That moment when…

That moment when… you see one of your photographs in commercial use for the first time!

The image in question, taken on holiday in Borneo in 2013

I was doing a Google search for ‘Caroline Grubb’, looking to see if my new Caroline Grubb Photography website (unofficially launched yesterday but still very much a work-in-progress) had been found by the Google bots yet and if it would come up in a Google search.

Finding that it hadn’t come up in the search, I moved on to search for ‘images of Caroline Grubb’ out of curiosity to see what information the World Wide Web might have on me.

It was then that, in a moment of great surprise and delight, I found that my image of an hibiscus flower – taken on holiday in Borneo in 2013 and published on my Flickr site – had been chosen as the headline image for an article about voting for Malaysia as Asia’s leading destination by Zafigo.com, a website for ‘the woman traveller in Asia’.

https://zafigo.com/news/will-you-vote-to-make-malaysia-asias-leading-destination/

The feeling was followed with pride and relief that the site had credited me with the photo (sadly the photo credit link doesn’t work).

Although the article was written back in 2017, this is the first time I’ve knowingly had a photograph of mine published. A small but important landmark for me. Hooray!

Morning Prayer

St John the Baptist Church, Inglesham – February 2019

I decided it’s time to get better acquainted with the area around where I now live, so I took my camera out for a walk on this crisp sunny winter’s afternoon and stumbled upon a hidden treasure.

St John’s the Baptist is an 11th century church in Inglesham, which is no longer used for religious services but is still consecrated and open to the general public.  Although a little tatty in places, it had oodles of charm and I felt like I was stepping back in time when I walked through the door.

The boxed-in pews, each with a small door to enter each compartment, reminded me of a similar design in an old stave church I visited in Norway last year. Even down to the ‘back row’ which was not enclosed with it’s own doors… I wonder if, like it’s twin sister in Norway, this row was reserved for the ‘unclean’ (women who were pregnant or had recently given birth).

I bet this organ has provided auditory accompaniment to many a hymn in its time.

Following a period of heavy snow, a recent bout of mild weather has allowed the snowdrops to lay their carpet around the church.

Purple haze

One of many beautiful flowers in bloom this summer around the lake at the University of York, my old student haunt

Space burger

This year marks 20 years since I started my undergraduate studies at the University of York, so last week I took a trip down memory lane with a couple of university friends and revisited the campus where we all met.  The building in the back of this shot is called Central Hall, and is the main auditorium for events at the university.  It is also where I sat a lot of my exams.  However, the students (or is it just me?!) fondly refer to it as the Space Burger due to it’s quirky architectural design!

Going nuts

Did you know that cashew nuts grow in shells like these? I didn’t! At least not until a very nice young chap gave me the lowdown on a whole array of locally grown fruits, vegetables and nuts at his roadside stall in St Lucia.

Feeding frenzy

This bunch of koi carp were literally jumping over each other for the pellets of food that tourists queued up to throw in to the pond at the Botanical Gardens in Guadeloupe.

Through the mists of time

Sadly this was artificial rain, but it does allow a beautiful rainforest to bloom in the Botanical Gardens of Guadeloupe.  I loved the rays of sunshine shining through the mists here.

Sleep like a baby

In memory of my best friend Anya, who passed away on 12 April 2018. This is a little figure from her garden. May you sleep well my darling girl ❤️

Keep off the grass, that’s my dinner!

Spring is finally springing in the garden

Take-off