Rock

I fiddled and faddled with my camera and various filters to take this photo of a rock in  pond! No I have not lost my mind completely -  there is a reason for it.

Then I did this, which seems even more mad!

Can anyone show how smart they are by leaving a post guessing what this little montage is all about?

National Park

We decided to have a drive through the Northumberland National Park. It's strange that you take your surroundings for granted. Northumberland is a truly beautiful place.

 

It is truly a powerful place and you can feel the brutal history of the land with the Border Reivers. I'll probably have a visit to the major construction of the north - the world famous Hadrian's wall soon. The weather'll have to break though.It's terribl at the moment and the visibility will be next to nothing

I had a little exhibition of my digital montages at a local gallery set up by some of the student body. It was wittily named 'Put your Art into it. I thought I'd put my latest piece up here. Any feedback would be great -do you 'get it?

I Want It Now

 

     I Want it Now!

 

            How many times have we heard this uttered, or more likely screamed, by a child in a supermarket? Whether it’s the latest toy, or a bag of sweets you hear “I want it now”? When I was a child I was told “I wants never gets”, and had to, politely, say that I would like something. We mustn’t lay the blame on the little ones, it is as the cliché goes, the fault of the parents. It is a cliché, but often clichés become so because they have much truth to them. Should we then place the blame firmly on the shoulder of the parent? My immediate answer would be yes, because the child will imitate the parent.

            However, there is a new movement in society, which affects parents, that everything has to be available for use now, immediately and 24 hours a day. Supermarkets are a prime example. I have yet to go shopping at 4am, but I know that it is available. This is probably of great value to the growing “speed generation”. They can go shopping when no-one else is out and scan their own goods without having to resort to interaction with a shop-keeper. Whatever happened to the good old corner shop, where you’d get your papers and have a bit of a gossip about Mrs. Smith, down the road?

            Speed and convenience is what happened. Supermarkets have started selling everything, so there is no need to go to separate shops, such as butchers and the grocers; you can get everything you want in one place. This is what has killed the corner shop; the lone shopkeeper cannot possibly stock all the items a supermarket sells, and if he could then he would have to be completely dedicated to his cause and be able to remain awake 24 hours a day.

            The fascination with speed and being there now can be seen on the roads. As traffic volume increases and people fight over pieces of road in their desperate attempts to reach the supermarkets, which are open all night anyway, that ugly phrase ‘road rage’ rears up and people are thrashing each other on the high street. That’s another thing; what used to be called assault or disturbing the peace has to have a fancy name or syndrome attached to it. While the drivers are suffering from ‘road rage’, the shoppers are suffering from ‘trolley rage’. This used to be simply termed losing your temper to the point of assaulting someone. Why give names to unacceptable behaviour to make it sound less offensive? All of this rage is generally caused by someone wanting something now; either a stretch of road or a pound of potatoes.

            What is the ultimate in convenience and bad-manners? It has to be the mobile phone. Now don’t get me wrong I have a phone myself and use it quietly in a corner somewhere, if I really need to speak to someone. What is it that makes people shout in the middle of a busy street that they are in fact on a busy street? Do they perhaps think that the technology doesn’t carry their voice, but is carried on the wind through sheer volume alone? I’m sure most readers have been speaking to someone whose phone rings. Instead of continuing the conversation they stop you and explain that they ‘have to take this’. This is the equivalent of someone approaching you, tugging at the other person’s sleeve and chanting ‘talk to me now’ over and over again.

            The now generation is upon us and it seems unlikely to change. It has destroyed our shops and is now helping to destroy the centre of British life; our good manners.

Beckie and the sheep

We have a beautiful Border Colllie called Beckie and she is fabulously well behaved, except when it comes to playing fetch. When she's in the mood she'll bring wellies, blankets, bits of wood etc, but she loves her ball to the point where you can't say it in front of her or she goes mental. If anyone can  tell me what pleasure a sheep dog gets from chasing balls. There are sheep loose here and the most she does is go and lick their noses. And when the cat gets her ball she wont't go and get it she runs round in circles until we get the ball back.

Local Farm

A panorama of a local meadow in the summer. As a keen photographer I am keeping a visual journal over the year to see how the farm changes. Its a panorama. so you'll need to scroll around it. for those who are interested it is several pictures stitched together using Serif Panorama 47

Wonders

Well thanks to the wonders of technology - no wide angle lens I thought I'd share this photo. Best viewed large because it looks blurred when small for some reason..No wide angled lens - about 16 photos stitched together.