Wandering and Pondering

Whenever I have difficult things in life to contemplate, I always like to go for a walk, preferably in nature. Wandering and pondering is how I like to think of it, my little calming ritual I carry with me everywhere.

The rhythmic beat of walking soothes me, the solidity of the earth beneath my feet grounds me, the fresh air revives me and the seasonal continuity of trees and flowers and water and sky and the way everything blends together to create the vastness of our beautiful landscape helps keep me sane in an increasingly mad world.

And I like to take my camera with me when I walk, so usually when I see something particularly beautiful-to-me that captures my attention I like to stop and photograph it. Maybe a different perspective, or the movement of water, or the way the light catches something is all it takes…

• 

• 

• 

• 

And so I usually return from my walk refreshed in body and mind, ready to face whatever difficulties lie ahead, until the next time… 🙂

Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Contemplate

Daffodils on the Riverbank

Daffodils on the riverbank for today’s Flower of the Day 🙂

Moving Water

• 

• 

• 

• 

It’s fun to play about with slower exposures and moving water, although sometimes I find it’s hard to achieve the actual creative effect I visualise in my mind’s eye before pressing the shutter. But last month’s storms with such heavy rainfall left a swollen river ripe for capturing, and these are some of my favourite more artistic shots from the worst of it. It was snowing a bit, so the sky was relatively dark, and the water was flowing so fast it was possible to hand hold the camera and still succeed with minimal camera shake 🙂

Water Water Everywhere

Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Visualise

Seagulls Paddling

Not technically the kind of leading lines Cee was probably looking for, but this line of seagulls paddling in the shallows of the swollen river creates a little punctuated border between grassy bank and flowing water 🙂

Watercolours

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

No not watercolour paintings, but the true colours of actual fast-moving river water captured in long exposure shots flowing under a bridge. Hand-held, because I didn’t have my mini tripod with me, but I’m happy enough with the way they turned out 🙂

Ness Bank

Sometimes I take a random pic (one of many) while out and about where I find the whole thing particularly aesthetically appealing. I’ve no idea why this image appeals to me so much – but then beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. I think it’s the way the trees and the bridge and the river just come together that works so well for me. I’ve processed it in black and white too, and for me the monochrome version looks just as good! 🙂

Weekly Prompt: Aesthetically Appealing

Along the Riverbank

• 

• 

• 

• 

In between squally rain/ sleet/ snow showers I went for a welcome walk along the side of the River Ness in Inverness earlier on and took a few pictures to share – as you can see the river is quite high, but still well within its natural breathing space. Mind you, these poor daffodils along the riverbank are getting their feet a bit wet! 🙂

• 

•