mobile phones – derrickjknight

Respect The Water

Storm Ciara hit us during the night and continued throughout the day.

After lunch we drove to Milford on Sea. We seemed to have joined a weekday rush hour – except that it is Sunday. The coastal car parks were chock-a-block with other vehicles.

Families and other groups were out in earnest bent on watching

the raging grey-green waves with their milky spray battering breakwaters and churned to cream on contact with rocks.

Sometimes subjecting the spectators to a snow storm, the spray surged over the sea wall settling in pools on the shingle.

Many mobile cameras were employed.

A cheery ruddy faced gentleman rode a mobility scooter along the promenade bearing the slogan “Respect The Water”. This seemed particularly relevant today.

The gusting winds ensured that I didn’t spend much time on foot myself. I didn’t want be blown away.

Some of the children found the experience somewhat frighteningly exhilarating.

When we returned home I watched the Six Nations rugby match between France and Italy.

Later, we dined on Jackie’s tasty beef and mushroom pie; roast potatoes, onions, mushrooms and peppers; and crisp cauliflower and broccoli with tender runner beans, with which I drank Doom Bar and the Culinary Queen abstained.

On The Beach (3)

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED.

Jackie often points out potential subjects for photographs for which I take the credit. This morning she alerted me to an array of spiders’ webs on the decking.

All that was picked up by the sunshine on this example was the lower half of the larger web. Jackie held back a few shadow-casting leaves and I bent a bit to include the lower construction. This is what we jointly produced.

This morning we drove over to Shelly and Ron’s with enough of Jackie’s exquisite chicken Jalfrezi and vegetable samosas to feed up to 40 people at Ron’s 70th birthday party tomorrow. I also gave them a couple of 10″ x 8″ prints from Shelly’s party last week.

We continued on to Friar’s Cliff Café for brunch. naturally, I shot a few beach scenes.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iTCDWQXYlY&w=560&h=315]

Not that one.

These:

Against the backdrop of the Isle of Wight and the Needles, we have water activities including kayaking, rowing, yachting, paddle boarding, jet skiing, swimming, and paddling. There is lounging in the sand soaking up the sun, sheltering under parasols and behind windbreaks, turning cartwheels, digging with buckets and spades, kicking beach balls; occupying beach huts, enjoying green ice creams, and, of course, employing the screens of mobile phones.

This evening we dined on fish fingers, chips, onion rings, and fried tomatoes. I finished the Cotes du Rhone and Jackie had imbibed her Hoegaarden on the patio beforehand.

Lunch On The Green

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED

This morning was spent helping the garden recover from the battering winds. This involved gathering up broken branches; tying up plants, like the rose Summer Wine, that had come adrift; a certain amount of watering; and preparing ground for chrysanthemums and bulbs.

After lunch we deposited another orange bag of cuttings in the recycling centre, and drove along the coast road to Milton on Sea.

When the sun emerged from the rapidly moving clouds The Isle of Wight and The Needles benefited from a bright clear light.

Waves still rolled thunderously onto the rocks at the water’s edge.

The clifftop had experienced more erosion since my last venture up there a few months ago.

The bricks in the foreground of this image once formed part of a long-gone structure,

and the path shown here was set further away from the edge last year.

We may have finished our lunch, but a gentleman seated on a bench, mirrored by another eating a banana in his cab,

was still enjoying his.

On the village green a group of elderly cyclists tucked into their own snacks.

I am occasionally asked about the safety of the free roaming animals. Continuing to the north of the forest we noticed this hit and run sign beside Roger Penny Way – not that unusual a phenomenon, particularly during the tourist season.

Were I ever to take it into my head to climb a tree again, I might choose this one bearing useful bracket fungus

at the side of a somewhat waterlogged lane through farmland just to the north of Cadnam,

where sheep wandered across the road.

Initially inquisitive, these creatures, when I invaded too much of their space, turned tail and made for the field from which they had wandered.

We were soon aware of a golf course on our left. A putting session was in progress.

On our return home, I photographed the Hordle Lane housing development from the rear.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s luscious liver casserole, mashed potato, green beans, and orange carrots. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden, and I finished the Fleurie.

Tourist Time

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. REPEAT IF REQUIRED

On a much brighter morning, Jackie and I transported two more large bags of garden refuse to the recycling centre. This time we returned with yet another garden bench. All we have to do now is find a space for it.

We then drove around the forest, parking at Burley where we both wandered around among the crowds of tourists, most of whom were foreigners who spoke good enough English to make us feel honoured.

When I published Witchcraft on 22nd June 2013, I gave the history of this New Forest village’s spurious historic association with the practice which draws visitors by the car and coach load. The two young men in the first picture, obscure the witches in the window as they make a beeline for the shop doorway.

The narrow alley beside the shop leads to the public car park. It is always filled with people, many wearing colourful backpacks, at this time of year.

Ice cream cones and mobile phones are very much in evidence. The children in the bottom right of these last two pictures are trying out the produce of Face the Music;

this young lady was soon going to have to choose between phone and cornet.

This woman,

and this little girl had clearly made their choices.

Forest Leisure Cycling drew quite a bit of custom;

and for those who preferred more leisurely transport, there were Wagon Rides. After checking out the form and the cost,

this little family took their seats.

When the horses had been adequately watered they were ready to step it out.

There was an opportunity for children to pose as witches by sticking their heads through holes in a suitably painted board. After the eldest of this flaxen haired trio had arranged her siblings to her satisfaction, she joined in the fun. The girls knew they were meant to be malevolent; their brother preferred the angelic look.

After I had taken the first shot of a sextet of girls on a stump, I pointed out that some of them had their back to me.

They consequently obliged by posing beautifully.

Having shown them the pictures, I wandered off. Soon one of my models ran after me and asked if she could copy this last image into her iPhone. Thinking this would require some technique that was beyond me I asked her if she knew how to do it. She did indeed. She photographed my photograph from the image on my screen.

This evening we dined on second helpings of Hordle Chinese Take Away food with treacle tart and ice cream to follow. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Reserve des Tuguets 2012.

Camera Settings

Jackie and I spent the best part of the daylight hours on an increasingly gloomy day pruning a crab apple tree. There are two in the front garden. She had worked on the smaller one last week. Today we tackled the biggie together. The tree had many branches crossing and rubbing against each other, which, especially in a fruit trees, is a no-no. Others stretched skywards endangering telephone wires in the street outside. There was only so much that could be done with loppers, and extensive sawing was required. Afterwards the debris had to be cut up for burning, and carted to the far end of the back garden, whilst the poor abandoned fruit was swept up.
Oh dear! I shouldn’t have mentioned back, for mine was again giving me gyp. That is why, when I took my walk in fading light I only travelled to Shorefield and back. Dammit! I’ve said it again. (A wonderful language, English. I’ve just used ‘back’ for three different meanings – and now I’ve iterated it).
I sat by the stream, had a rest, and explored my camera settings. I am of the generation who never can utilise all the facilities on modern electronic devices. I only use my Samsung Galaxy 4 mobile phone to make and receive calls. This despite the fact that my friend Luci, and my daughters Louisa and Becky produce admirable photographs with theirs.
So it is with my Canon SX700 HS camera. All I have currently managed to adjust is switching from automatic to manual focussing and, more recently, to shoot in monochrome. There are, however, numerous settings that provide different effects. Having nothing better to do, I sat on a bench and explored various new possibilities.
Having been a lifelong devotee of analog film, I turned to digital for the immediacy needed for this blog. The hilarious first purchase is recorded in the post ‘Choosing A Camera’. There are many advantages in digital photography, one of which is its ability to cope with the poor light available late this afternoon, but I still find film more natural. Imagine, then, my delight at finding a setting that reproduces the colours found with positive film, that which produces colour slides, always my favourite. I only hope I can remember how to do it again.
After the first two pictures reproduced here, I experimented with it. The second image of the holly by the stream demonstrates the difference. These were taken perhaps ten minutes apart. I had first experimented with a leaf at my feet. I deleted the original version. The close- up of a rose that still blooms on the bank shown above, was photographed with the film setting, as was the second blooming of the hydrangea on the approach to the footbridge, and the stream itself. This final picture demonstrates digital’s ability to read poor light.
I often enhance my photographs to a greater or lesser extent in iPhoto, but chose not to do that today, the better to illustrate my points. I would be interested in other views, especially those of Ginene, who has expressed a preference for the products of film. And please remember I am an amateur.
We both chose Cimarosa Pedro Jimenez 2013 to accompany Jackie’s meal this evening of haddock on a bed of spinach with mashed potato, crisp carrots, and runner beans. It was delicious.