My Camera Never Lies

.....except, in this digital age, it quite often does. I took this yesterday but have been playing around with it today and think it actually looks better upside down!
And, as usual on a sunny day, we saw lots of “shock horror, look at the crowds” type of photos appearing on social media along with the usual dire warnings of second waves and spikes in cases. But, we’ve had these dire predictions several times now and it’s not really translated into a large rise in cases in places like Bournemouth, the Lakes or Blackpool. No denying that cases in those areas are higher than average, but as we have seen in Leicester and Greater Manchester, it seems to be meeting up indoors that is causing the big spikes that lead to local lockdowns.
Equally - and to return to today’s theme - there is always the suspicion that the pictures you see do not perhaps show the whole story. As well as the foreshortening effect that can occur when using a telephoto lens, there have been cases where the pictures have been digitally altered to make things look worse than they are.
And, at the end of the day, what did people expect? It’s the start of the school holidays, going abroad runs the risk of quarantine on return and a lot of people are still furloughed. It’s all going to add up to pressure on the tourist areas in the U.K.
As a local, it can feel like you’re under attack in your home but with a bit of planning you can avoid the worst. Don’t go into town in the middle of the day at the weekend. Look for places off the beaten track for your own exercise. I saw photos of what looked like large crowds, taken only a few miles away from where I went for a walk yesterday, yet I encountered less than a dozen people in two hours. This morning we went into town for a coffee. From one end of the street, it looked quite crowded but it was just the foreshortening effect and once we got down into the centre it was obvious everyone was just enjoying themselves and keeping a safe distance from each other.
If you’re keeping yourself safe then by implication you’re keeping others safe as well. That’s all you can personally do and it serves no purpose fretting, or getting angry, over the actions of strangers if those actions do not directly impact on you.
I’m sure if we keep a sense of perspective (literally and figuratively!) we can all enjoy everything this country has to offer this summer.