Gentle light caresses fields shorn of their summer abundance as the newly awoken sun peeks above the horizon, tinting the wide sky in pastel shades. A lonely blackbird breaks the lingering hush of the pre-dawn hours. Soon it is joined by its fellows, and their voices rise in joyous chorus. Peace settles upon me as I breathe in … More Local
Every Wednesday all across the internet bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it. Here is mine.
They hide amongst the sunlit leaves, with only hints of movement to betray their presence. If you watch carefully you might see a darting shape, there and gone in the blink of an eye. But listen. You can hear them: the swish of fluttering wings; the pattering of tiny footsteps on branches. And there – the tinkling of … More Sunlit Leaves
Meandering path, following a well trodden route. To whose doorway do you lead? This post is for Cee’s Which Way Challenge. This week’s pictures were taken at the Chysauster Ancient Village in Cornwall (England), the remains of an Iron Age settlement thought to have first been occupied nearly 2,000 years ago, during the Roman occupation … More Ancient Paths
They huddle beneath the sheltering branches, hidden from view by tangled growth. Soon they’ll have to move – their pursuers won’t have given up so easily – but for now they sleep in restless slumber, recovering their strength for the struggle ahead. Their dreams are haunted by dark figures who laugh as blood cascades over a … More Trees
Every Wednesday all across the internet bloggers post a photograph with no words to explain it. Here is mine.
swift cloudburst tumbles droplets weighing fragile wings time to find shelter This post is for Susan’s Macro Moments challenge. This week’s photograph was taken at the wildflower meadow back in June. It was taken on my Canon EOS 1100D, with the 18-55mm lens: ISO 800 f/8, 1/200 sec, handheld.
If you listen carefully, you might hear them on the steps, their laughter echoing in the summer air. They climb ever higher, curiosity drawing them onwards. Look. There. Can you see them – twisting in the sunbeams? This post is for Cee’s Which Way Challenge. I’ve really missed this challenge – paths, staircases and signposts are some of my … More Cee’s Which Way: Stairways and Sunbeams
sunburst bathed in rain dispelling night’s toxic fears newborn day washed clean This post is for the Macro Moments challenge run by Susan over at the blog Musin’ With Susan. This is the first time I’ve joined in with this challenge, but seeing as I take a lot of macro photographs I thought it was about time … More Macro Moments Week Seven: Sunburst
I know this is very late but I was determined to get it out anyway! As some of you may know, I spent April joining in with CampNanoWriMo. Nearly all of my free time was spent working on my novel which is why this wasn’t posted then. My favourite writing spot, however, (when it wasn’t … More Changing Seasons 2016: April
This post is for Cee’s Oddball Challenge, a photography challenge that asks for you to share pictures that don’t seem to fit any particular category. I’ve been looking at these shots for a while now, trying to decide what I could use them with – oddball seems appropriate. Flames dancing skywards Challenging encroaching night Bright … More Beltane Fires
This is my second entry into Cee’s Black and White Challenge for the theme buildings. I decided that I may as well post the rest of the pictures I’d originally intended to include in my last post seeing as they were all ready to go. These ones are a little less ‘vintage’ than the last set.
This is my entry into Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is buildings. As I’m sure you can tell, I spent a little longer playing around with the editing of these this week. I thought a vintage effect would fit the subject matter quite nicely. I’d love to know what everyone else thinks. … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Buildings
This is my entry into Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is Any Kind of Bricks or Stone Walls, Walks or Roads. I had to go with my favourite types of stone walls for this – those of historical sites! The photos were all taken at either Warwick Castle or Fountains Abbey last year. My … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Stone Walls
Here’s my final October edit for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. My main aim for this month was to learn how to layer images to create a composite. I also wanted to build up to a really spooky image for the final week. I’m feeling quite happy with everything I’ve achieved but I’d love to know what everyone else thinks! This … More One-Four Challenge: October Week Four
It’s time for another post for Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is, Things Made From Wood. All of today’s pictures are of a wooden statue that my grandfather brought back from Africa in the 1970s. She’s probably quite basic tourist wear, not to mention she’s rather battered nowadays, but she’s been a part … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Things Made From Wood
Here’s my October week three edit for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. I’ve been playing around with this week’s image so much that I’m really not sure what steps I took to reach the final version – but I’ll try to remember as best I can! I began with the week one edit which I opened in Camera Raw where I increased both contrast … More One-Four Challenge: October Week Three
It’s time for my October week two edit for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. This week I wanted to focus on the spiderweb and bokeh. I also wanted to give the image a slightly a magical or spooky appearance. Hopefully I succeeded. To create this week’s version I first opened the image in Photoshop Elements 13 where I cropped … More One-Four Challenge: October Week Two
This post is in response to Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is, Cameras or Photos of Photographers. I wasn’t sure for a while whether I was going to be joining in with this week’s challenge because, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t generally take many pictures of people. The exception, of course, is my … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Cameras or Photographers
It’s now October and so time for a new image for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. I took this image just last week when out for a walk around the village. I’ve always found graveyards fascinating places to walk around – I always wonder about the stories of the people buried there. Here’s my first edit: For this first … More One-Four Challenge: October Week One
This post is in response to Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is, Backs of Things. I considered taking some photos of the backs of random items for this one but then I thought about all the pictures I’ve taken of my family that only show their backs . In the end I decided to create the … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Backs of Things
It’s time for the final September edit of Robyn’s One Four Challenge. I can hardly believe it’s week four already – this month has flown by! For this week I wanted to create a soft look of an impressionistic painting for the image. This week’s edit was actually the first one I created, as soon as I … More One-Four Challenge: September Week Four
This post is in response to Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is, Perspective. And here are my photos: A little while ago I was wandering along the lanes around the village when I discovered a piece of farm equipment, unhitched at the edge of a field. I think it might be a … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Perspective
It’s time for the third September edit of Robyn’s One Four Challenge. This week’s edit is in response to Joanne’s suggestion that she’d like to see a black and white version of the image. I again began by opening the original image in Camera Raw where I made these changes: Temperature: +20 Contrast: -100 Highlights: -19 Shadows: -78 … More One-Four Challenge: September Week Three
It’s time for the second September edit of Robyn’s One Four Challenge. I wanted to create an image this week that was very different to last week’s highly detailed version. Stacy of Lensaddiction suggested that I crop some of the rocks away from the bottom, whilst Ben Rowe of Aperture 64 said how he’d like to see it … More One-Four Challenge: September Week Two
This post is in response to Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is, What is Beautiful to You, so I thought I’d post a few galleries. I hope you all like them. I find beauty in roses, blooming gloriously throughout the summer months, their velvet soft petals curling in intricate layers. I find beauty … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: What is Beautiful to You
After taking August off from Robyn’s One-Four Challenge I’m now back with a new image for September. The picture I’ve chosen to edit this month was taken a few years ago at Corfe Castle in Dorset, UK, and has languished in a folder since that time. I’ve always dismissed it as being too dark but decided it would be a good one to … More One-Four Challenge: September Week One
A sedate path idles where mighty engines once roared. The bridge stands lonely sentinel, holding memories of its glory days in unloved brick-work. This post is for Cee’s Which Way Challenge. The photograph was taken in Newark on Trent (Nottinghamshire, UK) along the path of the old railway line. The railway itself closed in 1988 and since then … More Cee’s Which Way Challenge 2015: Week #34 – The Old Railway Bridge
This post is for Cee’s Black and White Challenge. This week’s theme is flowers. This post was going to go up last night. I had a photograph (the first dahlia shot above) all ready to go. Then I thought I’d have a wander around the garden and see if there was anything else that might … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Flowers
It’s time for the final week of Robyn’s One-Four Challenge for July. This week’s image was not an easy one to produce – I had absolutely no idea what to do with it! At one point I had several different versions on the go, none of which I was happy with. In the end I decided I wanted … More One-Four Challenge: July Week Four
It’s time for week three of Robyn’s One-Four Challenge for July. For this week’s edit I began with last week’s black and white image and using Photoshop Elements 13 added a pen and ink filter. I shifted the levels slightly to bring out more detail in the boat but then found I was left with a very … More One-Four Challenge: July Week Three
The Lady of the Ossington Stairs creak, footsteps of a ghostly presence creeping ever closer. She watches through the veil as workmen transform her dream into her direst nightmare. As alcohol swirls in glasses, voices rising in drunken excitement, her ire grows. This was not what she wanted! How dare they defy her will? Fury crackles … More Cee’s Black and White Challenge: Older Than 50 Years
It’s time for week two of Robyn’s One-Four Challenge for July. For this second edit I decided to go black and white. I began by opening the week one edit in Photoshop where I removed the filter from the sky and the adjustment levels, keeping the crop and clean up. I then added a black and white gradient map. … More One-Four Challenge: July Week Two
After a long week of no internet I’m finally back on my blog. Yay! My connection is still very dodgy so I apologise in advance if I suddenly vanish again. It’s a hazard of living in a small village. I had intended to post last night but no such luck. My plan is to visit everyone’s blogs over the … More One-Four Challenge: July Week One
It’s the fourth week of June and so time for the final edit of this month’s image for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. The picture was taken last year in Hartsholme Country Park in Lincoln, UK. For this final edit I wanted to create a dreamy effect. I began by opening the original image in Photoshop Elements 13 where I cropped it … More One-Four Challenge: June Week Four
Here’s the third June edit for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. The picture was taken last year in Hartsholme Country Park in Lincoln, UK. For this week’s edit I decided to give it the appearance of dusk. I’m not sure exactly what I did to reach this final stage – I added and removed so many layers I’m afraid I lost track. There were … More One-Four Challenge: June Week Three
Here’s the second June edit for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. The picture was taken last year in Hartsholme Country Park in Lincoln, UK. This week I decided to create an old photograph effect to emphasise the age and history of the boathouse in the picture (built in 1881). I’m ignoring the fact that the bridge is only a year old… … More One-Four Challenge: June Week Two
Its now June and so time for a new image for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. For this first week I wanted to keep the edit quite simple. I cropped it and used the clone tool to remove the remaining branches in the top right corner. I then used the levels adjustment tool to boost the shadows and highlights, added a … More One-Four Challenge: June Week One – Boathouse and Bridge
The threat of rain is a familiar annoyance as you walk beneath glowering skies: it does little to deter your enthusiasm. Your eyes remain fixed on the small boats that sway gently in place. Excitement burbles in your chest. The noises of the town fade into a distant murmur and you tune your ears to … More Which Way – The Waterfront
Here’s my May, week four edit for Robyn’s One-Four Challenge. I spent most of this week playing around with an idea for this edit that I just could not get to work! I wanted to add a bright light coming through the crack in the door. Unfortunately I eventually had to abandon it as beyond my current … More One-Four Challenge: May Week Four – The Lock
The place where you can find out what Lillie thinks
Looking at life through blue eyes
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Myriad memories frozen in time
Looking into why we do the things we do (and some crochet) each Monday
Amanda Tuke - writer: nature, people, places
A photographic journey.
Here and now, with all of it.
An Enchanted Place 