It was aledgedly 8 degrees C today but there was a chilly 25mph breeze blowing and whilst I set out, this afternoon, with every intention of a long walk – I took pitty on my little friend and trudged back to the relative warmth of home after only about an hour. It was a clear day and the sun was out but on the seafront it was “somewhat bracing” ! Dog walking on a sunday afternoon is a bit of a cliche and we were certainly not alone – half the nation seemed to be promanading. Fortunately, I live very close to the sea and were sniffing salt air within 15 minutes – I say we, “Gus” was sniffing all sorts of things, some less efficacious than others ! We stopped to take a few photographs and sat in a very nice Victorian shelter. However, a “wind brake” it was not ! There was an onshore breeze and we took the full brunt of it whilst I dithered around, taking lens caps off, fiddling with the settings and finding suitable subjects to aim the camera at. Even the poor seagull (below) seemed to be having a tough time of it but he did patiently float a couple of feet off the beach whilst I captured the moment. My wildlife photography is a standing family joke – so although the subject matter was not particularly exotic I achieved my goal ! Usually by the time I get my camera out of its bag, the wretched bird or insect flies off into the distance and I’m left cursing ! Today, I took about 10 photos in all and at the end of the session the ball of tangled fur at my feet was beginning to wine (rather pathetically) – so to placate the little chap, we moved on, sauntered towards the pier, crossed the road and headed inland to home and a large cup of tea ! (dogs like tea, dont they ?)
I apologise for the poor quality of the images – they seem slightly out of focus but I’m not a photographer and the shots I take are to suppliment any sketches that I make – then both get turned into paintings or prints. I really like the colours in the last image and its hard to believe it was taken only five minutes after the first one. I’ll put some of the other images in the blog at a later date or maybe I’ll turn them into lino-cut prints first – so it may be sometime !
In conclusion my mission was accomplished, Gus “performed” (this was promptly dealt with and is now in a dog bin), the garden has one less hazzard and Gus celebrated his afternoon’s exigencies by sleeping soundly for the remainder of the afternoon ! Hurrah !! More shaggy dog stories later !
Cheerio for now . . . .
chriswoodartist 
No apologizing needed. Your photographs give the impression of the sea and of course are perfect composition. I too have painted close ups of the waves. Large oils, all sold now but I used to ocean swim and loved swimming in the rough water. I like the shaggy dog story 😉
Carla
Cheers Carla ! More impressions of the Solent and the blustery North Sea later ! Re large paintings, I look forward to painting some big ones again – in the meantime I’ll tap out a few more shaggy dog stories ! Best Wishes : ) } Chris
Reblogged this on hallrich037.
Like you,I spend more than a little time adjusting speed settings etc. but,I’m afraid my time spent “fiddling” with controls just may be due to insisting on using my tried and trusted Olympus OM2n which I bought new in er well,I cannot remember! I did buy a digital (another Olympus)camera,a compact,just to try one. It was good don’t get me wrong but,I found it too easy to simply snap away,rather than take the time to (try)get it right first time.Ah well. Wonderfull images you’ve posted and thank you. rich hall,Cheshire.
Cheers Rich ! Over the years I too have had other digital cameras. My current Nikon D40 may be old and battered and the flash gave up working over a year ago but It’s got a good lens and the thought of buying a replacement and having to relearn how to use it is a step to far. I must say a compact camera would be my choice as the weight and bulk of a DSLR is becomming a pain – particularly as I usually have a rucksack of art materials as well ! Here’s to an easy life ! All the best, chris.