Christmas in Sheffield

We spent Christmas in Sheffield and had a splendid time hanging out with the in-laws, eating their food, doing our best to empty their wine rack and generally having a self-indulgent time. We had snow on Christmas day, which was a real treat, only slightly marred by the fact that we'd lived through several days of icy, snowy conditions before we travelled up so there was no novelty to it. There are countless (well, 60) festive photos on my Flickr pages but I decided to post this one here precisely because it's not a Christmas picture. We went to a panto at the City Hall on 27/12 (Cinderella, since you're asking) and found a rather incongruous bunch of fairground rides outside, squeezed into a relatively small area. There was a large spinning swinging thing you can't see in this shot that came within just a few feet of the side of the building every time it swung one way, and about the same from some cables when it went the other. I'm sure it was all very safe but it certainly didn't look it...

The big freeze

Can it really be nearly a week since I last posted? Good Lord...

Brighton has been hit by a lot of weather lately as I've mentioned in previous posts but this weekend we really struck the jackpot with two days of proper snow and barely an overnight thaw between them to ruin it all. Actually, that's nonsense, we've actually had just one night and half a day of snow, it's just stuck around for longer than it usually does so it feels like we're in the Alps all of a sudden.

I've been out seeking nice photos, obviously, and you can see the fruits of my labour over on my Flickr pages. Capturing the one you can see here was a perilous affair. In order to get the sunset colours in the background I had to climb onto the bench of one of the seafront shelters and cling onto a protruding design feature (I think it was some kind of flower) with one hand while operating the camera with the other. As I stepped onto the bench my foot slipped in the snow and ice and I very nearly did a dramatic lunge into the shelter that would certainly have ended in tears - particularly as I was unfortunate enough to go completely arse over tit last night on my way to a boozy Christmas party. My legs went from under me and I landed heavily on my back, which wasn't much fun (even though I'm sure it was actually quite amusing to watch) and left me with a very tender back, so the last thing I wanted today was another injury. Ah, the things we do for our art...

Come on in!

Perhaps it was the imminence of my 46th birthday that prompted me to pause by the entrance of a local graveyard the other night to capture this delightfully cheery image. There's something about the circle being broken by the open gate and the blackness beyond that really grabbed me - rather to the bemusement of the several passing pedestrians who peered past me to try and figure out what I was looking at.

For someone who's spent so much time over the past decade thinking about death (long story - perhaps for another day) I dwell on it remarkably rarely when it comes to any kind of creative outlet. I don't read about it, I don't write about it and I don't usually take photos inspired by it. Perhaps that's because I'm scared of it and, like the small child who will cover their face when found doing something naughty so they won't be seen, I'm hoping that it will leave me alone if I leave it alone.

Festive Coopers

There I was sitting in the Coopers Cask tonight with my mate Simon, when suddenly my photographer's goggles slipped over my eyes and I realised that the window we were sitting next to actually looked rather lovely with its condensation and it's forlorn little Christmas baubles backlit by the streetlights on Farm Road. So I whipped out the Ricoh and snapped it without a second thought.

One of the most annoying things about the creative process - and Lord knows there are many of them - is the certain knowledge that one is constantly surrounded by potential sources of inspiration, but that one only sees them when the muse deigns to give you a glance. Pah! to the muse I say! Why can't I see them all the time?

Chilly pigeons

The weather has been so relentlessly crap for the past few weeks that I'm beginning to forget what the sun looks like. We've had the wettest November in the history of mankind and December looks like it's going to do its best to get into the record books as well. It's also cold and grey and I have a cold. Meh.

But of course there are always photo opportunities and I spotted this lot perched in a tree above the faux well in St Ann's Well Gardens near where I live, huddled against the cold and looking as miserable as I felt trudging past them.

I suppose there's some comfort in the old maxim about there always being someone worse off than you - and sure enough the thought of not having to sit naked on a spindly branch on a cold December afternoon, feeling the rain seep into every orifice and the wind trying to dislodge me even as it was making the rain feel even colder somehow cheered me up no end.

Ah, the power of positive thinking.

Christmas lights

I had the wrong camera with me when I took this shot (there I go blaming my tools again), but the point 'n' shoot did a reasonable job of capturing the Christmas lights in the North Laine yesterday. What I really needed was the Nikon with a fast telephoto of the type I'll probably never be able to afford, and ideally a tripod too. I wonder if I'll ever turn into that kind of photographer. A fairly large part of me sincerely hopes not - the paraphernalia and the patience and the perfectionism are all a bit beyond me I think. But oh how I'd love to come up the sort of images that all those Ps produce...

Puddle

In a rare moment of calm during the recent downfalls I went for a stroll on the seafront and found lots of puddles where you don't normally find them. I grabbed some nice reflection shots but this was the one that I kept going back to for some reason. I think it's the shape of the wooden kerb that I like - and in particular its reflection in the edge of the water.

I'd view it large (by clicking on the image)...