The only pic I ever had selected for an exhibition was this one. It’s while I was on The News and the pier at Shanklin blew down in the Great Storm in 1987. I was living in Ryde at the time and couldn’t get into work as no ferries. That sign in the foreground didn’t get there by Mother Nature… 😬

What a kind think to say! My advice to any budding photographer is to look for the story in your picture. Then, like Doisneau, do whatever it takes to tell it. Wait around, rearrange, airbrush, burn, dodge, crop etc. If it adds something, do it. I can proudly say all of my pictures are filtered…😎

Kein Problem.

A wash out valve is used by water companies to clear out sediment and the like periodically.

Been hiding in plain sight for years…

That’s the joy of the fixture list, I suppose. You go to all sorts of places you’d probably not go to otherwise.

I really like it. Proper old-school city. Unpretentious. The Minster is lovely too.

I’ve got some taken in Hull coming up which are subtly a bit different.

It’s a tough job, but those fire hydrant pix don’t take themselves… 😉

Berlin was a mixed bag for fire hydrants and Cologne a bit disappointing. Amsterdam was pretty good, once I worked out the Dutch word for ‘fire’ begins with a ‘B’…

📸 | I take photos of fire hydrants / Ich fotografiere Hydranten. Southsea, England (2025)
'Skurrile Hobbys' #FotoVorschlag #firehydrantfriday

There was a lot going on in that one.