Blipmeet: Bristol!

My head was all over the place this time yesterday morning. Had said - quite keenly, in fact! - that I'd go and shoot football fans at Southampton's ground, but found that not only are trains being replaced by buses for part of the journey but that also I'd have a very long wait and with the promise of return spring sunshine, that plan was quietly shelved.

I yearned for a big day out but still somewhere with the reassurance of familiarity. Bristol is probably my favourite city (OK, I don't know many cities!) and was about the first "big place" I went to, yes, to photograph, on my own as a teenage lad, and working on my father's farm then, it was such a revelation and assault on the senses.

But better still was that I was able to meet up with Mike, Bristol based Blipper who I had only ever spoken to on the phone and enjoyed a few chortled jokes on Facebook. He, being a Nikon user too meant we had much in common and my introducing him to Blip earned me my Blip silver 'leaf'.

A Bristolian through and through, Mike was a genial host and with some strong opinions and views about his native city. The highlight of the day was a 30 minute cruise around the historic harbour on a 1935 tug called the John King, that operated that weekend - it was one of the highlights I spotted when Googling events going on before I left home.

I had rather hoped Mike would have Blipped one from the tug but being a bird lover and many of his blips being birds, he went with something else. My Blip was almost going to be one from the tug, with the colourful stacks of houses and boats all bathed in a soft bright light.

But hey ho, there's only one Blip in Blip, and I always knew that the ones I took at 8 a.m. just before I phoned Mike to confirm arrangements would be my Blip. As I meandered from Temple Meads station and along round the waterfront, the low sun was gently nudging its way through a veil of mist. Yes, the obliging swan probably does clinch this one but I feel it has a nice, tight composition and all the elements within compliment each other. Romantic, sure; I came up with that I thought Bristol today is where Cornwall meets Amsterdam. Plus the maritime industrial heritage of course.

Lens is Nikkor 16-85mm VR

Huge thanks to all for getting my soft blossom blip of the previous day up to the No 1 Spotlight slot! I love you all!

Lots of Blip catching up for me to do today, so please bear with me folks!