And Then There Was One

It was not a satisfactory day for me photographically.

First of all, Basil and I didn't get out until 6pm. I wanted to go near water, so I chose Dishley Pool in Loughborough from where it's a short walk to the River Soar.

Father Swan was guarding one end of the bridge. He drew out his wings and hissed as Basil marched along the bridge inquisitively. I'm pleased to say that Basil understood the threat and turned round to come back. I put him on his lead and we gave as good a distance as we could muster between ourselves and the swan.

Glancing back, I noticed Mother Swan and one cygnet, as you can see. I'm not sure that the cygnet was in best condition and I guess there must have been more. Whether the rest had been lost to predators, including pike, I couldn't say. When we finally returned, the big swan was out on the pool.

This  morning, following, I've deleted over half the images that I took. My heart must not have been in it.

And I must concede that I had been disappointed in the results of my entries to the Midland Salon. A clutch of 10s and one 9 from this shot of Loch Lomond which I really like.

I feel as if I'm not improving photographically. I'm losing incentive to try new 'projects,' and I'm now judging photographic opportunities by whether they will appeal to photo judges, not by whether I myself like them.

Seems to me that judges are looking for 'intent.' How can you take advantage of opportunities if you're always looking for intent?

I forgot to mention that when we arrived at the car park, a gentleman was carrying a large, wriggling Savannah Bosc Monitor Lizard back to his car. I was astounded. The lizard was splendid. Must have been at least 1 m long.

Apparently, these lizards can make extremely good pets if looked after properly. The gent and his family had just taken the lizard out for a walk in the sun. It had its own bed in the back of the car. Looked a lot like Basil's dog bed.