To give just two apparently trivial examples, having moved somewhere flat I've exchanged one of my bikes, an old and much loved 21 gear hybrid, for a single-speed bike in a rather fetching shade of electric blue. It is radically altering my how approach to cycling and I'm loving every minute I spend riding it. The catch is that because of all the other pulls on my time I'm struggling to find the time to put in the miles I want to.
The same applies to photography. To be honest I've never been the most successful landscape photographer but even so I've been really struggling to get to grips with Fenland. It isn't that the scenery is unattractive and boring, far from it, but somehow I can't yet capture the images that my mind is seeing.
On the bright side I get to practice taking lots of sunset photos whilst leaning on the garden fence, and there are some great agricultural buildings around.
Meanwhile on the railway front I'm still focussed on the garden but after over tens years with hardly any garden at all I'm struggling to work out how to fit things in. I've worked out a location for the 16mm test track but it isn't a long term solution.
The 7 1/4" gauge line also needs a lot of thought, trying to balance avoiding it being too public or intruding on the garden too much whilst also doing a useful job of work.
Single speed bikes - you either get it or you don't! I own three, two mtbs and a road bike. None of which are suitable for Peak District riding to be honest, and anyway one lives in the loft as I can't bear to part with it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that the photography will improve with time as you get used to a different type of landscape, and as for garden railways, whats the rush? You have a whole winter to plan and be ready to start next spring.
Paul, I believe you can now get singlespeed MTBS - I can't say the thought appeals. However I'm really enjoying the experience on the road.
DeleteThe photography I think will come good after experiencing a full year here. Compared to the countryside I'm used to, dominated by livestock farming, I'm finding it really strange how much and how quickly even the view from our front window changes.
The need to get a 16mm line down is driven by the imminent arrival of my first new live steam engine for over thirty years, so that I can at least get it run in. In the longer term I'll move it the other end of the other garden, but that is a very long way from the house. In fact providing access to that end of the garden is part of the reason for the 7 1/4" line. The 7 1/4" line is very much going to have to earn its keep, being more minimal than miniature. working out where it will run will impact some big changes in the layout of the gardens.
At least one of those sheds looks as if it should have an old tractor lurking inside! Looks like there are some great opportunities for photography there.
ReplyDeleteGiven the industrial scale of agriculture around here a lot of the current tractors wouldn't even fit in some of those sheds.
DeleteRe the photos: lower the horizon - more sky. The essences of the fens is the open nature of the scenery, allowing the sky to dominate.
ReplyDeleteJust a suggestion, but it might help,
Simon, I've been considering going for a much wider lens for that reason, there is a relatively good 8mm fisheye available for the Fuji system . With so much sky though I find the challenge is that unless the clouds are particualrly well lit or an interesting formation it can end up being a distraction.
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