The Magpie's Hoard

Frosted

The run of unseasonably mild weather came to an end this week with the arrival of the first proper frosts of the winter. The frost was accompanied by fog, which brought chaos to some of the UK's airports. Reading the news reports, you could be forgiven for thinking that we've never had fog in winter before.

On Thursday Liz and I caught a bus out to Tideswell for a pre-Christmas walk. A combination of heavy frost, patchy fog and bright sunshine made the scenery look truly beautiful. As the bus trundled along - past Fox House, down Padley Gorge, then on through the villages of Grindleford, Stoney Middleton and Eyam - I couldn't help thinking that it's a good job I don't drive. I would have been stopping every few hundred yards to take a picture!

Our walk took us down Tideswell Dale, along Miller's Dale then across the old railway viaduct to Monsal Head. We hardly saw any other walkers along the way, despite this being one of the most popular routes in the Peak District National Park.

The view from Monsal Head was breath-taking. Fog filled the dale below, but the surrounding hill tops were illuminated by bright sunshine. After pausing to take a couple of million photos, we walked on across the fields to Ashford and Bakewell.

By two o'clock the sun was low on the horizon and partially obscured by fog. You could feel the temperatures beginning to drop, indicating another frosty night ahead.

Gifted

Whilst browsing through the glorious gallimaufry of images presented on Flickr, I occasionally stumble upon the work of photographers of exceptional talent. Such individuals not only display consummate technical ability but also a rare perception. They have a highly developed instinct for imagery, sometimes referred to simply as 'an eye'. Their photographs are powerful yet subtle, restrained rather than flashy.

My most recent 'discovery' is an Icelandic photographer by the name of Olgeir Andrésson (Flickr ID: bögger).

Hólmbergsviti by Olgeir Andrésson

When I first saw this image of the lighthouse at Hólmbergsviti against a backdrop of the northern lights, I wasn't convinced that it was a genuine photograph - I thought it might have been a Photoshop fabrication. However, when I looked through the rest of Olgeir's photostream I soon realised that's not his style. As he writes in his profile:

"When I compose my shots, I aim to get everything I need at the time of taking the picture and not have to work on them afterwards."

I was also a bit puzzled by the colour of the lighthouse, which I initially attributed to artificial lighting. As I later discovered from this picture, the lighthouse is actually painted bright orange!

Canadian photographer Blair (Flickr ID: blairware) has a great eye for detail, especially textures and colours. He finds beauty in the most mundane subjects, such as decaying leaves or crushed cans.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum 9167 by Blair

I first discovered Blair's work when this striking shot of a highly polished aircraft caught my eye. I've looked at it many times, but I still can't decide whether it's a monochrome or colour image. I can't recall seeing any other monochrome images in his photostream, so I guess it must be in colour.

Blair writes in his profile:

"I've come to realize over the past couple of years on fotolog and now flickr, that seeing is part of life that I should not, cannot ignore."

I think I understand what he means. Once you make the effort to examine your surroundings closely, you begin to discern subtle variations and contrasts in form, shade, texture, patterns, etc wherever you look. The experience is habit-forming!

New York based Ignacio Ayestaran (Flickr ID: Nachosan) is a well-travelled and highly versatile photographer.

gugenheim girl & negative space by Ignacio Ayestaran

I first came across Ignacio's work when two of his photos were featured on Flickrblog, way back in December 2004. At the time, Flickr-founder Caterina Fake described his pictures as "consistently gorgeous". She wasn't wrong!

Whether he is photographing people, cityscapes, countryside, animals or plants... Ignacio excels. When I asked him if I could use one of his pictures to illustrate a blog post about some of Flickr's most talented photographers, he responded "not too sure I fit in that context".

Such modesty.

 

Off your trolley?

The Economist has an interesting article about the pros and cons of ethical shopping.

A surprising fact gleaned from the article is that:

"half the food-vehicle miles associated with British food are travelled by cars driving to and from the shops."

Perhaps would-be ethical consumers should be less concerned about how far food has travelled before it reaches the supermarket shelves, and more concerned about their own mode of transport.

Food for thought, eh?