On My Doorstep

 In my last post I mentioned how there are some places and subjects that I would never tire of photographing and I shared some images from my travels around Europe. Without a doubt I would be more than happy to spend days or even weeks photographing puffins or street scenes in Venice, Florence, Vienna or a host of other wonderful places. I also long to visit new locations, inspired by my own travels and by images shared online I know I would get so much pleasure exploring new places with my camera. However I have to be realistic, while there will be lots of opportunities to do this in future there will also long periods where I will have to stick to what is local or familiar.

I am privileged to live in a beautiful place, by the sea but close to varied landscapes, urban landscapes and  lots of wildlife. However when I look through my many files of photographs I realise that I have relatively few from my locality and I am missing opportunities to develop my skills and fulfil my passion here on my doorstep. Perhaps it is familiarity that means I sometimes fail to see the interest in what I see every day and that is a big error because the beauty  and interest is there and for people that I share those images with they will largely be new or unfamiliar so it must be worth me spending more time where I live. It doesn't matter if I go back several time to the same lake, lighthouse or park/reserve there will always be another angle or different light etc. So while I will dream of and look forward to travelling to new places I will also take more time to see what is on my doorstep.

Here are a few images of some of the wonderful places near me.

 

Liverpool waterfront and Albert Dock

West Kirby Marine Lake

Red Rocks

Meols shore

New Brighton Lighthouse

Messing About in Boats

I mentioned in a recent post how I would have loved to go to sea and how I would imagine being shipwrecked or living on a remote island, ideas that were inspired by many of the books I read when I was very young.

I think sailing vessels have a unique romantic quality and the thought of being transported, powered by the wind is very tempting for me. Aside from the fact that I do not know how to sail a boat, have never sailed a boat I am absolutely sure I would love the experience.

I have driven/sailed/piloted/skippered (I don't know the correct nautical term) a small cabin cruiser and a friends motor boat and I thoroughly enjoyed that and if I had the money a cabin cruiser would be quite high on my wish list and I would spend time sailing, exploring hidden coves and beaches, maybe fishing for my tea (ha ha) and just getting away from the hustle and bustle of daily  life. I might find myself alone though as my better half does not have sea legs and would prefer to stay on land. Oh well, a little alone time would be fun...
 

On The Ropes

 One thing I always enjoyed when I was growing up was reading tales of the sea; shipwrecks, desert islands, explorers and such. I grew up near Portsmouth and the maritime history of that area featured in my early education; Admiral Nelson, HMS Victory, and the Mary Rose. It is little wonder then that I feel drawn to the sea and I had dreams about going to sea. I never did fulfil that dream but that doesn't mean I have any regrets about it.

I love looking at boats and I think they often make for interesting subjects for photography, take these images for example of the masts and rigging set against the clear sky. 

Dead Calm

 

                                                                                                                                                   

So yesterday I said I would be posting the last of my shots from my walk on the beach and that I would post multiple images, and that is what I have done...

I was a little surprised to see so many boats on the water at the marine lake because it was almost completely dead calm, with barely a breath of wind at all. Progress on the water was incredibly slow and by the time the first group of boats was coming back the crews were having to stand up in their boats and flap the sails back and forth in order to create enough momentum to get back to the jetty. I was really surprised then when a second group of boats went out as in the last image and they were standing up, flapping for all they were worth to get out onto the lake.

All the same I thought the colourful sails reflected in the still water of the lake made for some great images, I particularly like the first image with the three boats line astern with the sails tilted at different angles.

I really wanted to add a link to some music to go with todays post and I was trying to find something that fit with the sailing motif, however I didn't actually think what I observed and photographed could fairly be described as sailing (and I thought Sailing by Rod Stewart would be a bit cheesy) so I have gone a little outside the box on this one. The song is  "Nothing Is Easy" (click the link) by Jethro Tull, it is track 1 side 2 from the classic album Stand UP (1969). I think it is definitely worth a listen and I think both the album title and song title fit well with the images. Enjoy!

A Life On The Ocean Waves

So I have posted these not because they are particularly great pictures, although they are quite nice particularly the second one, but because they have a degree of nostalgia attached to them.

A few years ago my youngest son was lucky enough (at least I think he was lucky) to be chosen for a place on a tall ships training cruise from South Wales to Northern Ireland and then into Liverpool and this was the ship he sailed on. 

Then during our recent break in Hampshire we went to Portsmouth to visit the Historic Dockyard and in the marina we spotted this ship and so I got a couple of pictures. To think of my 15 year old son (as he was at the time) climbing the rigging and walking out along the spar over the waves fills me with a mixture of emotions but mostly pride. 

Growing up I often imagined running away to sea having read lots of adventure novels about sailing and shipwrecks but as much as I would love the adventure my life didn't go in that direction so when I get close to ships like this I get a little buzz of excitement and I start to imagine a life at sea.