We have had the debates - now what?

So what have we learnt from the election debates?   Well the first is just how resilient Gordon brown is.   Agree with him or disagree with you have to say it took guts to stand up on the stage instead of curling up in a ball and wanting the world to go away.  However, that won't save him come election day - although the electoral system might - I think I have made myself clear on this point so there is no need to go one about it.

The second is that David Cameron is not that good in these situations.   This is always a very subjective thing but I felt that he had the appearance of a rabbit caught in the headlights of an on coming car.  The third thing is that Nick Clegg is actually very good on stage.  He may not have the most coherent policies but I felt he cam across as the most relaxed and open of the three.  This, in no small way has made this election wide open.  I still believe that this is a once in a generation chance to change the way we vote and therefore the way we are governed and Nick Clegg's performance has contributed to this.

Now for the big question that all three frankly refused to answer.   We all know that after the election whatever complexion of government is formed they are going to have to cut radically the size of the government spending.  The parties may pretend to get our votes but cut it they will.   The next government might try to pull the trick of using 'efficiency savings' as a means to achieve these cuts but these will simply not work.    All this talk about not cutting until 2011/12 will also disappear.  There will be big cuts this year.

So how will a minority government deal with this?   I suspect better than it is assumed at the moment.  No politician will be willing to go back to the country in six months time in vain attempt to get a majority - it just wouldn't wash.  They will have to get on with it.   The external pressures will be such that each party will cut.  Oh they will try and make it look like it isn't a cut but it will be - and don't believe that pledges to ring fence budgets  - they will all be cut or frozen, which given the inflation in health spending will be like a 10% cut.   There will also be increases in tax - VAT being the most likely to rise almost straight away.

And so for the good news.   We have been here before and survived.  We are not Greece we are much bigger country/economy.  We have a tradition of delivering - it will not be easy but it will work and out of the other end we may well have a much better governed country to boot.  However, the road between here and there is going to be tough but as a country we will make it - I think...
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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A Richard Nixon Moment - Gordon Brown puts his foot in it.

Gordon Brown RIP.  I have just witnessed a Richard Nixon moment.   Gordon Brown today put his foot well and truly in the soft stuff after talking to an ordinary person he was wearing a radio mic.  In what he thought was the safety and confidentiality of his car he then was very disparaging towards the women.  This was caught on the mic and immediately played back to the women.  Needless to say there was a media storm and he went back to the women's house and apologised.  Now I have a certain amount of sympathy for Gordon Brown over this, not because of what he said but because we all are, at times do these sort of things.   I first heard about this on the radio and whilst it was disastrous and confirmed much of what I thought about Gordon Brown it wasn't a real game changing moment.   

However, when I saw the footage of what happened the whole thing became 10 times worse.   Hence the Richard Nixon moment.   Nixon apparently won his famous/infamous debate with John Kennedy to those listening on the radio.  On the TV however he lost and the rest is history.   Non verbal communication is so important to humans and of course you don't get any of that on radio and what shocked me more than anything else was that the women in question was really not a 'bigot' at all but just caring grandmother and looked that way.   Gordon Brown when he came out of her house after apologising to her was smiling and across with having no real sincerity.   He had been found out and yet was trying to make light of it.  In short all the allegations of bullying came rushing back into my mind and this time I don't think they will go away.  They now have hard evidence to back them up.   Gordon Brown is not fit to be prime minister.   

This is not a John Prescott moment - which actually enhanced his reputation.   I have always thought that Gordon Brown, whilst not being a very good prime minister, was a decent man.  Now I am just not certain .

One final point.  Whilst the TV debate may have been a turning point Nixon only just lost the 1960 election and went on become the 37th president of the United States so perhaps we should all just take a deep breath and reflect on this.   Somehow though I think this is far more series for the political career of Gordon Brown.   We will have to wait and see.

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Just heard a cuckoo

You know when spring is in full swing when you hear your first cuckoo.  Well that was what it was like when I was a kid but recently cuckoos have been disappearing, they are a Red list bird,  so it was great to hear one this afternoon.  I was walking through Narborough blog and couldn't believe my ears when the famous onomatopoeic call was heard.  A real pleasure.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Yippee - A photograph of mine has just came third in an on line photo competition on Flickr

A photograph of mine has  just came third in an on line photo competition on Flickr.  I have to say I knew very little about this until the award popped in my flickr account.  The competition was run by the **FLICKR'S got TALENT**  group.  So this was rather nice.  I suspose I should have read the rules so I know how I cam third - but I have got other things to do.

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Working the process - just what photographs should I select for my ARPS submission?

Accurate; Sharp; Thematic Approach; Harmonious; Tastefully Presented; Illustrative; Informative.

Just some of the key words I have picked up over the past day or so whilst working through the RPS Nature Group's interactive CD.  As I write this I have a spray diagram that maps out how these word fit together.  They try and describe what each individual photograph should reflect whilst at the same time how they should fit into the wider picture of the 15 print portfolio and this doesn't even include the guidelines for mounting prints, their size etc.   It is enough to make your head hurt.   

It would have been so much easier if I started this process two years ago with a single clear goal in mind and worked religiously towards this.  Well this is not how I work.  I love making photographs and just try and capture what I see - then I try and shoehorn them into some form of submission.  I have got a little better over the years but I still am all over the place.   Still it is an enjoyable process, in a strange masochistic way.  I will no doubt write much more on this over the next few months and the first draft of the submission will no doubt change over the period.  It is just great to have a fist stab at the submission - it has helped me clear my thoughts about what I want to achieve.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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The John Jackson Jack Johnson moment

For thoser of you who do not know futurama these were two candidates who basically said the same meaningless catchphrases.   Well we now have the David Cameron random anecdote generator which, possibly, says more about the political classes than any one politician.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Vote Nick get Dave - is this for real???

Just as an side to my previous post on the election I forgot to mention that the papers that have traditionally supported Labour are also in something of a meltdown.    This is best shown by Polly Toynbee, a fully paid up member of the Labour support group, wonderful piece 'your heart says Clegg but vote with your head'.   In short vote Nick get Dave.  Now my previous post probably supports this headline.   Toynbee's view is that a Labour government is better than a Conservative - period.   So you simple people out there stop all this messing about with the Lib Dems as they are not going to win and will let the conservative in.   

As usual Toynbee doesn't seem to be reflecting a real need to change the whole political system,  She seems to be arguing that only Labour will truly deliver electoral reform.   Funny that they haven't done a thing to the Westminster system for the last 13 years of whacking great majorities.   They are happy to introduce PR for the Welsh assembly and Scottish parliament but don't be mistaken in believing this was for any reforming zeal.  No it was for narrow sectional, i.e. their own, political gains.  

However, once the genie is out of the bottle then it is amazing that a different type of political discourse takes place and we end up with minority administrations having to negotiate each bit of legislation through on a case by case basis rather than using their electoral majority to ram home any piece of legislation - Digital Economy Act anyone?

So perhaps both ends of the political spectrum is struggling to come to terms with the changing mood out their at the moment.   Yet another good thing to come out of the election process.  Lets hope it keeps that way.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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As the election gets nearer so the papers become more desperate

With just under 2 weeks to go to the election the papers are starting to get just a little desperate.   The Murdoch stable have always had a vested interested in the status quo and now are feeling really quite vulnerable.  As a result of this they are really starting to turn the screw on Nick Clegg and his Lib Dem policies.   The Daily Mail and Telegraph are doing much the same thing, but in their own individual styles. They are also trying to argue that a disenfranchised electorate, but strong government, whatever that might mean, would be better than a government that reflected the will of the electorate.  In short only a conservative government would be the best outcome.

There is only one problem with this argument.  The electorate aren't buying it.   The conservatives have had months to consolidate their lead in the polls and have failed miserably.   Now their message as the party of change, which surely is a contradiction in terms, has been exposed they are falling back onto more and more scare tactics - vote Nick get Gordon is my favourite.   If they can't articulate a message that rings true with the electorate then they don't deserve to win.  

A new message is seeping into the papers as a new reality starts to sink in.   The conservatives could do a deal with the Lib Dems - but only as a stop gap measure until they can engineer circumstances so that they can call a snap election and get a majority of their own.   If this really reflects the thinking within the conservative party then they really are not in touch with planet earth.   Surely such a tactic would be exposed for the cheap political trick that it would be and punish the conservatives accordingly - remember Edward Heath's ' who governs Britain' campaign in the 1970's.  Such things rarely work.

And what of Labour.   Well they seem to be feeling quite smug with selves for no clear reason.   As things stand today they are heading towards their worst ever election defeat, coming third in the popular vote,  yet may return as the part with the largest number of MPs.   How is that for democracy.   This really reminds me of the conditions before the Great Reform act of 1832.   There whole cities, such as Manchester and Birmingham  (combined population over 1 million) didn't have a single MP, yet the rotten burroughs, such as Old Sarum (3 hoses and 7 voters) and Dunwich (32 voters as most of the town had been washed away by the North Sea in the middle ages) returned two MPs when.   There would be little doubt that should Labour try and form any type of government it would fail as it would have a mandate to do nothing.  However, don't discount anything when it comes to Gordon Brown and his attempts to hold onto power.

So what of the Lib Dems - how would they cope with such power thrust upon them?  The truth is no one knows.   Some of the scare tactics being put out by the papers would suggest that we would be marching back to the dark days of stagflation and swollen public sector - but is this true?   I suspect that many of the Lib Dem policies would be jettisoned for the one thing that would be to their long term benefit - electoral reform.   I suspect they would support a conservative government's attempt to reduce the budget deficit much more than is currently believed.   Europe is a none issue at the moment as it exposes as many problems for the conservatives as it would for the Lib Dems.   However, I don't think that it is in the Lib Dem's interest to formally enter government as this restricts their room to manoeuvre but rather deal with the government of the day on a case by case basis - something that seems to work in the Scottish parliament.

 The one thing to remember, and Michael Portillo rightly pointed this out the other night, it was the conservative party that brought in the second Reform Act in 1867 that provided the vote to most men and so enfranchised a huge new electorate ( but not women).   The conservative have previous for these sort of things and will do many strange things to hold onto power.   If this were to happen then a whole new world would open up.

One thing is for sure.   What started out as very depressing general election campaign is now one of the most interesting and potentially epoch changing, since the election of the first true Labour government in 1945.   This is how it should be.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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It is time to get serious about the selection of photographs for the ARPS submission.

I know there are several months to go before the submission but I have to start thinking seriously about the photographs I want to submit for my ARPS submission.   There are a number of question I think will have to address:

If you assume that the quality of the image is up to the level required then:

• Do I only use photographs that I were made with the same camera body?  If this is the case then it has to be the 1D mk3 and if this is the case then that cuts down the selection to the past 12 months;
• Do I remix the photographs selected so that they all have a similar feel to them?   Photographs made over a 12 month period will reflect the approach I had at the time.  This introduces potential inconsistencies so remixing the images  that have been selected should overcome this;
• Do I mix landscape and portrait orientation photographs?  I can only submit 15 photographs  which realistically means 3 rows of 5 so if I want to use some portrait orientated photographs then there must be either 1, 3 or 5 as the majority of the photographs I have made over the period have a landscape orientation.

I have already decided the subject matter for the submission and over the next few days will have decided which of the Hahnemule paper to use.  I have watched the nature group interactive CD which,whilst having some of the worst looking software I have seen in a while, nonetheless has some very interesting information contained within.  So far so good but it still means a lot of hard work over the next few months until day in question.

Simon Marchini LRPS

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The NFL Draft - what a strange concept - why all the excitement?

I know this is stepping into very dangerous waters but I cannot understand why there is such hype about the NFL draft.  For anyone not used to American sports this is a method by which young talent is distributed amongst the NFL teams.  The worse the teams get the best new talent in an attempt to make all teams equal.   In premier league terms it is like Portsmouth getting a young Cristiano Ronaldo.  But of course this is where the comparison collapses.   Here we have a free for all where any team can bid for any player and the rich teams usually get the best players and so win the trophies and the likes of Portsmouth have to bankrupt themselves to keep up.   In comparison, in the land of the free, the NFL is a cartel that controls everything.  You have no choice, no competition - it is ultimate socialist solution - the one with the most need gets the best in an effort make each team equal. Very un-American  yet there it is.

Now I am not the first person to point out this contradiction - in deed I believe all major league sports in the States are exempt from anti-trust legislation.  Anyway, back to the draft.   This would seem to be a case of hype of reality.  Non of the players on show has ever played professional sports, of course to an english eye playing college football looks very much like being a professional - especially when compared to local collegiate sports which usually have three men and a dog turn out to watch.   They are not professional but rather just gifted amateur students.  Yeah right.  The only reason why they are in college is to get into the pros.   So they have played professional sports it is just not called that and the colleges pocket the millions of dollars - athletes nothing.  So back to the draft.  What the teams are getting is potential - nothing more.  Many of the so called stars of the draft will not make it and someone from the depths of the draft will turn out to be best choice - Joe Montana anyone.   

So now we have hours of pointless speculation on TV and on the web about Tim Tebow.  No one knows how he will turn out, whether the Denver Broncos have got a new superstar or a dud.  The thing to remember in the NFL is that it is a team sport, much more than any other sports.  You can have the worlds best quarterback but without a team around him to protect him and receive his pass then he is worth nothing.  So ignore the hype and concentrate on the experienced players brought in.  However, if you ignore the hype then you start to realise that the NFL is an Autumn and Winter sport not a spring sport - however if you did this then the NFL wouldn't make it's billions of dollars.

My that made me feel better.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Bempton - the first images from the shoot

Well I managed to work on a few images last night - boy did I sleep well after this.   I am quite pleased with them as they are slightly different to my previous output.  Perhaps it wasn't that bad after all? I still need to think about that.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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I'm back home now - tired and not sure whether the trip to Bempton was worth it.

This is the wrong time to draw any conclusions about Bempton - I have driven a 300 miles there and back and feel knackered.  At the moment I feel disappointment but this might change when I see the photos I have taken.   I may well feel up to passing judgement tomorrow.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Cold day at Bempton - is it worth it?

Have you ever met someone you had a crush on in earlier life. The excitement and anticipation of times long past only to be let down by the passing of time. The person you thought you knew is no more - the fire has gone.

Well as I write this that is how I feel about Bempton. There are many reasons for this but I suspect it is the realisation that things are not how I remember them. This is sad and unfair because Bempton is a wonderful place to see and photograph birds. Its just that the magic is no longer there.

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Arrived - time for coffee

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Coffee break at Doncaster

It is just before dawn and I sitting in the car park at Doncaster service station. A bit misty but should be a nice day.

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I'm off to Bempton

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Im up and getting ready.

Nothing like an early start to make up want to go back to bed! Any way Im up. I see Tim Teabo has just gone to Denver as a first round draft pick. Such is life.

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Correction to last post

It has been pointed out to me that I have never shown any inclination to do the gsrdening and so any 'help' I might wish to give would be next useless.

I accept this and hope the previous post hasn't caused any cofussion to the Head Gardener.

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I'm messing about in the garden

The sun is out, the cool wind is dropping so what abetter time to be in the garden. My wife, the head gardener, has stopped me 'helping her' in the garden so I am going to do what I do best - sit ony big fat arse and take photographs. What could be better?

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Adobe Lightroom 2.7 - what is new?

I think the answer to this is nothing.  This, of course, is not true.  The main change is with the latest RAW converter, which is at the heart of Lightroom.  This now appears to be able deal with raw files from the latest series of cameras that produce raw images.  This in itself is really quite an achievement.  It has always been assumed that the best raw file conversion always took place using the manufacturer's proprietary software.  The raw file is product of the software on the camera and the manufacturer should have the best idea how this should produce an RGB image .  Third party products, such as Adobe Raw Converter (ARC)  are always playing catch up, sometimes by reverse engineering the problem or paying a hefty fee to the camera manufacturer.  Either way the ACR is a marvel of modern software development when you consider all the different cameras that are supported.

On final thing to mention when taking about RAW conversion.   If you are series about entering any wildlife photographic competition do not, I repeat, DO NOT convert you RAW files to DNG.  They are not accepted if you shot camera RAW as I found to my cost in the past.  Such is life's rich tapestry.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Link from Twitterrific

For Apple, Lost iPhone Is a Big Deal - NYTimes.com - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/technology/companies/20apple.html?src=twt&t...

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So now we know the real losers from the debate on Thursday were the conservatives.

The only thing to guarantee change is a strong conservative government.  I may be paraphrasing things but I believe that was the message that the party political broadcast by David Cameron was saying.  Suddenly he is starting to look like yesterday's man.  There is a huge amount of things that can and probably will change over the next two weeks but one thing for certain is that the if things don't change quickly then the conservative party will start to disintegrate amidst their internal contradictions.

The argument that is being put forward by the conservative does seem to reek of desperation.  here are three I have picked up over the weekend:

Vote for Nick Clegg - get Gordon Brown.   There may be some truth in this - however would Gordon brown be able to hang if he has lead the Labour party to a close draw with the Lib Dems.  Even if he does will the Lib Dems want to do business with Gordon Brown - what would he be able to offer.  His voting reform is not really PR and in short he is a busted flush.  Why get into bed with him.

Deals will be made in secret between the parties.  Wasn't it always thus.  Politics is about deals and compromises.  If we have a hung parliament then the one thing we will not get is one party ramming through a policy without any real support in the country - Iraq anyone?

We need a strong government to deal with the financial crises.   There is some truth about this as well but it is surely the case that what ever form of government that comes out of the hung or balanced parliament they will have a mandate to deal with whatever comes.   Is any party likely to put the country's financial health at risk for their own political advantage.  After all should the government fall and a new election be called there would a real chance that they would be swept away at the ballot box.

In short we need a real change and the only way to start to deliver this is to really shake up  things.   No clear winner will be the start of the process and the only party offering PR is the Lib Dems - otherwise it will be business as usual.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Naming wild flowers in Swithland Woods

Perhaps it is the way my brain is wired but I just can't identify wild flowers without hours scratching my head and poring through reference books.   This was the case today when I went to see how the bluebells were developing in Swithland woods.   One or two are starting to show but I think the main show is at least a few days away - perhaps a week.  Anyway, whilst I was walking around the woods I cam across this lovely little flower.   I hadn't got a clue what it was.  So I captured a few shots and then came home - could I identify it.   Fortunately my wife is a lot more patient than I am and with 10 minutes she had the name Oxalis Acetosella - the Wood Sorrel.   

Apart from this problem I had a really enjoyable morning mooching around the woods.  As usual I got one or two strange looks from other visitors as I lay flat on the flow trying to capture the flowers.   I wish the flowers were at a more convenient level but they are not so the only thing to do is to get down and dirty with plants.   At least it wasn't muddy - well mostly not.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Chasing Sedge warblers at Watermead Park

Another beautiful dawn and I found myself by the water's edge once more - this time at Watermead country park.  Watermead is a strange place.  It is a series of old gravel quarries scattered for about 5 miles alongside the River Soar.   Up until quite recent times the quarries were still producing gravel - now they produce birds, wildlife and some peace near to the noise of the city.

I wasn't really looking for anything in particular and so was pleasantly surprised to hear a welcome sound - a sound that meant that spring was really here and summer wouldn't be too long.  Deep in the reeds by the edge of the lake was the familiar song of the sedge warbler.  So how to capture the illusive creature?   

The sedge warbler, as its name implies, lives deep in the reeds and sedge and so is very difficult to capture.  You get a very fleeting glimpse as the bird slowly climbs the stems of the reed and then just as you focus its gone.  All the time the call acts as a siren enticing you towards the waters edge.  The only other sure sign that a warbler is near by is the frustrating sight of the reeds swaying under the weight of the bird moving up and down - just out of camera's reach.

I eventually managed to capture one or two shots but they were not up to much.  Still it give you something to aim at - although I said that last year and nothing came of it.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Chasing Sedge warblers at Watermead Park

Another beautiful dawn and I found myself by the water's edge once more - this time at Watermead country park.  Watermead is a strange place.  It is a series of old gravel quarries scattered for about 5 miles alongside the River Soar.   Up until quite recent times the quarries were still producing gravel - now they produce birds, wildlife and some peace near to the noise of the city.

I wasn't really looking for anything in particular and so was pleasantly surprised to hear a welcome sound - a sound that meant that spring was really here and summer wouldn't be too long.  Deep in the reeds by the edge of the lake was the familiar song of the sedge warbler.  So how to capture the illusive creature?   

The sedge warbler, as its name implies, lives deep in the reeds and sedge and so is very difficult to capture.  You get a very fleeting glimpse as the bird slowly climbs the stems of the reed and then just as you focus its gone.  All the time the call acts as a siren enticing you towards the waters edge.  The only other sure sign that a warbler is near by is the frustrating sight of the reeds swaying under the weight of the bird moving up and down - just out of camera's reach.

I eventually managed to capture one or two shots but they were not up to much.  Still it give you something to aim at - although I said that last year and nothing came of it.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Success - I have had a photograph selected for the Royal Photographic Society - Nature Group Exhibition.

Late last night I got an email letting me know that this photograph has been selected for the Royal Photographic Society's Nature Group's exhibition.  Maybe this is a good omen for things to come...maybe.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Childhoods end - an interesting experience in social changes

I am currently listening to Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke.  I first read this book 30 years ago when it was only 25 years or so old.  Now it is over 50 years old.   Perhaps the most interesting thing for me is not the suggestions of what 21st century would be like but rather the social conditions that lead to vision.   So we have the characters still smoking, and one of the main character had to travel from South Africa to London to look up some information - rather than Googling the problem and coming up with the answer in seconds.

The language it self is also fascinating.   It is very male orientated, man this and man that.  Men were working and women - well they don't seem to.  Perhaps the most jarring to our ears is the description of black people.  They are called Negroes.   This description seems to fit in the text of book but somehow it still jars.

One final thing.  Clarke's descriptive skills are superb, especially when compared to his unbelievably stilted conversations between the characters.   Again this may be a result of the passage of time but this could be said of Bronte sisters or Dickens.  However, it has to be said as I am sure you are aware, I am no literature expert.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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May the Lib Dems have put the wind up the Tories

As I read my Times this morning I suddenly realised that the establishment of this country has suddenly woken up to the fact that there actually be real political change.   We have the current Home Secretary making eyes towards the Lib Dems and columnist and leader writers thundering that now is not the time for 'weak' government i.e. a hung parliament but rather strong government i.e. one party without a popular mandate but majority of MPs.   I suspect this was what was said at the end of the second world war just before Winston Churchill was voted out of power.   They all seem to miss the point.  What this country needs in a complete political overall and a hung parliament is the necessary first step towards this.   By the way the next debate will become very interesting as both Labour and Conservatives try and come up with ever so cleaver ways of rubbishing the Lib Dems and their policies as if this was what it is all about.   It is not.  It is about changing the way that we govern ourselves - the old ways are gone and the sooner the political classes realise this the better it will be for all concerned.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Fox News - always cheers me up

I know this is a cultural thing but I always find that when the new at home is so depressing then you can always count on Fox News to bring a little light relief to the proceedings.   To an English eye brought up on the impartial reporting of the BBC it is so funny watching Fox always trying to find someone to blame, and it would always seem to be President Obama - no matter what.   The only tragedy in all this is that some people really believe that Fox fairly reports the news rather than being very partisan.

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Tis the season for new software releases - but should I buy?

Well Photoshop CS5 has been released - all praise to Adobe - well that is how it feels at the moment.   However, what does a photographer get out of the new CS5 that CS4 doesn't provide?  I have no answer to this rhetorical question other than to say in all things software if you don't keep with developments it is very easy to drop behind.  Another rhetorical question - is that a problem?   After all all you are interested in is producing a photograph rather than the more prosaic design features - such as enhanced 3D which seems to be where CS5 has really had a lot of work put into it.   I don't use 3D and are not likely to do so - also too much manipulation is frowned upon in many of the competitions I enter.  So the motivation to upgrade is not there.

Perhaps the way forward is to upgrade Lightroom which should be in the near future.  There are two reasons for this.  This first is cost and the second is usability.  Lightroom is central to the way I handle my work and to an extent is more indispensable than Photoshop. No doubt I will get both sets of software over the  next few months but not just yet.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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The first debate is over - only two more to go.

I have no idea who won drew or lost the first debate - I only watched about a minute of it, split into 3 20 second segments - that was all I could take.  It probably says more about me than anything else but I just couldn't sit there and listen for longer than that.  I have just watched the 10 o'clock news and there was acres of coverage - yet the volcanic eruption in Iceland may have far more long term effects - especially if the wind doesn't change and the eruption continues.   I guess the balance of the coverage was because the news channels have spent so much money on hyping the debates - nothing was going to get in the way of their coverage of the first debate.   I doubt it will change anything - unlike the Icelandic eruptions - any one remember Icesave? - seems that Iceland keeps having untold impact on the country.   I am a cynical person at the moment.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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News from the garden front

An interesting days was had at Belton House.  The grounds are superb, an ideal place to some really stunning garden photographs as well as landscape work.  I am still working through the results of the Belton shoot but early indications are that the days was worth while.  It was also worth while just for the joy of being out in the fresh air, it was perhaps a little cool but the light was perfect for plant photography.

The only down side was that it was the end of the Easter break and so there were still a large number of school children around the place.  Now I know this makes me sound like a grumpy old man but visiting places like Belton in mid week when the schools are back is so much more relaxing and peaceful - god what an old fart I am!

One final thing, which I know I should have checked up on but I didn't, this week end is the Belton House horse trials and so a large crowd is expected - definitely a place to avoid unless you like three day eventing, I don't.   So it is time to produce some photographs which means I will be glued to the computer for the next few days - deep joy!! 
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Didn' we have a lovely time the day we went to Belton House

Belton House is a premier National Trust site. It certainly was very busy. The horse trials is this weekend so maybe that has attracted the crowds - I'm unsure. However the reason for the visit was to scout the gardens - they didn't disappoint. I might have even got some half decent daffodil shots - well lets hope so.

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The campaign - what have we learnt after one week?

Well if I was feeling depressed about the general election campaign when it started how do I feel now?   Well that is the simple part - worse.  The hard part is why?  Why is it that after all the money spent, the hours of new coverage and pointless studio debates about this and that nothing has changed my original melancholia?

I wish I had a simple answer to this - I don't.  I think it is partly due to the sickening sight of politicians of each party pretending that they are great and the others are, well, mad, bad or dangerous to know.   They try to find clear blue water between themselves when all the time the people are not listening.  I suspect that most people don't understand the great ideas being put forward and don't care.  What they care about is honesty or at least some semblance of honesty.   To date there has been precious little of this - instead we have had evasion, platitudes and spin.   The Labour and Lib Dems are broke so  they are fighting for the free publicity that the news channels provide.  The Tories, on the other hand, are very well financed, in part by a dodgy character who happens to be a Lord.   I was in Nottingham yesterday, which is surrounded by marginal seats, and every billboard had a Tory poster attacking Gordon Brown.   There were no Labour or Lib Dem posters, just Tory, so I suspect this is an example of just how rich/poor their perspective campaigns are.  But was it effective?   I doubt it.   The advertising campaign doesn't really mean any change - it just trying to sell the idea of replacing a worn out and thread bare group of politicians with a group who probably will make the same mess of it that the last bunch has. No change, or rather no real change there.

So what would be a really significant result?   Well I suppose if the Tories win with a large enough majority to govern a full term is on scenario.   Another would be that no party got an overall majority - the so called hung parliament.  However, perhaps the best/worse outcome would either of the above but with a really low turn out.  If this happened then no one would really have a mandate to do anything and then they might actually ask why is that no one cares?   Why is it in the so called 'mother or parliaments' so few of the population thought it worth while voting?   Now this would really be a crises and out of the crisis we might get real change.

So what would this change look like?   Well making politicians accountable for one.   I once worked in a department whose main job was to get funding from the central government.   This was a labyrinthine problems as the funding came from different departments, each demanding their own funding applications, statistical returns and so on.   What this lead to was a hugely distorted process as non elected officials handed out grants from London.  Not one of their decisions was locally accountable.  In the end it turned into a bad episode of Yes Minister.   This is what is on offer.  (I know the Tories are offering more locally accountably  but you have to remember that it was under the Tories in the 80's that a lot of the centralisation took place so I think I am right to be suspicious). 

Another change item would be to make Parliament more representative of the way people have voted.   Currently we a ruled by any party that can get about 40-41% of the vote.  This means that the majority can be ignored.  How is this far?   We also have a corrupt second chamber (By corrupt I mean the process of selection rather than the individuals - although some of them are dubious).

The third change would be to reinvigorate local government.   Make them much more accountable for what they do.  Also give them back the funding taken by central government - this again would require significant changes to the way that councillors are elected.  We should also make greater strides to opening up the whole apparatus of local government to political accountability. 

Will any of this happen?  I have no idea - however, I know that if things stay the same then we will become more and more cynical and this is really bad for the country.   Cynicism is one of the ways that fringe parties start to get a hold of the political process - not a good idea.

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Houston we have a problem

It was really weird walking through larger than life astonaut at the Nottingham Contempary. It felt like you were in a mix between A Clockwork Orange and 2001. Very disconcerting.

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Continuity and Change - nothing new for Gordon Brown.

You have to admire Gordon Brown for his tenacity - certainly far more than I ever will be.  I have been listening to the Clive Anderson tapes podcasts - which are now two years old - we find that Gordon Brown is still as unpopular then as he is now - this is the continuity.  However, when the podcast was recorded Barack Obama was not even the democratic candidate.  It seemed a very strange world which I suppose shows how much Obama has changed the world - whether it is for better or worse really depends on your political point of view.  

One interesting thing is that the experts interviewed on the programme were really hopeless at predicting the future which make's you wonder why these people are paid so much.  Still I suppose I should have known this yet we still hear that dyer warnings from experts today that this or that is going to happen and if we don't do something about it the country will be ruined.   There is no doubt some truth in what they say but surely we have reached a point where we should be very sceptical about any prediction as the truth is we really don't know what the future will hold.  This is not an argument for denying global warming or that the fiscal deficit is not important it is just that things do not work out as predicted.   "...Events, my dear boy events..."
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Common or Garden birds maybe - but they are still wonderful

I have started to really think about what my ARPS submission is going to be about.   I keep a close eye on what other people have submitted and it is a very broad church - how many of them submission seem to go for more exotic locations and creatures.  I understand that this adds certain problems to a submission as a series of lions captured in a game reserve in Kenya is so 'easy' as to devalue the submission.  However, there does seem to be an emphasis towards the unusual.

I am going the other way.  I want the capture the ordinary, common, everyday bird as I feel they are passed over by many photographers as they search for the rarer creature.  It also has the advantage of easy access so that you can overcome any problems you might have encountered in any previous shoot.  Now this leads to a second problem.  Currently I have nearly 400 images to choose from - this is just the last year - and I will no doubt be adding to these over the next few months.  However, this does have the advantage of creating a series that is just right, similar exposures, composition etc.   Who said ordinary would be boring?
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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How do you photograph a daffodil? I wish I knew

I am at a total loss - just how do you photograph a daffodil?   I know this is a bit of daft question and one I have tried to address before with no real answer.   There are always plenty of clichéd shots - brilliant yellow flow against a blue background but is this the best I can do?   I really don't know and anyway I haven't found any locations this year where I can make such photographs.   

 
The overpowering effect of a daffodil is that of yellow.  There are other shades and colours but they are never satisfactory - a daffodil is yellow - ask any Welshman.   To date I have produced some shots but I am not happy with any of them.  It is so frustrating but this is how we develop - have, what seems like, an impossible task and slowly but surely chip away at it.  Of course there is another problem with daffodils - they are seasonal and so very shortly the problem will go away for another year.   I suspect I will be writing about this issue next and the next and so on.  They are so frustrating!

Simon Marchini LRPS

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About Bempton....

So I didn't make it to Bempton after all.  After writing that I was going I sat down and discussed this with Mandy and came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth the effort.   The killer argument was that I had more than enough good quality photographs from Bempton  already for the ARPS submission.

So instead I got up an hour or so later and went out to Swithland reservoir.   I am just uploading the results as I write this so here's hoping.

Simon Marchini LRPS

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Should I go to Bempton? - that is the question.

Well I have been mulling over in my mind whether I should go to Bempton Cliffs tomorrow.  As I write this I have decided to go but that doesn't mean I will.

So why the ambivalence? Well I have visited Bempton for two years in a row and the photographs I have produced have been much the same at each season.  The question is will a third season produce anything radically different?  This is the main reason I have decided to go again tomorrow.  The photographs will be used for the final submission for my ARPS so more of the same isn't going to make that much of a difference.  The downside of going to Bempton is that it is almost a 300 miles round trip and I have to get up at 3:30am - the reason for this is because it is a very popular site and by lunch time the place is full with other photographers jostling for the same shots.   

So I'm going to go but I am not sure whether it will be worth all the effort - however there is only one way of finding out.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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I'm in the garden...watching my wife garden

I know my place - watching rather than doing the gardening. I know somehow gardening is supposed to be the man's job but not in our house. I enjou gardens but not gardening. My wife on the other hand loves getting her hands dirty. The last thing she needs is me stickng my size 12's in.

So I sit here and enjoy the spring sun and watch the garden grow - there are far worst things to do.

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First swallow

When I was at Calke the other day I saw my first swallow - does that make it summer? Of course not. As I sit here writing this at the Botanical Garden I cannot see any swallows - I have no idea what that means.

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General Election Day 2 - how much more of this can I take?

Has it only been 2 days?  Today was the last Prime Minsters question time and guess what blah blah blah.  Tish poo you suck well I think that was what was said I blanked out after 30 seconds.   I know it is an election but really do we have to go through the pretence that everything one party says is brilliant and everything the other says is insane. (Insert party name as applicable)

I learnt one interesting thing last night watching Newsnight - I am not alone.   It would seem that few people want Gordon brown as prime Minister but there is far less enthusiasm for the alternatives.   Why don't they both grow up and tell us the truth - forget the 'efficiency savings' and admit that there will be serious cuts in services.  Everyone knows this apart from the one people who are going to have to implement them - the politicians.   Perhaps one day they might treat we simple folks, the voters, as adults.  Perhaps not.

Anyway having given this some thought I think my manifesto for the next parliament would read:

• Proportional representation;
• Fixed Term Parliaments;
• Reform the House of Lords - make it a fully elected two term limited;
• Become fully integrated into the European Union;
• Act as a medium sized rich country not a pretend super power;
• Increase scrutiny of the executive by Parliament;
• Somehow make the politicians pass less laws and those they do make them better thought through;
• Give freedom a chance - we do not need to live in the encroaching nanny/busybody state we have become;

I have no idea if any of these ideas would ever work or be accepted but this is what I feel would be the way forward.
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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The Daily Mail Song

What can I say? Such a great song...

The General Election has started - how will I survive the next four weeks?

Well it is now official, after all the days, weeks, months and probably years the election has been called.  So why am I so underwhelmed by the whole process?  

I suspect I feel so indifferent because I cannot get excited about the bunch of people who are standing.   I live in the new South Leicestershire constituency, formally Blaby, and well this is a rotten borough.   The Conservatives have always held this seat with a huge 8000+ majority at the last election.   I know who will be the next MP for my constituency and so the whole election charabanc  will mainly pass me by.   This does lead to a feeling of canon fodder.

On a national level the only thing I want to see is Gordon Brown thrown out of No 10.  This doesn't mean that I am in anyway favouring the Conservatives its just that I don't think that Gordon Brown has been a very good prime minister.   He may have saved the nation's economy during the credit crunch but he got us into this mess in the first place - something he seems only too quick to forget - remember the ' end of boom and bust' boast.

So if not Gordon then who?   Well at the moment no one.  The Conservatives don't seem to me to have demonstrated any real quality in their leadership team and you always get the suspicion of Tory grandee slowly appearing with his duck house and moat.  What relevance have they to today's problems?

The Lib Dems always seem like a reasonable party but of course this is because they will never form a government and so can seem non threatening.  It is much harder when people think you may be in power in four weeks time to appear nice.  Of course they may well have a big say in the forming of the new government and then we'll see how 'nice' they are when hard decisions have to be made.

So I don't know who to vote for but living where I do it doesn't really matter - the Tories will win.  Perhaps the only glimmer of interest I have at the moment is that the is that the Lib Dems have a candidate called Aladdin, however this is from Wikipedia so who knows if it is true - the Lib Dem website is unclear who the candidate is.  I suspect that sums up the whole process where I live .

I'm already bored and it has on been 12 hours....
 

Simon Marchini LRPS

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