The Basics!!!

At least once a week, I get up early, get in the car and head off. I have a range of about 2 to 3 hours driving max, I’m getting old, 6 hours driving in a day is just very wearing, add to that anything between 4 to 6 hours wandering, it takes its toll. The distance is irrelevant, sometimes places are just difficult to get to, only approached by windy, slow, cross country roads, it takes time. Sometimes I have a definite plan, a place to visit, something I want to see, but mostly its ad hoc, a mini adventure. However, in time you run out of interesting places, or reach the sea, we live on an island!!! you always reach the sea, and you start revisiting, not a bad thing in itself, many times a location is completely different, the weather, the season, people, no people, the time of day overrides the familiarity. 

I always take a camera of some kind, I’m a long time photographer, since I was about 10 and bought a Zorki 4, then endless part exchanges, hire purchase, I do mean endless, I still do it, drawers full of cameras, lenses, photo stuff, used, unused, but functional, more or less. Old film cameras, rarely used, a few still get the odd outing, digital compacts, DSLR’s, CSC etc etc get the most use, some converted to infrared for those sunny summer days. But always my phone, a Huawei P30 Pro, I found it exceptionally good, not full frame quality but easily good enough for the web, Instagram, Facebook and books, how big is the average sized photo in a book? Because of the US vs China situation there are issues phone wise, so these days I also have a Pixel 4a, it’s ok, small, light, and does all the Google things without a problem, maps, quick searches, check email and more. For instance Keep Notes, I find amazing, thoughts, jottings, images, video, audio, all in one app, easily searched, collated, collected, big tick. But camera wise its no comparison to the Huawei, probably because of the huge price difference, but phone contract upgrades are a minefield of extra expense, it does the phone job really well.

So there I am, out and about, looking for things to snap, I like the word snap, it has memories, my dad took snaps, not photos, snaps, on his King Penguin 6x9, a size that was considered contact printable in its day. Some I inherited, some just got lost, mainly monochrome a few in colour, a few deckle edged, mostly not. Family, places, holidays, me, some of people I have no idea who they are, peripheral family, friends, who knows, and I never will. The idea of billions of digital images just swimming around in the digital storage sea, rarely seen, mostly unwanted, flotsam or jetsam, whatever, makes for something to mull over. My dads snaps, are they different, hard copy images, memories, important only to me, the ones of me as a child are now 60+ years old, a bit worn, faded, but you can hold it in your hand, look and maybe remember, are we going to be able, or want to do that with digital images, I’m not sure, in the moment seems to be the way of it now. I went through the Facebook stage, own timeline then groups, it wore thin, like or not be liked??? it became rote, pressured even, eventually I realised virtual friends are just that, virtual, and that was that. Instagram was better, less pressure, less wordy, less egocentric maybe, but its fallen by the wayside a bit, not dead yet but then again, not very lively.

Anyway what do I do on these days? park the car, pick up the rucksack, get the camera out, start to wander, relatively purposelessly, I don’t thing you can be totally purposeless, do I turn right, left, you make a decision, randomly or not, but something like a demented crab off I walk, this way, that way, being led purely by my curiosity, instinct, in search of anything to catch my eye, intrigue or amuse me. Snapping away, eventually make a circle, or just walk back the way I came, get in the car and drive home. But always I feel mentally refreshed, renewed, rain or shine, good shots or not, its like being recharged, so I keep doing it. 


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