Spent Christmas morning walking in the local woods nearby. It was the warmest Christmas Day on record possibly, with a balmy 14c.
In the woods
Tag: Leica M9
“eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”
As the Last Post ended, thousands of people standing in Trafalgar Square fell silent for 2 minutes at exactly 11am as they observed Armistice Day, commemorating the cessation of hostilities between the Allied Forces and Germany in World War 1, at 11am, 11th of November, 1918.
I could hear Big Ben ringing in the distance. Even the traffic around this monument halted. The red London buses paused alongside, their passengers peering out to see what’s going on. The traffic lights alternated between poppy red, amber and green several cycles but weren’t directing traffic.
A surreal moment in what is one of London’s busiest tourist spots.
The famous fountains weren’t spouting this morning either, but became a translucent resting mantle for thousands of red poppy petals, thrown or scattered gently by the guests, school children and amazed tourists alike.
Crowning Glory – Kobe City
On a dark desert highway.
Rome 2016
I can see clearly
Just cleaned my living room windows after 12 months of neglect and grime. It’s Sunday and I’m lazy. It was therapeutic too.
100 Days
Just 100 days to the Brexit referendum, on June 23rd. The public is getting informed by polls and opinions from both sides of the campaign. No one really knows what the effects would be for Britain if there was an ‘out’ victory.
What lies beneath
Got off my backside and forced myself to go for a walk in the cold and dank weather yesterday down in Shanklin beach. The tide was low and exposed a great distance of the pebble-sands from the steep 150m drop cliffs. What a find, as I was to discover these two ancient trees trunks lying, rotting, hardening, prone like two giant carcasses left to the forces of nature.
InstantLondon – Watch the birdie.
InstantLondon – Dusk on the South Bank
Absence of silence
Day 6 -Haste Ye Back! The slogan greets us on a road sign as we drive out of Brora on the A9, heading South and back into England. First, the long drive towards Inverness, Perth and then Stirling, by-passing Glasgow over into Carlisle on the M74. The scenery is spectacular, as you can imagine. Hills, valleys, meandering rivers and streams, snow-capped mountains, sheep and cattle. We had brilliant sunshine, rain, sleet and snow all within a few minutes of leaving. That is the weather in the Highlands in winter time, according to the locals we met, ah, nothing to worry about.
I leave Scotland with a heavy heart, with the Paris attacks fresh in my mind as we watched it unfold on live tv on Friday evening last. Had I not planned this Scottish road trip, I would have gone to Paris Photo this very same weekend, as did several of my photography friends. Thank God they are all safe.
Photographically, I didn’t shoot much on this 1,500-mile road trip, save to say the weather foiled many attempts at trying, what with Storm Abigail blowing 90mph winds on the Days 2 and 3 whilst we sat out the Amber warning. Cameras and horizontal rain do not get along well.
St Elmo’s fire
Dornoch Sands, dusk.
DAY 4 /5 It has been raining constantly the whole day, the sort of rain that seems like mist, because of the fine droplets mixed in gusts of wind. Even the high-speed setting on the wiper blades can’t seem to offer a clear view. We spent the day walking on the local beaches, with the dog, and slowly getting drenched by the misty rain. Brora has a sandy beach but strewn with washed up clumps of dark blue seaweed. Later, we drove further south to Embo to catch some harbour seals. A stretch on Loch Fleet is known to hosts seals, depending on the tide. Luck has it and I only saw two, swimming close but weren’t basking as it was high tide.
We head back to England tomorrow, with a long drive ahead.
explorenation.net ~ photography posts, workshops, writings and thoughts by Steven V-L Lee 
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