Sometimes all you need is a slice of simplicity and a Heron.

Simplicity? What exactly is that other than just a part of utopia that I have found during lockdown, but it was last Thursday when I decided to revisit a location that I had not been to in quite some time. Located on the site of an old colliery - just outside of Nottingham is the aptly named “Colliers Wood” which is a green oasis shadowed on one side by “new industrial” buildings that to some way dominate a small section of the western skyline. However though this small but perfectly formed green oasis is one of those places that is truly a gem and whilst it is easy to walk around on marked well constructed paths it is also a place where the smaller and simpler things often go unnoticed - slow down though and it is not hard to come across interesting photogenic things here, wildlife, landscapes and the various flowers makes it truly delightful to capture some interesting things.

I was originally not going to take the tripod for me this time around and try to shoot handheld photography, although that soon changed when I decided,

“Maybe it would be a good idea to take the tripod, I never know something interesting to photograph might be hiding amongst this oasis of green and the tripod will more than likely help me to achieve the shot.”

Needless to say I am quite pleased that I did manage to take the trusty tripod with me. One of the interesting things about Colliers Wood, is the many surprises it contains, even when you least expect a surprise, one is right in front of you - arriving at Colliers Wood, it was time to go through the gate, the metal clunk could be heard shortly after walking through the gate and I walked towards the main lake; along a pathway which lead me to a small section of what could be best described as a very small section of lakeside beach; okay so maybe it is not a beach but the water in front of me had some gentle ripples on it, I got the tripod out and captured the following two photographs,

Floating Island - (Black and White).

Floating Island - (Colour).

After capturing those two photographs it was now onwards and upwards, but I had just had to pause yet again, I turned around and the view over the lake with the big skies was just something else to behold, again the sheer simplicity of this scene was akin to pure magic.

Lakeside Simplicity.

Then something that I had seen when I had arrived but did not capture because of the angles and the position, this time I was closer to it, and that was a Heron, not wanting to disturb it, I set up the tripod, mounted the camera and waited for the perfect moment.

The waiting game.

Needless to say that I was more than happy with the end result, this majestic bird standing on a post overlooking the lake at Colliers Wood, deciding on what was for its late afternoon dinner, a fish perhaps or something else? Majestically stood this Heron was something else to see and to capture it needed patience, but in the end it did pay off. But sometimes in life all you need is simplicity and a Heron within life and that is all that matters. The simplicity of the skies, the weather and the unexpected are the finer things in life that maybe we should all cherish as we ease from lockdown and find ourselves living in this strange new normal.

Capturing the first snow of 2020. For simplicity is the key.

Snow really is a bit like marmite and you either love it or loathe it with vengeance. As a landscape photographer the snow somehow blends itself into a landscape scene. For it is these scenes which really can provide for something akin to,

“A magical scene that tells a story, one without words and one that is as soothing as it falls”

With snow photography keeping things simple often ends up meaning you get the best results. The county of Nottinghamshire, is one that is avoided by any snowfall, because of its geographical location - however there are some parts of the county which do get the odd dusting of snow and these are at the slightly higher parts of the county, it really is amazing that just a few hundred feet or meters in differential can mean that the county of Nottinghamshire can have snow in one location but head five miles in the other direction and there is no snow.

So the other day I decided to see if any snow had fallen within the county of Nottinghamshire, and just a few miles away, what did I find? The first snow of 2020 that had fallen in the county of Nottinghamshire.

A lone winter tree.

Simplicity of the snow - portrait.

Simplicity of the snow - landscape.

The beauty of snow.

The fallen snow

The winter gate - landscape

The winter gate - portrait

Looking over the hills from here.

The location was just off the M1 at Junction 27, where I had previously captured a stunning yet simple scene, overlooking the rolling hills of Nottinghamshire towards Moorgreen and DH Lawrence county, the area where DH Lawrence used to live. Keeping things simple I just had to capture the scenes of the snowfall over the rolling hills, needless to say that I was incredibly happy with the scenes that I had just captured. As the first snowfall to me echoes the following,

“Winter has officially arrived”

Crisp and cloudy, the snow is just magical to capture and winter time really does lend itself to more simplistic shots, add too much to a winter composition with the snow and your shot will be ruined, instead the simple compositions work best in the winter - but it can also be a challenge in order to capture that perfect winter scene. Work with the snow and the landscape though and try various combinations of compositions and you are sure to get that perfect snow photograph. Just remember that simplicity is the key when photographing the snow or any winter scenes.

The art of Graffiti: Banksy arrives in Nottingham.

Banksy is perhaps one of the most “controversial” artists in the whole of the country. His artwork is that of Graffiti - a rather subjective form of artwork which always seems to get people questioning,

“Is Graffiti really a form of art?”

Yes is the answer to that - and anything can be classed as art. Photography is art, Design is art, Sculpture is art, Architecture is art, the list is pretty much endless as to what can be classed as art. Getting really philosophical you could pretty much class existence and everything in the world as a form of art in one way or another, at the end of the day art is based upon perspective(s).

So what happened when a wall on the side of a Nottingham based Hair and Beauty Salon, ended up becoming something of a tourist attraction? Well it would seem as if Banksy had visited, or did he? Well to begin with it was somewhat of a mystery, and whilst people were thinking that Banksy had visited, an artist from Birmingham by the name of,

“Itchers”

Had stolen the limelight for a short while and claimed the Graffiti on the side of a rather unassuming wall was actually his. However just hours later this all changed when Banksy posted a picture on his Instagram page showing the very same piece of artwork.

(Image: Nottingham Post/Marie Wilson)

The photo of the work from Banksy's Instagram Account.

Of course the question that remains is why did one artist (Itchers) claim it was his. And then why did Banksy merely “upload a photo” of it to his Instagram feed? A contradiction going on here? Something of a street artist(s) rivalry? In which Banksy wants to steal the limelight, from another street artist who is also just as talented. Yes rivalries exist within the arts world as well. Below are the two contradicting posts as to who has carried out this piece of work.

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/street-artist-claims-responsibility-banksy-4615585

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/live-updates-banksy-confirms-nottingham-4615973

Now one thing that is seemingly obvious which people have forgotten is Banksy has “not confirmed anything” at all other than the uploading of a photo to Instagram, which is really not evidential proof that he had even created this piece of Graffiti work.

So the mystery deepens on the debating point, is this even a Banksy? As Birmingham Live, release the following article -  which states in the headline,

“Birmingham artist slams Banksy over 'taking credit' for Nottingham mural and says he has a stencil to prove it”.

A case of clever PR, from Banksy, it could very well be, and when you want to promote other talent, then Banksy would be fantastic at promoting other talent from the street art world. Yet it is when you actually take a closer look at the piece of artwork, on this incredibly unassuming wall that questions could and should be raised, Banksy is known for his rather politically motivating and thought provoking works, where as this piece of work does not scream out as being “Politically motivating” nor “thought provoking” either, in fact of anything it is the complete opposite of that.

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-6-iconic-works-banksy

The other thing that raises questions, of it being a Banksy, is the colour palette that has been used and that some of his previous works have been bold and brash, with lighter grey’s being used along with lighter shades of black. Also other colours are used and rarely does he tend to use objects such as bikes, within any of his artworks

Is this Banksy? Was he in Nottingham last week?

Either way though, who ever has done this work of Graffiti it is superb and it is exactly that, art - which is designed for debate and to get people talking and discussing things, what is a shame however is that it got vandalized, thankfully two women worked endlessly to get rid of the idiotic vandalism that was carried out, on this truly superb graffiti piece, by an incredibly talented artist.

It is also worth noting that the picture, is now behind a Perspex screen, and yes, every city should have some form of Graffiti murals or Graffiti tags, as it gets people talking about life and issues around the world. Call it engaging art, just a shame in this case that it engaged some brain dead individuals to damage it.

People of Nottingham, be proud of this work of Art and respect it as well.