About

Welcome to Sign of the Times -  a daily (ish) photo journal showing the images, objects and general flotsam which has struck a chord with me or says something about everyday life and where it might be headed. As I’m based in Chippenham, most of my pictures will be from the Wiltshire area, with the occasional foray to places like Bath, Bristol and other travels. And yes, you can just about see me and my camera in the middle of the above image

Well, that’s the intention, but blogs tend to evolve don’t they?

I use a very ordinary point and shoot camera, a Canon PowerShot A460. Sometimes I hanker after a DSLR as I’d like the ability to control depth of field, exposure times and to have a better macro facility. However, when I used a film SLR, the weight of the camera, lenses, baggage etc. meant I really only used my camera on special occasions, or for dedicated photography trips.

I like the freedom my little point and shoot gives me. I can pop it in my pocket or bag and it’s there when I see something I’d like to photograph. Its shortcomings mean I’ve had to think about my photography a bit more and perhaps come up with a different, more pleasing shot than the one which immediately springs to mind.

What you see is what you get – like my hero Henri Cartier Bresson, I prefer Decisive Moments over manipulation. Besides, I already spend too much time on the computer!

You may be wondering why my posts are published as VP. That’s the name I chose when I entered the blogosphere at the end of 2007, with my regular blog Veg Plotting. Over there I’m much more wordy: here I want the images to do more of the talking, though I will jot down a few of my thoughts about the image if necessary.

Regular readers from there may be wondering what I’m doing with a Worpress blog. No, I won’t be ditching Blogger. It suits my needs very well for Veg Plotting. However, I’ve worked out I’ve about enough space left on there for about a year’s worth of posts. Photographs tend to be space hungry, so it seemed wise to use another platform for a simple photo journal. I won’t be as link rich as my regular blog either – that’s because it takes so much time to research them ready for use, so this blog is me in a more relaxed mode. Besides, I believe WordPress doesn’t appreciate link rich blogs that much: I’m aiming to give you enough keywords for you to find things out for yourself should you feel moved to do so.

I hope you like what you see here and will leave a comment or come back soon

VP