Stranger in a Strange Land

[John Mitchell 5,524]

On 17/08/2020 at 13:12, John Morrison said:

 

Or the distance between my arse and my elbow...

 

 I'd say that's a bit of a stretch. 😆

[spacecadet 4,510]

On 18/08/2020 at 03:31, Bryan said:

Maybe the allotment gardeners of the future will be positioning their cabbages and leeks electronically?

GPS.

[Jose Decio Molaro 34]

On 09/01/2020 at 08:22, Ed Rooney said:

Não, não estou me referindo a ser um ianque no oeste da Inglaterra. Eu sou isso, mas já morei na Inglaterra antes e morei na Europa por 20 anos. 

 

Quero dizer que sou um estranho do século vinte que se encontra neste lugar muito estranho - o século vinte e um, onde parece que assim que consigo aprender algo, eles mudam. Atualizando eles chamam. Todo mundo quer senhas mais fortes, números PIN e o nome de solteira do cachorro da minha mãe. Estou afundando sob a carga. 

 

E há muito mais coisas estranhas: modas mod com tinta no corpo, piercings, cores de cabelo selvagens, roupas semidestruídas. Há comida rápida e não saudável, pessoas vivendo nas ruas, política da Nova Direita e da Extrema Esquerda, burocracias intermináveis e inúteis, e assim por diante. Isso é Liverpool? O Reino Unido? Europa? Ou o mundo? 

 

Suponho que poderia tentar capturar essas coisas para material editorial. . . talvez uma foto de alguém falando ou enviando mensagens de texto em um smartphone? Ou isso já foi feito? 

 

Edo

come to Brazil and you will see what the end of the world is !!!

[Ed Rooney 4,603]

I've been to many places in Brazil many times, Jose. But not recently. 

[MizBrown 940]

Nicaragua uses kilometers for distances and mpk, pounds rather than kilograms and grams for food, and may or may not be on 24 hour time depending.  Gasoline and diesel is sold by the liter because the price looks so much lower that way.

[gvallee 3,995]

Edo, I've just updated my blog on blogger about the trip I've just done. I was forcibly moved to the latest version. What a nightmare!! Full of bugs! It took me several hours to get the images in the right place. Shame on you Google!! How are you coping or are you still on the previous version?

[Ed Rooney 4,603]

1 hour ago, gvallee said:

Edo, I've just updated my blog on blogger about the trip I've just done. I was forcibly moved to the latest version. What a nightmare!! Full of bugs! It took me several hours to get the images in the right place. Shame on you Google!! How are you coping or are you still on the previous version?

 

Oh my. The title of my blog refers to all the constant digital problems I (we) are forced to deal with. I think I'm on the latest Google update. ??? Gen, I can't find your blog. Would you put in a link, please?

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/08/editorial-stock.html

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Ed Rooney

[gvallee 3,995]

9 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Oh my. The title of my blog refers to all the constant digital problems I (we) are forced to deal with. I think I'm on the latest Google update. ??? 

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/08/editorial-stock.html

 

 

 

Very good blog entry as ever Edo. Very true. 

 

After some googling, I found that many other people were having the problems as I do. I had to disable a Chrome extension to force the blog to place the images where the cursor was. I had 56 to cut and paste in the right place before finding this workaround. I actually had to take some Panadol afterwards. I hope you have no problems.

[Robert M Estall 429]

Will some publishing client please buy a licence to use Edo's St Peter's Basilica? It's clearly getting to him! When I had started getting the hang of this stock photography thing I used to advise photographers wanting to have a crack at it to start with Niagara Falls or Stonehenge or some such prime example, do a really good job of it and move outwards from there. That's the worst advice possible these days, there are just too many good shots in the collection and no matter how good your ratings are, the algorithm will not rescue you. Years ago I was lucky enough to find myself at Stonehenge with really dramatic conditions and we were still allowed inside the circle. The shots sold a lot! Now we have little choice but to sell through a big collection such as Alamy and I think I have sold just one Stonehenge shot out of close edit in the 15 years I've been here. That's not a complaint, that's just where we are.

 

Our garden is frequently visited by hedgehogs and last summer they were so hungry, they came out in the daylight sometimes. Each time I would go for the camera, they'd moved off by the time I had geared up. They move faster than you might think!

Edited August 23, 2020 by Robert M Estall

[Mr Standfast 1,077]

 

Edo nice blog as always.

 

The competition for the big subjects is incredible these days. Quality images get lost; the buyer has too much choice! I think it's because of that I don't bother to compete for the main picture but I'll always look for a "filler" picture. If the buyer is looking for St Peter's Basilica he'll get 35,000 hits but a search for something quirky like St Peter's Basilica sign post gets 2 hits...

 

We used to be able to get right in amongst the stones at Stonehenge when I was a kid. Ancient neolithic monument? Yup fallen off that !

 

Cheers! 👍

 

 

 

[Ed Rooney 4,603]

LOL, Robert—but you're right; I'm not rational about the Basilica in Rome, in Vatican City. My frustration is based on the fact that in the fall of 2008 I was there visiting an old friend who lived just outside the piazza. So I could and did shoot images of the Basilica and around it for 10 days. I snapped away at dawn and dusk. I do make a number of sales from that trip—my farewell to my friend and the Eternal City—but I can't give away those of Saint Peter's. Domani forse, per un sacco di soldi.

 

I too visited Stonehenge when we could walk among the stones—a thrilling sense of ancient worlds. Never been to Niagagra Falls, although it's in my home state. 

[Robert M Estall 429]

My last shoot at Stonehenge, there was the usual morning gang of a couple of dozen visitors. A violent hail storm hit and everybody scarpered to the car park, while I hunkered down in the lea of one of the stones. It was a little uncomfortable but I stuck it out. As fast as it struck, the storm finished and the black clouds parted and everything glistened. The sky was amazing and I had the whole thing to myself  for perhaps ten minutes. Magical! 

[geogphotos 4,047]

Stonehenge is very far from being the only important neolithic monument even in just that small area of Wessex. 

 

I have realised that there are loads of very interesting, important sites of all historic periods that are well worth visiting and photographing even if not in peak demand. 

 

There is an amazing neolithic long barrow that I know. It could be a national and International destination but the land owners do not want that. There are no facilities, nowhere to park, when you knock on the farmhouse door and ask permission they at first say 'no'.  When they gave permission to me I had to promise not to put the pics on social media. 

 

So, I try to seek out the obscure. And at Stonehenge ( for example) take pictures of the incidental rather than the obvious.

Edited August 23, 2020 by geogphotos

[spacecadet 4,510]

6 minutes ago, geogphotos said:

Stonehenge is very far from being the only important neolithic monument even in just that small area of Wessex. 

 

 

Geog will know that West Kennet is more fun- you can get right inside

 

....and pretend you're on a fashion shoot.

Edited August 23, 2020 by spacecadet

[John Mitchell 5,524]

4 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

 

Edo nice blog as always.

 

The competition for the big subjects is incredible these days. Quality images get lost; the buyer has too much choice! I think it's because of that I don't bother to compete for the main picture but I'll always look for a "filler" picture. If the buyer is looking for St Peter's Basilica he'll get 35,000 hits but a search for something quirky like St Peter's Basilica sign post gets 2 hits...

 

We used to be able to get right in amongst the stones at Stonehenge when I was a kid. Ancient neolithic monument? Yup fallen off that !

 

Cheers! 👍

 

 

 

 

Very true. You may have created a new niche, "filler stock".

 

There's some good advice that I read somewhere years ago. It is even more relevant now and goes something like this: "Don't photograph the Taj Mahal, photograph people on the streets leading to the Taj Mahal."

[Mr Standfast 1,077]

 

As Ian says that part of Wiltshire is full of monuments.  I always thought it inspired Tolkien when he wrote the chapter "Fog on the Barrow Downs" in The Fellowhip of the Ring.

 

An enterprising landowner took the inspiration and built his own Long Barrow, I visited it when it was being built.

 

 

 

 

[Mr Standfast 1,077]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

Geog will know that West Kennet is more fun- you can get right inside

 

....and pretend you're on a fashion shoot.

 

Or if you're nine, pretend you're brave...

[Russell 1,960]

21 hours ago, Robert M Estall said:

Our garden is frequently visited by hedgehogs and last summer they were so hungry, they came out in the daylight sometimes. Each time I would go for the camera, they'd moved off by the time I had geared up. They move faster than you might think!

 

I strongly recommend Spikes Hedgehog food. It comes in two varieties, the dried and the (more expensive) semi-moist. Naturally the hogs prefer the semi-moist. I've been feeding up to four at a time for a couple of years now, but I still don't have any really good images.

 

Mine are very nocturnal, and flash just scares them off (and upsets the neighbours). I got a couple of shots using dim LED lights and remote triggers, but nothing really worth submitting yet. I'll try again when the evenings draw in, and I can shoot at a reasonable time of day.

 

BTW I leave food available all winter. They do wake up from time to time, and need to stock up.

 

The feeding tunnel keeps the cats & foxes away.

 

 

[wiskerke 3,648]

2 hours ago, Russell said:

The feeding tunnel keeps the cats & foxes away.

 

Great!

I would also take an image without the very recognizable branded bag though.

 

wim

[Robert M Estall 429]

Hedgehogs have charm but their mission in life is to patrol my vegetable patch and flower gardens scoffing slugs and such pests. A bowl of water is a help and appreciated by the birds as well. It's worth reminding that hedgehogs are very lactose intolerant.

[Russell 1,960]

1 hour ago, Robert M Estall said:

It's worth reminding that hedgehogs are very lactose intolerant

Very true. Although it was once customary, bread and milk is the worst thing you could offer them.

[Mr Standfast 1,077]

Our hedgehogs get cheap supemarket kitten food, if they find out Russell is feeding his visitors "Spike" I may be in trouble!  😉

[Ed Rooney 4,603]

Is this the last thing I have to say about pandemics and photography? I hope so.

 

https://edostrange.blogspot.com/2020/08/my-kitbag.html

 

 

[CAROL SAUNDERS 259]

Lovely blog Edo very enjoyable reading thanks for taking the time to share... 

 

Carol

[Ed Rooney 4,603]

Thanks, Carol. Your pics are looking good. 🙂