Reflecting on July

Daisies

July - George Meredith

Blue July, bright July,

Month of storms and gorgeous blue,

Violet lightnings o’er the sky,

Heavy falls of drenching dew,

Summer crown! O’er glen and glade

Shrinking hyacinths in their shade

I welcome thee with all thy pride.

I love thee like an Eastern bride.

Though all the singing days are done

As in those climes that clasp the sun

Though the cuckoo in his throat

Leaves to the Dove his last twin note

Come to me with thy lustrous eye

Golden-dawning oriently

Come with all thy shining blooms

Thy rich red rose and rolling glooms

Though the cuckoo doth but sing ‘cuk cuk’

And the Dove alone doth coo;

Though the cushat spins her coo-r-roo-r-r-roo

To the cuckoos halting cuk.

 

Sweet July, warm July!

Month when mosses near the stream

Soft green masses thick and shy

Are a rapture and a dream.

Summer Queen! Whose foot the fern

Fades beneath while chestnuts burn

I welcome thee with thy fierce love

Gloom below and gleam above

Though all the forest trees hang dumb

With dense leafiness o’ercome

Though the nightingale and thrush

Pipe not from the bough or bush

Come to me with thy lustrous eye

Azure-melting westerly

The raptures of thy face unfold

And welcome in thy robes of gold!

Tho’ the nightingale broods – sweet-chuck-sweet

And the ouzel flutes so chill

Tho’ the throstle gives but one shrilly trill

To the nightingale’s ‘Sweet-sweet’

tickles

Day 185

  • Settings = F1.8 1/1250 ISO 100
  • Process = Exposing for bright sunny day. High shutter speed for fast moving children.
  • Inspiration = Family visiting for Louis’ birthday
self portrait

Day 187

  • Settings = F1.8 1/400 ISO 8000
  • Process = Shallow depth of field as with all portraits
  • Inspiration = Getting comfortable with myself and being solitary. Phlock community weekly theme.
  • Thoughts = My inner critic prevented me from posting this on social media. We all have insecurities.
red rose

Day 189

  • Settings = F2.2 1/1000 ISO 1000
  • Process = Recce for upcoming wedding. Planning and capturing anything that caught my eye.
  • Inspiration = A perfectly formed deep red rose against the contrasting pale brick.
Favours

Day 190

  • Settings = F1.8 1/320 ISO 7200
  • Process = Capturing the details of a local business, images I can pass on to support local small businesses
  • Inspiration = Capturing Dreamz – check out the blog all about this fab little family run biz.
  • >>> Link to blog – Capturing Dreamz
Wedding bouquet

Day 193

  • Settings = F1.8 1/6400 ISO 180
  • Process = Handmade bridal bouquet shot. Remembering details of the day.
  • Inspiration = Wedding location, and no bridal prep meant grabbing the bouquet shot creatively.
  • Thoughts = Although it may not be the done thing to include client work with personal projects. But for me the lines blur.
Roker Pier

Day 208

  • Settings = F1.8 1/5000 ISO 100
  • Process = Focus on lighthouse, through centre of life-ring. Shallow depth of field.
  • Inspiration = Walk along the pier Coast to Coast blog loop
  • >>>Link to Coast to Coast blog

Day 210

  • I’ve been listening to and learning from a lot of other creatives. I’ve been exploring other ideas and mediums. But as these are still early days I’m not quite ready to share them just yet. Follow me to hear first when I do.
August availability

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.