Adapting to a new normal is hard.
For a lot of people their routine has been thrown all over the place which is stressful, causes a lot of anxiety and really really hard. But it’s important to know you’re not alone. During the covid-19 lockdown, I’ve learned over this last week that you can have good days and bad days. Yesterday wasn’t a good day. I wrote about my feelings and frustrations on social media and was completely overwhelmed by all the love and support from friends and family. (Thank you again by the way!) It’s thanks to them that’s made me decide to make the most out of lockdown.
Today when I finished work, my bf and I went for our daily walk around the park. What was really cool is that we spotted a green parrot sitting in the tree. I know we get green parakeets around London, (apparently they’ve been called “posh pigeons”), but I was gutted I didn’t have my camera with me.
Finding some normality with nature
Ironically, one of the things that was upsetting me was that I felt like I couldn’t go out with my camera which is silly because I’m not exactly taking pictures of people, I shoot nature mainly. So fuck it. From now on I’ll just being my camera with me on every walk.
When we got home, I picked up my camera and went for another cheeky walk. Unfortunately the parrot had flown off. But I thought I would make the most out of the fresh air and my camera anyway.
For a lot of my nature photography I use my Tamron 70-300mm F/4-5.6 lens. It’s one my my babys and I never go out without it. The focus is fast and it has a great stabaliser so it makes it easy staying close to fast moving, smaller animals. It’s also nice and quiet when focusing which is handy when I want to be one with nature. The only downside is the weight but it’s expected with a telephoto lens. As a hobbiest, I think it’s a great lens and the quality is just amazing. You will be able to pick one up for around £310 from Camera World and is available for both Nikon and Canon DSLRs so it’s a great lens to get started with.
I wanted to share with you some pictures I took this afternoon. I’ve edited them in Lightroom and created my own “Squirrel” presets so I can easily edit the photos to my liking. And I wanted to share them with you below. I hope you like them.
While we all adapt to our own normal I just want to say that it’s ok to have bad days. There are lots of uncertain and scary events unfolding so what we need to do is help each other as best we can. Look out and support one another. Let friends know you’re there for them if needed. And try and find something that makes you feel like you have a bit of control back in your life. For me it will be my photography. (And felting, but that’s a whole another hobby which I can talk about in another blog.) What will yours be?
Thanks for reading. Stay safe, wash your hands and together we will get through this lockdown.
