Smug in Sunny Swanage

My desk, where I work on these pictures, is on the top floor of the house in front of a window with views of the sea to the east and the Purbeck ridge to the north. On sunny days it's so bright I have to wear a hat so that I can see my screen - today is like that, though the forecast is for a return to winter.

I've gone on about this before, but I can't help feeling deleriously happy living in Swanage. I imagine for many that would be hard to understand, but I've lived in quite a few places, spent time in more and seriously, this is the best. It wouldn't suit everyone, but that's fine - there wouldn't be room!

I love Swanage in the springtime, I love Swanage in the fall; I love Swanage in the winter, when it drizzles, I love Swanage in the summer, when it sizzles...

This pic was taken late last summer, actually on one of the rare hot sunny days last summer, and while it isn't my favourite heart it shows Ballard Down, a short-ish walk (up a steep hill!) from the heat and bussle of the beach. That's one of the things that drew me back here - I can enjoy the town centre and then walk for 15 minutes either north or south and be in amazing tranquility.

Smug, smuggedy, smug - sorry!

Map

Numbers Have Been Changed To Protect The Recipient

This presented me with an interesting dilemma - this was taken in 2007 on Westminster Bridge and the address label was taped securely to the road. Apart from having to dodge traffic to get the picture, I thought it was a Really Funny Thing - Royal mail don't get asked to deliver Westminster Bridge very often. Tower Bridge, now that's a different matter...

The dilemma was whether to edit the image, as it has a private name, address and telephone number on it. What are the rules here? I thought about it, and then I thought some more, and in the end I edited out the phone number. This is a tough one for me because other than sticking the two images together and the sort of stuff you'd do in a darkroom anyway, I don't manipulate any of these images, so to take out a number is A Big Deal Indeed. I have two copies of the finished image archived though - one edited and one original.

I suppose I could call the bloke and ask him what he thinks.

It's worth a look at Moon Films' website (it's their label) at http://www.takeagiantleap.com/ and also at the location map. The bridge is still there.

Going Through Old Shots

I'm going through some of my older shots that I haven't yet sorted and put together. It does take time to produce each image, even though I don't manipulate the individual photos. I usually have a few slightly different shots (compositional differences or exposure changes) and it isn't always obvious which will work best until I've paired them up to see. This one has a lovely woodgrain close-up - I'm looking forward to a print. It was taken here (I always remember precise locations, the weather and the smell...)

I took this in London last year, but other shots date back to 2007, a few even earlier. I just need to find a week or so to work though them before I take even more... today I asked Vick to take some publicity shot portraits of me as we were near some of my favourite seedy alleys in Bournemouth. I feel really awkward having my picture taken, I start to grin and what I intend to be moody, gritty, stylish pictures end up being mugshots of a fat-faced beardy bloke with some shiny teeth... if any end up worth using I'll change my blogger pic to show them!

I Love Pigeons

I really do love pigeons, and I'm impressed that they can fly right to the top of one of the world's tallest buildings and sit there looking at us dumb humans who had to use the lift. I wonder what's the highest that a pigeon can fly? Maybe there's no limit - maybe there are space pigeons and we just haven't found them yet.

One day I want to get a giant pigeon costume and I'll hide around corners and when I see groups of children coming I'm going to run into the middle of them, flapping my giant pigeon wings, laughing manically as they scatter...

Click here for a space-pigeon's eye view

If You Love Me Let Me Go

I have been SO slack with my blog updates - to my reader, I apologise!

Another from New York. I want to go back so much - especially now it's OK to love America again! The plan at the moment is to go back in a year or so, once both my kids are old enough to appreciate it, but any excuse in the meantime and I'll be there!

This was down on West 3rd St, just off Broadway, and spookily you can see the big tag on Google maps at this link - it was just around the corner from a shop where my friend Rachel was spending some time choosing a pair of boots. I was in trouble because I had no opinion on the pair she chose... apparantly 'no opinion' is not an acceptable answer when it comes to women's shoes.

There's something lovely about graffiti like this - it tells all sorts of stories, the truth of which we can only guess at. The story I want it to tell is of a relationship that one partner is so desperate to leave that they are willing to cut the spokes on their wheel in order to get away - so either one partner is a bike, or that's just an awkward and painful metaphor.

Carry On Twitching

I love the natural British sense of 'ooh-er Mrs'. This is a diary left in a hide at Studland (near the naturist area, of course) and it was filled with classic British humour. Smut, self-deprecation, sarcasm and smattering of satire. Lovely light in the hide too, though no birds to be seen, as we were with three children and a dog.

The hide is roughly here - well hidden of course.

Love and Death

Some things you don't notice til much later, especially when you're forced to work quickly by a frustrated marathon runner with tendon issues. It was only when I looked at the photos back in Swanage that I could see the death's head in the heart on this Central Park tree. And the tree had been alongside this chess garden. And I instantly thought of Woody Allen, not because I was transposing the Seventh Seal Bergman reference onto a Manhattan setting, but because I'm essentially shallow and I get my high culture references from pop culture sources.

Now I'll have to get the Bergman film on DVD and pretend that I was referring to that all along, except i've given away my true working method here... d'oh!

OK, so I'm still posting pictures of New York, which i shot back in October/November, but I'm slowly working towards more recent stuff. I'm still campaigning (successfully, me thinks) to save my sons' school, so work is a little behind... more soon!

This pic was shot here