So many people, myself included, couldn't wait to see the back of 2020. 2021 - really??
As good starts to a new year go it's not going to win any prizes. As lockdown drags on, the dark nights, grim weather and lack of photo opportunities render me a tad fatigued and feeling sad. However, although there is nothing wrong with the odd PJ day, lockdown has given me the opportunity to spend more time pimping up my new website. I have also enjoyed time spent looking over 'old' photographs and re-processing many.
You may have noticed that 'still life' is not one of my preferred genres of photography. Give me people, action, children and animals anytime!! But, as a frustrated people photographer I thought I would dust off my faithful Canon EOS 6D and have a go. It was easy to choose my subject as I was washing a very beautiful red pepper at the time with the intention of adding it to a vegetarian hotpot I had planned for dinner that night. My favourite lighting to use for my photography is unquestionably natural outdoor sunlight; so using a small table, a black velvet fabric top and the afore mentioned pepper I headed out into the garden (very chilly but sunny) and took some varying angle shots. Though it was wonderful to be reacquainted with my camera, the whole experience only confirmed for me my disinterest in 'still life'. On the upside I did manage to create a three image piece of eye-catching wall art I entitled 'The Three Peppers'. Every cloud ....
February saw the launch of my new Etsy online shop showcasing original and limited edition wall art. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It continues to be fun searching through all my prints and choosing out the one's I can imagine would work really well as wall art (and in a range of different formats). Someone somewhere must have a lonely wall that could fall in love again in the company of one of my prints. I remain the eternal optimist. One of the challenges I face is getting my work out there for the public to view. What is the point of having a cracking website that no-one knows about? So with this in mind, dear reader, if you would kindly share my website (and stuff) on social media, share with family, friends, work colleagues, your next door neighbour and the nice lady at the supermarket checkout, I would be eternally grateful.
If you are reading this still then I must say a big thank you for sticking with it. I am in awe of your super-powers of attentive stamina coupled with an inquisitive arty disposition.
My new shop on Etsy.com can be viewed at Shutterbug Wall Art Co. Do check it out, it's currently just a small selection of a variety of prints and wall art that I plan to update regularly. Not only are the images limited editions but delivery is FREE throughout the UK.
Any enquiries or order queries please contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Earlier I mentioned the dark skies and weather of this time of year and only a couple of nights ago I found myself outside in my back garden at 6.05am (I wasn't sleepwalking but Ella, my ageing Golden Retriever, needed to go out and pee). It was literally freezing as the sky was clear of clouds for a pleasant change and the stars were out and wonderfully bright. I love to see a starry sky, however I was surprised to see something I had never see before. Directly above me a line of bright 'stars', at least twenty or so were moving together forming an orderly train across the sky then disappearing as they reached as each reached the end of the 'line'. I initially had to blink a few times and could only assume that it was some sort of optical illusion? Maybe I was still asleep? It was so uniform and 'they' were all moving at the same pace, this could not be a 'natural' phenomena. Later that day I did a bit of research online concerning the night sky and any anomalies noted. I was relieved to discover that I had witnessed a series of SpaceX Starlink satellites passing by. Elon Musk's SpaceX project had launched 60 satellites from Cape Canaveral on the 4th February. I could say that this experience was 'out of this world' but I won't, instead all I will say is I was over the moon to have viewed such a sight.