Snow

FINDING TIME, TAKE TWO! by Clive W Photography

What can I say after a week away on holiday relaxing and also doing some photography, probably a bit too much photography if you ask my wife; it was supposed to be a holiday for us both and I got carried away. Hence the title; 'Finding Time'.  How to do what you like as an individual, but also share time with the one or indeed ones you love. We need to understand, and appreciate not everyone necessarily wants to stand around waiting for us to take photos. Don't get me wrong my wife is as very supportive and will come with me on some of the trips and also hunt out compositions, but it is my hobby and as such does not want to be involved days, or even hours on end. The lead up to Christmas is busy for us all and makes finding that balance even more difficult. This meant I chose to ignore my photography and do the family things, hence no pictures between the holiday and now, and nothing to write about on this blog. I have managed to slip out of the house on the 27th December when we had a bit of snow; the conditions were far from perfect being windy and very overcast. I went down to the Kennet and Avon canal and by the time the sun was due to rise, the snow was well on the way to thawing; so no great shots for next years Christmas cards.  I have included a picture from the trip but could not find anything that looked good given the conditions - the blur in the trees was from a long exposure (75 seconds), as I concentrated on smoothing the water.

snow on the canal

I love the snow, so I guess I will have to  keep my fingers crossed for more snow this coming year (2018) and hope I also have time to go out and take pictures when it does.

So my take two is all about new year commitments.  I need to balance the family activities but, also get out there and practice my photography in order to progress and shoot better pictures. In some ways the later sunrises and earlier sunsets makes this balance more difficult; it impinges on the daylight hours when we want to be doing those family activities at weekends.  My other commitments correspond with the daylight hours during the week, making it  physically impossible to be in the best photography locations.

As the nights are now are starting to draw out again photographic opportunities should start coming.  I need to ensure I have a plan to get out there, take pictures, be inspired and share with those who want to see them.   I need to identify how to  grow my viewer base, so that more people view and appreciate the countryside around us in the mean time -

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A GREAT AND PRODUCTIVE NEW YEAR.