WoolFest Cumbria

These images are compiled from shots taken at [WoolFest] in Cumbria this weekend. The festival was a series of lots, alternating between rare breed sheep, textile artists and old ladies knitting hats. Great fun. Click images to enlarge.

A portrait in Cumbria

Patrick is our little mate who lives in Cumbria. His big brother just got a lovely old scooter. Here is Patrick wishing he was old enough to go for a ride. Click images to view larger.

Whinlatter Forest

Pictures taken at the new Whinlatter Forest Mountain Bike trail, Lake District. The top distressed image was of course an accident, borne from using an uncontrollable compact camera, but I quite like the effect. Click images to view larger.

Two dogs

Melissa, thanks for the suggestion in your comment to try this image in Black and White. Here is how it came out, the reflective glass is less of a distraction here, in fact it's starting to look like a cheesy art birthday card now. Click image to view larger.

'To the beach'

This is an photograph I have been working on today, in search for that fine-art black & white style. Click image to view larger

A bike ride up Snowdon

This evening we went up Mount Snowdon. On mountain bikes. This involves a 2 hour ride/push to the summit, followed by a bone-shaking 25 minute decent back to Llanberis and a pint. Thanks for the pictures John. Click images to view larger.

The new summit cafe is really taking shape now. You can see the ongoing progress [here]. People often comment that in demolishing the previous eyesore that was the 1960's cafe from the summit of Snowdon, there was the opportunity to return the summit of our highest mountain to its natural state. Every year though, this hill gets busier. At the weekends there can be a queue to stand on the summit platform even when the train is closed. Although this bustling summit feels at odds with the relative freedom of the rest of Snowdonia, in the wider context, Europe’s mountains are scatted with are cable cars, funicular railways and high alpine cafes. These cafes often offer wonderful local food and impressive views. In this tradition, one beautiful piece of modern architecture on our most trafficked Welsh summit doesn’t seem one too many to me. Maybe now it will become the exciting mountain experience for the masses it always should have been. Let’s just hope when it’s completed, that the chef is as good as the architect…

Cheeky bugger.

I would like to do a lot more portrait shots, they are fun to do, and the results are probably more engaging to look at than pictures of old trees. I am a quite shy though, and asking strangers or indeed friends if I can photograph them, I find hard. So, if anyone wants to just walk on up and volunteer for a portrait session, feel free! Click images to enlarge.

An ancient windswept hawthorn tree.

I was trying a technique on this image using a long exposure, where the movement of the leaves and branches can be seen as blurred motion against the crisp foreground and sky. Unfortunately it was so windy up here, almost everything in the scene was moving! Click image to view larger.

Sunday 22nd June

Thistle, near Llanferres, Wales

In the language of flowers, the thistle is an ancient Celtic symbol for Nobility of Character. Looking at these majestic, but heavily armoured flowerheads, it’s easy to see why.

21st June 2008

Mountain bikers often times take themselves pretty seriously. There's the expensive bikes, the tight leggings stretched over rippling thighs, the layers of technical performance fabrics, the hard-won fitness, the sizing-up of other riders, the unwritten competition. Occasionally though, someone comes along and laughs in the face of all that. Here’s to that man!

There is a word for it in Welsh; Hiraeth.

It means 'a longing for home'. I don't miss my old cottage in Bollington so much anymore, times move on. That is until I return there. There is magic in that valley. Martin and Rachel have had baby Guy since I left. He is nine months old now, going on thirteen.

Hiraeth - the link with past, the language from the soul, the call from the inner self. Half forgotten - fraction remembered. It speaks from the stone, from the earth, from the trees and in the people. It's always there.

14th June 2008

'Breathe Out', Jan Singleton.

These fabulously expressive glass pieces are by glass artist Jan Singleton, who runs the beautifully converted Pandy Mill Gallery and tea rooms in the village of Pandy, Ceiriog Valley, North Wales.

The top image I photographed 'quietly' while I was there (sorry Jan), the second image 'Breathe Out', Jan sent over since. With a backdrop of trees and the river, the pieces have the appearance of shimmering as the trees move behind the glass.

WoodFestWales has been going for a few years now. It’s a chance to meet makers from all over Snowdonia and North Wales, watch axes being throwing, and buy some beautiful craft works at a fraction of gallery costs. This year it was a lot bigger. It’s such up-scale that it has you looking for the camping field and the live music tents. The crafts people looked a little bewildered at the volume of people passing by. The fairground ride owners looked overjoyed.

5th June 2008

Predictably, after spending a lot of April/May in Norway and Scotland, I am now keeping my focus on my day job and not finding much spare time to update this blog at present. I am still shooting though, and adding images as and when I can.