It's been a passing idea of mine to do Adam Buxton style ramble chats while I walk along the coast. Previous attempts were ruined by the sound of wind, which is quite often a thing here on the coast. I gave up. However, I've just upgraded my audio gear and it works in the wind. So, I present a ramble. (These may get better...)

A nice morning

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Hello there, I am currently on the beach. I've just been for a 10 minute dip in the water and the tide is going out. I thought it might be nice to do audio post for my newsletter this week. I thought it'd be nice to kind of wander down to where I've just swam and sort of taking the sights and the sounds. As the tide is going out, and just kind of sort of say something.

It's just really nice out here. It's got that hope sort of feeling that no matter what sort of terribleness is in the news, nature is still natureing on and doing its thing. The seasons are just about to start to change and warmth is coming back to the world. Things are bad if you read the news but if you get outside things are getting better. No, maybe not getting better because I quite enjoy winter. Things are changing and yeah, it's just going to be nice. It's going to get warmer so... I was going to say that would be great because I can do longer swims but given my chronic fatigue issues at the moment I longer swims aren't good for me. It's a shame, so I can float for longer.

I've been doing a lot of... what's the word? Sketching and some watercolors. Only digital watercolors so they don't quite have the same effect. At least they don't have the same outcome but I feel like they have the same effect which is just kind of look at stuff. I mean, I'm a photographer and I enjoy looking at stuff. Wandering around with a camera, seeing things and photographing them but there's a definite difference between photography and painting or sketching. Photography for me feels very off the moment. Instant. Instant is probably the best word. It's a split second in time. There's the famous Cartier-Bresson quote about the decisive moment. That's kind of what you feel you're looking for in photography. That split second. Even when you're doing portraits and you can chat to someone. There is often just a split second where their expression is exactly what you want and then it's gone. It's just very instant and fleeting, whereas sketching and painting and things, you kind of, I feel like you're taking the moment and just kind of really stretching it out and really kind of paying attention to it. That moment can be sort of half an hour long. That you're just soaking in that scene and looking at the the details and the the way things happen.

I found that quite interesting because for so many years I've tried to be a photographer who slows down and it's never worked. I know a lot of people talk about that where they where they shoot film. They shoot like I mean certainly glass plate negative so that's going to slow you down. You can only do like one or two of those but even when I was shooting film I'd still kind of burn through a whole roll. It didn't feel like it slowed me down, but sketching and doing painting and things that actually slows me down. I'm really taking my time there. I really like that.

It's sort of giving me a different appreciation for the things that I look at I guess. To really kind of look and think about stuff. I'm really kind of enjoying that. Still a photographer, and that's my primary thing but I'm certainly enjoying a different way of kind of looking at stuff and different way of creating as well. I sort of stopped doing video games because. I never found the time for them. Where as sketching and doodling on my iPad, I feel like I can do that in the evenings more than I can play a video game. I feel like you have to get into a video game and by the time you got into it, you have to get out of it. I also kind of felt like I never found one that really helped me relax. I tried, and I asked people but I never really found one. Sketching and everything, sitting there with my cat, looking at a photo that I've taken and trying to draw it, to think about the color and the way things work. I can enjoy doing that.

There's also a freedom in painting that I don't have in photography, or maybe that I should have in photography. Maybe I've become a bit stuck perhaps. I feel like in photography, I have to get everything just right whereas in painting I kind of like to mess around and see what happens. It's quite enjoyable doing that.

So I guess what I'm saying is It's nice to be outside. It's nice to take things slowly to sit to sort of really enjoy a long moment rather than an instant. No matter what's going on in the news just kind of maybe find a space and get outside. It's just nice to be out and enjoying long moments.

I've probably rambled long enough. I can't feel my fingers in some ways after my swim my, despite wearing gloves. My hands still haven't really recovered so I'm gonna go and get them warm. Get a cup of tea, warm up a bit. I think that sounds like a a good plan. The tide was going out but it's going really slowly. Taking it's time. It's definitely giving out it's because I can see the the water where it's been. Now I am properly rambling so I will leave you with the sound of where I am I guess...

Links

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