Hello everyone. This blog post has been a long time coming and there’s two things you need to know before you proceed any further. One, this is not a food blog, and two, it is a bit of a throwback. Quite a throwback to be honest, but things have gotten out of hand in my organisation planet, whatever that is, and only now I am finding some time to publish these photos. They were taken in the middle of summer a year ago and have remained in my ‘I’ll see when I get to these/maybe later’ file since then.
I don’t know how I feel about this set of photos. No, I am neither fishing for any compliments nor being seeming unashamedly humble. Far from it. The thing is I’m still learning. I have been taking my own pictures for this blog for a few years now. There are posts that I’m happy about, and there are a few disappointing ones. Like everything else in life, curating and maintaining a blog is a work in progress. Unfortunately since coming back to Malta after living in the “green and pleasant land”, I have not found my inspiration. Unlike J, I still have to seriously take my camera places and just take a few shots just to test the waters. Apart from my Canon 30D (inherited from J), which is great, especially with my prime lenses, we now have a more compact camera, so portable and comparatively so teeny there’s no excuse not to take it with me where ever I go.
Now, let me be clear, as I’m sure you’ve heard others say, you don’t need any fancy equipment to take brilliant photos. Our friend D (I’ll try to ask for permission to mention and link to any photos) has shot some beautiful pictures using a mobile phone. I’m lucky to have a good mobile camera and nowadays taking photos with it is so simple, mostly because it’s always with me. But that wasn’t always the case. I remember getting so frustrated with the low quality of my old photos that I gave up completely on having an Instagram account. That time has passed and what I can say is this: my photos are not perfect, but whatever snapshots I decided to put on there, it’s me.
A few words on this beautiful chapel, called Kappella tal-Isperanza, or the Chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Hope, found in Mosta. More precisely found in Wied L-Isperanza/Wied Il-Għasel, depending on which direction you follow. It’s a charming place, relatively peaceful, built on the valley. In an nutshell, legend has it that after praying to Our Lady, a young girl hid in the cave beneath the chapel (built in the 18th century, after the event). A number of Turkish pirates spotted her and her sisters, while the family tended to their sheep in the valley, and a chase ensued. Her sisters escaped, but the girl, who limped slightly couldn’t run fast enough, so she sought refuge in the cave, hoping and praying for safety.
After a thorough search the pirates decided to turn back. At the entrance to the cave was a large unbroken spider’s web, that couldn’t have remained intact if the girl was hiding in the cave.
The Chapel was built as a gesture of gratitude and devotion. The cave is now sealed but you can see the inside through the iron bars. You can reach it through some steps leading downward on the right side of the Chapel.
Chorizo & Thyme 
Well. I love both aspects of your blog. Photography and cooking.
My photos are only ever snaps of memories of trips or hikes yoursalways have so much more thought about them x
Thanks so much Fiona! 😁
Great post! I know how hard it is to find inspiration locally due to over familiarity with a place. I find it exceptionally hard to take photos within 5 miles of where I live. I’ve seen it all before! Your primary audience is yourself as a photographer, which may sound a bit selfish. However a photograph is a justification of what you yourself see and how you want to portray it to other people.Maybe I am talking gibberish 🙂 I love the way you both refer to people by their first letter too, Tina is always simply T.
Thanks Nick for your words of encouragement. I wish I could find that something that inspires me. Lately nothing is new to me. Not even the cooking/baking stuff. Can you believe it? Now I could just flip through the pages of my beloved books but that isn’t doing it for me either! Perhaps the key to keep up with photography here in Malta is architecture. There’s plenty of great buildings, especially in Valletta. I really don’t know. What you say is not gibberish at all. Actually you’re helping me to work out what’s going through my head. It makes so much sense!
I’m in a similar place at times, I used to get excited by building websites. Right now I’m finding it harder. Then yesterday we found a new way of doing things which makes it all fresh again and interesting. The problem is I think because it’s a financial need. I must get new clients to keep the business afloat. Truth is we are in a dry period….. I digress maybe that’s a post for my own blog? In your case I would challenge yourself. Grab a different lens, one you are not used to. Go and try a different approach and see if that makes it all the more exciting again.
I used to run a photo critique site which I closed down. I may recreate it. I would charge people for the premium version and offer a free account to those who want to keep things simple. It used to help many people elevate themselves from the doldrums and enjoy their craft a lot more
It’s tough to find new ways of keeping things fresh. I’m glad you are managing to find solutions to keep your business up to date and fresh. It’s hard work and I cannot imagine how much time and effort you invest in it, especially during these difficult economic times.
To be honest I get discouraged most days – this year was particularly hard because I’m not happy about the end result of how I write. The reason I want to take more photos is that perhaps it’s something I love to do but don’t do enough. As a result there wasn’t any significant progress so I want to take it up again. Practice more. I don’t earn money on the blog but I love curating it. It’s been almost 7 years since I started it and it can get ‘old’.
I will take your advice on using a different lens. I think I know exactly which one I’ll go for.
Good luck trying a different lens. I will let you all know how the Nfolio project goes once I get it going again!!
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Thank you.
Hope to see more of these, enjoy your new 📷 and post more of such photos. Hope you have more similar walks/outings.😘😘
Thank you 😃