Photography » Rebecca Gove-Humphries

Coastal walk

I have been away from the day job for a week now and have had a most wonderful break. Al and I went to Exmouth, Devon to visit my Grandma, go for walks and drink lots of ale. Grandma was on great form and we had such lovely conversations and huge amounts of laughter.

The weather was sent to turn on the Wednesday so we thought we should take advantage of the good weather on Tuesday for a long walk. We went from Budleigh Salterton a beautiful beach with a wildlife reserve to Otterton, a small village with a pub called the Kings Arms that sold Otter Ale and had a pub cat called Garfield. En route we saw stunning coastal views, a building called Brandy Head and a ghostly out of season caravan site.

I had three camera’s with me which might seem slightly excessive but they all came in useful. My SLR was the most used but I am ashamed to say the auto function is my comfort zone.

Saw this post it note on the beach with its biblical reference about evil deeds. You can click on the photograph to view its full size.

This was the bin in the toilet. I canny get enough of this kind of wear and tear.

There was an outdoor BBQ which would be an amazing setting for cooking fresh fish.

Sign post saying ‘POLITE NOTICE PLEASE KEEP TO THE FOOTPATH. DO NOT STRAY ON THE GRASS AREA, SOWS CAN BE VERY PROTECTIVE OF THEIR PIGLETS. PLEASE KEEP DOGS ON THEIR LEAD. THANKS.’ You can click on it to see the full size photograph.

We spent a lot of time at Brandy Head. It was such a beautiful building in beautiful surroundings. It felt like a discovery of sorts (even though it had a sign up telling you all about it). The reason for it’s name is because smuggling activities were rife along this coast, one of these being kegs of brandy. More recently it was used in World War II to test new aircraft mounted cannon and gun sights.

At the end of the coastal part of the walk there was this eerie out of season caravan park at Ladram Bay. Even the post box was out of order.

When we got to Otterton there was this lovely building weather worn paint.

Finally we arrived at the warm pub called the Kings Arm. Here is the pub cat Garfield. He sat on my lap which was such a great end to a great day. We drank Otter Ale and ate crisps which felt deserved after taking so many photographs!

Underfoot

Went to Cannon Hill park in Birmingham today and the leaves are beautiful! Took many photos of the floor.

Mushy peas and mint sauce

Today the weather was beautiful. Autumn has arrived and bought the sunshine with it. I love crunching leaves under foot. One thing that there wasn’t was that crisp air, it was very warm indeed and my wooly jumper was prematurely warn.

We had a walk around and I took a few photos. Out main interest was to get our mitts on mushy peas and mint sauce, something I only eat there.

On the way home we stopped in at Ali’s for a cuppa and that is where I saw the chair and the briefcase. They looked so good together but I can confirm they are not discarded goods but simply sunbathing.

Birmingham walks

I have had a lot to think about recently and decided to go to Birmingham to get away. I always enjoy seeing my parents and there is almost always a walk involved.

Stevie and I parked just outside of town as you get free parking and a nice stroll along the canal. We were en route to the Ikon gallery to see Donald Judd exhibition which we thoroughly enjoyed.

In the afternoon we made fruit compote from apples and pears in the garden. Ridiculously wholesome. I wasn’t the most help as was a serial yawner.

Going, Going, Gone

Everyday I get on the bus and I sit on the left (unless the heating is on that side and it is the middle of summer) and I look out of the window and wait. I am not waiting for the bus to stop and let me off to begin my world of Administration, there is no urgency there. I am waiting to drive past my favourite view on Mansfield road, the car wash.

This is not just any old car wash, this is a particularly interesting car wash with huge amounts of character and colour. I had an idea that I was going to go and ask if for the price of a car wash, I could photograph their car wash site. They have now gone and I missed my chance. The route to work feels like something is missing and all I have is these mobile phone shots that do not do it justice.

Boating Discoveries Part 1

This weekend we went on a boating adventure! It was so relaxing, I was almost mute (which for anyone who knows me is hard to imagine). Caroline and I sat at the front, with our feet up, cup of tea and comfortable jumpers. Everything feels right in the world when you’re on the water. It’s so blooming calming and for a serial neurotic like me, it’s wonderful.

We went for a 30 minute sail before we stopped for lunch (if we had walked it would have taken 10 minutes which shows how much it slows down life). We walked past some beautiful buildings.

There were some incredible reflections too.

A family outing

I went to my family home for the weekend in Birmingham with promises of great photo opportunities. How could I resist? I find this as tempting an offer as the amazing home cooked food and the open fire. We were going to Longbridge where there has been huge amounts of demolition and degeneration after MG Rover collapsed, which resulted in almost 6,000 job losses. This is just one of the satellite views using google maps.

We were armed with two SLR digital camera’s, two iPhones and a tripod. We also had the aid of a ladder, silly hats and an umbrella. The below photograph was taken and edited by my Brother, Theo.

I had such a great time! The weather wasn’t great but it was so much fun regardless. I got to experiment with my camera and do something a bit different.

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The sight was amazingly vast and this strange orangey red colour. You could just make out where the foundations had been. Driving around all of Longbridge reminds you of some kind of post apocalyptic town. The train station is abandoned and there are loads of locked gates to non-places.