SteveTanham – writing, mysticism, photography, poetry, friends

Category: landscapes

It was all entirely accidental, though no-one would believe me, later. A flock of birds flying low over Derwent Water drew my camera eye away from the colourful couple in front of me, their dogs (one could only assume they were their dogs) barking at them as though they were in charge of the outing and hadn’t approved the new storyboard. I love these … Read More The bemused dog with the people with the complementary umbrellas

August 13, 2023 + #Silenti, Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose, Short stories

Yard 17

by Steve Tanham

Kendal has a network of old alleyways. I’ve written about them before. They form useful shortcuts across the town. A kind of ancient ‘worm-hole’ is how it feel when you’re striding along one, knowing that you’re shaving precious seconds off the normal time; or sheltered, collar up on the long raincoat, from the cutting wind and rain of a Cumbrian January. Yard 17 is … Read More Yard 17

August 8, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Soul, soul in body

Parabolic Spirits

by Steve Tanham

A friend and I were talking about parabolas; those strange curves which take a wide section of incoming light (or other electromagnetic transmissions) and reflect it back to a single point, concentrated. The radio telescope is a good example. The tiny radio waves from distant objects in space are bounced back off the parabolic dish to a ‘collector’. The two of us (on different … Read More Parabolic Spirits

August 6, 2023 + #Phoetry, #Silenti, Lake District, landscapes

Sky like a painting

by Steve Tanham

It’s an effect I often try to achieve and seldom do. But on this occasion… Taken in Sedgwick on our evening dog walk last week. The dark July rain had relented, granting us a few hours of sunshine. The ‘washed’ feel of the landscape seemed to add to the feeling of something painted. And the clouds, well… ©Copyright Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham is … Read More Sky like a painting

July 23, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Ancient Sacred Sites, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography

A Cross at Trearddur

by Steve Tanham

It wasn’t what I was expecting to see in the middle of the beautiful curve of Trearddur Bay, one of the jewels of the island of Anglesey, off the North Wales coast. But the more I looked at it, the more perfect its setting – like the ‘collector’ at the parabolic point of focus of a radio telescope’s dish. And how fitting that image … Read More A Cross at Trearddur

July 16, 2023 + #Phoetry, #Poetry, #Silenti, Consciousness, landscapes

#Phoetry : Old Light

by Steve Tanham

Like a knife, dividing Bright July from Oncoming storm Where birds of warning Guard the last resort With mocking grey From here is only stone And rocky way Towards the end of land Wise and full of warning Yet ancient-skilled in reach The light of ages searches #Phoetry is a mixing of predominant images and guiding worlds to – in this case – tell … Read More #Phoetry : Old Light

July 9, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Seasons of the year

Gold and Grey

by Steve Tanham

I love that moment – when summer sun and dark clouds fight to cover the land below in a fast-moving and alternating patchwork of colour and it’s absence. If there’s gold on the land to bejewel the electric grey of the sky, even better… Here, at Fell Foot Park, on the southern tip of Windermere, the extremes always seem to be marked, both summer … Read More Gold and Grey

June 25, 2023 + #Silent Eye, #Silenti, Consciousness, Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography

Where Seagulls Dare

by Steve Tanham

Didn’t know they were there until I was reviewing the photos later – the seagulls. A whole flock of them whirling overhead, back right of shot; unseen but brightly present… Fell Foot Park on the south-eastern tip of Windermere. It’s a National Trust estate with a delightful walk in a figure of eight that takes you away from the final basin of the lake … Read More Where Seagulls Dare

June 20, 2023 + #Silenti, Lake District, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography

Long and winding road

by Steve Tanham

The small village of Skelsmergh lies at the end of one of the long, twisty lanes that follow the valley of the River Mint and eventually merge onto the A6 trunk road: formerly the main highway across the Shap Summit to Penrith, then on to Carlisle and Scotland. The M6 motorway reduced the A6’s critical role … but left it much less frantic for … Read More Long and winding road

June 6, 2023 + #Silenti, Consciousness, landscapes, Photographic techniques, Photography, Places and Prose

Lancaster’s canal – a local photo tour

by Steve Tanham

Just down from the extensive Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and passing under the busy A6 road from the south, there begins one of the most attractive sections of the old Lancaster Canal, as it leaves behind the gentle countryside of north Lancashire and enters the old industrial landscape of the former ‘county town’ from which the county name derives. The House of Lancaster features … Read More Lancaster’s canal – a local photo tour

May 30, 2023 + #Phoetry, #Poetry, #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Collie dogs, Consciousness, English Lake District, guided mystical walks, landscapes, Mindfulness, Photography

Wander Wood #phoetry

by Steve Tanham

And is there time in wander wood Or slow, abiding, gentle ‘should’ Without resistance: touch and kiss A reaching for midsummer’s bliss So powerful this May surprise I need not leave my seat – just close my eyes To wander in the wonder wood ©Stephen Tanham 2023 Stephen Tanham is a Director of the Silent Eye, a journey through the forest of personality to … Read More Wander Wood #phoetry

May 28, 2023 + #Silenti, Ancient Landscapes, Consciousness, landscapes, Photography, Places and Prose

Sunrise at Amlwch

by Steve Tanham

Each May and November, we like to spend a few days on the Welsh island of Anglesey. It’s hard to say what draws us back, year after year, but there is a certain tranquility and peace about the place. The hotel we stay at is a former farm, run by a brother and sister who inherited the place and set about making it one … Read More Sunrise at Amlwch