Patti, Amy, Ann-Christine aka Leya and Tina host this weekly photography challenge that they set up to replace the defunct WPC. They invite you to join in with the goal to continue our creative community on WordPress.
Sofia’s challenge for us this week is all about colour. Specifically primary colours: red, yellow and blue. BUT like many things in the world, the issue of what are primary colours has become more complex. Most of us would have learned when painting at school that RYB (Red, Yellow and Blue) are THE primary colours, but now we have to take into consideration the way light blends colour for instance the RGB colour model, which has red, green, and blue as your primary colours, and is used with things like television screens and computer images. Then there is the CMYK model which includes cyan, magenta, yellow, as well as black, and is mainly utilised for printing.
“I found I could say things with colour and shapes
that I couldn’t say any other way;
things I had no words for.”
~ Georgia O’Keeffe
Since the main colours for paint pigments are red, yellow and blue and cannot be created by mixing other pigments I’ve stuck to photos in these colours for the challenge.
In a world that seems increasingly rushed and with information overload it is easy to miss things around us. When life is busy you often look, but don’t really see. I am sure that until I retired I wasn’t always fully aware of my surroundings. But now I can take my time and fully absorb the environment around me and maybe see things that are often overlooked.
Did I notice this cat because it reminded me of my old cat Ben? Perfectly poised on steps above my head.
Photo challenges have had an impact on the way I see things, looking for the unusual, the interesting, things I may not have photographed before.
Farm shop delights. I think it was the wicker baskets that made me stop and take this photo
And on my travels I always look out for the details.
The organic shapes of these bowls and the shadows
Different ways of framing the view.
Adobe Window framing the view
Macro delights when you’re not always sure of what you will see.
A drunken bee
Taking time when wandering around a place to notice the unusual.
Quirky brass door handlesAn unusual window display by someone who loves cats
Finding the unexpected when out in nature. I was concentrating on the pied wagtail on the lovely textured fence.
A fairy? Or a wagtail’s dinner?
My love of textures always has me snooping around churchyards, the older the better.
Detail on a headstone
And seeking patterns in unusual places. I’m sure people think I am mad when I stop to photograph something beneath my feet.
Floor of a Victorian palm houseManhole cover in Cesky Krumlov
And who stops to look at a row of wetsuits they are not interested in buying? But it’s fun spotting the odd one out.
My kitchen is not the usual place you’ll find me with a camera, I’m more of an outdoor photographer with nature and flora my topics. But yesterday was a rainy day and I was feeling bored so I grabbed the camera and had a look around my kitchen.
It’s not a very tidy kitchen, surfaces have all sorts of appliances, jars and general ‘stuff’ on them. It’s not a normal kind of house being an extended and converted dairy milking stall so the kitchen is a kind of corridor linking the dining hall to the sitting room. No doors. And the cupboards are blue. Very blue. Nothing really matches – I still have things that belonged to my mother! And if it isn’t broken I never throw anything away.
I have tried to coordinate some of the new things I have bought like my Cornishware storage jars, but I’ll never win any design awards.
I have a lot of mugs even after giving dozens away to my daughter when we moved, and some have been bought by my grandchildren like the Gardeners one above. I use a plain white one for my herbal tea when I drink it. I had a thing for plain white crockery once.
But currently my morning cup of coffee is drunk from this new cup and saucer set. Definitely not blue. But very me…
In 2005 we decided on a trip to Canada, starting with a flight to Toronto, a train to Vancouver and a ferry over to the Island where we hired a car to get around to some amazing places. So join me on my Canadian trip of a lifetime.
Air: The following images are taken on coming in to land at Toronto as we circled right over the city. Sometimes even having a seat with a wing view can be interesting too.
Sunlight on Wing
Toronto’s CN Tower from the air
Tommy Thompson Park
Train: After a few days exploring Toronto and a quick trip down to Niagara Falls we joined the Canadian train departing from Union Station in the country’s largest city to cross through some of Canada’s most sparsely populated regions. On the first day the panorama changes from the glass skyscrapers of Toronto to the pine trees of Sioux Lookout. Day two took us to Edmonton, crossing Winnipeg River, the Prairies and the lakes of Whiteshell Provincial Park. On the third day the train steadily climbs through the foothills of the Rockies, crossing several rivers and glacial lakes of the most stunning colours. After Jasper the train winds its way through the Yellowhead Pass, the crest of which marks the border of Alberta and British Columbia. The Canadian is in sight of Mount Robson for 16 km before turning sharply south and descending. In the early hours of the morning the mountains suddenly fall away and the Canadian follows the flat green fields along the Fraser River. It arrives at the Pacific Railway Station in Vancouver after a long and astonishing journey.
Via Canada
A Sunset on the move
Grain silos in the Prairies
Boat: On reaching Vancouver the next step of our journey was to travel on the wonderful BC Ferries up and along the Sunshine Coast then over to Vancouver Island. I’m not a very good sailor, but would go on these ferries any time, and if you are lucky, as we were, you might catch a glimpse of a pod or two of Orcas.
Crossing to the Island
Looking Back
Just in Case…
Of course there are many other types of boats on Vancouver Island, so here are a few of the smaller ones.
Comox Harbour at sunset
Ferry Boat Victoria
Houseboat – Fisherman’s Wharf
Road: Of course the journey would not be complete without the use of our lovely Lincoln hire car. She enabled us to get off the highways and to more remote places that were not easily accessible by public transport. On and off ferries to explore the smaller islands of Hornby and Denman, over a logging route to visit Telegraph Cove, along the Pacific Rim coastline to Port Renfrew, Ucluelet and Tofino, and north to Alert Bay. But my first journeys in the car were in the environs of Vancouver – to the fabulous UBC Anthropology Museum, Van Dusen Gardens and over the Lions Gate Bridge to Grouse Mountain.
Logging Truck
Lions Gate Bridge
Arriving at the B&B
And of course there are many other methods of transport available in Canada. I hope you have enjoyed the ride 🙂
In the twenty years since I met the OH there have been a few significant birthdays within the family, including the births of seven new grandchildren. We don’t make a big fuss of celebrating our own. We used to like having a short spring break and an autumn break which often coincided with one of our birthdays. Mostly in the UK, but my most memorable overseas one was on Vancouver Island in 2010 when I got to have a lovely birthday meal in Tofino.
Tofino – Vancouver Island
Bear Cubs
The first one we celebrated together though was in the Algarve back in 2002 when we stayed in a hotel near to Carvoeiro. I was presented with a cup cake and a sparkler when we went for breakfast, but I ended up having a pizza on my own in the evening as the OH became very ill during the day and had taken to his bed!
My birthday in 2003 was by far the most special as it was the day we got married. As I was on a PGCE course and couldn’t take time off we had a brief honeymoon in the eclectic enchanting Italianate style village of Portmeirion in north Wales. Famous for the cult TV show ‘The Prisoner’ in the 1960s and also for Portmeirion pottery.
I don’t have digital photos from either of those years.
New Forest
Other trips include a weekend in Oxford, a week in the New Forest (where we attended the wedding of my youngest son), a fortnight in Penzance to house hunt, a week in Bridport and a few wonderful days in Montreux tagged on at the end of a trip to Geneva back in 2009.
Pub near Oxford with a telephone kiosk in the pond!
My birthday is at the beginning of October so during the period I was teaching that was term time so holidays were restricted to the school holidays. It was a relief when I stopped teaching and could travel whenever I liked.
Oxford college
The OH on the other hand has a birthday that is normally during the spring half-term so we were able to get away even though it is a more expensive time. His most glamorous getaways have been a day visiting the island of Ithaca during our week in Cephalonia in 2003, and another island trip in 2006, that time a day trip from Malta to Sicily.
His UK birthday holiday breaks have taken us to the Cotswolds,
Cotswolds – Lower Slaughter
North Devon, Aberaeron in west Wales, Keswick in the Lake District and Penzance in 2015 before our move to Cornwall.
Habourmaster Hotel – Aberaeron, Ceredigion Coast.
I would have said that the best thing about birthdays was travelling to a new place to explore, but since moving to Cornwall in 2016 we have rarely left the county and certainly not to celebrate a birthday. We usually find a nice local bar or restaurant where we can clink a couple of glasses together and have a wander around a beautiful beach or garden.
NZ Sav Blanc
We do however have a very clever granddaughter who makes excellent birthday cakes. This one was for her sister’s 15th birthday. A shame we weren’t there to help eat it!
TRAVEL WORDS 