Undo! Undo!

Don't you wish that there was an "undo" command function for life?  You know the second you've done something that you wish you hadn't; hindsight doesn't even come in to it.  Undo!  Oh please undo! cmd+U! or for those with PCs, ctrl+Z!

I went up onto Dartmoor yesterday afternoon with family and friends for a bit of sledging.  I went on the 2 foot diameter plastic  "Disk of Doom".  A fast and uncontrolled descent into a very hard bank then flipping over resulted in a severely sprained ankle and dignity bruised beyond recognition.

The snow was rubbish too.  Why did I do it?  Oh, Undo.

Derriford hospital A&E was brilliant and it seems that I missed breaking my ankle by a whisker.  A relief, yes, but it still hurts like *%$* and is swollen so much it looks like a stick has swallowed a melon.  I can't even walk on it, so getting around is a farce.

I wonder if there's an app for the Omega 13 device.  I could use that.

Plymouth Life Centre

I was commissioned to photograph certain aspects of the excellent new Plymouth Life Centre recently.  Thought I'd share some images with you.

Plymouth Life Centre iconic Glass façade by Sto

Inside the Plymouth Life Centre

Plymouth Life Centre Diving Pool

The Diving Pool, just after Tom Daley had finished his training session.

Hill Bridge Weir, Horndon

So, back to the oh so familiar drenchedness. Walking in wellies with soggy doggy.

The weir is very busy.  Wet.  Some may even say dull.  Yes.  The picture reflects all these qualities.

May I share something with you?

Someone sent me an anonymous note that only contained an excerpt from the Bible 3:16.

I have to say that if it was supposed to inspire me it has had the opposite effect.  Downright creepy.  If there's one thing I loathe more than bigotry and prejudice, it's proselytism.

Hey ho.

Gower Peninsular, Wales

Stayed in Llanmadoc again and revisited haunts of my youth.  The Gower is a wonderful place; beautiful, sometimes wild, but with a friendly pub never too far away.

The weather was dry-ish (hoorah!) but I still think of Llanmadoc as Llanmuddy.

Here's Rhossili Bay.  Location of a million memories:

Rhossili Bay towards Burry Holms

View from the top:

Rhossili Bay and Worm's Head

I also love Whiteford Burrows and sands; walking through teletubby land covered in pine trees and then emerging onto a sweeping forgotten beach that yields amazing shells and driftwood.

Here are some shots of it earlier this year:

Whiteford Burrows, Llandmadoc

Whiteford Sands on the Gower

Finally, Whiteford Lighthouse.

Whiteford Lighthouse is the last remaining cast iron lighthouse in the UK.  It is half a mile from the shore and only accessible on very low tides.  It's really cool.  All barnacley.  It was deactivated in the 1920s.

Whiteford Lighthouse in the Buff

Whiteford Lighthouse on the mussel beds

Southwark Bridge, London and Santacon

Walked along the South Bank at the weekend, breathing in the smell of cheap gluwein and hot dogs whilst travelling in the opposite direction to the epic Santacon - a flash-mob of thousands of Santas.

We must have brushed shoulders with hundreds if not thousands of santas making their way along the South Bank, occassionally stopping for the odd beverage.

Anyway, came to Southwark Bridge at twilight and it looked great.  It's  just been restored.  I'm such a sucker for colourful lights.  Pathetic really.  I had no camera on me, just my old iPhone to take a few snaps:

Southwark Bridge London at Night

Southwark Bridge London at Night

Southwark Bridge London at Night

Dartmoor after the Rain

It has been wet start to winter on Dartmoor.  More squelching and squerching with Cosmo.  Roll on some snow.

Dartmoor in Black and White

I'm getting all excited about Infra-Red photography again, after all these years.

Infra-red photography is when you use black and white film that has an extended sensisitivity to the "Near Infra-Red".  Normally, film is sensitive just to the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum (between about 250 to 680 nm wavelength), these are called 'panchromatic' films.  Infra-red films extend this sensitivity by another 200 nm, passed the red and into the near infra-red. (BTW, beyond that is the "Far infra-red" which is what we feel as heat.)

The effect is that colours come out differently; blues reflect virtually no IR light, so appear void of light (ie black) whilst greens reflect lots and appear very light.

Although I am using digital RAW files, their spectral sensitivity enables me to play with digital 'filters' to achieve similar effects.

Anyway, I'll be doing more, so next time, you'll know why they photographs look different.

Dartmoor Granite

There's nothing quite like the unmistakeable look of weathered granite; Dartmoor's knobbly hilltops or 'Tors' are the exposed part of a massive granite intrusion known as a batholith. ("Excuse me, said the sedimentaries, we were here first, leave us alone." "No" said the granite.)  This was about 300 million years ago, when manners weren't as finely tuned.

No prizes for the three main minerals - feldspar, quartz and mica.  But who knows what the really big feldspar crystals are called?   Anyone?  You at the back?  Yes! "phenocrysts".  I didn't know that, either.

The Dartmoor tor shape was formed mainly around 50 million years ago during a time of hot humid climate (yeah, right) when intense weathering shaped the granite.

Dartmoor Granite Tor

Apparently, for the last 2 million years we have been in the grip of 'ice-age' conditions, with little bits of warmer weather in-between.  Well, I beg to differ.  I think a new geological era known as "Wetocene" should be recognised.  Let's face it, we are in the 'grip' of a maxi rain-age with little bits of dry in between.