Family Photo Fun

So with steps, stairs and ladders being this last week's family photo challenge I spent a few hours in the studio yesterday playing with some ideas. We've been doing this weekly photo challenge since more or less we started the weekly video chats after Lockdown. It covers my Dad & Step-Mum, Bro and his family, Julia and James and of course me. It's been quite good to have something to focus on each week and has helped to keep the creativeness flowing during what is probably the biggest photo drought I've come across in my years doing photography as a hobby. With places being more limited to get to and initially restrictions of how often and where you could go because of this bloody virus business, it's been a good way to stay focused on still using my camera. Sometimes one has to rely on some poetic license with the subject matter but I have a vast array of table top stuff which comes in handy most of the time. These are a set of wooden alphabet bricks I bought a few years ago on Ebay for some photography, reminding me of the larger bricks we used to push around in a trolley as kids. The pictures on the other sides are somewhat crude and not always obvious what they are exactly but it was mainly the letters/numbers I was interested in when I bought them! Each week we submit a handful of images each, shot hopefully in the previous week but not always, and then chat about them during the call. A simple pick a number from a bag of numbers provides the next week's subject matter. We've had all sorts from money to insects, worm's eye view to colours and many other things in between. Some subjects are easier than others, this coming week is animals, birds, feathers which is not so easy for me - should be a walk in the park - literally - for Julia and James with their gorgeous dog Annie :-)
 

Daytrip to Bexhill-on-sea - Sept 2020 Hollibobs

 

Had a good day out in Bexhill-on-sea after finally arriving around midday due to a breakdown with our coach just outside of Bewl Water Reservoir. We had to wait by the side of the road, not easy when it's just a mowed mess of brambles and other wild flora, for a replacement to arrive, which turned out to be a mini-bus given there were less than 10 of us on the trip, including the driver! Not so comfortable either when face coverings are expected to be worn, coming home I had the window open and felt like a dog with it's nose out of the window!! Anyway we got to stay later to make up for the 2hr delay which was kind of good and kind of bad. Good because we got the quota of time there that we should have had, bad because it meant staying until half six with everything closing up and the weather blowing up a bit more chilly of an evening. Also a late run back home from the station by bus once I got dropped off. Bexhill-on-sea is quite a quaint seaside town in between Hastings and Eastbourne, nearer Hastings really. The photo of the Colonnade is one I'd hoped to get and fortunately I managed to get a few without any people in them. I love these unusual architectural structures that are now dotted around the UK, few and far between. Unsure of their purpose but think they are very interesting. Spent most of the day walking along the front from end to end, although I did venture up to the Old Town gardens after arriving. Stood and watched some young lads videoing a newly married Indian couple, all dressed up in their finery which was good. Especially the gimbal one of them was using to keep the camera level. Very good but most likely very expensive ;-) Wished the happy couple many congratulations on their nuptials and once they'd finished filming went up to explore the colonnade myself. All in all a good day out and a pleasant way to round off my week's holiday - especially now that the weather has turned really cold and wet! Likely to be my last coach journey until this virus business is under some semblance of control. Just cannot be done with the early mornings to get the coach and the misery of wearing a face covering for several hours whilst on board. Looking to stay closer to home now we're heading into Autumn and as we're still being asked to work from home, at least for the remaining part of this year I'm looking forward to not having to wrap up in the waterproofs of a morning to get into work, or worrying about icy or worse still, snowy weather!!

Day Trip to Rye - Sept 2020 Hollibobs

 

So here's Tedster in front of the windmill we saw in Rye today. Had a belated day trip there via Chalkwell coaches which should have taken place in April this year but got delayed due to this crappy pandemic. Had a lovely sunny, albeit, breezy day there with Tedster and the TZ90 for company, very high contrast in the photos so not the ideal shooting conditions but we had a good mooch around for the 5.5hr we were there. Found some old cobbled streets, a sort of harbour but I'd somehow expected something more in keeping with the usual harbours but guessing the difference is that Rye is a river harbour and not sea! Still it was a good day out in the fresh air and whilst we all had to wear our face coverings on the coach, including our driver, there were only nine passengers including me on what I believe is a 50 seater coach - so plenty of room for social distancing! And the aircon helped to stop us all feeling too hot with the face coverings which is kind of what happens in a normal bus. All in all I'm glad we got to go after all, the beginning of the year when all my planned day trips started falling by the wayside because of this stupid virus was very depressing. As it is some were cancelled permanently this year by the venues, so all I can say is 2021 better be GOOD!!!

Bluebell Hill Picnic Site - Sept 2020 Hollibobs

Mooched along to the Bluebell Hill picnic site again today as an off day in my week's leave. Went via the crematorium and laid a rose off of Julia's rose tree at my Mum's tree and had a "chat" whilst we were there. Now the picnic site car park is open it was surprisingly busy for a weekday with lots of cars and me wondering where everyone had some from! There was I thinking I'd have the place to myself ;-) Had a wander along the path as far as I dare to go, which let's face it isn't that far, I'm not scrambling through the bushes and brambles for anyone! Took the Goldie along this time and it worked OK given that the weather wasn't quite as bright as suits infrared but bright enough that for the most part I could barely see the back screen for the reflections of Moi in it. Talk about point 'n' hope. Amazed that it is still happily running on the recharged AA batteries I put back in it a few weeks ago, obviously technology has moved on since the AA battery digital cameras that I first owned and swore I never own again. However with many already converted infrared cameras sometimes you don't get too many choices on the cameras that are available. And as I have learnt, no two cameras ever seem to produce the same kind of faux coloured image. So for now I'm hanging on to my little "chunky monkey" of a digital compact.
 

The British Tattoo Exhibition

 

Bit of an attempt to show a quick flavour from The British Tattoo Exhibition which is on at The Historic Dockyard Chatham until the end of this month. Originally the exhibition rocked up ready to open in March until Covid-19 caused the Dockyard to close it's doors to the public. Once the Dockyard re-opened in July the exhibition was still there as it hadn't been able to move on to it's next venue and so thankfully we got to see the exhibits. Which as tattoo aficionados was a real privilege. Especially as some of the artists featured were some of the best in Chatham back in the day! The 100 Hands is an awesome collection of tattooed latex hands showing all manner of different styles by many different artists. Not all to my taste but I can appreciate a good artist when I see one! There's a couple of old tattoo parlour set-ups showing just how much things have changed over the years and plenty of examples of the flash which used to be so common in the tattoo industry. Much of today's work tends to be far more bespoke. All in all well worth seeing if you are interested in tattoos and their history.

Dockyard Sept 2020 - Hollibobs

 

Quick collage of a few images of yesterday's trip back to The Yard as part of my week off this week. Trying to use up some more holiday as we're not allowed to carry over anymore than the usual 5 days, or in my case the prorate equivalent seeing as how I'm now part-time. So looks like I have picked a pretty good week weather wise, although the 29C today is a tad too warm for me hence the day post-processing yesterday's photos.

Tedster got a chance to try out the play area just outside the entrance whilst we waited for our booked time slot to come around, always hard to judge exactly what time we're likely to arrive given we're at the mercy of public transport, so I tend to err on the side of caution! Anyways we had a good day, I took the M5 around the Tattoo Exhibition one last time, which was better this time due to it being mostly empty apart for us and a member of staff. Wandered around the site from end to end using the M5 in Monochrome mode this time, apart from the gardens - plants in black 'n' white is a tad pointless ;-) Left around quarter past four and was back indoors just after 5pm, so a nice long day out of the house. Which is a novelty these past 5 months or so. Took some record shots of some of the Covid-19 signage for that day when this is all just a dim and distant nightmare ;-) To be fair the Dockyard have done really well, lots of hand sanitiser around the place - not that some people use it, face coverings to be worn indoors and some arrow signs where necessary to keep the flow going. HMS Ocelot is the only thing not open right now but there is a digital tour which you can follow using the QR codes which you can scan on your mobile devices. Most of what I enjoy seeing is outside anyway so the mask wearing is less onerous. It's been good to bag a few recent visits to our favourite place given it would have been almost a monthly event if not more often on my annual ticket.

Capstone Park with My Girl & Annie!

So, here we are at Capstone Park, me, Julia and Annie of course! We enjoyed some good weather wandering around the green trail at this rather lovely open space. The green trail took us up by the Ski Centre and across all manner of fields, at times we got a bit lost trying to hunt down the signposts or decide quite which direction they were pointing in. At one point we ended up on the red trail by mistake and had to retrace our steps! But it was a really good afternoon and good to get out somewhere different for a change. Annie was on constant squirrel alert through the woodland areas and kept threatening to drag Julia through the bushes! I'm not quite sure what she would do if she were to actually catch a squirrel, but given their speed it's probably highly unlikely ;-) Knowing Annie she would want to play with it! All in all a good time out in the fresh air with my girl and her furbaby 💕 

Day of the Dead

So my Day of the Dead bandana arrived today, along with it's skulls and roses counterpart. Now don't get me wrong, I still hate this whole idea of having to cover one's face in various places, despite people mostly adhering to it, I'm keen for it not to become the new norm - because it so clearly isn't and never will be a natural thing to be doing. But having bought an earlier pack of these bandanas we've found them better to wear and slightly less annoying on the hot & sweaty front. And if I'm going to have to wear something then I'd rather look cool and funky than waste my time on something else.

RNLI Launch a Memory Cushion

 

Having done a Launch a Memory donation in memory of my Mum, I received a small magazine from the RNLI peeps which said you could purchase a memento of the occasion. Although they mentioned mugs and I'd kind of hoped for maybe a lifeboat model or something, I opted for a 12x12 cushion with the number on it where her name is emblazoned with probably thousands of other memory names to mark the occasion. Granted given that the cushion is a faux suede the writing is kinda hard to read but it's a good keepsake. Her lifeboat is off to Invergordon, if it's not already there now, Covid-19 kind of got in the way - AGAIN. So it's good to know that a little part of her and lots of other people's loved ones will be forever remembered on such an important craft.

Back to St Mary's Island

So, having had my foray into Chatham, Tedster and I went along to one of our fav places, St Mary's Island, for a mooch along the Riverside Walk. Armed with the M5 and 18-150mm lens the river was fairly busy with all manner of craft and it was really good to get out and do some photography that didn't depend on how far I can walk from my front door. Have made a conscious decision that for my own sanity I have to start getting back to some degree of normality otherwise my mental health is suffering as I absorb all the negative online crap regarding Covid-19 and this constant scaremongering band wagon  that everyone seems only too happy to jump on. Mask this, social distance that, it's frustrating to keep being reminded 24/7 of what most of us sensible adults know what we need to be doing. Those who have never done it, never will no matter how much they are reminded and moaned at. All it does is serve to depress the rest of us still further. So we're getting out and about while we still can and while the weather holds - happy days!

Chatham Riverside

A few phone snaps of my first foray into Chatham Town centre since Lockdown back in March! Braved the crowds to go do some banking - I'm an online aficionado but you can't deposit cash with the app ;-) So sporting one of the bandanas I felt like a bank robber let out on a day trip! Whilst having a break after a small amount of shopping and somewhat reluctant to head off home on the first available bus I sat alongside the river (bit smelly with the tide going out) and had a chocolate snack and then walked the pathway as far as the wall the other side of the Dockyard and Anchor Wharf. It felt good to get outside and do something relatively normal and I'm definitely going to be getting out and about a bit more if BoJo doesn't put the kibosh on everything :-(