A couple of weekends ago I participated in a 'photo marathon'. It was a really fun event that involved picking up two themes every two hours and going out to get one shot of each theme. These were my six shots. The first theme was circle(s).

The second theme was the street. I did several long exposures trying to capture the movement of it and bring it to life a bit. This is the one I submitted:

After a coffee and cake break, we went back for more. The next two themes were Looking In, and Green. Looking in:

Green:

Finally, (and at this point the hubby had gone home as he'd had enough and wanted to watch the F1 qualifier) the last two themes were Unique and Shadow. I admit my enthusiasm was also waning a bit here, I'd gone home and come back out again so had only an hour to get both themes done and choose the six photos to submit, so didn't spend much time on these. But here are the two I ended up with: Unique:

And finally, Shadow:

So that was that. The weather was beautiful all day and I actually got slightly sunburned from walking around in the lovely Autumn sun all day. I enjoyed taking part and it was fun seeing all the other photographers about town doing funny things. It also got me to think about different concepts. For circles for example, I thought about doing a circle of friends holding hands, or a load of bubbles in the air (though we did try that and it was too windy). I also got a picture of a bunch of circles I drew in the sand. I didn't win anything in the competition although sitting and having tea and cake afterwards one of the judges sat with us and said that one of my pictures had been in contention. Can you guess which one? All of the pictures are up in the Morlan centre for viewing for the next couple of weeks I think. And you can see the winning photos here: http://ffotoaber.com/en/photomarathon

Sick trees

Last night I dreamt of a woodland that I was in charge of caring for. It was sickly, having suffered the felling of many trees, the planting of others that didn't fit with the ecosystem... and was now left a scraggly, rough, neglected place that needed much nurturing to bring it back to a healthy state. But I was alone, and people were after me, two men, who were trying to convince me to leave, who were menacing. I left, fearing my own safety, but had a terrible feeling they would burn it all down while I was away, and I felt guilty for putting my own safety first, but also relieved that I was alive and alright and could go on.