I am Here to Wonder

Chaplaincy weekend away at Cumberland Lodge, 17-19 November 2017, in which I spent four hours walking to Windsor Estate from Egham Railway Station at night with my tripod and rucksack. I wrote two pretentious poems from title-prompts for one of the activities there: ADVICE TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED Remember, if you will The bleak corridors, choking heights and stale-green grilles, the Breathlessness – discordant drumbeats and falling Card towers. And stars, for it was not so long ago When they crumbled into floorless depths from Dark paper skies. And those aching gashes Sheltered fiercely in scholarly pretention – the round sound of Weltschemerz , Camus’ hurt in original French –  As if a foreign script’s mysterious loops and accents Could paint your secret paralytic pain. But remember also How an autumn raindrop in Windsor is most beautiful hanging  From the tip of a weak weeping twig Extending uselessly from a tired bough, trembl...

On a particularly clear night some time last year, I discovered that the stars seen from Pasir Ris were surprisingly bright for a heavily light-polluted city like Singapore. So some time in May on a new moon, I got out my flimsy tripod that I had received for free (and which died in Wales by freezing) and put my camera on it. This was my second time shooting stars, after trying it out in Taiwan  and ending up with some terrible pictures. I've made some improvements since, I think. I used a 50 mm prime and I know that's not a good choice for astrophotography but the widest aperture on my kit lens was and still is too small: f/1.8, 15 s, ISO 800, 50 mm, Nikon D610 Two months later, I accidentally caught the milky way! But I didn't (and still don't) quite know how to make it pop out: f/3.5, 25 s, ISO 500, 24-85@24 mm, Nikon D610 In November, I decided to make a personal commemoration of Armistice Day which falls on 11 November. It's not celebrat...

29 December 2015 - 1 January 2016 We stayed in Caerllan cottage, a small National Trust cottage in Llandysul, Ceredigion. As this was in mid Wales; the scenery was decidedly different from Pembrokeshire in the south which I visited on a school trip in 2013, especially in winter. There weren't many animals to see in winter except birds, sheep and ponies. We thought we could catch a glimpse of some dolphins but found none. There were, however, a fathomless multitude of stars which was great because I'd just upgraded my camera to the star-shooting D610.

We made a short trip to Taiwan because my parents got their hands on some free tickets. Provided below is a mandatory boring tourist picture of locals letting go of a sky-lantern: