So I guess in some ways you could say this post has kinda splintered off from my last post regarding finding some rays of sunlight among the black clouds of lockdown.
I have worked throughout the current crisis and so in many ways have not been as affected in the same way as many. Despite the fact that I detest my job and recently came to the conclusion that I need to start formulating a better plan for my life, I am grateful at-least that unlike many I still have my full wage coming in to the house.
I guess this has also afforded me a greater sense of normalcy when many are quite categorically lost as the entire routine of their existence has been fundamentally and quite massively changed.
This gave me an idea. I have a pretty decent camera that I bought second-hand as a new one would be way beyond my financial reach and if I'm gonna be honest I have never really taken it out of it's case as I am daunted! It has fast shutter speed, low shutter speed high zoom, low zoom, zoom-zoom, boom-boom-boom zoom and something with a lightning strike on it ((that one really frightens me!!!))
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Dang! The first time I've ever cited an image as...MINE!!!
However I work long hours, 12 hour shifts, when you add in travelling time I have little time for life, family, blockchain stuff during my work-cycle. However the benefit of this sort of shift pattern is that you rack your work hours up quickly and thus have more days off work than most, so it's kinda swings and roundabouts or taking the rough with the smooth as the expressions go.
As I have a very manual job, much of my time off is most definitely what I would call 'recovery time' time to let the pulls, sprains and tears heal and hopefully be phuysically and psychologically ready for another round when the work cycle begins again ((which it does in about 7 hours... ugghhh...))
Yup... Mine again, oh wait, you guessed that already? ... Oh I see Dear reader
So my time off is incredibly precious to me as it is to most people who work and we kinda take for granted the opportunity to do things whilst away from work that make us feel more human again. Not being able to do this has been tough, quite honestly.
I live in the UK, England to be precise where the weather is ((as many of you know)) 'a little bit pants' an expression used here to mean awful. However we have begun to see some amazing, warm sunny days over the last couple of weeks and this has caused me to fall in love with someone who was always there but I realised I had for the most part been taking for granted!
I refer of course to my beautiful garden!
This space has proven to be a haven, a place of peace and solace and somewhere to go and reflect, ponder and share family time and even meals with myself, my lovely lady and my 2 grown up ((in name only!!!)) Daughters instead of us all tripping over each-other in our fairly small house.
I have said many times to friends in the comments sections of the blockchain that I really do feel for those who do not have an outside space of their own. I imagine this being particularly difficult for those with young, active and energetic little ones.
Guess who took this one??? Oh please, play... Gahhh! You're no fun...
We have been really concentrating on our flowers and shrubs this year much more than usual due to all the places any of us usually go obviously being shut... Closed... Empty... LOCKED DOWN! Many of the people I speak to have the very best gardens they have ever had this year although usually a smaller range of flowers and plants than usually due to not being able to shop in the garden centres they would usually be frequenting whilst being off work at this time of year.
This gave me an idea. I have a pretty decent camera that I bought second-hand as a new one would be way beyond my financial reach and if I'm gonna be honest I have never really taken it out of it's case as I am daunted! It has fast shutter speed, low shutter speed high zoom, low zoom, zoom-zoom, boom-boom-boom zoom and something with a lightning strike on it ((that one REALLY, REALLY frightens me!!!))
I decided to take some shots of the beautiful blooms in our garden and share them in a post. I do NOT have a creative eye, an artistic bone in my body but thought I would have a go and as I become better in time ((hopefully)) I can use my first photos as a yardstick to measure my improvement.
Photo from world-renowned photographic maestro that StevenWood dude!
You will have obviously noticed the snaps I have been taking as you scrolled down this post or else something has gone terribly. terribly wrong. I did not want to get bogged down by learning about composition and settings and shooting techniques at this stage as I have a tendency to get lost in analysis paralysis.
So I headed out to the garden and snapped a couple of hundred photos and tried to think of interesting angles or close ups of my favourite blooms or details on the petals. My aim was just to try and feel a little more natural with the camera. I am reasonably pleased with the results. I even tried my hand at editing for the first time EVER! Yup I am daunted and befuddled by that too. I am soooo not a techie person lol.
LOVING the Lupins - Magnificent flower spikes
I will hopefully share a photography post again wen I feel I have made a little progress or developed more of an aye and a feel for composition and such things.
Is there anything you have turned your hand at with the extra time you have on your hands or maybe something you've been thinking about trying? If so go so it. Despite all the bad times and hardships of lockdown how many times have we all said...
I wish I had the time to try...
Wow! Are you still reading these fake source-image links???
Right now, many of us have that time we have always craved. Maybe it is not in the circumstances we would have hoped for but we all realise, I am certain, that life is rarely as plain-sailing as we often wish it to be in our mind, right?
I am an engagement junkie and look forward to hearing your thoughts and maybe sharing ideas and simply getting to know you better in the comments section. I equally love to see new and old friends alike.
I hope lockdown is not taking too much of a toll on you and that you are able to at-least glimpse the odd silver-lining to see you through. I wish all the very best to you and yours from me and mine. Never ever forget that...
Together we are just better
ThankYOU so much for staying till the end. I absolutely appreciate YOU
Wow, stunning photo's and from the first time out of the case - you must be a natural! I still use my iPhone for all my photos - it does the job although they are not exactly stunning.
I thought I was the only one working throughout Lockdown, for sure on the 23rd of March 2020 when I Furloughed all my staff to keep them safe, and knowing all my core customers - cafes, restaurants, pubs and hotels were shut - it seemed like I would be spending many weeks just making the warehouse look tidier. Instead on the 24th March I walked into work at 8am facing 100's of ebay and amazon orders - and spent three weeks working ten hour solid days just trying to ship them as they came in - every single day - the more I shipped the more orders came in - it was crazy, stressful - but I sold a whole load of product and it kept the wolf from the door - just nearly killed me in the process!
Embarrassing confession time
Firstly, I have always had ultra-old ((or as my kids call them... lame)) phones.
Secondly, I never really learned how to use my camera.
I am sooooo 47 lol.
Thanks for the kind words my friend, I am all about breaking outta my comfort zone right now. I have emerged from a period of dodgy health and have decided... It's on. I have an epic goal and vision to be better in every aspect of my life at 50 than I was at 40. I will be posting on this a lot over the coming couple of years as I am almost 48.
That's an awesome tweak to your business model to just keep on keeping on to get through this especially whilst ensuring all of your staff were kept safe too. That says an awful lot about who you are. I am always fascinated by the way some people sink in to a puddle and panic and worry whilst others say
"OK how can I work this situation, and think on the bounce to escape this disaster unscathed".
If I was to sift through your old posts would I perhaps find details of your product, a link maybe?. I am a self-confessed and publicly appointed and shames coffee addict I know people often say that, but it is how I am known foremost at work at home and when I visit friends they keep the strong, black stuff flowing :)
Did you ever fear going under I wonder? It must have crossed your mind... life should move fairly rapidly towards normalcy in coming days and weeks, not exactly the normal we are accustomed to of-course, but far closer than recent weeks.
Thanks ever so much for stopping by and doubly of course for leaving a wonderful comment and given me the opportunity to be all 'engagy' that is kinda where I am at right now, my blockchain adventures have barely gotten started. Take good care, I am certain we will cross paths again soon my friend 😎
Sorry I haven't left yet... ((I know...sorry!)) I have a bizarre comedy sketch going through my head right now and had to share it or else I won't sleep for thinking about it and I'm up for work in a few short hours lol.
Not entirely sure why, but I hear Eric Idle or perhaps John Cleese saying...
"When I were a lad I used to kill myself every bloody day!"
Hey, I never said it made sense. Honestly it's like a Salvador Dali sketch in my head!
It's been a good time for people to activate things in their life they might not have found the time to do...Of course those things are severely limited through lockdown measures I guess.
I've done a lot more reading (of books) than I would usually do with about 19 new books under my belt since Mid-March. I have also played around with some photography, macro to be exact.
I'm not photographer though and as yet haven't got anything I'd want to share. I'm more of a point and shoot hope for a decent result sort of snapper. You have thrown down a few decent pics here though, and isn't that the great thing with digital? You can take as many as you like. Back in the day (I'm 50) it was different when one had to pay for processing.
It seems you've got a lot on your plate with work, family and of course the blockchain but it's cool that you clearly bring it all together and weight it according to priorities and importance. That's an important skill.
I feel really disappointed that there's not going to be 100 winners for this little posting initiative, just two. There's been a gazillion good entries and it will be difficult to select just two. The good thing is that I have left the judging up to the other three delegators. I am shortlisting and they get to select the two winners. I hope that everyone who participated is proud of their entries and will continue to produce such fine work...And have fun too.
P.s. I had a pair of pants that were a little bit pants although I wore those pants until they were dead as I didn't want to waste my purchase. Lol.
Haha. You never cease to amaze! Even whilst drowning under the workload of the contest hear you are writing awesome comment all over the bloody platform lol.
Nice! That is a huge passion of mine, I love words, expressions and interesting 'turn of phrase', reading a wide variety of books aids this no end. The expansion of the mind is immense too. Macro, oh wow! that is a massive goal to try soon. I just love the amazing 'alienesque' insect shots in stunning detail that you don't usually get to appreciate.
Yup ((almost 48)) I remember waiting with my ticket at the local chemist/pharmacy the only place in my town where processing was done. The pain as you hand over a fortune and realise the film was spoiled or your thumb was constantly over the lens 😂
Nahhh. Don't, that's the nature of contests right. Most of us enter knowing the odds are vastly against us but then I don't think trying to win is really the point. It feels amazing to be engaging a lot and writing often again. This in so many ways is the actual reward.
I remember the old Chines proverb I think it was Confucius who said it...
"Pants must be worn until value has been realised."
Sorry to go onand on ((it's a curse!)) now you have to read my rambling response... ugh...
Thankyou so much for the engagement, it is more than appreciated my friend 😎
One cannot argue with the logic of the wise Confucius right? I am glad his, and my own, core-values align. Lol.
I think the best way forward here is to find reward in the things we can actually control, and that's our own writing and the amount, and effectiveness of, engagement. If we put our feelings of reward in other people's hands we are sure to be disappointed at some stage. Better that we control the controllable's including where, and in what we draw satisfaction and reward from as individuals.
I don't know how many times I got my photos back from the shop and looked at them thinking, why did I even bother. I still do it now, but can erase them and have another go. Talk about progress.
Thanks for your reply. All the best.
Love the photos great job :)
Awww! Well you just made a fan for life.
ThankYOU so very much for the wonderful comment. I was a tad nervous to post them as I have literally never tried my hand at photography ever but had a lot of fun trying it out and look forward to learning some skills and trying to improve steadily.
Take great care of you and yours, best wishes from me and mine. Thankyou for the ridiculous smile I am wearing😎
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