Pulchra Animo: Landscaping in the country

Pulchra Animo: Landscaping in the country: Hello, it has been a while here. I have been busy as i have several endeavors besides photography, however only photography gives me the joy...

Landscaping in the country

Hello, it has been a while here. I have been busy as i have several endeavors besides photography, however only photography gives me the joy of capturing the ordinary and the everyday and make it look special.I am constantly looking for ways to improve this art of mine and after acquiring a diploma in the field decided to pursue an advanced diploma. One of the assignments i had to do was landscape photography which i suppose explains itself. I happen to live in the north of London

somewhere in Barnet and had to venture up the A1 towards areas like Hatfield, Hitchings, Welling Garden city and stevenage and i was astounded by the amount of greenery and fields especially at this time of the year as we slowly approach the thick of winter.

I had to share some of these views. Ordinary to the non initiated but  beautiful all the same, i had to share because that is all i do here, share my journey in the wonderful world of photography.

wanderings at the end of summer

i have become accustomed to going almost everywhere with my camera, well that is what is expected of a photography enthusiast and wanna be professional; however my emphasis is on carrying an actual camera and not settling for capturing anything with my phone. This particular day, the evening standard article on the coming London fashion week( it starts on the 13th of September, this is for enthusiast of another kind),gave me an idea for what to capture. The story did say that retailers were expecting a bonanza of $500 million in revenue generated from sales.

For us who live in London, we are lucky to be experiencing the last shreds of the summer so the way was ideal for a visit to the west end to see the center of this supposed boom. i imagined  crowded streets all the way from oxford circus station to Tottenham court road and its environs, lots of color

and all, however i just did not get the feel when i ventured into town. I have seen more buzz around or maybe minds are occupied, or maybe the spending power is reducing in every household or closer still every individual, but then again, what do i know?

However it was also good to capture some serenity as i venture all the way to Lancaster  gate, Hyde park square and its surroundings, some of these parts looked a bit continental  in their design and the air about them and also the same deserted streets. For me the beauty is still not lost as i did manage to capture some moments and scenes on camera for our pleasure here.

My Lessons from capturing Nature

One power photography gives is the licence and ability to capture moments that people in the course of carrying out their normal activities would miss. Nature is bursting with such moments and i always try as much as possible to have my camera with me or even my phone. In such moments ones  skill as a photographer is greatly tested as well as his overall temperament. It does take a lot of patience for example to capture a butterfly in flight or on a petal.

Nature on its own is very captivating we all agree, what is even more enthralling  about it all as well is sequence and order of things in nature itself. What do i mean you may ask, well the miracle of conception and timeliness of child birth is one example, although there are slight variations resulting from complications it is almost certain that child birth happens after about 9 months after conception. There is also the timeliness and accuracy of sunrise and sunset with variations depending on the time of the year and weather but therein also exist some semblance of order.

I am a believer in the fact that everything has its place, its time and that when there is order and an understanding of it and in this case i mean order in the place we are in the totality of things, the order we are in our families, the order of nations in the world as well as the order in religion and beliefs. An orderly society is one hallmark of a functioning one. The best organisations in the world work in a system of order in hierarchy, functions and projects from inception to realization.

As i go around capturing nature, i discover for myself that one of the reason nature is so mesmerizing is because of its orderliness. There then may be lessons from nature for mankind and the way we run our affairs.If you have had the privilege

of watching the sun rise or set in its totality, you would appreciate and understand my ramblings herein. While we are at that please enjoy some shots captured on my nature watch.

SMILE

The daily news has become really scary for me, the reason being that there is hardly any good news out there these days. From the crisis in Gaza and Ukraine to the outbreak of Ebola in west and sub Saharan Africa. We all need some good news in this times, we all need joy and happiness and something to make us

smile. A smile is such a big deal, it lights us up and also lights up others. We need to find reasons to not only smile but share that smile with others. Smile today, it helps.

See Paris and Live

Hello, its been a while since i settled down to write a post, however my lenses have been busy and having an extreme case of wanderlust i decided to visit France. What a lovely country filled with color and character. I now understand why the french were able to colonize most of West Africa , it is with  remarkable organisation and  planning i suppose, something that is evident in most of what is done here. Paris at night is extremely beautiful, nowhere i have been  to comes close to it. Of course the remarkable Eiffel tower ( which has to be one of the most photographed monuments on earth i am sure), the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Arc de triomphe are certainly popular with most travelers. However the language, the people the food and of course the wine( i did have an array of wines to taste and choose from)  and the night life is indescribable. Please enjoy a few shots captured on my trip