my art is a thing. A pointless thing I will admit but a thing nonetheless.

As I watched the sunrise this morning I also noticed that the sky was clear of contrails. It would seem that aviation still has not returned to pre pandemic levels and whilst that is a good thing for many reasons it is still a proxy variable as to how much life as been changed by the Coronavirus. Lets just hope that the coming winter doesn’t bring new hardships to add to the mix. Then I really won’t have anything to moan about when it isn’t cold enough!

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