This weeks photo challenge over at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/weekly-photo-challenge-dreaming/ is dreaming. They suggest a shot with an other worldly sense of escapism created with a long exposure. Mine was only a one second exposure but taken later than the hour before sunset that they suggested, and I have de-saturated it a bit because the street furniture is actually brightly coloured at night. I hope it has an ethereal effect with its ghostly shadows. 
Year: 2012
7 Super Shots!
The lovely Madhu over at http://theurgetowander.com/ chose me for the http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/7-super-shots/ and gosh was it difficult. I have 20-25 thousand photos to choose from, how do you decide which are good and which you just like? So mine are possibly a mix of both.
The first was in India a few years ago when I had a point and shoot, to date it is the only photo of mine I have framed. It takes me right back to how I felt that day. It was taken close to the top of Ratnagiri hill in Pushkar which has a temple to the goddess Savitri at the summit. We got up before dawn to climb up for the sunrise as suggested by our driver the venerable Magan Singh. What he didn’t know – until now maybe – was that we didn’t actually quite reach the top, but didn’t have the heart to tell him as he was so sure that we would love it! The problem was that we had been so ill for a few days before and were still incredibly weak. He was right, the view was beautiful. I remember every moment, every laboured step, and most of all, the tiny, bent old ladies climbing to the temple as they do each day for prayer. This one literally took my breath away, I couldn’t breathe as I struggled upwards!
Next, a little closer to home, this is close to the finishing line of last October’s Commando Challenge on Yettington common in East Devon. I love this photo because it shows the determination of these women to complete a really gruelling and hideously muddy course. They ran 10 kilometres through water and mud filled tunnels and tracks that is part of a marines endurance training course. This particular group were so supportive of each other, and it makes me think, isn’t it wonderful what can be achieved when you work together? 
Over in Malaysian Borneo this time, at Kota Kinabalu. There had to be at least one sunset! These are two of the islands of Tunku Abdul Rahman park taken from Jesselton Point. This the photo that makes me dream!
At the village of Baobeng-Fiema the story goes that the monkeys are considered special. The locals give them all names and they are buried in a graves when they die. It wasn’t the monkeys that I found special in this Ghanaian village, it was the children. This is the shot that makes me smile
This young woman’s backpack must have weighed as much as she did. I couldn’t help wondering where she was headed, I suspect a local youth hostel. More interesting still, where had she been? For me, this photo tells a story.
In Western Anatolia breakfast was early one day last June. We had a lot of miles to cover that day so we had to skip the hotel meal but were promised a treat instead. Delicious local yoghurt and honey, sprinkled with poppy seeds, it worked for me and made my mouth water, I’m not sure about the carnivores though. 
Now, I don’t know if anyone else will ‘get’ this photo, what I see in it. Again its a shot that conjures up atmosphere for me. I love the quality of light, I love the activity, the between time. It was taken in Marrakech from a rooftop cafe at a time when the work of the day was ending, and the evening’s entertainment and culinary delights had not yet begun. So this is my photo that I am most proud of , aka my worth of National Geographic shot. 
So there we are, all seven, I hope you like them. Is there one in particular that you think is good? or terrible?
As always there are rules! I have to nomnate five bloggers to take part, but only if you want to. My five are,
http://sophomorejinx.wordpress.com/
http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/
http://catbirdinoman.wordpress.com/
http://adinparadise.wordpress.com/
http://flickrcomments.wordpress.com/
Wordless Wednesday
My daughter has turned cave girl!
Sadly I don’t have time for a proper post today, as I’ve just got home from work and I have several more hours of work to do in preparation for a big event on Thursday & Friday. Roll on the weekend!
Normally at this crazy sort of time, I would be chowing down on junk to keep me going. I vowed to try and deal with it all cave-girl stylee, and I have to say, I feel pretty darn good!
Breakfast:
Greek yoghurt, peach walnuts, pumpkin seeds, ground almonds.
This really keeps me going until lunchtime. When I’ve run out of peaches I’m going to try to go without fruit, because I think it’s holding my weight loss back a bit. Doesn’t it look pretty though!
Lunch:
Hard-boiled eggs, chicken, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, walnut oil.
Dinner:
Bacon, greek yoghurt, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, yellow pepper. – The quickest way of…
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Photography, art or techno skills?
I used to do a lot of photo editing when I first discovered Photoshop but eventually tired of it. I learnt to colour pop, but then everywhere you looked you would see colour popped photos – boring. The current craze for instagram does little for me, it doesn’t seem to require any particular skill or eye for a good quality photo.
Then last year I did a photography course and everyone was furiously editing everything, trying every trick the software offered. It put me off even more and I concentrated on improving my camera skills. That didn’t work, my photography became worse as I struggled to get to grips with manual camera settings.
I’m gradually recovering and on a photo day I can usually get a few shots I’m happy with, probably around 5%! I have three lenses to play with and have often thought that if I just had this lens or that lens then I might get the results I want. But that’s nonsense of course, it’s all in the eye, and sometimes choosing a good way to use software to create an interesting image.
Here I have played with a photo in a few different ways, a couple of which I believe work well and some less so. Do you have an opinion to offer? Do you like some more than others? or maybe you don’t like any of them? Let me know what you think or perhaps post a few versions of a image that you have worked with. As always click for a larger view.
100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups Week# 49
‘This week is another simple prompt but please forgive me for making it topical to us here in the UK.
….Murray was just about to serve for the Championship when…’
says Julia, over at http://jfb57.wordpress.com/ pop across to join in!
Schizoid Match
Murray was just about to serve for the Championship when they arrived. The voices. All three this time and they were arguing like mad.
‘He has to have new tennis shoes; he’s going through the toes of last year’s.’ Tut.
‘I need shin pads, for Saturday, we’re playing Westchester.’ Get out of my head Aidan.
‘Listen, listen, no-one ever needed this stuff, need is about hunger, a roof over our heads.’ Dad shut up.
‘Murray will put the roof over our heads one day, the boy is gifted.’ No pressure then mum.
‘Ha, even he doesn’t believe that.’
The racquet thudded to the ground. You’re right dad I don’t.
RNLI Duck Race
The RNLI ( Royal National Lifeboat Institution for those outside the UK) has been rescuing people at sea since 1824 and in that time has saved more than 139,000 lives. They currently have 330 boats in 23 stations around the country of various sizes and classes. A registered charity, all of its funding comes from donations and it is manned by volunteers. We all know that they rescue people from stricken vessels. You may know that their lifeguards patrol beaches and perform first aid. Did you know they have a flood rescue team? Also volunteers, specially trained in swift water rescue techniques and ready to travel anywhere in the world.
Today I was in Beer, a lovely east Devon village with a Lifeboat shop raising vital funds to keep the service afloat. I learnt that it costs £75 for a rescue tube, bright yellow and made of plastic foam, with enough buoyancy to get an adult back on dry land. This is a small necessity, a tamar class lifeboat costs £2.7 million. I don’t know why there is no government funding for lifeboats, but I guess that if a charity works why would they bother?
Today it worked like this.
A duck race! It’s lifeboat week in Beer, this is one of their fund raisers and a great success with the little ones that also raises awareness.
The Sunday Post: Silence
Jake has picked another good theme this week.
He says ‘Silence is the relative or total lack of audible sound. By analogy, the word silence may also refer to any absence of communication, even in media other than speech.Silence is also used as total communication, in reference to non verbal communication and spiritual connection. Silence is also referred to no sounds uttered by anybody in a room and or area. Silence is a very important factor in many cultural spectacles, as in rituals.’
My photo for silence inspired me to write a short story a couple of years ago. I believe this gentleman was sitting in quiet contemplation about something that had happened and that was the basis of the story. What do you think is on his mind?
For more interpretations of silence visit jake and perhaps join in!
Travel Theme: Night, Exeter this time!
Ailsa was expecting a photo of my city for her travel theme challenge so I’m back with a second post and I hope this doesn’t disappoint!
Mols coffee house was built in the sixteenth century and on the left, The Royal Clarence, is reputedly the first hotel in England and of course its haunted! It’s a lovely rambling place that I have been to for conferences and has a Michael Caines restaurant. The Cathedral is across the green behind me.
Ailsa is here and there are some stunning photos this week.
Travel Theme: Night
Ailsa at http://wheresmybackpack.com/ has chosen the theme of night this week. The photo I am posting was taken at Jemaa El F’na in Marrakech which has been recognised by Unesco as a ‘ Masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity’. Beautiful and bustling by day with orange juice sellers and caleche rides, at night it really comes alive. There are snake charmers, story tellers, healers and tooth pullers. In the evening the food stalls arrive, you can choose from a vast array of delights, all cooked on the spot and filling the air with steam and smoke. Be sure to check a few before you decide, of course they will all do their best to tempt you to take a seat, but if you check where the locals are eating you can’t go far wrong. At the back of my photo is the minaret of Koutoubia mosque, the largest in Morocco, but not open to non Muslims. 
When I was a child, I was entranced by the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, Marrakech Express and as I write the lyrics are buzzing through my head. When I finally went for the first time, four years ago, it was a dream come true. I’ve been back since and will again. Marrakech doesn’t disappoint, it’s magical and La Place Jemaa El F’na at night is a vibrant, chaotic, smelly and noisy sensation.
Sadly in 2011 the square was bombed, killing fifteen people and injuring more. The blast destroyed Cafe Argana, one of my favourites, a great place to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. I have never heard if it has been rebuilt, so if anyone has any information could you share please? I would love to know.
Lucid Gypsy 