Thursday 16 January 2014

Photo a Day Project - Part Two, 10th - 14th January 2014.

Part two of my little project...  before that, though, an advance apology for typos and bad spelling.  I have a, a new keyboard that I'm not yet used to, and b, a finger that I sliced open with a pair of thread snips this morning, so expect some weirdness.


10th JanuaryPart of the mural that was painted last year to brighten up the underpass under the railway line, at Mirfield railway station.  If you're coming from the Manchester side, this is what greets you at the bottom of the steps.  Entirely painted with spray cans, graffiti style, it took several days to paint the whole thing.




11th JanuaryWe went to visit some friends last weekend, and I had to stop off at work to pick up my diary, so we got the bus from Mirfield to Huddersfield, as my pass covers me for countywide buses, but not trains.  These two shots are taken from the bus on the journey (hence the smeariness on them - bus windows).






January 12th I took a few photos on Sunday.  First up, an old petrol pump (not functioning), at the corner of what used to be a garage, that we walked past on the way from our friends' place to the railway station, in Greenfield.



Secondly, the street that the petrol pump stands on, looking towards the direction of the station.


We made it to the station in time for the train, and that train made it to Huddersfield for our connection, and then the train got stuck outside Mirfield for around 40 minutes, because there was a signalling fault at Dewsbury.  I'm just happy that it seems to have been a genuine fault, as there seem to be quite a lot of 'suicides by train' in the Dewsbury area.
And at least the view was ok:




January 13th - This is a  particular type of plant (I have no idea what it is - if anybody fancies enlightening me, leave a comment), but one grows on the side of the path on my way to the railway station from home, and on the way to work from the station at that end.  Months ago, I took a picture of the green star-like fruit clusters, because I thought it was interesting, and that I could use the shape somehow on a hat of some sort.  Now it's in fruit!  This is the one on the way to the station from home.



January 14th - Another day when I took a few pictures - all very similar.  I was late home from work, so missed the bus by the time my train got in, and the moon was full and bright, but kept being hidden or half hidden behind clouds.  I took these as I walked home from the station.






Friday 10 January 2014

Photo Project, part one. 6th January - 9th January 2014

The first couple of photos from my year of taking pictures...


January 6th - A mucked up picture taken of our Christmas tree, just before I took it down and packed it away for the year.  A cat bumped into me just as I was taking the photo, and I like the streamed lights...



January 7th - I had 'girl flu' (which I described on facebook as being like 'man flu', but cooler), so spent the day at home on the sofa, wrapped up under a blanket.  George-cat (the eldest of our cats - he's 13), clearly decided that was the best place to be too.



January 8th - Taken at Leeds Station, of the view, from platform 17, across to the building affectionately known as 'The Dalek', which regularly causes streets around it to be closed, due to the creation of a sort of wind vortex that endangers life...



January 9th - the view at the end of our street in the afternoon, as I waited for a bus.  The stark contrast between the bright white buildings (actually the offices of a glass factory), and the dark foreboding sky caught my attention.



Monday 6 January 2014

Fenwick's Christmas Window 2013, and A New Project

It's been ages since I posted here, for several reasons - first, I've now graduated from my millinery course, and I'm happy to say I got a Distinction (the highest grade you can get), and I have a piece of paper to to prove i can make hats!  Other reasons are that I wasn't very well over summer, and that my laptop has been declared well and truly dead (motherboard failure, so I'm surprised the laptop doctor hasn't marked it with a big skull and crossbones).

Also, I've been building a millinery website (still not finished, due to the failure of my laptop, but underway), and I've started another blog about my millinery on there (embedded into the site, at www.deborahwalton.co.uk ).




Henceforward, though, I'm going to be using this blog to document a new project (the idea shamelessly stolen from a facebook friend, Cassie).  I'm going to take at least one picture every day for a year - starting from today (6th January 2014).  Obviously it would have been better to start from the 1st, but I forgot, and it took me a week to remember (I know, rubbish of me).  So I'll start from Jan 6th, and continue it till 5th Jan 2015.  The pictures may be of anything that happens to take my fancy, either at home, or out and about.  I should probably also state upfront that I'm (quite clearly) not a photographer - I just happen to like taking pictures - and I don't remotely have a professional camera - or even an SLR.  In fact most of the pics will probably be taken on my (very budget end, fairly battered, and very un-smart) phone.

My plan is to try to post them once a week or so - it may be less often, depending on work schedules, or it may be more often if / when I ever get a new laptop!

But I'm going to kick it all off by sharing some pics I took on Christmas Eve - of the Fenwick's Christmas Window in Newcastle.
If you're from the North East of England, you'll understand instantly, and have probably been to see it yourself at some point over the years.  If you're not, it may strike you as a little odd.  Briefly, Fenwick of Newcastle (one of the oldest shops in the town, and one of the largest), annually transform their windows at Christmas time.  It's a tradition that goes back to 1971, when the first moving display was based on the TV show, Camberwick Green.  Every year they try to outdo the last, and there are moving figures, puppets, lighting and music, with a different theme, or story.  Every one of the shops windows on Northumberland is completely taken over by the displays, and people queue halfway down the street to see them.  I was taken to see my first Fenwick's Christmas Window as a baby, and I try not to miss it.

This year the theme was fairy stories, (The Enchanted Forest) and included The Seven Dwarves, Jack Frost, Hansel and Gretal (complete with witch's feet sticking out of the stove), The Snow Queen (I took lots of pics of that one, because the revolving castle was incredible), and others, and was topped off by Santa in his workshop.













And just to show the scale of the windows, a picture of last years, from http://newcastlephotos.blogspot.co.uk