Raves & Rants . . from Penzance

Just been cleaning up this blog, with a change of layout and a new header, hope you approve?  In the process I came across this shot of Breon O'Casey , which was used in a recent Artist of the Month article. A renowned artist, his thoughtful and engaging character comes across in his colourful abstract paintings, though the sculptures and figures at his studio were equally intriguing. Difficult, perhaps impossible, to portray a complex personality and their output with just one photo, so here's two. Return to Ocean-Image.com

The cover of the August issue of Cornwall Today , with this superb shot by  Greg Martin , is the first from new editor Alex Wade  , and shows Cornish surf at its absolute best. Unfortunately for any surfers reading this, surfing's code of ethics, and a desire not to have my legs broken, prevents me from naming the place it was taken.  It's not the only photo gem in the mag though, the contents spread improving this photo by the design. But the most noteworthy thing, personally speaking, is the new Surf Spot page, featuring a few words from your humble scribe. This month get the low down on the Sennen surf scene, with continued exploration of the best surfing beaches around the Cornish coast over the coming months. Oh, and just my little joke, saying 'I'm a wirter'. I do kno it shud hav bin 'wrighter'. Return to Ocean-Image.com

I was surprised and pleased, not to say (r)amped, to see that The Daily Mirror used a photo of James Follett in action yesterday, testing out the skate ramps he helps to build.  Surprised beacuse it's a paper not known for publishing extreme action sports photos, and pleased, not only because it's one of mine, but also that the Redruth based company, Xtravert had their logo in all three of the photos used in the article, covering most of a page. Not sure what the rates would be for a national daily, but taking out a full page advert is likely to be a wallet emptying experience. The paper may be swerving towards covering more extreme sports though, since it carried another more extreme action shot, of someone jumping 100 feet off a Cornish cliff.  A cracking shot by Penzance photographer Alistair Sopp , it has sparked numerous debates about the safety aspect of 'tombstoning'.  Mostly the discussions bypass the obvious answer that 'Extreme Sp...

Meandering slowly around a small local fair last weekend with the kids in tow, we stopped at a very well designed play park. It was such a good design, it kept the kids amused for well over an hour.  During which time I sat and pondered, then mused a bit, then generally sort of had a blank state of mind for a while. Probably that weird one where your eyes glaze over, and you may, or may not, have spoken a random thought out loud.  Anyway, at one point in this reverie, a tall thin figure, hiding dark hair under a jaunty hat, sidled up to me and silently slipped this white sticker into my hand, before nonchalantly breezing away. It reads simply 'CrapSurfer'. What is this ? Had I been given the Black Spot of surfing ? Is my surfing so bad that someone was making the effort to find me in a crowded, non-surfing environment and hand out some kind of red card?  No, as it turns out, luckily.  CrapSurfer.com  is a counterculture movement...

The Bathing Belles (see previous post) managed to get themselves into the Independent the next day with one of the pics below, the Cornishman the week after, and have now re-branded themselves as The Jubilees.  Their Mazey Day display, also at the Jubilee Pool , on Quay Fair day, packed the terraces again, to resounding applause. Organiser and Synchro Mistress Fi Read  has been putting her specially designed costume to further use as part of the Waters Edge photo project.  Set up by High Tide, the challenge was simply to help them set a World Record for the most photos taken and collected from a nation on the Longest Day, June 21st.  The only stipulation being that the photo had to be near water, whether sea, lake or paddling pool. Hopefully this one will be amongst those selected to be  broadcast nationwide across the BBC Big Screens / London 2012 Live Sites network during the London 2012 Open Weekend 23-25 Ju...