‘Should I bring an umbrella?’
celebrating weather in photographs
By ALAN JOHNSTON
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‘Should I bring an umbrella?’ This photographic book is the perfect gift for any occasion. Or give yourself a special treat today! Alan Johnston’s broad-based weather and environmentally themed book of photographs brings to life the topic of weather in a quirky, personal, unique, enthusiastic and exciting way, using the life experiences of a well-travelled man who has lived, worked and taken photographs in a variety of exotic countries. Alan’s book contains over 500 original pix – some going back to the 1930s – right up to the present time. We travel up and down Ireland, Britain and Europe, Ethiopia, the Middle East, Nigeria, the Far East the USA and beyond, including a chapter depicting weather-themed views round all points of the compass from Alan’s house by the shore of Strangford Lough. The photographs are personalised with fascinating and funny stories drawing on Alan’s adventures over the years. Images and anecdotes, covering local and world weather, are beautifully woven together in the context of complex and challenging issues related to climate change.
‘Should I bring an umbrella?’ is a new 160 page book from international weather and landscape photographer Alan Johnston celebrating weather in photographs. Featured on BBC News and with rave reviews it is now available by post and with local stockists. Launching the book in the new Portaferry lifeboat station (Royal National Lifeboat Institution – RNLI – which operates throughout Britain and Ireland) a share of the proceeds from sales of the book was donated to the RNLI, some of whose members in England helped to save Alan’s life following a major air disaster 21years ago. UK BBC News full story. Irish News story here. Local news story here. Lifeboats RNLI story is here. Past employer’s news story.
‘Should I bring an umbrella?’ is a matchless invitation to appreciate – or tolerate! – the daily weather, and a call to do all that we can to protect our planet. Here is a cheerful, enthusiastic and unique book, which everyone wants to read, encouraging the reader to enjoy – and see through new eyes – our daily dose of weather, and above all to look around at the skies that provide an ever-changing display – free. You will like it. In the only tough and challenging chapter, entitled: ‘Energy from the sun’, Alan Johnston tackles global warming head on. A roof mounted Solartwin solar water heating panel is even featured!
‘Should I bring an umbrella?’ is a book that will spread pleasure – and even some enlightenment – to just about anyone! And not least to photographers everywhere.
Read about: the lettuce/lightning connection in Strangford; whether skiing down the road to Damascus can be recommended; the tale of the elephant and the nut; the differing fates of two Ethiopian rivers; whether Alan or an armchair was (shamefully) dumped in a County Donegal bog;. And so very much more including, essentially, when NOT to bring an umbrella!
BIOGRAPHY.
Author of ‘Should I Bring an Umbrella’, Alan Johnston, of 1926 vintage and still going (fairly) strong, is pretty miserable without his camera, but since he always has it with him he is mostly cheerful, loves a laugh and has a sense of the ridiculous. While working and travelling for twenty-five years in exotic countries, he sometimes wondered why his employer paid him for the pleasure – yet his conscience tells him he really did work hard then, and subsequently, when not taking photographs. Alan enjoyed experiencing the different climates and recorded them on film and their effects on life. Apart from keeping a weather eye open he has a rough and ready rain gauge of an old iron cooking pot in his adjacent field. Alan’s photographic weather book, his first book, is an acclaimed photographic odyssey – quite unlike any other weather book.
Alan Johnston is married with four grown-up children – working in engineering, sculpting, osteopathy and solar – plus lots of grandchildren.
‘SHOULD I BRING AN UMBRELLA’ BOOK REVIEWS.
“Not many of us would think of weather as a theme for the story of our life… And yet it fits Alan Johnston’s book perfectly… The quality of the photographs has remained constant, initially enjoyed mainly by the family, but now made available to us as well” … PROFESSOR RONNIE BUCHANAN, GEOGRAPHER, HISTORIAN, CONSERVATIONIST.
”Like it or not, our climate and weather pervade every aspect of our lives. Alan has not only recognised this fact but embraced it with delight and self-deprecating humour. This wonderful book is a story of sun, shadows, rain, drought, storm, heat and cold, and how our skies and seas reflect these phenomena. This is not just a story of weather but one man’s life and his irrepressible curiosity about our small planet. If you share these feelings you will love this book. It is a true source of inspiration and delightful imagination – not least when the wind rattles our doors and rain lashes the window” ... DR BOB BROWN, NATURALIST AND CHAIR OF NORTHERN IRELAND BIODIVERSITY GROUP.
COMMENTS FROM HAPPY READERS OF ‘SHOULD I BRING AN UMBRELLA’
* “my favourite picture changes just as the weather does”
* “blend of whimsicality and seriousness of purpose”
* “artistic ability and sheer delight”
* “thank you for bringing joy”
‘SHOULD I BRING AN UMBRELLA’ – TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
• 230mm x 210mm • 160 pages • Hard back cover with dust jacket • Colour throughout • Over 500 photographs • Published 2009.
HOW TO ORDER ‘SHOULD I BRING AN UMBRELLA?’
or at
Or by post from:
The Publisher: Booklink,
120 High Street, Holywood, Co Down, BT18 9WH, N. Ireland, UK.
Phone: +44(0) 28 90 423 324.
Price (cheque or crossed postal order) is:
£20 plus £3.50 postage and packaging in UK total £23.50, or
Euros 25 plus 5 P&P total Euros 30.
US$ prices upon request
Your book will normally arrive within 7 days, depending on destination.
QUESTIONS?
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, ON ‘SHOULD I BRING AN UMBRELLA’ PLEASE CONTACT:
The AUTHOR: Alan Johnston on +44(0) 28 90 4488 1250.
Take my brolly? Today? Weather and whether, might, shall, will, ought – “SHOULD I bring an umbrella?” Weather in pictures, plus a biography in happy anecdotes by a man who loves life!
