I love my Grandad but he was a fool. My ankle is now blackened with bruising, incredibly painful to walk on and doubled in size with swelling.
A word to those as foolish and gullible as me......rest a sprained ankle.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Headed for a fall.
I took my first real running tumble this morning. I got up a little late so had to knock a mile off the intended 5 miler. The idea was notch the pace up a little to a fraction out of the comfort zone. The run takes in some of Aylesbury then goes out to a country lane and then back home down the canal. 2 miles into the run on the country lane, my foot came down on the lowered verge and twisted sideways throwing the ankle outwards and sending me sprawling. The searing pain in my ankle prompted the first thought, "Is it broken?" The second thought was "If you think it's broken it isn't, you'd know."
Now this put me in a quandary as I have previously told my daughter that the cure for a sprain is exercise. I saw a program about how the military treat sprained ankles by making the men exercise them and I had been firm about this to my daughter. The other choice was to walk back but I was 2 miles into the run and 2 miles from home. I started back at a slow walk, building it up to a brisk pace, then a slow jog and a little faster. It hurt like hell but I finished the 4 miles.
I got home it had started to swell and really hurt but after the drive to work it feels OK, I can feel the sprain but it is nowhere near as bad as it should be. I am hoping it is good for the morning run tomorrow but on the strength of it, continuing the run and not resting it seems to be working.
My Grandad was a firm believer in exercising injuries and we used to laugh at such outdated thinking but maybe he was right.
Now this put me in a quandary as I have previously told my daughter that the cure for a sprain is exercise. I saw a program about how the military treat sprained ankles by making the men exercise them and I had been firm about this to my daughter. The other choice was to walk back but I was 2 miles into the run and 2 miles from home. I started back at a slow walk, building it up to a brisk pace, then a slow jog and a little faster. It hurt like hell but I finished the 4 miles.
I got home it had started to swell and really hurt but after the drive to work it feels OK, I can feel the sprain but it is nowhere near as bad as it should be. I am hoping it is good for the morning run tomorrow but on the strength of it, continuing the run and not resting it seems to be working.
My Grandad was a firm believer in exercising injuries and we used to laugh at such outdated thinking but maybe he was right.
Friday, 20 January 2012
January so far.
Although we are only 20 days into the 2012, it feels like a slow start already. That actually isn't quite accurate though.
On Jan 2nd, I went to Ludd Church in Staffordshire. It's been fairly low down on the hitlist for awhile but I thought I'd make the effort and go and see it. It is the apparent setting for Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight.
For those that are thinking religion and church buildings, this is a church only in interpretation as in it has been used for religious ceremonies both Christian and Pagan for many centuries and is infact a huge chasm in the ground with rock walls towering to around 50ft.
It was actually a beautiful day. There was frost on the ground in places and the floor of the "church" was deep mud but the sun was out. It was one of those cold but sunny days, a wonderful Winters day.
I am not familiar with Staffordshire as a County and we were bordering
Derbyshire so the landscape reminded me more of the Dales but that is
actually ignorance talking as I am not a great traveller of Staffs but I
think given this wonder, I may have to see more.
The scene above, is looking out across the rolling hills from the ridge that is maybe a quarter of a mile beyond Ludd Church. It's around 3pm and the sun isn't high enough or warm enough to defrost the distant hillsides.
The following weekend I didn't quite make it into London in time for the wassailing but did get there in time for the mummers play. There was quite a crowd so my youngest daughter stood on a bench and took the pictures. The mummers play was a George and the Dragon themed affair with many contemporary comments, much as they would have been a few hundred years ago. It was entertaining, funny and young enough for the kids with enough gags and one liners for the adults to read between the lines and be genuinely entertained.
With a rather rare often sunny and amazingly warm January, I actually managed my first infra red shot of the year a few months ahead of schedule. Normally infra red shots are used for Black and White work but by taking a shot first and using that as a custom white balance, it is amazing what you can manage in the camera. This shot has had the contrast and brightness played with but that is all. Each IR shot takes around a 5 minute exposure with careful positioning to avoid the slightest glare of the sun. The beauty with it, for me, is that each shot is a surprise, you never know what you are going to get, even mundane things become something different with IR but it does require plenty of sunlight and even the slightest tremor will ruin the shot. The essential kit is a sturdy tripod, remote shutter release and a lot of patience.
Last weekend I ventured into London on Sunday as my eldest daughter lost many photographs for her art exam to a computer hard drive failure. Too late I have purchased a massive 2TB network drive but at least we can all rest easy in the knowledge that should it happen to any of us again, we have a backup.
Anyway, the London trip was for her, not me but I did manage a series of shots focusing on the Lloyds building and the square around it. I didn't capture anywhere near the spatial awareness that this place brings. I don't know if you've had that feeling where all of a sudden you become acutely aware of the space around you, the buildings and building work within the space. This square is undergoing some massive building work and there are 5 or 6 huge cranes and you are hemmed in between tall buildings but the space feels large, the opposite of what you would expect. The shot below is around 9 hand held shots stitched together to create this panorama as there was no way to capture all of this in a single shot.
That is all I have for now and looking back, maybe it's not been such a slow time. Roll on the rest of the year, I am still excited about it.
On Jan 2nd, I went to Ludd Church in Staffordshire. It's been fairly low down on the hitlist for awhile but I thought I'd make the effort and go and see it. It is the apparent setting for Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight.
For those that are thinking religion and church buildings, this is a church only in interpretation as in it has been used for religious ceremonies both Christian and Pagan for many centuries and is infact a huge chasm in the ground with rock walls towering to around 50ft.
It was actually a beautiful day. There was frost on the ground in places and the floor of the "church" was deep mud but the sun was out. It was one of those cold but sunny days, a wonderful Winters day.
The scene above, is looking out across the rolling hills from the ridge that is maybe a quarter of a mile beyond Ludd Church. It's around 3pm and the sun isn't high enough or warm enough to defrost the distant hillsides.
With a rather rare often sunny and amazingly warm January, I actually managed my first infra red shot of the year a few months ahead of schedule. Normally infra red shots are used for Black and White work but by taking a shot first and using that as a custom white balance, it is amazing what you can manage in the camera. This shot has had the contrast and brightness played with but that is all. Each IR shot takes around a 5 minute exposure with careful positioning to avoid the slightest glare of the sun. The beauty with it, for me, is that each shot is a surprise, you never know what you are going to get, even mundane things become something different with IR but it does require plenty of sunlight and even the slightest tremor will ruin the shot. The essential kit is a sturdy tripod, remote shutter release and a lot of patience.
Last weekend I ventured into London on Sunday as my eldest daughter lost many photographs for her art exam to a computer hard drive failure. Too late I have purchased a massive 2TB network drive but at least we can all rest easy in the knowledge that should it happen to any of us again, we have a backup.
Anyway, the London trip was for her, not me but I did manage a series of shots focusing on the Lloyds building and the square around it. I didn't capture anywhere near the spatial awareness that this place brings. I don't know if you've had that feeling where all of a sudden you become acutely aware of the space around you, the buildings and building work within the space. This square is undergoing some massive building work and there are 5 or 6 huge cranes and you are hemmed in between tall buildings but the space feels large, the opposite of what you would expect. The shot below is around 9 hand held shots stitched together to create this panorama as there was no way to capture all of this in a single shot.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
2011 in review.
Happy New Year and it is going to be a good one, I have such plans for this year. 2011 was a quiet year, I didn't do too much and was less than motivated to better myself. I ran consistently but not well, I took far fewer trips and photographs than the previous year but it wasn't a bad year. I shall call it a settling year.
Anyway, here is my month by month review of last years photography.
January I spent getting to grips with my zoom lens. The
weather was icy and cold and as it was back to work month
after the Christmas break, it was an experimental month.
February promised much with the half term break but the weather was pretty bad. I visited Northumberland, Somerset and Kent.
March was a miserable month for photographs so I got a little creative.
May and things were starting to come together. A wonderful trip to Bolsover Castle and my first experience of jousting and a trip to London and the first real use of my red filter.
June meant the Robert Dover Olympicks. A stunning day.
Wonderful in its simplicity and fun, we all sat on the hillside in the warm June evening sunshine and enjoyed the spectacle.
July was a quiet month but it did feature jousting at Kenilworth Castle. As this is the Castle from my childhood, it holds a lot of special memories and I was hoping for great things....it didn't disappoint.
August was wet and I didn't take much time off but I did manage a trip to Durdle Door.
September was another quiet month but I did manage a trip to Puzzlewood and Tintern Abbey with my youngest daughter and my Dad.
October was a busier month and I took a trip to Mid Wales and Cumbria. I also took an early morning trip to London and took some Pre-Sunrise shots of Canary Wharf from South of the River.
November was back to quiet. As it is my birthday month, I celebrated by going to London and trying the old Cockney favourite, pie, licquor and mash.
I also invested in some cheap macro filters.
December was my year for getting the Christmas presents, couple that with grey and miserable days and a lack of motivation on the days when the weather was finer meant that I took very few pictures. I did get some time to experiment with faking double exposures. Faking because it's not possible with digital images without software.
2011, not a bad year but not a great year for me. I am disappointed with myself more than the year although the weather has been poor, enough that it knocked the will to venture outside from me, I should have made the effort rather than becoming lethargic.
2012, however, is looking fantastic. My plan for the year is to investigate all the customs and traditions that make up England. I have a diary full of pagan, historical and bizarre customs that I intend to photograph and document.
Sunday is the yearly "Wassail" on the banks of the Thames in London including a Green man emerging from the Thames. Following that are many things throughout the year such as the "Chap Olympiad," the Ashbourne Shrovetide Football Match and the Hallaton and Medbourne Bottle Kicking Contest, new and old traditions and customs that make up this Nation of Eccentrics. Forget the Olympics, England is far more interesting than that and this year will be my first foray into discovering who we really are. It promises to be exciting, I just hope I'm up to the task.
Anyway, here is my month by month review of last years photography.
January I spent getting to grips with my zoom lens. The
weather was icy and cold and as it was back to work month
after the Christmas break, it was an experimental month.
February promised much with the half term break but the weather was pretty bad. I visited Northumberland, Somerset and Kent.
March was a miserable month for photographs so I got a little creative.
April was more interesting. Spring was here and the weather was nice, for a few days anyway. To alleviate my boredom with myself , I
bought a red filter and on a
trip to London, took this interesting shot.
With the Royal Wedding happening, I managed this shot of a Cannon firing in celebration of a memorable day.bought a red filter and on a
trip to London, took this interesting shot.
May and things were starting to come together. A wonderful trip to Bolsover Castle and my first experience of jousting and a trip to London and the first real use of my red filter.
June meant the Robert Dover Olympicks. A stunning day.
Wonderful in its simplicity and fun, we all sat on the hillside in the warm June evening sunshine and enjoyed the spectacle.
July was a quiet month but it did feature jousting at Kenilworth Castle. As this is the Castle from my childhood, it holds a lot of special memories and I was hoping for great things....it didn't disappoint.
August was wet and I didn't take much time off but I did manage a trip to Durdle Door.
September was another quiet month but I did manage a trip to Puzzlewood and Tintern Abbey with my youngest daughter and my Dad.
October was a busier month and I took a trip to Mid Wales and Cumbria. I also took an early morning trip to London and took some Pre-Sunrise shots of Canary Wharf from South of the River.
November was back to quiet. As it is my birthday month, I celebrated by going to London and trying the old Cockney favourite, pie, licquor and mash.
I also invested in some cheap macro filters.
December was my year for getting the Christmas presents, couple that with grey and miserable days and a lack of motivation on the days when the weather was finer meant that I took very few pictures. I did get some time to experiment with faking double exposures. Faking because it's not possible with digital images without software.
2011, not a bad year but not a great year for me. I am disappointed with myself more than the year although the weather has been poor, enough that it knocked the will to venture outside from me, I should have made the effort rather than becoming lethargic.
2012, however, is looking fantastic. My plan for the year is to investigate all the customs and traditions that make up England. I have a diary full of pagan, historical and bizarre customs that I intend to photograph and document.
Sunday is the yearly "Wassail" on the banks of the Thames in London including a Green man emerging from the Thames. Following that are many things throughout the year such as the "Chap Olympiad," the Ashbourne Shrovetide Football Match and the Hallaton and Medbourne Bottle Kicking Contest, new and old traditions and customs that make up this Nation of Eccentrics. Forget the Olympics, England is far more interesting than that and this year will be my first foray into discovering who we really are. It promises to be exciting, I just hope I'm up to the task.
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