Tomorrow I’ll show you the super quick steps to make this:

(Photo from Flickr Commons)

Look like this:

This is more of a photo refresher than a restoration project, which means quick and easy gratification with little work.

How’s it done?

Tune in and find out!

(Photo taken at: 1/1600, f/1.8, ISO 100)

I’ve spent another day both working and hostessing, so today’s post is just a tiny link share.

3 fellow NaBloPoMo-ers…

…who deserve a look

• lesleycarter.wordpress.com – Haiti
• Imperfection is Beautiful – photography into art
• All Through My Eyes – through branches

2 sites that make me smile…

• Not Always Right
• Not Always Romantic

and 1 friend…

…who is very dear (and needs to post more often.. hint hint)

• All The Good Ones Were Taken

I’m looking for good reading. Do you have anything to share? Whether it’s your own or something you’ve enjoyed lately, I’d love to see!

Good evening to you all!

(Photo taken at: 1/3200, f/11, ISO 400)

 The snow covers colours, muffles sounds, and makes the world feel so quiet and peaceful.

Old photo time tonight!

I was walking through Green Park a couple summers ago, and saw this sight, which to me perfectly illustrated Britishness. I love the “it’s summer and I’m using the deckchairs, even if it’s raining” stubbornness, along with the drizzliness that typifies our summer.

I found it this evening and it made me smile, so I thought I would share.

A good 5 inches fell through the night, blanketing the town in a thick white layer that disguises everything. Snow on a Sunday is a beautiful thing. Most people are at home, no one bothers to leave the house unless they have to, or to build snowmen, so the snow stays white instead of turning into grey slush soup at the side of the roads.

(Photo taken at: 1/400, f/2.0, ISO 100)

We took a little drive around the corner to where the trees are pretty. It seemed the perfect time to be reunited with all my poor neglected cameras so I brought them all, every single one of them. After reading these memories of using a Pentax K-1000, I was inspired to dig out my two film cameras (A Pentax K-1000, and a Minolta SRT 202) which I haven’t used in several years. I have no idea whether the light meters are working, or what their working condition is, but the results will be revealed when I have the film developed! Fingers crossed…

Until I get the film processed my dSLR photos will have to suffice.

(Photo taken at: 1/250, f/3.2, ISO 400)

The light was stunning; like taking photos in a giant light box. The sky was white and overcast, the snow reflected all the light straight back up again and all around.

(Photo taken at: 1/250, f/3.2, ISO 400)

My dear sweet brother.

(Photo taken at: 1/250, f/1.8, ISO 100)

And my dear sweet mother also. I was shooting manual in the snow, something I confess to not doing as much as they (whoever “they” are) say you ought to, and it was a challenge to keep it from under-exposing.  It was so much fun to be able to use the white background, the beautiful lighting, and manual exposure to create studio type photos.

(Photo taken at 1/60, f/3.5, ISO 100)

Aaand my dear sweet friend to complete my family.

Becky happened to be coming to stay for a couple days and arrived just as the snow started falling, so I got to share the excitement with her as well. The camera she has in her hands is an old Polaroid that I borrowed (um, semi-permanently) from her a couple years ago. We used half our last slab of film today, it’s old and was cold, so only one worked this time, but it was enough for me to fall in love with it again. It’s pricey stuff, so I think a new batch will be a reward for myself once I finish designing my new website.

(Photo taken at: 1/500, f/3.2, ISO 100)

And then we got stuck in the snow. The tires couldn’t get grip in the compacted snow.. Becky and me had to push/dig/scrape until my brother could drive the car, slipping and sliding back onto the road again.

(Photo taken at: 1/125, f/3.2, ISO 100)

(Photo taken at: 1/200, f/1.8, ISO 100)

The liiiight!

(Photo taken at: 1/800, f/1.6, ISO 100)

(Photo taken at: 1/1000, f/1.8, ISO 100)

- John Loengard

(photo taken at 1/800, f/1.8, ISO 100)

“Incomplete and a little strange” is something I have to learn to love in my photography. I’m trying. Often when I search through my photos I discover little treasures that I set aside because they weren’t just right. This photo is one I classed as “incomplete”. The focus wasn’t exactly where I wanted it, which bothered me so much that I couldn’t look at it and moved on. I didn’t rediscover it until a few months afterwards. I came across the photo and did a quick edit, just to see what would happen. It was only when I gave it this second chance that I realised it’s one of my favourites.

I’m trying to be more forgiving in my photography; allowing more space for life and less for attempted perfection.

This takes a lot of gentle (and not so gentle) reminders; I get frustrated when things don’t look like they “should”. I’m taking it gradually, one photo at a time…

(Photo taken at: 1/400, f/1.8, ISO 400)

My mind today is as flittering as a butterfly. I want to write, but I can’t stick with one train of thoughts for longer than a few minutes. One thought looks pretty and I go to explore it, but just before it turns into a tangible post, I see another splash of colour and off my brain flits to settle on this new pretty idea…

I broke my mac charger this morning with a horrifying “kkkkkrrrrrrrrkkkkk” sound (fixed, thank goodness, superglue, and my mum’s stash of fuses). And when it was time to leave for work I decided that the worst possible thing that could have happened to me was having to cycle in this morning’s dose of beautiful winter sunshine (I’ve been cycling in the freezing cold rain without a complaint (usually)). Plus a commute that, when both journeys are added together, ends up being almost as long as my shift at work (genuinely stressful when I have a website to design and blog posts to write). And theeen, oh it’s so awful I can hardly say it, my mum *gasp* didn’t buy the pasta stir-through that I didn’t tell her I wanted.

As you can see from this list of disasters, I lead a very difficult life…

On days like this I’ve learned that the only methods of survival are gentleness, treats and appreciating the little things.

I got to work early and treated myself to an icecream milkshake (possible insanity in the temperatures we had today) and I sat in the sunshine, listening to the likes Billie Holiday, Tracey Chapman and Ella Fitzgerald lulling into one ear, and with the other ear I listened to birds singing around me. I closed my eyes in the sunshine and pretended it was summer. Of course my pretend summer only lasted as long as I could bear the cold of the icecream, the wind at the top of the hill, and the cold, cold air. Then I ran for cover and warmth, but it was very lovely while it did last.

When I got home I indulged my inner OCD and filed all the business cards I’ve collected up over the years, and then added anything even roughly business card size… like these Caffe Nero reward cards. When you collect all 9 stamps, you get a free drink. Well, normal people do… I don’t. I collect the stamps, and then keep the card for a rainy day. I use them to get myself free treats on a bad day, or when I’m feeling sorry for myself. I have too many to keep in my purse at one time, so now I have them all nicely filed away for safe keeping.

Funny story about these. Half of them have actually been stolen from me and found their way home! My purse was pick-pocketed about 2 years ago. I had hardly any cash in there and I cancelled my bank cards. The only thing I was upset about was my ID, my Nero’s cards (aaall those lost stamps!), and the purse itself. Then I got a message on Facebook a few days later from a nice man who’d found my purse dumped near Leicester Square, with all my ID and cards still inside. He’d looked me up by name, and luckily I’m the only Vrinda Webb in the wide world of the web. He posted it back to me, and here they are! And that is why they are now neatly and obsessively filed instead of all being in my purse. I can’t risk losing them again, it would be too sad.

Now for things that have made me happy tonight…

Andre Rieu.

If you have seen one of his concerts, enough said. If not, watch one! I don’t think you even have to like classical music to like them. The atmosphere is infectious. Everything is bright and shiny, the orchestra members wear evening dress of the brightest colours, and the music stands are ornate gold. And he himself is a wonderfully charming ringleader, with such a love for his music that you can’t help but melt to it.

I’m listening to one of his albums on Spotify as I type this, and I can feel the music all the way to my toes. Happy.

Finally… on a crisp, cold night like tonight, the greatest comfort you can have is quality wool.

I’m so grateful for the pieces I have.

This is my favourite cardigan.. knee-length coziness, very well-worn, 100% merino wool. Whenever I’m cold, tired, or in the need of a little comfort, this is what I wear.

Cashmere socks! From the deadly land of Brora, where everything is beautiful, and a cardigan can cost the same amount as a secondhand car. A treasured Christmas present that keeps my toes toasty warm.

And a blanket to top it all off and keep out any remaining chills. This is my huge and incredibly soft, warm and wonderful alpaca and lambswool blanket. A lucky find at a market stall when the sellers were new last spring. This Christmas the price for these blankets doubled to well over £100, meanwhile mine keeps me warm every day while I write, and every night while I sleep. It sheds, and makes it look like I own a cat if I go out wearing black, but that’s a price I’m happy to pay!

And what’s made me happiest of all is sitting down to write a blog post, and after deleting the initial rant (I refuse to be a negative ranty blogger. It’s the wrong part of my many-faceted mind to indulge, and anyway, why would you inflict that on people?) realising just how much I have to be grateful for, even in a day where I was so highly strung that it felt like the world was going to end at any moment.

And if you made it to the end of this long, rambling, not very pointful post, then I’m very grateful to you as well for sticking with me all this way. Tell me, what is something that you’re grateful for today?

So cold.

The first thing anyone says at the start of the conversation is, “It’s cold!”

But today I found an SD card full of photos from the winter, and what struck me was the amount of sun we seem to have had.

Eastbourne in November, as I sat and wrote…

And moved inside to bask in the indoor sun when it grew nippy.

Seaford in January, wrapped up all warm.

And this Saturday.

As I cycle to work tomorrow, I shall pull my scarf up around my ears, put my head down and think of all the sun we’ve had, and the sun that is yet to come. Maybe it will help keep me warm!