Category: Environment

An image that helps me breathe

It might be a bit counter-intuitive to share a photo of a frosty landscape here in the middle of Spring in the northern hemisphere, but I have been wanting to write about it for a while now primarily because it is in my opinion one of the images that allows the viewers to breathe. I took it near Repton, in South Derbyshire on a frosty morning during a week when the local river flooded and the fields were glistening with water reflections. The bended trees are interesting features of the landscape and it appeals to me how they are strongly supported by the ground and its unshakable structure. My support towards these kind of images come from the fact that they repeat the relief experience whenever one looks at the image and associate it with a welcome break. Being brought up in Poland, I find frost refreshing and altering and seeing this image again and again helps me refresh and also regain alertness. Is it the same for you?

Image and text: Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini

Do you have any photographs in your surroundings that do the same to you? That help you breathe?

Wildlife photo of the week

Wildlife photo of the day. Three cubs hid behind the parent in our little woodland patch. Only the adult decided to gracefully pose. They love the early morning sun here and the safety of the garden. No dogs to scare them here. I suspect the smell of the hens coming from the neighbour’s hen house has also something to do with their liking of our garden. What do you think?

That said, she looks vigilant and exhausted. It’s not easy to feed triplets.

Photo: Alicja Pyszka-Franceschini, 2024. All rights reserved.

Darkness that sits still

Sometimes we think that darkness is omnipresent because it it so close, but if we look at it from a distance we would notice that it is just a part of a larger view, larger composition that can only be revealed if we take a few steps back or a few steps forward. There is a certain amount of intelligence in darkness and a fair deal of stupidity too but the bird wears it gracefully and their feathers glisten when they pause to ponder. This makes me think that a bird in flight does not have much time for even being described as ‘graceful’ and thus for admiration. It is perhaps too purpose-driven to feed on vanity.

And there I was thinking that being quiet and sitting still will take me places. You too?

Photos taken at Bradgate Park, Leicestershire. Modified photos taken at Shining Cliff Woods, Ambergate, Derbyshire by me.