The photos that make up my Calendar for 2019 based on the previous 12 months.
Front Cover: Sicily, Oct 18, view from Volcano looking down and across to Lipari taking in the sulphurous crate rim of Volcano
This was our first wedding anniversary which we chose to celebrate by taking a trip to visit the volcanoes of Sicily and her neighbouring Eolian islands. It was spectacular and so different from anything I’d seen in ages so it features heavily in this year’s calendar.
January: Finsenuten, 1599m, Norway, cross-country skiing Mar 18.
“Listen to silence. It has so much to say.” Rumi
A fantastic week building on the cross-country ski-ing skills learned last year. A place special in that it has no road access, only a train line. On this particular day the conditions were perfect apart from a bitterly cold wind. We skied up to a tiny hut which was so welcome in that biting cold. Once inside the cosy warmth from a wood-burning stove enveloped us, the smell of wood-smoke adding to the sense of comfort. We enjoyed delicious waffles, their sweetness, in that soft interior with a crispy outer, intensified by the effort of having to ski there. And setting us up to retrace our ‘steps’ back to the hostel at Finse.
February: Frost patterns onthe lochside jetty, Scotland Jan 18 and on my car, Llangollen Nov 17.
“Nature is imagination itself.” William Blake.
I love how the detail has come out in the lefthand picture - each ‘blade’ of upstanding frost, made of 3 or 4 smaller strands, it is like a carefully styled head of hair with each blade studiously arranged in a different direction from the one next to it. The highlights occurring naturally where the light hits. If it was green it would have made very good fake lawn. In the righthand picture the frost has formed as thought on top of a series of feather templates, each one overlapping with those around it. The frost that forms on my car is indeed an illustration that not only is Nature imagination itself but an infinite form of imagination - I suspect that if such frost formed on my car every day of my life each one would be different and beautiful and remarkable.
March: Opera House, Oslo Mar 18.
“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.” Henri David Thoreau.
Man-made creativity this time but almost certainly inspired by nature. The photo is of a stunning inner wall/panel with translucent diamonds graduated to become more squashed as it also become more intensely green. Patterns such as this regularly exist in nature and draw us to them. The opera house was a delight of shapes and patterns and light. It also gives us the opportunity of an unusual perspective to explore it from its roof, perfectly angled to allow one to walk over it and to see it reflected in the water surrounding it.
April: Sheep on a haystack. Dee Valley, Dec 17.
“Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” Oscar Wilde
The cheeky expression on the face of this sheep makes me imagine it saying “I’m the king of the castle!” The photo does not show how tall the haystack was - it would definitely have taken some effort for the sheep to get up there and establish its superiority.
May: Beautiful cloud reflecting the sunset, Stromboli, Oct 18.
“Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.” Kahlil Gibran.
Again, use your imagination. What do you see in this cloud? It reminds me of tiny microscopic creatures called tardigrades or water bears blown up to enormous proportions. Now I look at it and I think of a koala bear. The quote links us to the infinity of imagination again here.
June: Flowers - masterwort, Malvern May 18; hibiscus, Sicily Oct 18; dancing lady orchid, France June 18; Mirabilis Jalapa or 4 o’clock flower, Sicily Oct 18.
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” Gerard de Nerval
I particularly love the detail of the dancing lady orchids - it is as if nature knew it was creating an exquisite paper-chain of little dancing dolls. The French name for masterwort is grande radiale - a much more elevating name, I think. Flowers obviously have the power to delight and there are no end of quotes about flowers to choose from.
July: Lionnesses, Hlane, Swaziland July 18.
“The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” Henri David Thoreau
It was such privilege to get so close to these powerful beasts. Love the closeness of these two, apparently watching and waiting for the elephants to move out of their way down to the water hole. Even lions need to be cautious. I find the quote so true, friendships are about time spent together and about shared experiences and they definitely transcend words.
August: Sunset, Hlane, Swaziland July 18.
“Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Everyone loves a good sunset and this one was stunning. It provides us with a moment of refection for the day just gone and a chance to be thankful. I would love to have got out of the safari buggy to better frame the sun with the trees. However the previous photo of the two lionesses is also the the previous photo in my camera, in other words, they were still out there.
September: Seeds and fungi - Larch flowers that will become brown cones, Ecrins, France June 18; Lepiota fungus; mini mushrooms Llantysilio Mountain, possibly glistening ink cap fungus Dec 17; Abrus precatorius Swaziland July 18.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Lao Tzu
Everything in nature comes in so many different forms and in so many different ways of reproducing, all in its own time. Nature has a definite and deliberate order which must unfold for nature to continue and perpetuate.
October: Wonderful patterns and colours formed in the volcanic deposits of Sicily.
“Nature always bears the colours of the spiritual.” Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I found that these rocks were as bright and eye-catching as the arboreal ones of Autumn here in the UK.
November: Volcanic explosion on Stromboli, Sicily, Oct 18.
“Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” Socrates
In preparing to capture this awe-inspiring volcanic activity, I discovered some phenomenal photographs online. One in particular showed a lightning strike at the same time as the volcanic explosion. In fact the volcanic cloud generates the lightning but capturing it perfectly on film is a whole other ballgame. That particular photo was the culmination of 15 years of photographing volcanoes. The window for success, I found out, is not very long. Too early and the explosions do not show up in the strong light of day. Too dark and you lose any other features that give you perspective. Twilight is the best time, you need some ambient light to pick out other features. The explosions were only happening every 5 minutes or so. There were clouds that kept obscuring the crater altogether. The moon helped, extending the twilight just long enough for me to capture this explosion. This was my first attempt at photographing such a volcano, so I was very happy with this shot.
December: The view from home, Dee Valley, North Wales, Dec 17
“A man travels the whole world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.”
George A Moore.
Home sweet home. I never tire of our view down the valley. I am so fortunate that I have such a beautiful place to return to from all my exciting travels, Scotland, Norway, Haute Alps, Swaziland, Tour du Mont Blanc, Sicily just this year.