whatever the weather

Katia 2 © Caroline Fraser

The great thing about being a keen photographer is that nothing can stop one from making images. Hurricane Katia is beating around my house at the moment, and instead of feeling sad about the loss of the sunshine and warm weather I am eager to get down to the woods to see if I can get some more "wind" shots ( preferably without the aid of falling trees).

I found myself walking along the river Medway at the weekend, ostensibly to capture my man in his boat, but mainly because I fancied a walk along the river shore to see what I could see. Having been inspired by Struth's paradise series I was delighted to see grasses and trees blowing vigorously in the wind, creating a mini version of paradise; all in green. using a long lens, small aperture and hand holding for between 0.5 to 2 secs I experimented with capturing the movement.

Katia 1 © Caroline Fraser

As I strolled, dog moseyed around on the shore, wandering over to say hello to random passers by.

random passers-by © caroline fraser

As you can see I was having a fuzzy kind of day, preferring to keep the lens out of focus; thereby avoiding the need for a tripod on a windy day with a long lens.

The main key to success with the windy foliage shots seems to be to avoid having any chinks of sky that burn out on a long exposure; the deeper you get into the undergrowth, the better.

Katia 3 © Caroline Fraser

I did get some shots of my man in his boat, but to be honest, they are not very good; my lens not long enough, and too many blocks of flats in the background.

So as my man values his privacy, here is a photo of someone else's dinghy coming down stream against the tide

spinnaker © caroline fraser 2011

As you can see, I was attracted by the lovely red and white spinnaker ( sail).

Summertime in Suburbia .....................the dog gets a wash

With my new found freedom from sticking and glueing that was the PG Cert in Photography, I am finding tradtional ways to fill my day. Today dog and I ventured out to do a little photography; summer is here, and the London Villages Project waits for no man.

We ventured into some different streets and found all sorts of delights; red roses, dead conifers in concrete tubs on lawns, and some wonderfully green summer trees. Suburbia is so "suburban". The more I look  the more I see the different styles of gardens and window dressings that make up the whole. Double glazed windows with net curtains, window boxes and garden gates all seek to define the occupants and make their dwellings unique. Stopping to take photos I am always wary of figures behind the curtains wondering what I am up to; I don't know that they would believe me if I tried to explain that I am taking pictures of their bushes and trees.

Our 20 minute morning stroll extended into an hour long exploration; checking where the sun lies, and when to go back to catch the light in the best position is part of the initial research. Summer sun is harsher, and requires a certain devotion to duty on my part to get up while the light is still kind enough to the flowers on a sunny day.





Dog had a wash today; her first for many months; I have time at last to do a little spring cleaning. Tied by her lead to a garden chair she endured first a cold hose and then some "strong" shampoo from my bathroom. she hates this, much preferring her own, doggy smell. She has been known to run up the garden after a wash to roll in some fox poo  to restore the balance that her senses prefer.

I was getting my own back on her for the worming tablet escapade that she led me on last week. Every few months I have to get three large brown tablets into her; a feat which gets harder every time and the one time when she well and truly lets me know that she is not as stupid as she pretends to be most of the time. I have learnt through experience that there is no point trying to hide these tablets in her food; she simply goes on hunger strike until normal service is resumed. So I wrapped the tablets in a delicious piece of  pork loin.

 Foolishly I let her see this process, and she happily took the whole parcel into her mouth, only to refuse to swallow it. I tried holding her muzzle closed to encourage her to swallow. She salivated wildly all over the floor and refused to play ball. I put her outside, where upon she swallowed the meat, and out popped  the tablets onto the lawn. We repeated the proess, this time concealing the tablets in a slice of bread; she ate two, and the third was again discarded with disdain. At this point I gave up, and left the tablet in her food bowl, hoping she would forget and eat it with her tea ( which , of course, she expected as usual despite the extra snacks).

Tea came and went; the tablet remained in the bowl. Dog wins................

 Later that evening I put some boiled cabbage water into the bowl ......................water and tablet happily consumed..................I win........................

3am the next morning.......................dog needs to go out to the loo becuse of the extra drinks she had; I have to get up and take her............................DOG WINS!!!

So today we have clean, healthy dog...................................WIN WIN