Falling light and rain

By the time I got home from work and cooked our meal, the light was already failing under a heavy blanket of cloud and spitting rain. This is my version of an emergency blip, a quick walk down to the prom and a view across the bay to the viaduct. The fuzzy heron is an extra. In fact in the low light, everything is a bit fuzzy, but this catches for me one of the special features of this place, the many layers as you look across the mudflats to the woodlands and hills beyond.

This helped me to make a decision tonight. Yesterday, I posted my 50th consecutive blip. I had intended to keep going until at least 100. But I've decided to become a more occasional blipper. I will continue to try to take photos every day, but I want to escape from the self-induced pressure to come up with something interesting on a daily basis. The daily search for the blip was too dominant as a driver, last week when we were away, I found myself looking for things to photograph rather than being open for the special moment that arrives unbidden every walk and every day. That's maybe ok on non-working days when there is time to blip and time to just enjoy. But on working days, as we go into the shorter days of autumn and then on into winter, I don't want the additional pressure of having to blip.

There are many of you who conjure up amazing images every day from the most unassuming material, Stemma unfailingly does this and I admire her and others like her greatly for this talent. Alas, I need to go out and find my inspiration and at this time of year, time is too short.

It doesn't help that the ponderous speed at which our computer downloads from the camera and the slow motion running of Photoshop means that I have been spending too much time in front of the screen once I get back from my evening walk.

I will post blips when I think there is something interesting to show and say, and I shall keep track and add my comments to the so many fascinating journals that blippers keep. This is such a diverse place that provides such wonderful insights into the lives of others, that I couldn't abandon it altogether. I have already learned so much about photography that a lifetime of taking boring pictures of plants and their habitats never taught me. But I am taking back control of my own life and activity, and I must say I do feel a bit of a weight has lifted.