Now that I am semi/partially/part time retired, I have more time to do stuff. It’s the dream. Despite problems with pay and pension and the farce of spending a month without an official working pattern, I am 6 weeks into my new life and still loving it. The ‘stuff’ I’m currently doing is a mix of things around the house that I finally have time to put the effort into, and making a concerted effort to do more photography.
The former is actually quite enjoyable. I’m not a keen DIYer. I tend to be able to do a mediocre job but I quickly lose interest and I absolutely hate preparation and clearing up afterwards. But recently, I’ve seen the light and have done a number of (admittedly small) jobs around the house. Having two extra days means I don’t try to cram everything into an evening or weekend and I can take my time.
Having more time to spend taking photographs means I can try new things and experiment with different approaches to the same old things. Last weekend, on the recommendation of a friend, I spent two afternoons at a local dance festival. It was a great photo opportunity but also a fantastic experience that I wouldn’t have thought about attending if I had been trying to fit all my ‘stuff’ into the weekend. Rufus gets better walks because he doesn’t have to wait for me to set up a tripod and seek the decisive moment.
Yesterday, I left work early and set off for Llanmadoc church to take some snaps. On the way, I stopped off at Broadpool to have a snack and a drink and I pointed my camera at what I thought were a couple of ducks on the far bank. Imagine my surprise to see that rather than ducks, I was looking at a family of five turtles enjoying the sun. I spoke to someone in the RSPCA as I thought they had been abandoned but the woman I spoke to said that turtles are now native to the UK and it’s most likely that they are living there. The test was whether they were in distress (which they definitely weren’t) and that they were mature and seemingly in a family group. I’ve seen a lot of wildlife at Broadpool, including the human kind that fish. But this was the best sighting I’ve had for a long time.
I’ve had more time to go through the photos I already have on the computer and to make the effort to study some of them in more detail to figure out how I can improve. And I’ve taken the big step (for me) of entering some photos in the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition, which saw me whittling over 100 photos from the last three years down to the 7 that I would finally enter.
So, not only time to do stuff but also time to change and improve the stuff I already do.
franticsmurf 