Travel
I'm lucky enough to travel a lot but I also aim to understand a place in some depth. So I like to find out about the local history, sociology, wildlife and local arts. I prepare for a trip by looking up photos of the famous sights, they're usually a good guide both about the local visual interest and also a warning of what has already been done or over-done.
I try to use the tools of modern photojournalism and photography to communicate how I feel about a place. You’ll see that I have used Portrait, Street, Interior, Historical, Abstract, Landscape, Historical, Wildlife, Phone-camera and Selfie genres at different times for specific effects.
Major disruption on my travel on the West Coast Main Line, said to be Europe’s busiest mixed-traffic railway line. The train was held for more than two hours whilst railwaymen from the permanent way division tried to clear cattle from the tracks just south of Rudgeley in the Trent Valley. It looked like a whole herd had strayed on to the railway going for the untouched grass; the railwaymen cleared many of them in to adjacent fields but a group of four and another group of three remained nonchalantly munching the fresh grass besides the tracks. Eventually the train I was on proceeded at caution (5 MPH) until the area was passed and we encountered all the trains waiting in the other direction.
The amazing Soleri viaduct bridging the Stura di Demonte river in Cuneo, Piemonte. Construction was difficult and the mixed-use bridge was finally completed in 1937 then reopened after war damage in 1948. The Y-shaped viaduct carries road, tram and railway traffic. It’s the final bridge in the Cuneo-Ventimiglia/Nice railway which includes a new station on the plateau at the centre of Cuneo.
More photos: Viadotto Soleri - del «grande viadotto sulla Stura» - Cuneo
Using the car bonnet to heat slices of focaccia (similar to pizza) under the blazing sunshine for our lunchtime snack in Italy. The car was indicating air temperature of 33°C. Cooking time was 5 minutes as our focaccia was heated both by sunshine and the heat from the engine.
Heatwave hallucination. A hot day, more than 40°C, so anything could happen, even a unicorn on a street of Vallon Pont d’Arc, the town at the head of the Ardèche Gorge.
It’s always a wrench to fly north from Marseille and to leave the delights of Provence and the French Riviera. But recognising landmarks in the aerial view of the Alps is some consolation, particularly when the winter snow has not fully melted. And worth getting out the DSLR to share.
These are views of Mont Blanc (4810 m.) & Mont Ventoux (1910 m.) from an A320, flight BA347 of the 9th April.
