Photos and occasional pomes

Tag: Shahai

  • Change

    Possibly the last.
    Focusing on the image –
    The haiku “whenever”.

    Let’s be honest, who comes here for the haiku? At the end of the day it is a photo blog, so I will continue to share my images, many of which may be “marmite” images. Some may hate them, some may love them, but if you like the majority then hopefully you will stay. I am not ruling out the odd poetic expression, but it will not be a focus from now on.
    This image is quite possibly a marmite one….


  • Self-talk

    Photograph raindrops.
    No pleasure in going out,
    When it rains it pours.

    Yesterday, and today for that matter, was miserable weather. Cold rain, and continuous. So I told myself to pick up the camera and take a photo. Options were limited as I was not stepping outside, so raindrops on the window it became. I like that you can see the house across the road, inverted in the droplets.


  • Fishing

    Sitting on a branch
    Relaxing in the sunshine,
    Waiting for a fish.

    I really like the Adamsky effect as a method of removing distractions for a more minimalist look. Not pure photography, but then what is? I have seen several methods for doing this on t’Interweb, and have settled on an amalgamation of a few. Maybe I should write a tutorial, but then people might think I know what I am doing. Can’t have that.


  • Slush

    Is it romantic?
    Or are the words just slushy,
    Like the melting snow?

    It’s a difficult balance to get the words right, to express emotions without getting too sentimental or too pretentious, and just being sincere. I guess that is why so many people give up, and rely on the words of the old poets to help them out. Whatever works.


  • Stumpy

    Extreme pollarding!
    Praying limbs will soon grow back,
    Reaching for the sky.

    The last image from the recent bad weather, and melting snow. This lone tree reminded me of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter. Fingers crossed it does recover from the extreme haircut. Maybe I will check again in the summer.


  • Thor

    It snowed hard all night,
    The morning saw it warming
    And the thaw began.

    I am losing the plot. The sharp-eyed may have noticed that yesterday’s blog had a stupid rhyme, not a haiku. I forgot to add the haiku! Luckily I managed a couple of half decent images from the park, so you now get the haiku that was planned for the last blog post.

    3/10 – must try harder. Baker fails to concentrate in class, and his marks would substantially improve if he got his brain in gear.


  • Thaw

    The great god Thor went for a ride
    upon his favourite filly.
    I’m Thor he cried, the horse replied –
    “You forgot your thaddle thilly”.

    No, not that type of thor. Once again we seemed to be on the periphery of the really bad weather, and as soon as it had finished snowing, it started to get slushy and melt. But at least it meant I was able to get a fairly unusual image of Wollaton Hall in the winter.


  • Dusting

    Hardly a blanket.
    Just a light dusting of snow
    On a woodland walk.

    Happy 2026, assuming you use the same calendar as I do. Yesterday I made an error of judgement. Normally, when we get a touch of snow in Nottingham, it is the Peak District to the west that gets it heavier. So We drove out to Upper Moor, hoping for a nice snowy shot, suitable for next year’s Christmas card. Virtually nothing. Not enough of nothing that it was a wasted trip, and the walk followed by a pub lunch made for a really good day, but not what I was expecting.
    Then when I watched the news in the evening, it was the East that got all the snow, and I had gone in precisely the wrong direction. Still managed a couple of images, and hopefully more snow on the way.


  • Alone

    Still fields and quiet.
    Sounds deadened by soft white snow.
    One stands out alone.

    Looking back it seems I have a few trees in the image collection, and several minimalist ones at that. Snow or fog both work well. We have not yet had snow this winter, so this is one from last winter, taken at Strelley Hall in Nottingham.


  • Festive?

    Only joking, just trying not to be overly sentimental like so many can be. This was just a phone shot from the winter light walk at Wollaton Hall. A cold, but thankfully dry, evening. Will I get another one in before the end of the year? Maybe, maybe not. If I don’t – have a good holiday, and hopefully a peaceful 2026.