Gone Fishing

Gonklog - Blipdate 400

Took some more pictures. Camera was tired. Batteries were flat.

Uploaded. Downloaded. Listened to what they said and smiled. I took a step outside into the cool night air. Deep breath. The stars twinkled at me and somewhere behind, I heard a whisper... "Go now. The gate is open. Don't look back..."

I stepped down onto the path, and followed it between the dew-glistening grass. I strode out the gate with a meaningful step, and it clicked shut behind me. I had my fishing rod and camera. That was all I needed.

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- I need a break. I have had a fantastic time and I will be hovering around I'm sure, but I wont be blipping for a while. I'm hoping to pop back every now and then with something nice to show you and I will be taking photographs for ever. If I find it impossible to stop taking pics every day, I will back-blip, but for the moment, this will be a (hopefully temporary) full stop.

I have learned a massive amount about photography and it gives me a huge buzz when I get a shot that I'm proud of. It has also given me a lot of warm fuzzy feelings reading all your comments.

I have also enjoyed hundreds of your fantastic pictures here. There are far too many to single out and I don't want to omit any that I forget, so I'm not doing any links. (to yours anyway - mine are below - selfish bugger!)

One of the things I find most annoying here is that there is some incredible talent that isn't recognised because of the way the popularity system works. Loads of once-in-a-lifetime pictures have gone virtually unobserved and many of the best photographers seem to have faded into the crowds.

I love the sense of community, but for me the photography is just as important. As blip has grown, it seems like I can't find my good friends in the crowds. What was a cosy little group, has exploded into a mass of random balloons floating in the wind and I can never catch hold of the ones I want to take home.

Thanks everyone for being you, and to Joe and Blip HQ for this fantastic site.

TG blipping out. (bloody hell, I'll probably be back tomorrow)
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Should you be blowing the dust from the covers of this blip in several years time, the following is an index of some of my collections. Hopefully some of the ones in-between are worth a glance as well. I wish you all a happy blipping career and will see you soon.

Alpha-blip - A-Z of blips (begins at 'B' and ends at 'A')

Drive-bys - pictures I took from my car in slight desperation for a blip, but which are some of my favourites.

Fishing (my first passion)

Looking over bridges (and some under)

Skull collecting (not for the squeamish)

Horses (I don't have a horse fixation, but their faces are great.)

and, my old friend: Ratten

(remember to laugh - it's good for your face and your mood)

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Before I go, I wanted to put a link to one of my favourite bands. The Turin Brakes have given me immense listening pleasure over the last year. I hope you like them. I can't find my favourite song, 'Self Help', but this song has a lot of words that hit home for me and they somehow seemed to fit this moment. (there are lots of great water droplet shots in it too! make sure you watch it full screen) Go and buy their stuff that Youtube (and me) is stealing...