Freebird

Stunning sunrises are quite unpredictable I find, and this one was no exception. No apologies for returning to the same spot as 1 November, this is my favourite place at this time of the year as the sun heads further southwards. View large to see the crow. This was definitely the best part of the day, it went downhill with me as I headed home with Gus, and the rain set in later.

This is back blipped as I ran out of time yesterday. In the evening we went to a talk by one of our most outstanding local photographers, David Poole (Knottman2 and I established that he is not a blipper, and had never heard of Blipfoto). His photographs of rutting deer, dippers on the River Kent, dragonflies at Foulshaw and butterflies at Gait Barrows were immaculate in their detail, depth of field and the perfection of their exposures.

I was the more interested to see his photographs as I have been asked to give the photography talk at the same meeting of the Landscape Trust this time next year.

What a tough act to follow. Indeed, I know only too well that I can't follow it. He shows up my style of photography for its lack of technical excellence, laziness in the spurning of tripods (and hence lack of sharpness), and my habit of forgetting to adjust settings. It convinced me that I should never try entering local photography club exhibitions, my photographs just don't match the criteria that David explained.

What is especially good about him as a photographer is that while he knows how to play the game of producing a perfect competition image, he also appreciates the more spontaneous photographs that may be less than perfect. He showed a beautiful photograph of a song thrush that he (and I) liked, but had been rejected by a judge because the bird's feet were hidden amongst the moss on which it was standing. How absurd is that?

Anyway, a lot of food for thought and some trepidation about how to approach next year's talk. But I've got a year to think about it!