Life, Photography & Other Mistakes – is now dormant
Follow my new blog: https://lifephotographyandothermistakes.wordpress.com
Wishing you Goodbye, ….Hello, Goodbye
Time to sail away…….
Though not gone for good!
After 2,070 posts and many thousands of visitors over the five years, it’s time to say goodbye to this window on my world, though I will leave it open so that late comers can find out where I have disappeared to.
I am replacing this version of Life, Photography & Other Mistakes, otherwise known as smithiesshutter, with a new blog, and you can find it here….
https://lifephotographyandothermistakes.wordpress.com
I have enjoyed the journey and we have visited many different places together. Thank you to my faithful friends and followers, your friendship and comments have helped to carry me along over the years and have been overwhelmingly encouraging.
You will find the details about the above picture on my new blog.
Incidentally, the new blog uses a different format and I have yet to master its intricacies, so you may find some parts are incomplete….sorry about that!
So here we go, sailing off into the sunset….. Goodbye…..and hopefully, hello!
Best regard
John
Fragmented Facade
My picture library here at WordPress is almost full and this may be my last new image upload until I decide what to do. I could just repost from my early images, after all there are over 2000 of them, or I could fork out some cash for an upgrade. ….. or I could set up a Life, Photography & Other Mistakes, version 2….
Or I could just say goodbye……
Dark Day
Though this picture breaks some exposure rules it somehow captures the atmosphere of this outdoor market in Glasgow, and the smoking chimney suggests a different age.
To me this is how the years of my youth felt, and even the moving figures seem frozen in time. It speaks of hard times too. This is the Barras, and I didn’t linger. I have another shot of a man lunging toward me in protest at my photography…..
Central Circulation
It often surprises me that with a few editing steps we can be taken back to the feel of earlier times, and this reminds me of Picture Post, a marvellous weekly picture magazine of the 1950s.
The scene was taken at Glasgow Central Station.
Footpath
We often walk here and this is a March view on the path that follows the shore at Mossyard by the Fleet Bay.
Andrew Matheson
Andrew Matheson is a potter and a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. I was fortunate to be able to visit his studio in the centre of Lichfield a couple of weeks ago.
Shore
The sand and rocks catch the light along the West shore of Fleet Bay, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.
Anemones
The weather in Scotland is definitely getting to be more spring like so I thought I would post this colourful picture of anemones: one of my all time favourite flowers.
Fruit & Veg…..
A clear indication here that fruit and vegetables keep you happy. A street portrait taken in Leek market square, Staffordshire, England.
Two Hot Chocolates?
The café at Foxlowe Arts Centre in Leek, Staffordshire, and we are about to be served with our drinks by the charming volunteers that run this excellent arts centre…..
Tree Struggles
On the edge of the wild wood, and the trees are having a knees up…..
At Knockbrex Viewpoint
Ava and Ethan together with my wife and Toby the dog sit in the sunshine overlooking the Irish Sea at Knockbrex viewpoint.
Leek Portrait
A picture taken on a recent visit to Leek Market in England.
My image library on WordPress is 99.5% full after 5 years of posting and over 2000 posts and I’m not sure if I will continue when it becomes full. I am tired and perhaps I should break the routine.
I need some fire in my belly, and don’t know where to get the tablets……..
….on reflection, I feel like this guy…
Springtime on St Mary’s Isle
Spring, so they say, is just around the corner, and it’s true that the daffodils are now flowering in the garden, so they must be in bloom along St Mary’s Isle, though I haven’t been there this month……I’ve been somewhat sick, staring at the wall with brain in a jumble and stomach in a rumble ……and I now think I know what the end times feel like….
Old Trees near Redfield
A fine old old group of ancient trees, still in their winter garb, stand in a field on the Glengap Road.
Landscape near Borgue 2
The road from Borgue village towards Kirkcudbright runs through a landscape type called ‘drumlin pasture’ which is characterised by low rounded hills that were formed by the retreating ice many thousands of years ago.
Although we are approaching the lambing season, the nearest sheep are in the distance on the right, but I have yet to see my first lamb of 2017.
Doach Woods
I used to walk here with the dog when visiting my parents but after they passed on I have had no cause to follow the road that leads here. Once it was a winding moss covered path over tree roots and past springtime flowers but then the forestry decided that they needed access and it was converted into a wide gravel covered road that was difficult to walk on. It lost its charm at that point…..
Engineer
While visiting friends in Staffordshire recently we made a return visit to this Victorian Sewage Pumping Station near Burton-upon-Trent, and here is one of the proud volunteers who have worked over many years to restore and bring back into working order a magnificent beam engine and ancillary workshops.
The Church at Borgue
Borgue is a small village south west of Kirkcudbright and the church stands on this low hill.
Frederick England
A visit to the small market town of Leek in Staffordshire was memorable for the number of people in the town’s covered market who agreed to have their portrait taken.
This gentleman is Frederick England.
West from the Borland Road
Sometimes, just sometimes, the sky is enough.
This one is particularly painterly and was taken on the Borland Road, just south of Borgue Village.
A Wooded Shore
An early February view taken on the western side of St Mary’s Isle, Kirkcudbright Bay.
Ava Rocks!
Our granddaughter Ava and her brother Ethan visited us two weeks ago and here I photographed her galloping across the rocks at Carrick against a blue February sky.
Borness
After a visit to my art appreciation group last week on the road to Carrick, I decided to explore around the village of Borgue. This scene was at the end of a road heading south past the back of Borgue Church.
On the map this area is shown as Borness, and as the road ends here, I guess that this is Borness Farm.
It was a day of interesting skies. Skies make such a difference to landscape photography and with the trees still in their winter garb, this picture just had to be seen in monochrome to emphasise the wonderful and varied tones and textures.
From Knockbrex
While our grandchildren, Ava & Ethan were visiting last week we walked up to the Knockbrex viewpoint on a small hill on the coast, with views across the Fleet Bay.
In this view we are looking north west towards the Galloway Forest Park.
When Ava wrote her diary account of this day she remembered particularly how, on our ascent of the hill, she clapped her hands and all the sheep that you can see, ran away across the field…
The Big Climb
On their recent visit to stay with Granny and Gramps, Ethan and Ava had a great time climbing the rocky shoreline. Here we were at Carrick near to Borgue where Dumfries and Galloway meets the Irish Sea.
Cadgwith Village 2
One of a series of 2013 monochromes found lurking in the archives that were taken in Cornwall. Cadgwith is a coastal village on The Lizard.
Bengairn from Carrick
An end of February scene in Dumfries & Galloway that shows a view looking west across Fleet Bay from Carrick.
Breathe in the fresh air, expand your lungs and promise to visit Scotland this year!
Cornish Creek 2
Not sure where this is, perhaps Lesley Treloar who lives near here could help me out?
Festival Dance
A final photo from the shoot that I was asked to do for a drama and dance féis last October. Here the kids were practising for their dance presentation.
Life, Photography & Other Mistakes - is now dormant 