Emma’s Monthly Blog – a Youth Participant from Circle of Life Rediscovery

It’s goodbye February and hello March!

That’s right, soon the blustery months of winter will be gone and seem like a distant memory!

I am welcoming March with open arms, I can’t wait for the beautiful Daffodils and Snow Drops to come out and bloom. There’s something very peaceful and welcoming about March, like it’s a fresh start to life. I always think the New Year starts in March, when the lambs are born, when the flowers and blossom comes out. It’s a very significant part of the year. It’s a time to forget the dreary months of winter (although Winter does have its perks) and step into Spring with a new outlook on life.

I am starting to discover the first signs of Spring in my garden. Hidden away underneath some twigs I found a beautiful purple flower, this made me pretty excited as before we had no sign of any flowers in my garden up until now!

Blossoming Flower

This was the first natural flower photograph of the year and it’s an absolute stunner. It’s so rich in colour that it literally pops out the frame against the dullness of the twigs surrounding it. I especially love the placement of this flower within the frame. I was going to situate the focal point on a third but decided against that as I really wanted to show it off front and centre! This photograph is all about this flower, no other aspect matters. Sometimes you have to really delve into the world to find beauty- this is a fine example. Under all the hard, rotting, lifeless twigs was this beautiful flower springing into life and providing a stunning ray of sunshine into the garden. Although small, it packs a mighty abundance of beauty!

That’s another thing about life. Something may appear un-exciting or dull on the outside but when you really investigate it, it can be beautiful and something to really get excited about.

Earlier on in February I went for a walk over Seaford Head cliffs, it was a sunny Saturday morning- the air crisp and cool, with a glowing warmth coming through from the sun. That weekend was one of the sunniest days we’ve had so far. It was great! Hikers were out roaming up the cliffs, there were the classic dog walkers, children on family outings with their parents- it was such a lovely sight to see.

I get excited when I see people appreciate nature and what it has to offer. Everyone should get excited about nature- it’s such a vast and wide subject!  I feel very privileged to live in such a beautiful area of the South East of England. I’ve got the South Downs, Beachy Head and Seaford Head cliffs right on my door step- as an avid Landscape photographer, what more could you ask for?

If you’ve never visited Seaford Head Cliffs then by all means, come along because you are indeed missing out! For me, I’ve always been drawn to the cliffs of Seaford Head.

The cliffs themselves almost have a personality, some days it’ll look moody, edgy and mysterious whereas on other days it can look beautiful and inviting. The day I went on my walk over the cliffs, I captured the cliffs on one of it’s good days. As I said, the sun was shining meaning it was almost glistening off the pale, white chalky cliff face but it didn’t come across like that in the photograph. The cliff face had turned golden with sunshine, it sounds funny but I’ve never noticed the green on the cliffs before- it’s almost as though, the cliffs are so old and worn down that they are turning mouldy!

Cliffs

This photograph always brings a smile to my face because at the end of the day the cliff tops can be quite a daunting place to be but when you capture it through the lens of a camera- it almost poses with its beauty! How could anyone not find this stunning?

I walked to Hope Gap and I have to admit I was pretty worn out! But this next photograph just absolutely made my day. If all my other photographs had turned out unsuccessful, I wouldn’t even mind knowing that I had captured this fabulous beauty! It’s a different view of Seaford Head Cliffs, it’s a place that i’ve never discovered before. Oh, how I wished I had found it sooner! I found some steps leading down to the beach at Hope Gap, by this time it was about 4:00pm and the sun was beginning to set (my favourite time of the day). Now, I absolutely adore silhouetted photographs and had never even thought my photographic capabilities could reach this level but I managed to shoot a silhouetted photograph of the sideways facing cliff. To save embarrassment I kept my excitement contained in me but I was so excited about this photograph. It really does speak for itself, I love everything about it. The silhouette of the cliff, the crashing waves across the rocky terrain below, the dramatic tension in the sky- it all adds up to a final image of pure beauty.

Cliffs at sunset

My final words for this post are simple:

Get out and enjoy what nature has to offer!

The greatest camera anyone could ask for are your eyes! Use them.

Go and see what beauty lies around the corner. You don’t have to look high and low for beauty, a lot of the time it’s there, unannounced, waiting to be discovered.

Emma