Just some nicely falling light, pictured on the walk to the office in Manchester. Even without looking at the time in the heading, this can be identified as an intrinsic morning shot. I know this, because of the direction I’m walking, but you know this, because that’s a milk float: they aren’t still doing the rounds when I head back home.
“Just out for a stroll, Mum. Hanging out with the lads, at the Football Museum, y’know.”
As seen living on a dead tree in the woods over the road. For some reason I find these very sensual-looking. It’s the whole smooth, marbly skin thing, and their curviness. Perhaps I have unfulfilled needs (which may just involve having mushrooms to eat, of course).
Lately every Monday in the Railway there has been a singer on in the afternoon, starting around 4pm. This seems an endearingly pointless activity, done just for the sake of having music on at a quiet time of the week — I sure don’t see how anyone in the pub makes a great deal of extra money from this. But who cares, the guy today picked up a small and select audience who seem interested enough. I like this shot because it’s one of those that turned out exactly as intended when I pressed the shutter, and we can’t ask for much more than that.
One reason the valley of the Hebden Water is a protected environment is because it is home to many colonies of wood ants, and something to do while walking there is go anthill-spotting in the trees. I did so today, and caught sight of this monster — at around four feet high, this is probably the biggest I have ever seen in there. A teeming, writhing metropolis of the ant world, and not something to sit on or stumble into accidentally (perhaps not yet quite at the scale of the ones in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, but they may have plans).
This statue of Wallace and Gromit stands (and sits) outside the market hall of Preston, Lancashire: the home town of creator Nick Park. This is actually Wallace’s second appearance on the blog — the first was in Bradford, nearly nine and a half years ago. But he’s still wearing those Wrong Trousers. Gromit makes his debut (as do the other two).
Another less-than-exciting week ends with a photograph of similar sort. Life is scheduled to liven up in July but in the meantime, here we still are, Hebden Bridge on a quiet Friday post-work afternoon. Going monochrome helps the interest level a little, perhaps.
Scientists down the years have discovered that compared to many other species, birds are fairly intelligent creatures, and this one was clearly intent on achieving its goal this afternoon — get into a nut, using only its beak and claws. Whether it was ultimately successful I don’t know, but it was certainly putting in the effort.
Another case of Someone Else’s Art feeding this blog. I assume this face does also belong to a real person; I wonder how models do actually feel about coming (literally) face-to-face with themselves now and again. I put her to the side of this shot because I also like the conjunction with the stuff in the restaurant window, and the pedestrian timed it well too. All seen on Grosvenor Street not far from my office on campus this lunchtime.
“O seer of signs…. How shall I know the coming of Midsummer’s Day as the years go by?”
“When Holy Homer sees the last light of the day, my son. And only then.”
OK, it’s a day early, but we’re basically there. The nights start drawing in after tomorrow.
Being 42 