Litter picking in Cornwall

Yesterday a friend posted a rather touching comment on their Facebook profile. My friend is a first time dog owner and now spends a lot of their time walking their dog on Cornish beaches, He wrote a post about how since being on the beach every day had noticed the sheer amount of litter on the beach.

He does really great things and actually takes some of this litter home with him and disposes of it properly, but wonders how much of this litter is dropped here by previous visitors and why they can't take this litter home themselves.

This got me thinking about the work that Surfers against sewage do and how they work so hard to keep our beaches clean when it's some of us, 'The population' that drop this litter in the first place.

Driving to work this morning on the A30 I noticed a Cornwall council van with several workers litter picking on the side of the road and in the roads lay by's. This angered me so much, not that they are litter picking but the fact that they have to litter pick. I can not understand why people can't take litter home with them, or even utilize rubbish bins in the local town or super market. I often keep a carrier bag in my car for any rubbish and have never thought once in my life to discard litter out of my car window. Also the council have enough to spend their money on without picking up rubbish after people too lazy to dispose of it themselves.

So that's my rant over, I'm lucky enough to live in Cornwall, which is an amazingly beautiful place even the main roads have their pretty scenery. I just wish that everyone would take a little more care over it, and if like my friend notice a discarded drinks can on the beach, pick it up and pop it in a near by bin and help to keep Cornwall beautiful.

Fire in Chicago warehouse

Recently I heard on the news that there was a fire in a warehouse in Chicago and that due to the cold the water used to extinguish the fire had frozen. After a little hunt around online I found several images of the ice covered warehouse and am in awe of the images.

In Cornwall it hasn't got that cold, I know the rest of the country has experienced snow and the big freeze but none of the images of the uk's recent blast come anywhere close to the amazing images of this Chicago fire freeze.

Image courtesy of trbimg.com

Image courtesy of dailyrecord.co.uk

Image courtesy of nuttynewstoday.com

Image courtesy of http://blogs.wsj.com

Ruarri Joseph - Until the luck runs dry

A few months ago I posted about Tony Plant and the amazing patterns that he creates on the beaches around Cornwall. Well here is Tony Plant collaborating with the amazing singer songwriter Ruarri Joseph on his latest song Until the luck runs dry.

Beautiful artwork on beautiful beaches, with beautifully shot video and stunning sounds.

Snow in Cornwall

I wish there was snow in Cornwall!

There's something truly magical about beaches covered in snow, Cornwall is beautiful anyway but when it is covered in snow it is even more amazing.

Whilst the rest of the country gets a blanket of the white stuff to have snow days and play in I thought I would share some images from previous years when we were lucky enough to have snow in Cornwall.

I know it causes traffic disruption and it can be extremely dangerous but there is nothing better than getting snow and adults everywhere playing in the snow like children. Keeping my fingers crossed that we get some of the white stuff this year.

Rapid Weather changes in Cornwall

If anyone was up in the early hours of this morning in Cornwall they would have noticed the most amazing, beautiful sunrise. Currently it is very dark and bleak when my alarm goes off in the morning but after a quick shower the daylight soon starts appearing. This morning was incredible, the house was filled with a pink hue, and when I looked outside the sky was a mixture between pinks, and oranges and tipped with dark night clouds.

As I left the house and drove to work the sun continued to rise, as I approached the A30 junction I looked across towards the clay pits of St Austell and the sun was now beaming from behind these hills.

I always pride myself on having my camera on me or at least my mobile phone so if I can stop and take a picture I will, however whilst on the monotonousness morning commute I not only didn't have time to stop, but there was also know where to stop to capture this beauty. As I continued on my journey west into Cornwall I passed the village of St Newlyn East, and the church. There was what looked like a beam of sunlight breaking through the clouds and shining straight onto the church. The village and fields around were lit by this fantastic orange glow, it was all very peaceful and stunning and i felt so happy to live in Cornwall and see such scenery even o the main duel carriageway on my way to work.

All I could think was that I needed to pull over and take a picture, and then it went. Just like that, with a blink of an eye the beam of light had disappeared  that beautiful orange happy glow coating everything had gone and within a few seconds the rain had started to spot on my windows. The rain got heavier and the sky darker.

I arrive to work in the pouring rain and dark skies and wondered if I had imagined such a beautiful morning.

Jessops goes into administration

Earlier today the sad news was released that Jessops the well known and well loved photographic retailer was facing administration. Several hours later the sad news had been confirmed and a company has been drawn into to deal with the financial demise of the store.

Being a Photographer I am saddened by the news but honestly not surprised. In the past when I was a student I lived in Jessops. Buying film on a regular basic, visiting regularly to get my films processed, the excitement of not knowing what I would see develop in my images. Test's on film that took time and patience to think about, you wrote notes about the exposures used with each frame and experimented and learnt the skill of photography. But then the digital age was born, still I used my local Jessops store. I vividly remember saving up all my paper round money to buy my first digital camera, it was a fuji film camera and cost around £400. There were no digital screen's on the back of the camera like modern digital cameras today. You still had a view finder like a traditional film camera and used it very similarly to before. The memory card was a smart media card, this then came out of the camera and into a floppy disc card reader. It was amazing and I was thrilled with the camera and so pleased with the novelty of only printing the pictures that I wanted to and not paying to have whole films printed that weren't worth printing.

This in my opinion was the start of Jessops decline as a high street retailer, up until this point I was always using the store. However as I became further involved in photography and further involved with digital my requirements from Jessops changed. I can now upload the photo's that I want to print to an online photographic printers and they are printed and delivered to my door quicker and cheaper than visiting my local Jessop's store. Then there's my personal journey into more professional photography, This led me wanting more specialized equipment and my local Jessops store just didn't have these in stock. I have used their online store to buy products and collect them in-store, but just not on a regular basis, and sadly shopping around online has given me cheaper options to buy the same item.

I hope that this isn't the end of Jessops entirely, as to me it's a household name that doesn't want to get forgotten. My thoughts are with all the staff that are effected by today's announcement as it's a sad day for any one in the photographic industry.

Wadebridge Foodbank's fantastic work is highlighted on the BBC

On Monday night, BBC One screened an episode of Inside Out Southwest. This featured the absolutely fantastic work of the Wadebridge Foodbank, and in particular Jacqui White who heads up the team in Wadebridge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01psbqy/Inside_Out_South_West_07_01_2013/

I knew of the work that she does but even I was shocked at just how much she does that we all take for granted, and really made me feel proud of just how hard she and the teams involved work.

You would have seen images on my blog before around the festive period when she was annually involved with the Samaritans purse shoe box appeal. Not to mention the charity ball that she was also involved in setting up last year to raise yet more funds for the charity.

Watching the program on Monday really pulled at the heart strings and made you realize just how lucky some of us are in life but also how much others struggle. It doesn't take much for each of us to donate an extra tin of soup each month or to give away those chocolate biscuits that you know you really shouldn't be buying anyway, as your on a diet.

Next time your in the supermarket look out for a local Foodbank box and give something to help someone else who isn't as fortunate as you and support the work that Foodbanks all over the country do. If you really don't have the money to donate items of food yourself then anyone can donate time to help continue the work that Jacqui and the rest of the Foodbank team do.

It's January NOT Easter!

Walking into my local co-op I was horrified when I saw the massive stand displaying Hot Cross Buns, not to mention the whole isle that's dedicated to Easter eggs. It's not just the stores either, I've already seen the Cadbury's cream egg advert both on TV and online. 

It's January!!!!! Can we please get some normality back into our lives, It's January that means January sales and diets, New Years Resolutions and certainly not thinking about Easter chocolates by the 6th day of the new year. Media and retail are also pushing us speedily and hastily through the year, magazines that i bought yesterday are the March edition. What happened to just enjoying the time we are in and looking forward to things that are coming in the next few weeks and taking each day as it comes. 

Surely by the time we even approach February we will all be sick of the Easter festivities and still no where near the big day. Likewise I get angry when shops put out their Christmas stock out in September. Please let me enjoy the late Indian summer whilst we get some long awaited sunshine and please don't remind me of the gloomy winter ahead. 

I know January can seam a little dull after all the excitement of Christmas but it also gives us a chance to recoup and save, and I certainly will not be buying any Easter related merchandise until at least March.

Happy New Year 2013

I can't actually believe it, for the first time in weeks it isn't actually raining and not only that the suns even out! Lets hope this is the way of thing to come and 2013 won't be as wet and miserable and flooded as 2012 was. Maybe if we are really lucky we might even get a snow day down here in Cornwall this year.

Wishful thinking, but it would be lovely.

Last night I spent my new years eve with friends at my old local the phoenix in Watergate bay, and I have to say it was truly one of the best new years eve parties. Whilst hitting the bar hard and nursing my way through lemsip's and appletize and barely drinking alcohol I thought to my self why had i even bothered going out when i was feeling so under the weather. But it's the biggest night out of the year and staying in and getting an early night just doesn't work on NYE.

The pub soon filled up with lots of familiar faces and lots of friends and the atmosphere was more of a house party than a pub with young and old all together enjoying the evening.

The entertainment was none other that local boys the Jeramiahs with headline act Wille and the Bandits, now for those of you that follow my blog will know that the Bandits are my favorite band, they are incredible and have such a unique hypnotic sound. I've seen the boys so many times yet i'm never disappointed  pulling new unheard songs out the bag yet again It was like seeing them for the first time.

As 2012 drew to a close the Bandits jammed in a stonking electric guitar count down, with everyone in the pub hands joined we sang Auld lang syne.

I couldn't have had a better night, best friends, best music, and a walk on the beach under the stars to kick of 2013.

Happy New Year and hears to another fantastic year.