summer's close (as diana sees it)

Summer is drawing to an end. Colder airs are ebbing in--yet the sun just keeps on shining.

I took these with Diana last year. They're a little oddly cut, it has to be said. But I love the colours.

by the (tackiest) sea

Whilst I will never profess myself to be a good photographer, I am feeling more and more comfortable behind a lens lately (you just might have guessed already).

So I spent a lot of today, a day out with friends, photographing the little things that make seaside towns tick--the sea, the sand, the (clouded over) sun. The smaller details, I suppose, are where I find my interest--a sentiment that is true in front of any lens of life. I like individual words and subtle movements and isolated memories and strands--mere strands--of inspiration. I look at things less in the sum of their parts and more, so much more, at those very (individual) parts. Because in them I find detail and beauty and care--I find the intricacy of lives so often overlooked.

Today, these snapshots were a lot less profound. They were just parts of a day spent in the tackiest English town I ever did know.

But beneath the creases of that dress and the single grains of sand are the signs of a day spent relaxing. And it was rare--rare in so very many ways.

diana double

I thought I'd share a few Diana half-frames from around this time last year.

That little plastic lens of hers sure does make me appreciate the things I see--the things I envelop myself in on breezy, summer days.

Out of interest, what are you doing today?

I am about to go out bowling with friends. I love bowling--or rather, I love bowling badly!

Have a lovely day.

meet sidney

This is Sidney* and this is what he does.

My very first outing with him was way back in January, on a beach. I thought I'd share a few of the results---and just through that grey, grey sky you can feel the cold. (I'd like to point out, too, that those beach huts were a long way away from where I first saw them from... a long way...)

*I like to name things---sorry about that.

inspiration

How beautiful is this photograph?

It was taken over a period of six months using a pin-hole camera and is something I definitely want to try for myself someday soon.

I will try and scan in some of my own (old) Diana's/Sidney's this weekend---sadly, I haven't been out and about very much with them lately.

(Source).

*Have I introduced you to Sidney? Arnold gave him to me back at Christmas---he's a fisheye. (And thus named after one of my former pets).

a lot of sky on a friday

Here are a few pictures from today---no people, just place.

I cannot get over just how blue that sky is. Especially this time of year---only April.

i'd like to, please

I guess you could say I am hoping for a lot, lately. (But don't get me wrong: this doesn't mean that I am not happy where I am right now. It doesn't mean that I don't appreciate my luck and health and contentment---because I do. Especially tonight---tonight of all nights).

Hope #3.

To go on a road-trip---a long one. But because I cannot decide which I would like better---American, or European?---I would like to take both. I would like the freedom but the security---the security to know that if I needed it, I could have my own metal shell of a home right there and then. I'd like to listen to music the whole way and talk to my love about life. I like road-trips---I always have.*

*I realise I need to learn to drive first. I am quite, quite, quite aware of that.

(The post itself is inspired by this blog and the photo---isn't it absolutely wonderful?---is from here).

italiano, by someone else's lens

By chance I stumbled across these beautiful, beautiful shots taken with a Diana Mini.

(Source)

And it's funny, because Italy is place I have been dreaming about a lot lately.

I will go there.

sometimes

Sometimes climbing up hills is worth it just to see the clouds a little bit closer.

a few more

Here are few more photographs from my trip to Bath.

It was wonderful to finally see the architecture I had read about in books.

a little bath

My love took these during our post-newyear, pre-birthday holiday to Bath.

We do love sepia.

There will probably be more to come!

a little short-term reminiscing

I just came across these photographs from the summer.

A few little camera finds from an antique shop and a steam engine journey to find them...