mike hawkins - thinking out loud

Okay, so yet again I have re-thought the mike hawkins – images site which attempts to be a photo-blog that captures life as seen by a middle-aged englishman (who is a bit of a geek) living in the Charente region of south-west France.

Just to underline the nerdiness, and for those who are interested, a quick word on how this site has been put together.

I have become increasingly frustrated with the various options for creating image display ’systems’.  Coppermine and Gallery, to name the main two players, both have strengths and weaknesses.  Eminently configurable with masses of features they have, unfortunately, become overly complex in some aspects and too restrictive in others.  JAlbum a different, non-database approach to creating on line image pages, does a good job – but tends to turn out sites which all look the same.

I cannot, and would not, ever claim to be a photographer.  Capturing images is simply a hobby, in danger of becoming a passion but the results that I produce are never more than photographic records – not professional, not art, not meaningful.

I stress this, because there is a lot of stuff on the internet, that seriously purports to be one (or more) of the three – but in reality  represents nothing more than mine.  As with text and some blog sites – where everyone has become a writer and publisher – image sites are, increasingly, now by “photographers” and are “galleries” and we all know that, like here, they’re created by sad geeks with a hobby.

The photographs here are varied in subject and style.  They range from family snaps to landscapes and from macro nature to car rallies.  They are simply pictures of where I am at the time or on occasions, simply, experiments.

Having come to photography later in life I am an absolute novice in many respects, and this site will help me chronologically track any hint of improvement in my technique and style.

Perish the thought that there is no improvement  – I would like to put some worthwhile content here at some point.

This last problem is the case then with all the lesser players in the arena.  Eventually I came up with this approach – which bizarrely is based on Wordpress and the excellent NextGen gallery plug-in by Alex Rabe.  I was struggling to find a solution that enabled me to organise images in a way that I found logical, usable and, importantly to me, blend in with the overall “look and feel” of the rest of my site.

I hope that you enjoy the site – have a look around.

 I love the prehistoric look of these creatures - somehow they don't belong in the 21st. Century - but again, somehow they do.  The Marthon has a phenomenal lizard population - I don't know what sort they are.

 They really are very beautiful. 

This was taken at the Heston comprehensive school fete skateboarding competition where I came second.  Justifiably pipped to the post by my friend Carl Potter who could do a handstand on his skateboard.  He could also run across the playground doing double somersualts, and dance better than me, and he had girlfriends. 

Based on the clothing, and the shaggy surfer style hair do that I'm trying to cultivate, that would make it May / June '76.  Rucanoor basketball trainers were the thing... honest.  I was definitely spending to much time in long trousers though given the difference in colour between my legs and forearms.  Roll on the school holidays!

My mate, may have a dose of these - Lyctus brunneus which can be nasty in a man of his age.

Seed pod things which I just liked the look of.