Watch and learn

And so.
Today it was decided that the digital photography course has to be postponed. Being over 4 weeks behind in a ten-week course is ridiculous.
If I can defer at a reduced fee I will have another bash in the Autumn. ~Update, the following day: I've just discovered this will not be possible. Bugger. Can't afford to do it now.
It's one thing to try to do the bare minimum to pass, it's another thing when you actually want and need to take in every single word and do every single activity. There's no point half-learning something like this.

This means that, as of now, I am no longer an Open University student for the first time in years.

So now I can feel relaxed about my amateur, playing, getting to know my camera, farting around shots for a bit longer.
The first thing I did once I'd made my decision was take more photos than I have done for weeks. Lots of my old crouching and experimenting and falling into spiders webs and not worrying about being judged.

I've always been a terrible person for rules. According to the experts and the rule-makers I do lots of things wrong: I play the flute wrong, I play the piano wrong, I sing wrong, I draw wrong. I break LOADS of rules when I'm writing. I even cook wrong - I never measure anything or follow recipes, I use my camera in the wrong way, I don't use the proper editing tools. And I'm terrible for not using the right terminology in all sorts of things that I do - I often don't have a clue what people are talking about even when it's something I know I know about (I know that sounds daft but know what I mean!)
Life for me is about feeling, watching, guessing, instincts, using my senses, making mistakes and enjoying when things go right or just turn out interesting.

But.
To be able to break the rules it's handy to know what they are - or at least why I am rejecting them. So in order to get a better macro picture of an ant - if for no other reason - I do want to know what those "in the know" can offer.

I like this photo and I like not having to worry about the clarity but Richard did immediately point out that someone takes much better close-ups than this and I don't want someone saying that every time I take a photo.

Ants.
It's interesting watching ants close-up for a few minutes. I dislike things a lot less when I study them closely (right-wing politicians excepted. I seem to dislike them more the more I study them). I read something interesting recently: apparently if ants feel there is a crisis they make another queen, which then makes more ants. So killing ants can create a bigger problem. I've also watched the way they control aphids on my roses and am beginning to appreciate their hard work.

Yet another good reason not to use evil pesticides - Hooray!