When You Get That Feeling.........Act On It!

As a photographer i'm not one to wait for hours in one place trying to get the perfect conditions,i like to cover alot of ground and make the most of the conditions that are present at that moment.Dont get me wrong,if i think something is about to break then ill stop for a few minutes or take note of interesting spots to return to later too.This approach is very much the same when i do my photography.By that i mean i'm not one of these 24/7 snap shooters,i have times when i'm inspired to do it but also take time away to refill my passion for it.For me,i find your quality of work suffers if you feel obliged to take photos daily to warrant the 'status' of a serious photographer.Its easy to fall into a routine and almost set yourself on autopilot when your taking pictures all the time.I personally follow my gut instincts,feelings and urges to break out the camera.It allows me to act on impulse and make the most of my creative side.I know each person is different with there approach and i'm in no way knocking the more regular snappers.For me tho,you take a small break from photography and when you return,its like you fall back in love with it all over again.The pictures above were taken 'on a feeling' and it provided such a diverse selection starting with the sheep to then be presented with the farming of the land with the end results so much more then i could have expected when i first stepped out the door that day.  

Can Someone Bail Me Out?

I absolutely love the summertime and even more where i live as im surrounded by countryside and fields.Ive been fascinated by bails from even an early age,altho when younger more to climb on and have fond memories of seeing my brother get run down by one courtesy of my sister.There such an interesting subject for the photographer and no matter how cack-handed the farmer makes and positions them,they just fall into patterns.I must of looked mental sat in the middle of a field as people drove past on a nearby road but hey,i was in my element so didn't care! If there was ever any reason for me to become a farmer then it would be for the sole reason of making bails i think.You have to be quick to find bail fields as i found out the other day as i found some,only for the farmer to be collecting them in at such speed that i thought he was trying to break some sort of Guinness world record! This is just one of the many reasons why i love the summer so much.

Doorstep Delights (And Tiny Gripes)

Sometimes as a photographer,you only have to venture a short way from your doorstep to capture something special.I,like any true English person find reasons to moan about where i live from time to time.For instance,the family across the road from me don't seem to have grasped the concept of enjoying the peace and quiet of the countryside and seem to want everyone within a 10 mile radius to know exactly what there up to all the time.Either that,or there going for the Guinness world record for noise pollution.I pray for the day a remote control for humans is invented,to be honest i only need the mute button in fairness.The other thing is the amount of microlights and planes that seem to think that my house is air control HQ.Its like listening to depressed Bee's hovering above.'Hello,this is air control....yes we have a free runway for you.....No,there are not cars on it and in no way have i directed you towards a main road'.My point is tho (finally) that apart from these annoyances,i have alot to be thankful for where i live and i think these pictures give just a small glimpse into why i love it here and when you look at Norfolk as a whole,it can really be beautiful.

Sunset Searchers

Ludham,Norfolk is a village lucky enough to have the broads running through it,so it makes for some great photo opportunities.Ive been trying to find new places for my photography and after speaking to a couple of friends they told me about this place.They had the honour (or misfortune) to come with me.Id promised them a grand sunset that night as id been checking the weather forecast the previous night but as i now know,the weather people don't have a bloody clue whats going on and now sense that they update there forecast by sticking there head out the window and putting down what its like at that moment in time! Needless to say i endured a barrage of jokes during the day about the state of the weather as it was dull and cloudy for the best part of it.Be warned tho,the roads around Ludham are crap,especially the one leading to St Benets Abbey which looks like it hadn't been seen too since the early ages of man.On to the Abbey itself,a nice building had it not been surrounded by 2 large metal fences and resembled more of a building site,complete with portaloo which looked like someone had spontaneous combusted in there! Still,the surrounding area was nice and the sun was trying to break through the wall of cloud before it.Trying to a climb a barb wire fence with a tripod and full equipment is like mission impossible which i found out as i managed to get one foot on the top of the fence then found my leg had developed a mind of its own when it decided to swivel side to side with a move that even Elvis would of been proud of.Unscathed i got over tho to the disappointment of my other 2 mates.Our next stop was just down the road at How Hill which id visited a couple of times before.By this time the sun was setting and finally we got the colour in the sky we had been searching for.The other main problem with dusk and being next to a waterway is that it was crawling (literally) with fly's and mosquitoes who looked at us as an all you can eat invitation when i looked at my arms later on that night.The night ended in an ill tempered swan blocking the path,but our friend Matt seemed undeterred and at one point i thought he may well wrestle this beast back into the water from where it came.It was a good night but really tested our skills to capture what we did with an indifferent weather not helping.A thank you to Simon and Matt who came along with me,i think their only disappointment was not seeing me fall flat on my face trying to get over that fence!