What with travel restrictions this last year, I've been able to take further interest in some hobbies I'd touched on but not really engaged in to any degree. Street photography has always been a creative pursuit I'd hoped to dedicate some serious time to at some point which was finally realized this last twelve months. I'm a beginner in that area as well, but also enjoying it.

What other creative pursuits, if any, do you have?

Completely unrelated; I was out with a friend on Sunday night watching some bands when I noticed him talking for some time with a chap. At a point much later in the evening my friend says to me casually "That guy I was talking to earlier is employed by Universal Studios as a writer." What I wouldn't have given for ten minutes.

Some photos taken through my recent interest in street photography. I've found myself drawn to shadow.

cool photos! It's always good to have a creative outlet, especially in times like these. I've tried photography a few times (mainly nature) but I am terrible at it lol

Ah! so close, you could have asked that guy so many questions lol.

Writing is my only creative hobby but lockdown gave me more time to spend in the garden and out in the countryside. I do forage a lot and turn various wild fruits into wine... that's creative, right?

Quoted from Matthew Taylor cool photos! It's always good to have a creative outlet, especially in times like these. I've tried photography a few times (mainly nature) but I am terrible at it lol Ah! so close, you could have asked that guy so many questions lol. Writing is my only creative hobby but lockdown gave me more time to spend in the garden and out in the countryside. I do forage a lot and turn various wild fruits into wine... that's creative, right?

Hi MT,
Wine making is most certainly creative in my book. And I imagine the more you make, the more creative you get.

I've tasted some different local wine in Asia having lived and travelled there a bit. The most "interesting" I've ever had was in Sumatra, an Indonesian brew called Tuak which is a palm wine. God awful stuff. Dragon fruit from Southeast Asia on the other hand makes a nice drop in my experience and I found it quite palatable.

There are also lots of rice wines like Brem and Arak which are nothing much more than rocket fuel, but when in Rome....

In regard to the Universal Studios dude, I'll be demanding an introduction next time, even if it costs me an exorbitant amount in beer, wine or spirit bribes. He goes there regularly to that venue, so I'm hopeful.

I would love to do more travelling and taste some local brews... honestly you can make wine out of anything you find, grapes just seem to have the whole market lol

The wine I make does seem to be stronger than shop-bought - The plum wine from last year I could probably use to strip paint from the walls.

My favourite wines from what is here in the UK:

Foraged: Blackberry, elderberry, dandelion, nettle, oak leaf, plum, damson.
Home-grown: Marrow, potato, raspberry

I always have wine in the house even though the last time I bought a bottle was about 5 years ago.

Anyway, enough about wine.

Good luck speaking to the writer, sometimes you gotta grab whatever chances and opportunities fall your way. Hopefully, he gives some valuable insight, if he doesn't, well, you haven't lost anything trying.

Gee, you've just reminded me of a rather splendid six months living in the Himalaya of Northern India where plum wine was ridiculously cheap, plentiful and rather delightful. The Kullu valley, Himichal Pradesh, India, sometimes referred to as the Valley of Fruits, would be a place I highly recommend if you're ever in Asia looking for a fruit wine experience.

Metal detecting is what I describe as my 'outside' hobby, writing being my inside one.

Not strictly speaking a creative hobby per se, but have had a number of story ideas prompted by where I detect or what I've found, plus I have a YT channel for my detecting (tcDetects) so I've been learning simple editing and stuff to try and make my vids look reasonable.

Recently got a decent drone too, but not had too much chance to use it as yet.

Hi Anthony,
My brother-in-law is an avid gold prospector in Western Australia and just about to start his season. He's retired spending the winter months of the year 1 month on/1 week off from April to October. It's too hot in the summer months. He switched to a Minelab 5000, then 7000, detector a few years which he says has really made a difference to how much he can find now

He'll drive up to fifteen hours with his off road vehicle and trailer/van and head out into the gold fields to his patch for that month in the middle of nowhere. He averages around 3oz of gold a trip which covers expenses and a makes a little.

I just had a look at your channel - looks like you've got that drone under control pretty well. Used it well on the intro.

Thanks for taking a look Wayne... think I've racked up about 10 hours on the drone so far, intro footage came out okay and thanks to the detecting I have plenty of places to fly it.

I've seen a few vids of the gold prospectors with their Minelabs, proper hardcore!

I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years (since i was 13) but I realized when Covid-19 got under way that I had been slacking and not playing like i used to. when we got our first stim check... i decided i was going to get myself some new gear and rededicate myself to my first-love hobby. Went back and learned a bunch of theory I skipped over and started working harder on my shred game. pretty happy with my progress and gonna continue to grind and get better because i really do love playing.

I recently started coin collecting. Pretty fun. Like Pokémon but without spending money on cards. Lol.

Gabe

I was a Dungeon Master for a bi-weekly campaign for about two years before COVID hit. I've been playing D&D for over thirty years, it's always been a creative outlet for me, so not being able to play for the last year really hurts.

During COVID I got more into editing, color correction, and tried my hand at some VFX. Turns out I'm pretty good at them, but steep learning curves. I do like a challenge though.

I've also been bitten by the chess bug again since watching The Queen's Gambit. I've been working on improving my ELO rating, which is more study than creative but there is some creativity in there.

I play survival video games with base building, that counts too, right?  ;D

Love video games. Currently playing Fallout 4, Dying Light and FF7. Bloodborne a particular fave that I go back to whenever.

Taught myself to play bass guitar using tabs a few years back so I break that out every now and then and play along to the good stuff - Beatles, Stones, Zep etc.

Quoted from stevie Taught myself to play bass guitar using tabs a few years back so I break that out every now and then and play along to the good stuff - Beatles

You like the Beatles?!!!  ;D

I actually do love video games, but I purposely do not have any at home, because I know I could easily get addicted. I'll probably give in eventually. Especially when VR games get better. My only other hobbies at the moment is taking care of my animals, dog, cat, Guinea Pig and my fish. Some of my koi are now starting to get quite large. Around 16". It takes them about five years to get to that size, but they can get as big as 3'!

Weird thing is that I do LOVE to paint. Not pictures, but walls. I know. How boring is that? But I actually love it. Painted almost the whole house inside in 2020 and this year I started on the outside.   :o

Quoted from Grandma Bear Weird thing is that I do LOVE to paint. Not pictures, but walls. I know. How boring is that? But I actually love it. Painted almost the whole house inside in 2020 and this year I started on the outside.   :o

I've always enjoyed painting. It's so zen; the rhythms of the brush or roller, seeing each stroke making a difference, slowly transforming a space, and the gratification of seeing the end result. It's good therapy.

@stevie, Bloodbourne is awesome!

I've gotten really into looper pedals, beatboxing, and talk boxes. Here's a stupid vid I made the other day 8)

Quoted from Claudio ...I've gotten really into looper pedals, beatboxing, and talk boxes. Here's a stupid vid I made the other day 8)

That was great Claudio!   :D
But just when it was warming up it stopped.

Nice vid, Claudio!    And yeah...Bloodborne is one of the great games of all time. Because of it I have to play any other games on the hardest mode straight away or else it’s too easy lol

Quoted from ReneC I've always enjoyed painting. It's so zen; the rhythms of the brush or roller, seeing each stroke making a difference, slowly transforming a space, and the gratification of seeing the end result. It's good therapy.

Exactly!!! Except for I don't get the satisfaction of painting with a roller. Has to be a brush. If I use a roller it feels like a job.  :)