Not everyone wants to have a blog, though many people do and simply don’t have time, energy, or the knowhow to get up and running. For readers who’d like to showcase their photography somewhere, or to simply have feedback on images, I’m happy to look at your photographs and also publish on the blog if we’re both happy.
To start off this new endeavour, long-time reader Don McConnell has sent over some images for close-inspection and feedback. We ended up settling on what I think is a great shot (you know a shot is great if you wished you’d taken it!), and actually, though unfortunately, comes at a rather poignant point in time.
Anyway, without further delay, I hand you over to Don:
We were camping with friends nearby and made a quick visit for a paddle and an ice-cream on the way home. I don’t know if you know Barmouth, but it has quite a long, tall sea-wall and a reasonably big beach by the Mawddach estuary. We parked right at the end of the sea-wall, avoiding the crowds concentrated round the chip-shops and fun-fair!
As I was getting the gear out of the car, my wife ran over to me and said ‘You’ve got to come and see this, it would be a great photograph’. I popped over to the top of the sea-wall and grabbed 4 quick shots before the children dragged us onto the beach. I only had my Fuji X100 with me, so the 35mm equivalent field of view was maybe a bit wide. I probably should have tried a few in portrait format but didn’t think to at the time.
What caught my eye was obviously this (presumably) extended Muslim family having a lovely day at the beach, all but one of the women watching the others playing cricket. I really like that they are using the matriarch’s wheelchair (or does it belong to the single man sitting down?) as the wicket.
I’ve checked the Islamic calendar and it doesn’t appear that the 6th May 2013 had any particular significance in Islam, so this does just appear to be a family enjoying a bank holiday at the beach. I think the social aspects of the scene are interesting. The Islamic community is not very visible in most of Wales and I find it hard not to ignore the stereotype of the women sitting apart while the men play - apart from that one rebellious girl!
Camera info - Fuji X100, 1/750th at f8, iso 200. Exposure tweaks and some cropping but otherwise not much post-processing.
Thanks to Don for sending his images in—if you’re interested, get in touch!