Selfies

Hi everyone. It must be about 21 months since I last posted an entry on this blog. It’s surprising how something that was so much part of my life was knocked off the board so comprehensively by the Covid pandemic. Life as we knew it was constrained within narrow margins – physically and mentally. Life was all about survival, adhering to government advice, and massive adjustments to what previously we took for granted.

Photography was one of the casualties. It is now two and a half years since I got on a train and went to London – one of my favourite photographic hunting grounds. It’s two winters since I last skied. Four summers since I last visited the Alps. When life is restricted by events beyond our control (but for our good health) then picking up where we left off has been unexpectedly difficult. We had drifted into a new rhythm of life – a rhythm that has proved difficult to discard.

Posting today marks a new beginning. Today’s images were entered in last week’s local Photographic Society competition which had the title ‘Selfies’. I don’t normally do selfies, so a trawl through the Archive was needed. One of these images was given first place, and the other was highly commended. Which do you think won?

To my surprise it was the second one taken at the end of a bitterly cold day skiing on the edge of the Mont Blanc massif. It snowed intermittently all day, visibility was very limited (what skiers call white-out), but still we skied. Hoping the weather would clear – it didn’t!

The top image was on another day of variable weather. I was in two minds whether to venture this high on my own and I sat in this position for half an hour while the weather dithered. Finally the clouds lifted and the way ahead – this superb corniced ridge – became clear. I’d never shot an image like this before but I liked it as it placed me firmly in the frame. I was there. The cramponed boots proved it and they said something about what was required to safely navigate this terrain.

I’ve broken the ice metaphorically with this post. Now to continue…