Tree Trails

It's one of those days when it's proved very difficult to choose which shot to blip. Landscape or Street? Colour or Mono? Portrait or Candid? So many shots I like to pick from. And also so much to write about!

It's been a day of incredibly beautiful skies so perhaps a shot to illustrate that, and in colour to reflect a brighter day, where late in the afternoon I made a couple of breakthroughs and some significant progress. I got that buzz from solving a difficult problem that I don't experience too often these days.

I awoke to a blue sky this morning, completely criss-crossed with contrails. I don't think I can ever remember seeing so many. The conditions were such that they weren't disappearing. They stayed high in the sky and simply spread out wider and wider, forming the most intricate wispy patterns. It was then a matter of finding a suitable subject to set the sky off against. I thought this tree worked rather nicely. It's not going to be long now before they're all coming out in leaf.

At lunchtime, following a tough morning, I was really struggling to get a portrait. Quite unusually, I was getting nothing but refusals, albeit polite ones with a bit of a laugh, but refusals nonetheless. I then spotted someone I knew who had refused in the past but said that I might catch him on a good day another time. I asked and he sadly declined again. I then spotted someone else I knew, a chugger who I had got talking to over a year ago.

She recognised me immediately and gave me a big hug. She was having a hard day too. Nobody was biting. And then John, the Big Issue seller, joined us. It was a really slow day for him too. I felt a definite sense of camaraderie with them, all of us plying our trade on the street and struggling. Becky eventually obliged me with a portrait - although I think she proved my most difficult subject yet. Very self-conscious and highly animated. The girl has a wonderful personality, but so hard to capture with just a single shot. I do rather like the one I went with in the end - catching her just before she was about to burst into a fit of giggles which terminated a brief and hilarious shoot! She has the most extraordinary eyelashes.

After all the laugher the energy changed. I got some great shots and in the end the biggest problem was simply having to choose. And I carried that positivity back to the office. I owe you a big thank you Becky. I hope you had a better afternoon too.

PS: TJ had a seriously bad hair day today. This has to be seen.