Photography

  • Of skylarks and cottongrass

    Of skylarks and cottongrass

    The weather has broken, but that’s okay. Sometimes the island is at its most beautiful when the churning, brooding clouds sweep in across the sea like Nature’s cloak. Today, the land is cast in a muted, diffuse light. No need for sunglasses. I can see the colours of the landscape as they truly are.

  • Climbing a hill to find a big sky…

    Climbing a hill to find a big sky…

    The sun shines, I have a spare hour, and I feel drawn to climb a hill. I don’t feel like driving so I head out the door and just start walking. The nearest hill borders the town on one side, and the sea on the other. Today I’ll be walking along its landside. I have…

  • When you feel on the right path

    When you feel on the right path

    I take the footbridge over a forded river and pause halfway to listen to the water. A small salmon swims stationary in the currents, under a shaft of sunlight, waiting to snare an unsuspecting midge.

  • A miniature jungle

    A miniature jungle

    This is another shot from my allotment. I know, I know. Weeds – the gardener’s nightmare. But I love it. If you get your head down low and take a few moments just to observe, you begin to see so much.

  • Red Campion at my allotment

    Red Campion at my allotment

    I returned to my allotment for the first time in a little while. Things have been busy, and so, it would seem, have the wildflowers.

  • Country lane daydreaming

    Country lane daydreaming

    It’s the middle of May and I’m walking along a beautiful country lane. I’ve got a quick half an hour to stretch my legs before getting home to work. The air is warm. The breeze, floral and sweet.

  • Paddling on a hot afternoon

    Paddling on a hot afternoon

    It’s amazing how much colder the water is if you stand in the fast moving flows compared with the wider, slower sections. Needless to say, we splash over toward burbling cascades by the rocks.

  • Walking thoughts: Of scent and sap.

    Walking thoughts: Of scent and sap.

    I came upon this little patch of wilderness on my travels yesterday and was transfixed by the complexity of every level of life. In the distance, the fields and scrubland teemed with insects, wildflowers and birdsong. The air shimmered with the mid-afternoon heat.

  • Crunching gravel underfoot

    Crunching gravel underfoot

    Here’s a photo I took yesterday, enjoying a gorgeous mid-May walk…

  • Quiet connections in a woodland glade

    Quiet connections in a woodland glade

    The air was suffused with message-carrying scents and invisible instructions inside grains of pollen. Under my feet, I was aware there must be a knotted network of root and mycelium. And, breathing in this earthy air, I too felt a deep sense of peaceful connection.

  • Temple of green

    Temple of green

    We sit with our feet in the water, cooling down after a walk. The sound of the river, cascading over rocks, washes over us as well as the currents. Each leaf, an acoustic reflector.

  • Budge up baby barnacles!

    Budge up baby barnacles!

    I visited a rocky beach, and boulder after boulder was covered in barnacles, many of which were miniscule, baby barnacles. There must have been millions of them. I wondered, what is their experience of life? And how many of these tiny babies reach adulthood?