Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt – June

A favourite piece of jewellery: I probably haven’t worn this necklace and earrings for 30 years or more, but loved them when I was younger – they are pictured against a background of a plain pair of black trousers as I couldn’t find velvet…

Having enjoyed the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt with Eileen at A Bracelet of Days, I have signed up for the Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt hosted by Mary-Lou at Patio Postcards – details here. The first monthly link-up is here.

This time there is an added challenge as during the coronavirus lockdown I have hardly strayed from the house and garden.

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Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt – February

Monochrome: An advert for the recent Welsh Open snooker tournament in Cardiff features mainly shades of brown

In December I signed up for the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt hosted by Eileen on her A Bracelet of Days blog. Here’s her introduction to the hunt.

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Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt – January

Vintage: I was thinking of clothing or cars until I read an article by William Gibson and he referred to vintage science fiction – I realised I had some on my shelves. These covers from Fantastic in 1959 and 1977 showed how little changed until comparatively recently – both covers depict attractive women as victims of alien terror… Click on the picture to read the William Gibson interview in the Guardian

Last month I signed up for the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt hosted by Eileen on her A Bracelet of Days blog. Here’s her introduction to the hunt.

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Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt – December

I stood here: The sculpture ‘People Like Us’ by John Clinch in Mermaid Quay represents the people of Tiger Bay in the days when this was a thriving port – when I stood here I didn’t notice I had framed the Norwegian Church in the background

I have absolutely no imagination, so to try to kick-start my thinking I have decided to join in with the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt hosted by Eileen on her A Bracelet of Days blog. Here’s her introduction to the hunt.

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From the non-digital archive: Lyon in 1993

A place to cool off – this fountain in Lyon bears a line of poetry – ‘Permets m’Amour penser quelque folie’, which I have seen translated as ‘Do not chide me for this play on words’, from the 18th sonnet of Louise Labé, who lived in Lyon in the 16th century

We are having a mini heatwave in the UK at the moment and I am struggling to cope. It’s strange how there would be no problem with these temperatures if I were on holiday abroad. I have been going through my old 35mm negatives again and decided to share these images of one of my favourite French cities – Lyon, which sits on the rivers Rhône and Saône not too far from the border with Switzerland.

Once again I realise what better pictures I could take today with a digital camera. But for now I at least have my memories of this sunny city with its wonderful fountains, statues and old buildings.

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From the non-digital archive: Garden Festival 1992

The red dragon of Wales at the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival in 1992

I can’t believe that 2017 sees the 25th anniversary of the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival that brought two million visitors to Blaenau Gwent in South East Wales.

The festival lasted six months, from May until October and transformed a derelict industrial wasteland into a blossoming landscape nearly two miles long.

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From the non-digital archive: Irish dancing 1995

Celtic designs on an Irish dancing dress

That great show Riverdance is in Cardiff this week, at St David’s Hall for a couple of days as part of a tour to celebrate 21 years since the first performance. By chance it is now 21 years since I took these pictures of young people dancing in the Irish style in Kinsale, County Cork, in the summer of 1995, before the Riverdance phenomenon began in earnest.

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From the non-digital archive: Yabusame 1991

A Japanese horseback archery contest took place in Cardiff in 1991

Occasionally I look back at the pictures I took in the days before digital cameras. This time the subject was a Japanese Yabusame (horseback archery) event in Cardiff’s Cooper’s Field, part of Bute Park, on Sunday, September 15, 1991. That was a particular boom time for industry links between Wales and Japan and we all loved anything Japanese.

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Trying out my new Cyber-shot camera…

Favourite shot so far with my new Sony HX50 camera – a scarlet lily beetle, Lilioceris lilii

All I want is a decent point-and-shoot compact camera that is good at taking pictures of birds from a great distance and flowers and insects in close-up. Plus general views, obviously.

I have great affection for my old Olympus Camedia C-765 Ultra Zoom, which has been with me since August 2004, a good five years before I started this blog. I had long been wondering what

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A childish fear of volcanoes…

The Indonesian volcano of Rinjani in 1994, by Oliver Spalt on Wikimedia Commons

STOP PRESS: Moments after I published this, reports came in of a volcano erupting in Sumatra – so best wishes to everyone struggling there…
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Did you have an irrational fear of something when you were a child? In my case, for a while at least, I was terrified of volcanoes. You might say that’s not so crazy. But as I lived in Wales, where an eruption would be pretty near impossible, I think it was.

So this post is all about what

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