Category Archives: Project 365

Project 365: Last Lap to Spring

365-150315March 15: The first really pretty tree in blossom that I had noticed this year.

365-150316March 16: Roots of geranium cuttings just stuck in water!

365-150317March 17: The afternoon sun catches these shiny ivy leaves.

365-150318March 18: Surprise! A present from a kind relative; I never knew the words ‘cake’ and ‘left over’ went together in the same sentence. She seemed to think they did. I didn’t argue.

365-150319March 19: Remember that drastically chopped back privet…? Well, look what’s happening to it now!

365-150320March 20: These birch trees seemed to be begging the Sun to give them their leaves back.

365-150321March 21: And we’re back to another of my favourite flowers. Spring has come.

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Project 365: Spring is Nearly Here!

365-1503044 March: An old gateway at the side of a churchyard; what stories could it tell?

365-1503055 March: In honour of my trusty conveyance passing its MOT test!

365-1503066 March: Quite literally, tete-a-tete!

365-1503077 March: It was bread that made all the commotion. A fast shutter speed (1/250 second) hasn’t altogether frozen the wing beats!

365-1503088 March: I love testing new light sources. This little table lamp is lit behind me now, as I type, fitted with an LED lamp, just 4.5 watts!

365-150309March 9: These are older than me, made of metal, and made in England!

365-150310March 10: Nature takes over in weeks, yet alone years. Who were the platelayers, long since passed on, who laid this?

365-150311March 11: This probably doesn’t mean what you’re thinking! ‘Run’ means that a motor will start and run if the button is pushed and released, until the stop button is pressed. ‘Jog’ means that the motor will only operate while the button is held down. This was part of a college course practical assignment, photographed before being dismantled!

365-150312March 12: There is so much ‘spare’ urban light at night, you can take pictures by it!

365-150313March 13: A warm and humid day made this amazing haze effect.

365-150314March 14: Fruit trees are seriously budding, now!

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Project 365: Forward (to) March!

I didn’t make the linky last week, so I’m playing catch-up a bit! Here, I’m doing what should have been last week’s, plus three extra! I’ve also kept up my ‘long, hard look’ theme, that is, using a 70-300mm lens.

365-150222February 22: Lungwort is one of my favourite spring flowers.

365-150223February 23: I find a mixture of natural and man-made shape and line can be fascinating. Here, the dusky sky made an eerie effect.

365-150224February 24: I was just in time to catch these two small clouds, lit up by the setting sun.

365-150225February 25: And these things that we take for granted, if we bother to consider them at all: we’d be in a mess without them, and the job they do, supporting overhead high-voltage cables and insulating them from the towers. Despite looking so insignificant, those on a 132,000 volt line are about the height of a man!

365-150226February 26: And now, looking down: a few hours of warmth, and this happens quickly to woodland floors!

365-150227February 27: Ornate buildings are fascinating by night. (Sorry about a bit of blur – this shot was hand-held!)

365-150228February 28: My old friend, the so-called Christmas rose. Mine always flower about now. Still, ‘somewhere-near-half-term rose’ hasn’t quite got it, has it?

365-150301March 1: This wasn’t actually at night – but I used flash to ‘freeze’ the movement of the catkins. March had come in with the lion. I hope that’s a good thing.

365-150302March 2: Remember those crocuses in bud? Here they are, opening. The very same ones.

365-150303March 3: Finally (for now) the birdie to watch to find the wind direction catches the spring sunshine.

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Project 365: Looking Forward, Looking Back, Looking Up

365-150215February 15: The signs of spring just keep coming…

365-150216February 16: …but of course, if you want a rainbow, you have to have rain. Perhaps I’m gradually learning this.

365-150217February 17: Looking into my old apple tree, this is what I saw! An omen for next Christmas…?

365-150218February 18: It’s quite arresting to actually hold a piece of paper this old. The lady to whom this letter was written was a very dear friend. Possibly, up to her death (when I was aged just ten) the greatest friend I had, outside my own family. It was many years before I realised what an amazing life she’d had.

365-150219February 19: I know I harp on about this, but I never tire of England’s skies. I only just managed to catch the moment, here.

365-150220February 20: I often mentally reminisce about beach trips. And who said mathematics couldn’t be beautiful?

365-150221February 21: The last one for this week is the last look at a ‘red’ crescent moon. I just got my tripod set up in time!

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Project 365: The Run-up to Valentine’s Day

And what a week it was! Work, finishing on a high at college for half term, and, erm, yes, some photos…

365-150208February 8: Frost defines so many things in a beautiful way. Flowers, spiders’ webs, leaves… and here, just the bark on a log.

365-150209February 9: And it wouldn’t be February, without snowdrops. My mother’s birthday… [sigh] She always loved them.

365-150210February 10: Good window displays are lovely at any time. This one, by an enterprising florist in a small country town, looked terrific at night!

365-150211February 11: Real, genuine, no teapot-lidding, green shoots! seen here on Salvia officinalis. (You what, mate…? Sage, to you. Oh, yeah…)

365-150212February 12: Do you ever get that sort of stale feeling? Nothing to photograph today? Well, it hit me on this particular Thursday. Now, when that happens, the best thing to do is to grab something really ordinary, and take a close look at it. Perhaps try shining light through the object, rather than just at it, as I did here. I mean, you can’t get much more ordinary than a sweet pepper, now, can you? But a true fresh look is never ordinary…

365-150213February 13: …and I never tire of what rain does to things, either, somehow. Especially at night.

365-150214February 14: OK, so it was Valentine’s Day. Roses are red. Big deal. But crocuses are purple, as you can see. This is the same crocus as the one in ‘My Sunday Photo’ yesterday, but it’s not the same picture. That one was taken by natural light only, but I used flash for this one. You may care to compare the two, and see what you think.

And that’s it, till next week!

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Project 365: Forward Into February!

And here we go…

365-150201February 1: I can’t resist taking pictures at dusk, as you might know by now. It really is ‘magic hour’. Even this area of water looks heart-shaped. (Trust him, I hear you mutter.)

365-150202February 2: Winter was very much still with us. These water-fowl had to paddle along a narrow channel through the ice!

365-150203February 3: It seemed as if this tree were reaching up to this clear, glowing sky, and begging for new leaves!

365-150204February 4: This is a piece of a very special country called England. Treat it with respect; it has cost the blood of its young men, twice in one century. Yes, I know I mention this often, but I think it sinks into me more, all the time. [sigh]

365-150205February 5: As the afternoon light was fading, I caught this memorial to a piece of local history: The Baseball Ground. Even though I don’t ‘follow the footie’ much, I think it’s fitting to remember what a heritage many teams have.

365-150206February 6: Another hobby-horse of mine…! Children who worked in the factories used to get a half-day off… so that they could go to school! Oh, and that was if you had a good boss. Take a long, hard look at the socio-economic history of Britain (if you can stand it.) It ain’t pretty…

365-150207February 7: We’ll close for the week on a happier note: if you don’t know already, this is what free range chickens look like. In fact, they are normally more spread out, it’s just that they confuse amateur photographers with farm staff who bring food!

Till next week, then, folks…!

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Project 365: A Week of Mixed Emotions

I had a tremendous shandy of thoughts and feelings during this week. These pictures illustrate this – some literally, some figuratively or symbolically…

365-150118January 18: A very mixed sky. A bit like my mood that day.

365-150119January 19: I found this in the front of my mum’s cookery book. It was a present to a most amazing woman. And yes, I did well up…

365-150120January 20: At sunrise, I really thought this was smoke, not power station condensate. The light plays tricks. Life does, sometimes, too.

365-150121January 21: There was a little something to celebrate. I needed a little something to do it with. See those cola bottles? Ah, well, I went to the aisle behind them…!

365-150122January 22: I took a moment to look carefully at this fruit dish. It was hand-carved out of a single piece of wood, by a grateful patient of a great friend, who was a nurse in two world wars.

365-150123January 23: Once again, taken in my dad’s garden. New life and hope, a herald of spring to come.

365-150124January 24: This plaque is on one face of the war memorial at Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. How sad, that instead of ‘growing old in peace’ the flower of Europe’s youth was slaughtered again, just twenty years later. Makes you think…

So, there we are – for another week!

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Project 365: The Middle of January

Here we are again… It’s on with the show!

365-150111January 11: Late in the day, I saw this witch hazel bush in flower. It has a strange, heady scent, as you might expect.

365-150112January 12: Even when disposing of things, nature is beautiful. (Unlike mankind – compare this with the picture for January 3!)

365-150113January 13: I was running out of time to take a picture – which suggested this one. This timepiece was a legacy from a dear friend.

365-150114January 14: Similarly, I was reflecting on the fact that sometimes I need a fresh sense of direction – in lots of ways!

365-150115January 15: I’m hoping to compare this picture with later ones as this heavily cut back hedge turns green again. We’ll see!

365-150116January 16: And here, again, is one of my most favourite flowers – from a less usual angle!

365-150117January 17: College is sometimes like being back at school!

See you next week!

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Project 365: The First Full Week

And on with another seven days we go…

365-150104January 4: That day was frosty. And frost never disappoints in the beauty stakes.

365-150105January 5: Not such a cold day, but I’d been working outdoors. Wood fires are therapeutic in several ways, besides the heat they give.

365-150106January 6: Home late, cold and hungry. I’m not a fussy eater at times like this. And if it’s easy to make, and contains cheese, tomatoes, and herbs, count me in.
Note: This is my first ever published food picture!

365-0107January 7: Lots of people noticed the spectacular sunrise.

365-150108January 8: Relieved at completing an awkward job, I finally relaxed by candlelight. With lager in a wine glass, because I can.

365-150109January 9: A very brief stop on a journey, away from traffic and noise, just to clear my head. Yes, that’s a buried rail, that hasn’t seen a wagon for a long time. When man moves out, nature moves in.

365-150110January 10: The previous night was windy (in case you didn’t notice.)

So, there we are. Or were. See you next week…!

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Project 365: The Start

A photo a day, for a year…? I’m giving it a go!

365-15-01-01January 1  This was on my window sill. It just seemed symbolically appropriate for the new year. Especially the buds; reminiscent of hope.

365-15-01-02

January 2  I never tire of England’s skies. Caught at the end of the day, I was intrigued by the combination of nature with man’s activity in this view.

365-15-01-033 January  Saturday was (unusually, for me) a working day. The street where I was working is made of of old but soundly-built houses; seeing this, I thought of the increasing challenge of the times in which me live: the management and disposal of waste. When new, this street would have have been devoid of cars and telephone lines; satellite dishes would have been a hundred years or so away! And each house would have been equipped with one small (by current standards) dustbin. Mainly for, well… dust. Quite a thought! And not, in any sense, a beautiful picture. An issue worthy of genuine effort.

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