A Superannuated Day Out…

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Guthlac

The sun was shining. The air was warm. What better way to spend the day than visit Hardwick Hall on the hills overlooking the M1 in Derbyshire. Well that was clearly the thought of we superannuated. We were out in force.

Hardwick House was once the home of the redoubtable ‘Bess’ of Hardwick. It is one of the finest surviving Elizabethan mansion in England. As with many of the finest houses in England it is now in the care of the National Trust. This transfer usually comes about for two main reasons: The Duke/Earl/Lord put everything on horse No. 10 at 3:30pm race at Chepstow or his Grace/Lord screwed up is death duties and his decedents had to give up priceless works of art or properties in lieu. So now Hardwick Hall is no longer owned by the Dukes of Devonshire but the National Trust. (Don’t feel too sorry for the Devonshires they still have Chatsworth House and a not insignificant fortune).

The National Trust is one of those organisations that, if you want define what makes England, England is a good place to start. (Before I get complaints from Wales and Northern Ireland as well as Cornwall I must point out that the National Trust is active in those Countries/County too.). However, for the conceit of this blog I am sticking to the Englishness of the National Trust.

Hardwick is no exception. Ask most people outside of England to describe what England is like then Hardwick would neatly match their description.

Hardwick is a lovely place to visit, especially on a warm sunny day in term time. We supperantuted have the run (well slow stroll/limp if truth be known) of the place. Bliss.

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Have Some Fun…

Posted on July 2, 2025 by Guthlac

Random photos taken at the last Summer Solstice. Make of them what you will…

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Is it the times we live in?…

Posted on June 25, 2025 by Guthlac

I am in the process of making my 2024 yearbooks. To start the process I have a cache of stock images that I use as placeholders. This helps to create an outline for the book.

This morning I happened to glance at one of the images and noticed that a small portion of the image does look like a terrorist attack. It isn’t, of course, but it does appear as if the person is holding an assault rifle.

The times we live in? Perhaps.

Editors Note:

Just in case this gets out of proportion here is the portion original photo:

A young girl playing within Tate Modern, London in 2017.

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Looking in the Wrong Direction…

Posted on June 21, 2025 by Guthlac

Is a glass half empty or half full? I guess that is what today is really all about. Are the nights drawing in or out? As with most things it depends where you on the planet.

So I had plans for today. Lots of plans. Nothing happened. I couldn’t be bothered to get up in the middle of the shortest night. Story of my life just now.

Instead here a few images I have captured on this day over the years. It’s too hot, by British Standards, to do anything else

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Seahouses No. 03

Posted on June 16, 2025 by Guthlac

Distractions. Distractions! Things just keep popping up : Some important; some less so. Yet they all need time to resolve. It has been nearly two weeks since we came back from Seahouses. I am only now getting around to posting some more images. Where does the time go?

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Seahouses No. 02

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Guthlac

I have finally caught up with my photos from Seahouses!

Not sure how many episodes there will be.

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Seahouses No. 01

Posted on June 8, 2025 by Guthlac

I thought when you start to to be considered an OAP things are supposed to slow down. I clearly didn’t get the memo. Anyway here are the first of the images I have made whilst taking a short Break to Northumberland.

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Busy…

Posted on May 28, 2025 by Guthlac

I don’t know where the time is slipping away to? I know I tend to procrastinate but just recently things are happening at a quicker pace than ever. Am I busier than ever? Not sure about that. It is just that I am expanding what I am doing to fit the available time. I do get distracted much more these days. Anyway, what has this got to do with photos of plants in the garden?

The answer is nothing at all.

Here I am writing these few lines at nearly 16:00 hrs in the afternoon. I have so many other things I want to do. Yet, time has slipped away. Again.

Life is what it is and I am reaching the point where I just have ride the surf and see where it takes me.

Pip. Pip.

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We Stick Together…

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Guthlac

I suspect I am not alone in this but I do watch a lot of YouTube. The most fascinating thing I have learnt is that many many people think that they are right. Period. Usually, it is why you need this or that latest photographic gear. (Yes I do watch many photographic YouTube channels.)

Now I know they have bills to pay but really sometimes I do wonder. Is this really what they think? I was wondering about this yesterday whilst I walking around my local botanical garden. Yes I was using one of the latest Sony camera bodies but the lens were another story. The newest lens, a 35mm f1.8, was at least 5 years old I think. The other two, a 70 – 200mm f4 and a 90mm macro f2.8, were much older. Yet all three did the job and I don’t see there is any need to replace them anytime soon.

Yet, again and again many of the photographic talking heads are out there extolling the virtues of the latest lens/camera etc.

I know I am probably not the target audience for all this nonsense. That doesn’t matter. Photography is not about the gear. (Yes the latest gear will help but only at the margins.) No in my view photography is about the photographer’s eye. I perceive the world as a series of images. Sometimes I have opportunity to capture those images with whatever camera I have at hand. I then take those images and edit and refine them into the photograph that I feel was there when I passed by.

I am fortunate that I don’t have to pay the bills from what I produce. That doesn’t, in my view, devalue them. I produce photographs for myself. If someone finds this web page and also likes my work then that is great. Do I think I am right? No. I just find the images here interesting. If you don’t then that is fine.

The world will keep spinning.

And we will no doubt continue to shout at one another about why ‘they’ are wrong and ‘I’ am right.

That is just sad.

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Slowing Down…

Posted on May 13, 2025 by Guthlac

Don’t believe the hype you might read on line or see in some magazine. Getting old is shitty. Now I am just starting on the decent on my final approach so those further down the glide path might rightly point out – “what do I know?”

My answer is that I only know how I feel and at times just recently I’ve felt crap.

Yesterday, after we had bought some bits and pieces from Sweden’s second most famous export industry we did some food shopping. As my wife paid for things I found myself gravitating towards the old man’s seat . If your old enough you’ll know exactly what I mean. My joints thanked me but my spirits took a hit.

On the upside I was able to capture some interesting and quirky images whilst I walked around IKEA. This pleases me greatly. Now you might not think that much to the images but I do. One of the few things about getting old is that you care less and less what other people think. So perhaps that is a ‘plus’ about getting old?

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