Impressions of Hawthorn. There’s a famous quote that I like from Robert M. Pirsig; “boredom always precedes a period of great creativity”. Interestingly, he was also a motorbiker and wrote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. That fact obviously made him a decent bloke! Never has there been a truer statement said that applies to the COVID-19 situation. Aside from the associated worries of lockdown, the virus itself, being furloughed and scared for the future, the time has been good for sparking the creative flames again. My photography has gone in different ways that I never would have considered before the enforced stay at home policy. Not being able to go out and be with other people with my camera, I’ve had to look closer to home to fill the photographic void I found myself in. As well as macro, I’m dabbling with ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) and really enjoying the impressionistic style. Results that you are happy with are much harder to achieve, so it makes it a bit of a challenge. The element of surprise also appeals to me, because there is no way that you can repeat the same image no matter how hard you try. That makes it frustrating, but at the same time rewarding when your technique and all the other elements (light, shade, contrast, colours etc) come together to produce something you like. It’s definitely a much freer way of taking photographs, which I’ll enjoy doing some more of.