Just look around you.

As we move into the darker and colder days of winter it’s easy to fall into bad habits and stop looking for images, or say, “It’s all a bit grey, so I’ll leave my camera at home”!  Remember though, even if you don’t go out much, there are still loads of photographic subjects, some even right at your feet.

One birthday gift I had was a fabulous cheese selection with vintage port and an olive wood cheese board.  The wood looks to have been “spalted”.  That’s where it’s been attacked by fungi and developed fascinating patterns in the grain.  I looked closely at the wood and found areas that resembled desert landscapes.  This one even has a distant mountain.

One other thing that turned up for my birthday was a helium balloon with greetings, circles and stars on it.  The balloon was made from holographic material and I have photographed this sort of thing before.  I popped my clip-on macro lens on to my phone and chose a section that had excellent reflections and refractions from the lens’ built-in ring light.  Someone said it looked like an extra-terrestrial ovum!

I said about images being at your feet.  I was hoovering on a rare sunny day recently and noticed that the cable was producing interesting shadows on the carpet.  I grabbed my phone and shot directly downwards.  It’s a bit like a big infinity symbol.  I converted it to contrasty B&W in Photoshop.

Dull winter days?  Just stay at home and look around you.