Well since it is nearly Easter I thought I should take some Easter photos. So here they are. Tell me which one is your favourite.

I took those first few straight into the sun, using a reflector (foil covering a foam lid) to light up this side a bit. The photo below is taken away from the sun. The first ones in my point of view are much prettier. Though for the ones above I did have to lighten the foreground and basket in Lightroom.

Just a bit of fun with colour and black and white.

Then Ann came outside and naturally wanted to play with the eggs and basket... so I gave up on them and took photos of her. with them of course.

She didn't have her smile on that morning though so I only really liked the photos where she was not looking at me. Happy Easter everyone!

The 777 challenge requires you go to Page 7 of your work-in-progress, scroll down to Line 7 and share the next 7 lines in a blog post. Once you have done this, you can tag 7 other bloggers to do the same with their work-in-progress.

So the following is seven pages down from the "chapter one" heading in my current WIP. Because of the spacing I have (or more don't have) in the word document my story is in. This is actually part of what I have currently called chapter two. And without the context make almost no sense.... but anyway here it is.

“Well now, queen of questions, do as you feel. It matters not much.  Any ground will do, sand, soil or stone. Results will differ, but not to any harm or better.” Amara replied. 

I turned and walked south carefully holding the end of the branch away from the ground. “Amara what is the name of the creek that flows through this forest and connects to Ni-edo Arian, the stream that flows past the Du Cassis Manor?”


“Of most recent time it is the Silver Way, Arian Tran-wyn, but of old we called it the Way of Silver. You must not take too long to get there though; it must be done within in two of twenty four.”

And I think the word "challenge" could almost be changed to blogger tag/award... almost. I am not sure who of my followers do write though, so if you do, please count yourself tagged and link to your post (with 7 lines of your story in it) in the comments.

Jane I know you are writing/editing a story, so you are tagged.
And feel free to use the picture I painstakingly made for this post. 

His Princess did the tag on her blog.

Sparkling blue eyes and a big smile, they are so fun to photograph. I broke some "fairy wands" otherwise known as dead flower heads, off some plants in the garden and that kept her happy while I took photos. I would put her under the tree where I wanted her and take photos as she walked towards me... because that is what she wanted to do. Or possibly she was just walking towards her Mum....

Actually I'm not very good at it... probably made obvious from these photos... for a start it is meant to be played on a chess board. But hey they look nice!  I Have probably won just as many times as I have lost, but I have mostly played people who are just as bad as me, that helps a lot.

“Like a good chess player, Satan is always trying to manuever you into a position where you can save your castle only by losing your bishop.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Which photo is your favourite?

Do you like playing chess?

Have you won or lost more times?

Me wearing the shirt/tunic I made

Day 15 Sunday: Need I say?

Day 16 Monday: Well I put on one very full load and I shall do the other tomorrow.


Day 17 Tuesday: I put on another very full load. And I decided the other day; to hand wash my sister’s band shirt and also my hand made shirt. I have made two shirts and I have noticed how the one that has been through the wash a lot of times is not looking so happy in some places so I think I shall attempt hand washing them. The first time we washed Jane’s band shirt a few other clothes got rather damaged…. We didn’t realize it was brand new and of course it is red…. So one of my favourite brown and white skirts is now… well not so white, along with a few other clothes. So today I washed that offending red shirt by hand and turned the water in the bucket into a brownish pink colour. Disaster averted!

Day 18 Wednesday: The only problem with hand washing things is they take a lot longer to dry. So Jane’s band shirt is still a bit damp. I put on another load today with towels in it to fill it up, it is quite cloudy but hopefully it shall dry.

Day 19 Thursday: Didn’t do washing because I managed to forget about it for… well most of the day….somehow

Day 20 Friday: I did two loads….. wonder why???  The problem was that one of my sisters was mowing the lawn so I obviously couldn’t hang it out until she had finished, so I put one load on… and pulled it out into the basket then put another on and I hung out the first as it said there were about 6 minutes left for the second load to be finished. 

By that time the sun had shone on the ground for some hours and heat came not only down from the sun but up from the dry grass. The ants were also nicely active, just tiny black ones….. but if you stand on their trail for long enough, or not very long at all, most of the ants in the vicinity will climb onto your feet and nibble them…. Apparently between my toes is the tastiest place. 
When I had hung out the first load I went back in and got the second to hang out and pegged that all up too. 

Day 21 Saturday: I pulled a few gumnuts out of the door seal of the washing machine today…

Day 8 Sunday: Obviously I didn't do washing today, because it is Sunday.  

Day 9 Monday: I had to do two loads today. And I also ended up having to use about 15 PINK pegs because I ran out of blue ones… really not good. I got both loads out early before it got really hot, but the sun still burned down when I got them in at about 5:30. I sorted them out while listening to an audio book.

Day 10 Tuesday: I only had to do one small load today. The only thing is it still smells smoky outside, as it has all day. I hope it does not make all the washing smell. Alice got it in today, while I made tea and since the air just smells so much like smoke we have all got used to it…..

Day 11 Wednesday: The washing could have been rather interesting today except I found the book in the pile as I was putting it in the washing machine. I almost wish I had not found it… I am rather interested to know what a book would be like after being through the wash…. And what the washing would be like…. It was only one of Ann’s books… and I suspect that is how it got there.

Day 12 Thursday: There were not enough dirty things to put on a load.

Day 13 Friday: There was quite enough today. I put on one load then a few minutes later my dad asks what the odd noise is. I say it’s probably the washing machine. Then I think; wait why would the washing machine be making odd noises? There is this dull thud thud thud coming from the laundry….. not that there is much I can do about it. About half an hour later a great crashing and clattering starts…… When I pull the clothes out of the machine (FYI ours is a front loader) I also find a very large and very clean black rock…. As I hang out the washing I also pull out a small piece of stick. The day is cool and the clouds are grey so we shall have to see if anything gets dry. Luckily nothing went wrong with the second load except for the fact that it didn't get dry properly…..

Day 14 Saturday: Nothing unusual happened today…. And if I recall rightly Alice helped me get today's washing in. Then I sorted out both yesterdays and today's while listening to part of an audio book.

NOTE: We actually fold our washing as we get it in…. I know some people do not. The only times we don’t is when we have to get it in really fast like when it is about to rain. The folding of washing as it is got in results in less crinkled clothes, and therefore less ironing. 

I'm doing a shout out for my sister today. Jane has a blog over at The Misty Mountains. She has decided to start writing something a bit like a choose your own adventure story. She will be posting the next part each week and then give you readers three choices of what you want to happen next and you can vote for the one you want in the comments. So head over to her blog and check out the first part of Dusty Red....where the story begins. (yes it is my photo).

The story could go anywhere..........

Please don't let that terrible photo and the others you will see as you scroll down kill you. I promise they won't, though it almost kills me looking at them. But I am killing myself for a good reason. Comparison can be an evil thing for photographers (and writers too). In our day and age we can access so many wonderful photos of anything (almost). We can also be tempted to compare ourselves to other photographers. We look at their photos and see how much better they are than ours and sigh... "what is the point... surely I can never be that good, so what is the use trying."

“Comparison is an act of violence against the self.”~Iyanla Vanzant

Comparison can lead us to give up and stop trying, don't. Look to those photographers as inspiration, and go and practice. Enjoy taking the photos you take. I enjoyed taking these photos back in 2005. Yes they are terrible photography-wise but they were a start. Everyone has to start somewhere.

“Comparison is the death of joy.” ~ Mark Twain

As to why you get to see these embarrassingly terrible photos.... Well they prove how bad my photos were and of how much I have improved. They are also part of another point I want to make. Comparison can be good, (yeah I know I just said it was bad) but only if you are comparing to yourself. I am very glad of how much better my photography has gotten. Very...

2006

Because we are human though, we compare. So, if you must, then compare to me... see where I was, and where I am now. It is possible. With practice, it is possible to get magnificent results. I just revel in that feeling, when I capture a moment so perfectly and I know I have just taken a photo that I have always aspired to take. So scroll on down and see how my photography has changed, through the years.....If I can possibly call this stuff at the beginning photography.....  

2006, yes this is actually a selfie....

2007

2008 (I bought my first digital camera)

2009

2009

 I did occasionally even take photos back then that I still like now. Like that one at the beach, which is rather nice. I decided to only use photos of people, because then I only had to go through a certain amount of photos. Back then I only very rarely took photos of people. I preferred flowers... generally blurry ones. As you can see though, I did sometimes take photos of people.

2009

2010

2011

2012 (I bought my second digital camera)

2012.... yes I used a tripod

2012

2013

2013 again a tripod.... because that is me

2013 (borrowed a friends Nikon DSLR)

2014 (bought my own Cannon 600D)

2014

2014

2014 

As you can see the camera does help, to a certain extent. But really I bought a better camera each time, because I wanted one that could do more, because my photography had improved. The thing that counts most is practice and training yourself to see the photos.

2015

Don't compare to other photographers. Look back at how far you have come. Look at others for inspiration and go out and take photos. Yes some of them will be dreadful (but if you don't put them on social media no one will ever know how dreadful some photos you still take are). Dream on, Lord willing you will get there, you will be able to capture that picture, just as you always dreamed of doing.

Comparison to others takes the joy out of things, whether it is photography, writing or even life. So please don't do it. Just have a go, take your camera for a walk and get clicking.