Oborne, Dorset, February 2010

More car reflections, with snowdrops interspersed

Oborne, Dorset, February 2010

More scurrying ducks, slow shutter speed & panning the camera to follow them

Church wall

Reflection in car's front end

Kakheti, Georgia

Oh, the old pond and fishing hole... hot summer holidays... memories of precious youth, Tom Sawyer and Ray Bradbury

Shovi, Racha, Georgia

Water and reflections, favourite themes

Apeni & Gudauri, Georgia

A break from Ushguli, the Enguri River and Svaneti; but not from winter.

1st & 3rd, I (with a southern view all the way to Armenia) and Dennis H at Gudauri, a popular ski resort north of Tbilisi & near the Russian border

2nd & 4th, sleeping cat at Lali's parent's house, where we spent the New Year this year, Apeni, Kakheti province

People of Georgia

Peter Nasmyth, Nodar Aprasidze, another friend and I went to Etseri and Mestia, Svaneti, in April 2005, the first of 3 trips I'd make to the province that year. Crazy melting snow floods, some great photos, good times. Later, I feared that with all my comings and goings around the world that year, all of the 35mm film from those 3 journeys was somehow lost. It didn't turn up until nearly 2 years later, and now I'm scanning it for the useable stuff. Here's a self-portrait reflected in Peter's sunglasses, with the mountains near Etseri in the background. Remember this, Peter?

People of Georgia

An odd assortment today.

Top: a former landlord, Tengiz, furniture restorer. He and his family lived on the 2nd floor of a house in Tbilisi, I on the gound floor. I was there for more than 3 years - can't remember when in the last 20 years I've been in the same place for so long, such is my life.

2nd: view from Nariqala Church over Tbilisi's Old City, winter a few years ago.

3rd: one of my very favourite shots of Tbilisi - Rustaveli Avenue, opposite the Opera House.

4th: from the Kvirikoba Church festival in K'ala, Upper Svaneti, July 2007.

Carson Lake, Alberta, Canada, September 2005

Back to "home base" in the UK for now, where I have lots more past images to draw on for the blog. Here are some from a magical weekend with family camping a few years ago, with more to follow. Early morning mist, reflections, loon calling hauntingly - I couldn't ask for more. Part of my post-scanning work with these included experimenting with the colours, which I allowed to stray from a purely natural look for interest, though not into the realm of the impossible.

Special congratulations to the visitor from country number 80 to the blog a few days ago: Taiwan.

Svaneti, July 2007

Some of the scanned images from my early morning walk up above Ushguli which resulted in the 2-shot pond reflection panorama of a few days ago.

Bottom, Tamar's Tower fortress at about 7 am.

Next up, part of the Shkhara glacier wall towering over a tiny Lamaria Church.

Then: Ushba at top left of the frame; part of Ushguli at bottom centre, and the Tamar Tower fortress at bottom right.

Next up, the entire Shkhara wall and Valley, again with tiny Lamaria Church at bottom.

Finally, above, the Shkhara pond reflection again, a single-frame shot.

What a privelege to have such scenery to photograph, and such good weather for it! Is it any wonder that I feel driven to do what I do when I'm in the mountains?

Ushguli, July 2007

Scenes and reflections in windows and shades.

Svaneti, July 2007

This one too is a brand new scan - I just finished assembling it from 2 frames a few minutes ago. I may post more photos later, but at least you have this one for today.

On my July visit to Ushguli I was able to walk up the pass which gives one views of Ushba and Shkhara and one side, with Ushguli far below and even K'ala village off in the distance, and the Lentekhi region of Svaneti on the other.

I left at about 6 a.m. with little planning - meaning no breakfast eaten or taken, foolishly. Just some water. It was a good 4.5-hour slog, up to the Tamara fortress first, then past it. One section had plants up to chest height, with rather uneven ground hidden underneath them - not easy walking. That past, all I had to contend with was weakness from the altitude and lack of food since last night's supper! Press on, step by step, marvelling at the view. I even had my tripod along for making a 360-degree panorama from the pass, the second such I've made and the first using a tripod.

This was the hardest walk I've done in Svaneti due to feeling so weak, but the landscapes drove me on. I made the panorama - 15 shots this time instead of a handheld 17 - and descended. And on my way down I found this magnificent little spring-fed pond, nicely reflecting Shkhara! Bonus, and the water was drinkable as well.

Svaneti, July 2007

2 more cellphone photos from the recent trip.

Bottom, Another view of Ushba with several villages spread out below it, as we travelled down from the pass near Ipari towards Mestia.

Top, one of those wonderful finds - a small, spring-fed pond, great reflector! - near the pass from yesterday's bottom photo. Here it's displaying the main wall of Shkhara.

Tbilisi, December 1999

Below, Sioni (the Patriarch's church) reflection. Above, the Mtkvari river and the Old City.

Mtkvari reflections, Tbilisi, December 1999

I'm still amazed that a flowing river can offer such scenes, but here they are.

Time for a break from Venice.

Metekhi church and the Mtkvari River, Tbilisi, December 1999

Venice, February-March 2003

Three more water reflections, the lowest one shot at night. Playing with my favourite subject, having so many opportunities to do so.

Venice, February-March 2003

Canal, bridges, reflections.

Venice, February-March 2003

This complicated image is another attempt to capture different layers of reality in reflections. There's the shop interior AND exterior; and the reflection of the Grand Canal, gondola nicely positioned. I suppose there could be copyright issues regarding the set of postcards outside the shop; but really they're too small to worry about. Also it's a look at classical and commercial Venice in comparison.

Venice. From the bottom up:

Masks in a shop window

Canal tourists

Seafood market

Gondolas (handmade, costing c. US$100 000 to buy and c. 50 Euros per hour to ride)

Mystery woman

A view from the tower on St Mark's Square, mercifully ascended by lift (I waited to be first in line that morning, having seen how long the wait gets later in the day)

Another favourite reflection, the most successful of my Venice window shots. I link this one to the 20th century Dutch graphic artist MC Escher, a favourite of mine, for the way in which it mimics his play with different layers of reality in one image.