Welcome to December's Photo Challenge. I was asking for sunrises and or sunsets. And I was inundated! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to play along at home. I really can't thank you enough. We've been doing this for two full years now so if you get a minute why don't you look thru our back issues and see what we were snapping in 2023 and 2024. I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's an absolute pleasure to curate and, in an ideal world, I'd love to hang every single one of them in our very own gallery. One day.
In the meantime let's crack on and, as ever, ask the one and only Rol Hirst to tell us what he's got for us: "Hi John, This was an easy one! As my first blog was called Sunset Over Slawit, I used to collect photos of sunsets. I have a folder full of them! Many are out of focus and most break the photographer's rule about not pointing your camera directly at the sun, but I always liked the effect that can create. Here's a selection, use whichever you like... Take care, Rol." Thank you, Rol. I've used 'em all. Why would I not?!
Next we have the man, the myth, the legend - David Cooper. "John, a couple of sunrises from me.
The first is Sandown Beach on the Isle of Wight.
The second, a bit closer to home - Clifton Bridge in Nottingham." Thank you, Coops. Homegrown is good! (All mine have an NG postcode.)
C from Sun Dried Sparrows (and a very talented illustrator) emailed me and said: "Hi John, so sorry but I can't find a good scenic photo to send you - every time I see a stunning sunset and try to take a picture it's a complete disappointment, I just can't capture one and have therefore given up! So I'm cheating this month with a photo instead of a watercolour book illustration. I hope it passes muster! Cx." Firstly, no apologies needed and secondly, wow! That's amazing, it really is. Yes, it passes muster! With bells on! Thank you, C.
Jo Shreeve joined us in November 2023 and her photographs are nothing short of brilliant. "Hi John, all the pictures are at Stithians lake and one with the church is Stithians church.
The last photo is Darn Brea monument.
Love capturing the sunset on my walks, I’m lucky to live around the lake with these amazing views! I could have sent you thousands but these are a few of my favourite ❤️ xx." Thank you, Jo. You're a superstar. When I'm fully recovered after my op I'd love to visit your part of the world. It looks idyllic.
Alyson next: "Hi John
Here are my photos for the December challenge, all close to home. The first one was a sunrise spotted over the top of next door's garage in January. The next was a sunset looking down Loch Ness in October, and the final one was a sunset over the hill in front of our house.
I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone's photos this month. Take care,
Alyson." Thank you so much, Alyson. I think the 'garage roof' shades it for me - the colours are amazing."
Ernie is a man who needs no introduction from me: "John, Officer Goggins reporting for duty.
Too many sunsets to choose from so decided to make a theme within a theme - sunsets with boats in. Even that left too many so here are the edited highlights: Martil in Morocco, somewhere in the Rias de Arousa in Galicia (Spain) and the Oiapoque river - the photo was taken in French Guiana, that's Brazil on the other side.
All the best, Ernie." Thank you, EG. If I was giving out trinkets this month I think the Moroccan snap could have been a contender for some silverware.
Pete Zab's got his clown shoes on I see. Hi John, the circus was on Woodthorpe Park, the seaside one is at Hunstanton and the other one was taken in Sherwood from my back garden." Thanks, Pete. Sherwood getting plenty of attention this month.
Matthew & Samantha have submitted a joint collection this month. "Hi John, this month's submissions: view from a rooftop restaurant in Venice Beach, California; on the other side of the Pacific an angry looking sky and sea at sunset off Queensland; a peaceful Cretan evening and finally a sunrise on our local walk not far from the bent over tree in the pics we submitted a couple of months ago. Hope one or two may be suitable, M&S xx." I love 'em. Particularly the chopper over Venice Beach - you may be fighting Ernie for a trinket!
Johnny Legs says that his quartet "...could be called 'Home and Away': Lapland, Woodthorpe and Glastonbury." Thanks, Legs. I really like these.
Miss Turner (sans Alfie this month) has five peaches next: "Hi John, Hoi An, Vietnam - on our honeymoon in 2018!"
"Two from Menorca, 2022."
"Majorca, August 2023 just after the most horrific storm."
Khayem from the Kotswolds. " Hi John, seems a lifetime ago now, but during the lockdown in 2020, I would go for a very early morning walk, exploring the miles of countryside surrounding where I live. This was a typical sunrise view."
"February 2023 just after 8am. A vapour trail above my back garden."
"Another couple from my stomping ground with the sun setting, August 2023."
"I seem to have a habit of not focusing on the sun itself, but rather its impact on objects in the foreground!"
"A pretty mundane street in Gloucester c.2023 lifted by the hint of a sunset on the horizon." Thank you, K. There's something about the footpath sign I find mesmerising; two walkers walking away from the sun!
Kate, now a resident of NG5: "Sunrise at Angkor Wat."
"Sunset in Phuket."
"Sunrise at the St. Theodore lighthouse on Kefalonia. We got up at 4 in the morning and walked for an hour to get this shot!"
Tim sent me these on Twitter but as I told him I've left there and you can now find me on Bluesky. "Hi John, here's some sunbaked material edited down from well over 800 that I've got!"
"Sunset over the Greek Islands."
"Sunset Corfu - lovely tones and a particular well placed moon and swallow."
"Bit blurry but I like the vibe - rear view sunset from a Greek taxi."
"One for vapour trail fans."
"Hucknall, Notts - displaying a strong apocalyptic end of days game!"
"'Down town' (Nottingham) - write your own backstories for the various characters going about their business."
Dave sent me a two word text: 'Tollerton Airport'. A small aerodrome just south of Nottingham, it's where he keeps his private jet. I remember there being a pub there Dave, long gone now.
A 'special Dave postscript' 1.12.24/1pm: subsequent to this post going live earlier this morning I got an uppity text from Dave, words to the effect that two of his pics didn't make the cut. Pics plural, I said to myself? He only sent me the one. D'oh! Scrolling back further along our timeline I saw that he'd been quick out of the traps and sent me these two bad boys nearly a month ago. A huge apology to Dave (it's never good to fall out with anyone who owns their own private jet). And speaking of jets, he too has a rather tasty pic taken at 30,000 feet. Almost worthy of a trinket. Almost. The other one is 'Christmas on Mapperly Top'. Hope I'm still on your Christmas card list, Dave? End of 'special Dave postscript'.
The Swede gives us "Sunrise over the misty marsh, as seen from the former Swede Towers. It feels like a lifetime ago and only yesterday." Didn't this used to be your blog masthead, TS?"
Swiss Adam from Manchester has been scaling the roof of his local supermarket. "Hi John, sunset from the roof of Aldi in Sale, 26 November 2024." Nice one, Adam. I always find carpark roofs to be excellent locations for this sort of stuff.
Neil Abdo, a painter friend of mine (he recreates frescos of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in people's kitchens), sent me this: "Hi John, Willow Holt in Lincolnshire."
Riggsby and his wife Jingyi just made the deadline with this sumptuous foursome from California: "Hi John, we are very fortunate to live in a place looking west out over the Pacific. For a couple of months the sunsets are visible from our house. We have quite a lot of pictures, usually of twilight rather than sunsets. Most days are unremarkable, but here are a few from JIngyi and me..."
"Looking over the ocean, Del Mar CA."
"Nr. Palm Desert where Jinyi was a couple of weeks ago."
This was taken thru the window of a restaurant in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. In some of the restaurants there the staff clap at sundown."
"And this was taken this evening - 29 November 2024." Nice one, Richard. I can see why you moved there, I really can.
And, finally, a few of mine: all taken locally (not an ocean in sight, alas) and all, relatively, recently. If you don't know Nottingham or Nottinghamshire then feel free to Google the place names below and you'll see they're all within touching distance of me.
Lambley.
HMP Nottingham. Hence the fucking big wall.
St. Helen's Church, Burton Joyce.
Woodthorpe Park flats, Sherwood.
A residential street in Sherwood.
Thank you again for providing another brilliant collection. You never let me down. I really want to keep this moving on into 2025 but, as I said in my last blog post, I'm not 100% sure when I'll be ready to. (In my head I see us skipping January and, hopefully, picking it up again in February.) Watch this space...