URBAN GRIT

A street scene from Berck Plage, northern France.
Most of my images have a very strong nature theme to them. This is partly because I spend a lot of time wandering around on beaches, in woodlands, near rivers and in parks. But another reason is that while I love the look of gritty urban landscapes, I'm not very well practiced in capturing them.

MEMORY LANE

Over the last few days I have finally got around to merging sections of my old blog (mostly my life in France in the mid 00s) into this one, which has meant reading and reviewing each post to decide whether I wanted to keep it as well as reformatting and refreshing images from my photo archive.

Initially I was undecided about whether to do this (and in the end I decided to publish only a few of the more neutral posts and relegate the rest to my own private files). It was a different time, place and blogging community and though I have come full circle (in the complete sense, I am back living in a studio at my parents' place in my former home town!) I am in a much different place as I was when I first entered the blogging world and have a very different approach to what and why I share online.

EARLY ARRIVAL

You know those mornings when you get your first real impression that the season has turned? My favourite has always been autumn, with its first hint of crispness and the fragrance of woodsmoke in the morning air, the first browning of a leaf and blush of purple in the blackberry bushes.

GROWING SPACES

Why is it that as soon as you hit October, the rest of the year comes rushing at you like a train full of hard slogging optimists grasping for rays of light? So, I was completely planning to do a wrap up of Buy Nothing New Month (I bought nothing new), review my new/used camera (it's awesome), take and post dozens of images (a series of annoying incidents left me without an especially usable camera for the month) and feature some local op-shops (ask the Monster Who Ate October about that).