People
Last week I took some pictures for Anna to promote her new Health Coaching business. Anna will be offering diet and health advice. We were lucky enough to be able to use a nice cottage in St Davids with a great dining table and good window light to make for a fun and relaxed afternoon and a variety of shots.
I was sad to hear the news that Marc Treanor had passed away recently. Marc was known for his big works of sand art that he made on the beaches of Pembrokeshire and beyond. Marc was one of those characters whose work often popped up on social media and due to it’s nature (the tide would reclaim the sand a few hours later) most people would seldom get to see it in the flesh. A few years back a friend asked Marc to produce a piece for her hen do and I was lucky to be able to get some pictures for them. I didn’t get one of Marc unfortunately. We’ll miss seeing his work on local beaches.
Lovely video here from my friends at Mother Goose for Visit Pembrokeshire.
Lucy needed images for her website and social media but was not keen on having her picture taken. Lucy runs workshops on making chocolate, kombucha and other fermented goodies so we decided that some shots during a workshop would provide a good opportunity to get some nice natural images. We had a big, light kitchen to work in so all went well and as a bonus I came away with some tasty treats!
Lucy’s workshops are good fun and she makes the slightly daunting task of making your own fermented foods straightforward and enjoyable. A relaxing, fun atmosphere, simple instructions and supervision make it easy to get started with fermenting at home. Some pics below.
The rods have been dug out recently. With calm sunny evenings, it’s been nice to spend some time in accessible parts of the coast as most of the path is closed for now due to the difficulties of social distancing close to cliff edges and also due to the Pembrokeshire Coast Path being a big attraction for visitors to the area. When it’s calm and pleasant at the waters edge, fishing is a good excuse to linger there. Similar to photography, it’s a meditative experience to spend some time casting a line and occasionally pulling in something to eat. Joey got lucky and pulled in a couple of good size pollock. I got a couple of tiddlers that went back but my excuse was that I was mostly busy taking photos ;)
Despite the rain, several hundred people gathered in Haverfordwest yesterday to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. For a small town in West Wales it was an impressive turnout and testament to the strength of feeling that has grown internationally since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As the global reaction has gathered pace, many people are starting to re-examine both their national and local histories and with the dramatic toppling of the Colston statue in Bristol, other towns and cities are looking to their own memorials and questioning their validity. Haverfordwest has its own questions to ask as the past deeds of Sir Thomas Picton are coming under scrutiny. Thomas Picton was born in Haverfordwest and went on to become governor of Trinidad, a role to which he brought a brutal approach. His career was almost derailed after he was tried for authorising the torture of a 14 year old girl but he wasn’t sentenced and resumed his military career before being the most senior officer killed at the battle of Waterloo. He was celebrated for his bravery and career. Yesterdays demonstration was quickly followed by the removal of the blue plaque that marked the house in the town where he was born. In Cardiff the future of the statue that stands in City Hall is being discussed and the Picton memorial in Carmarthen is also under review. A widespread re-examination of Britain’s colonial past is overdue and hopefully this is the time when less well known parts of our story begin to be taught in history lessons as these dark chapters are echoed in current attitudes and events.
A side note on the photography aspect of yesterday: Due to the continuing Covid situation, attendees were asked to respect social distancing and to wear face masks and I realised how important the face is when establishing a quick relationship with someone you’d like to make a portrait of. Not being able to use a friendly face when approaching someone made me feel slightly awkward and in the end, with the sombre mood and rain, I chickened out a bit and used my long lens to get this image.
We had a short visit from a young corvid the other day. A jackdaw chick had caught the unwelcome attention of a cat so came for a short visit before being returned to where it was found after reading the advice online. Baby jackdaws will live on the ground after leaving the nest and remain under the watchful eye of their parents who will fend off predators and feed them until they’re strong enough to look after themselves. At this young age they are easy to handle and although tempting to keep the little thing a bit longer, after a couple of pics, back home it went, happily riding down the road on the handlebars of a bike!
