Warwickshire Wood

Monday morning was pretty foggy in Alcester where I am staying at present, so I visited a local wood but it didn't have the simple stands of trees that I was hoping for. However, I do like this image of the oak canopy. The mist thinned quite quickly so I concentrated on the fungi - there were lots in the very damp wood.

I took the Birch Polypores (left) and the Jews Ear (right) with the 70-200 mm  lens which has given soft backgrounds

Derwent Water Woods in Rain

The rain really set in before lunch on Saturday but a brief dry spell tempted us to a walk in these magical woods.

The top image was taken with a 16-35 mm rectilinear lens and the lower one with the 15mm fisheye.

The contrast, colour rendition (both images brought to 6500) and detail are better with the 15mm lens as I suppose is to be expected with a prime lens.

Castlerigg

Four of us decided to go and photograph Castlerigg at dawn on Saturday and, after a rather grey start and rain showers, we were rewarded with shafts of sunlight on the hills followed by a rainbow. I took images from various positions but the closer view was the one that seemed to work best.

Trip to Blencathra Centre

It had rained most of the drive up from Cambridge but then driving along the A66 just approaching Keswick, the weather suddenly improved and for a few moments the scene was bathed in orange light.














We had a go before supper at multiflash technique with some varied result - this is one of best.

Insomnia

My Sony has a night setting so I thought I would see what it does when visiting the Guildhall backstage facilities - the result is a very strange vignetted monochrome and very noisy
image. It made me think of sleepless nights when a student at college - don't know why other than that the facilities in the Guildhall in Cambridge probably haven't been rennovated since the 1960s

Bengal Tiger

Pensive look from Blizzard the white Bengal tiger at Hamerton Wildlife Park.

Taken with 400mm lens so cage wires have been thrown out of focus but does gives a softness to the images that I like.

Wedding in Leicestershire

Beautiful day and venue for Cheryl and Neil's wedding at St James the Greater , Oaks in Charnwood and reception at Beaumanor Hall on Friday.
Photos are now ready for viewing - go to my website (link at top right) and sign in to the Client Area

Sexuality in Flowers

Some favourite images from our trip to the Cambridge Botanic Gardens. I was experimenting with very shallow depth of field using 50 macro lens with life size converter. This was forced on me as I went without the plate for the tripod so couldn't risk higher aperture settings. I particularly like the first image which is a member of the ginger plant family.

Bath city

Took short stroll up the hill to the park. Bath looked great in the evening light. Enlarged part of the scene to show test how sharp the photo was and am pleased with result.

Autumn at Westonbirt

There were more visitors than trees at Westonbirt this afternoon. The Acers are probably just about at their best with a combination of greens, yellows and reds.

The image below was done by placing the camera on the ground with the fish-eye looking upward at the canopy. I used the timer facility but I had to move quite quickly to get out of the picture.

Fungi in Epping

The recent rain has resulted in a 'bloom' of toadstools in Epping Forest. The Fly Agarics and the Porcelain Fungi are two of my favourite species so I was happy to spend a long while photographing them today. I even tried the Porcelain in infrared!

Sunset

Very impressive sunset this evening - impressed by the change in colour temperature within only 10 minutes as the sun went further below the horizon.

I then turned to photograph the full moon and did not realise that I had two birds flying across the face of the moon till I downloaded the image .

Common Blue Butterfly

Returned home today and was greeted in the garden by this beautiful and very obliging Common Blue butterfly on a matching Gallardia.

Toads instead of Toadstools

There may have been a lack of toadstools in Sheringham Woods today but the overnight rain brought out large numbers of toads (and frogs). Their camouflage in the autumn leaves is amazing. We only noticed them if they moved and often nearly trod on one.

Life of a Stink Horn

There are not many fungi about in the woods at the moment as it is so dry everywhere but we did find all the stages of stink horns. They start as a gelatinous egg from which the stink horn expands and reveals a cap covered with greenish foul-smelling slime. This is visited by flies who disperse the fluid containing spores on their feet. The final stage shows the stink horn when all the slime has been consumed.

Norfolk Trees

A few tree shots taken around our holiday cottage in Plumstead Green near Holt Norfolk. So far not finding Aperture as flexible for doing infrared monochrome conversion as Lightroom. I will do some new conversions of these files on the pc when I return.

Cromer in Infrared

We walked along from West Runton to Cromer today. Liked this shot of Peter and Ollie with Cromer in background.

I waited a long while for a van to move from front of the pier - by then the sky had clouded over but still gave an interesting IR shot - all the curved lines took my eye.

I also tried a lower viewpoint - needs a better monochrome conversion to give more contrast in the sky.

Barn Owls in Norfolk

Today I revisited the site where I saw a barn owl leave the barn yesterday evening. I went a bit earlier and was rewarded by the sight of the owl leaving the barn as I approached.

When I was there yesterday I went into the barn and saw the nesting box up in the eaves. I was aware that there were still noises coming from near it but thought at the time it was rats. Today I decided to have another look at the box and photograph it. Just as I raised my camera a second owl came out of the box . I didn't have a fast enough shutterspeed for a clear photo but was thrilled to see it so close. I left quickly, sat a little way away and the owls returned to the area.

September Summer Day at Wells

It was more like July than end of September in Norfolk today. A view of the beach at Wells-next-the-Sea. Another image for my Sky Reflects the Land series

We took Ollie for is first real taste of the sea and met up with Ruby and Millie (and El)

Peter and Ollie in Norfolk

Peter and his greyhound outside holiday cottage at Plumstead Green near Holt Norfolk.

Wuthering Heights

One of the colour infrared images taken at the CCC portrait shoot at Madingley Hall on Sunday.

It made me think of Kathy haunting Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights - too many late nights this week I think.

Predatory shieldbug

An image from our trip to Wicken Fen yesterday - oh if only it was all in focus - this shieldbug predates caterpillars - it carried this one around with amazing strength as it must have weighed much more than it.

100 macro lens

This image was more satisfactory as the shieldbug was still and all in the same plane of focus so could use F16 but still some of legs out of focus.

The spider spinning its web was taken with a ringflash with the camera set to Manual (200th f32) and hence a better depth of field.

Looking Up

A couple of pictures from a recent walk around Cambridge looking up at the ceilings in King's Chapel and in the Round Church.

Clair and Paul's wedding

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Happy Birthday

Millie is 8 today having been born on an unforgettable day September 11th 2001.

Here she is enjoying an unusal quiet moment during our morning stroll

Rose

Still testing my Sony for closeup - used the flash on this and surprised that it illuminated even when close to subject. Rose about 10cm diameter.

Windy Sky

The sky at lunchtime today was so striking that I took the camera a couple of hundred metres up our track to get a clearer view.

Infrared really brings out the cloud and vapour trails

Sawfly Larvae

Not an easy subject I have discovered - the larvae are reluctant to extend their tails in the same plane and also swing the tails suddenly just when the shutter is being released.

Macro Pictures with Sony H50

I have acquired via a rewards scheme a Sony DSC-H50, which has an amazing 15X optical zoom and also focuses to 1cm. Today I tested the macro.

For web photos and small prints, it seems very good. There is no RAW facility and fair amount of noise and chromatic aberration so large prints may be out but useful light camera for keeping in the car for those unmissable moments
Thanks to Tricia for an enjoyable morning photographing in her garden and eating breakfast.

Under the Rainbow

Drove back from Berkhampstead yesterday through hail and rain storms but was rewarded by some of the brightest rainbows I have seen for years. The one on the left is illuminating a field just by the M1 near Woburn. Cambourne is at the end of the rainbow on the right.

Play of light,shade and ferns

Some intriguing images from the Well House at Ashridge House. Many thanks to Terry for showing me round the house and especially this wonderful window in the basement of the house. It was lit from a grating at ground level and the play of light and shade as the sun went in and out was awe inspiring. In the first picture the sun is behind clouds so the contrast is low enough to make out all the features of the window frame and the grating outside. As the sun comes out, shapes appear on the window pane

Thethird image shows the maidenhair ferns that are growing under the grating. In the fourth image, the camera has focussed on the dirty glass in the window with soft outlines of the ferns behind.

The last two images show progressively closer images of the light playing on the dusty and cobwebby glass.

A Sculptor's Garden

A couple of images from John McGill's (Sculptor) garden in Toft.

Infrared Images from Cambridge

Definitely weather for Ducks on Friday. Many of the tourists taking punt trips were provided with umbrellas

Very pleased with the Water lily images - looks like an Xray in that you can see through the overlapping leaves.

It is very unpredictable as to what colours are generated by the infrared making the processing stage very interesting.

In the Blink of a Frog's Eye

Just for fun - how a frog keeps his eyes clean

Sign of the Times

Some pictures from a closed-down petrol station in Eversden - great subject for infrared

The Best of the Bunch

I have only just had time to sort through the Red Kite pictures and find the best of the many hundreds I took on the afternoon that we spent at Llandeusant. Mostly I have kept just the sharp images but there are some where the attitude of the bird is unusal and these have stayed (at the moment!)

More images from ICBP

A couple of images of a very acrobatic Lanner Falcon. Most of the birds that the Centre flew were young birds still in training but this Lanner Falcon was an experienced flyer and performed the most amazing acrobatics.

International Centre for Birds of Prey

We called at the International Centre for Birds of Prey on the way back from Wales. It is situated near Newent and has a very extensive collection of raptors. They have a very good record for breeding from their captive birds including a Golden Eagle.

Visit their website (www.icbp.org) to learn more about the Centre.

These two peregrine pictures were taken during one of their flying displays - I love the graphic nature of the images - remind me of the paintings in the Thorburn bird books that I have treasured since I first became interested in bird watching.
The Yellow-billed kite image isn't unfortunately very sharp but I was so amazed by the Concorde impersonation that I have shared it on my blog

Blaenavon

I was expecting the Welsh Valleys to be littered with remnants of the coal and steel industry. In fact, almost all traces of the former industries have been completely erased - the buildings demolished and the slag heaps landscaped into country parks for mountain biking and such like.

In December 2000 UNESCO named the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape as a World Heritage Site for the following reason:

"The area around Blaenavon bears eloquent and exceptional testimony to the pre-eminence of South Wales as the world's major producer of iron and coal in the 19th century. All the necessary elements can be seen, including coal and ore mines, quarries, a primitive railway system, furnaces, the homes of workers, and the social infrastructure of their community."

We visited both the Iron works and the Big Pit coal mine.

Unexpected birds

While visiting Treorchy to photograph the buildings and cemetery, we were amazed to see both a heron and a dipper in the stream alongside the busy main street. The heron took off almost immediately but the dipper continues to move along the bank dipping into the water at regular intervals. It then rested for a time on one leg giving us a chance to photograph it.

Kite in the Sunshine!!

After Monday's rain and poor light, yesterday was perfect for photographing the kites. They also obviously enjoyed the weather as, at one point, there were 20 of them circling overhead in the thermals. This one did an obliging quick fly past just at a distance to be correct in the frame (small crop behind the bird to decentralise it)

Red Kites

Unfortunately the light was very poor for our attempts at photographing the red kites up in the Brecon Beacons and it was raining!

These two were taken at ISO1000 and therefore have a fair amount of colour noise but they do show the wonderful colours and shapes of the birds.

Old and New

This huge oil refinery at Rhoscrowther has been built close to a small village - you can see the very tall church tower (marked with red arrow) completely dominated by the refinery chimneys.

We visited the churchyard - a very peaceful place in spite of the hum of the refinery close by.

Pembroke Dock

We spent Saturday walking around Pembroke Dock - a town waiting to be discovered by the tourists. They are hoping to get a Harry Potter museum set up there as parts of the films were shot in the area. This will certainly bring in the masses but I doubt they will appreciate the stylish Georgian architecture and Naval History from Nelson's time to the Sunderland Flying Boat station in the last war.

Upper picture is Shipwright Inn and Gun Tower Museum.


Lower picture one of the fine Georgian terraces in the Naval Dockyard

Ramsey Island

We visited Ramsey Island yesterday on a perfect sunny day. The island is off St David's Head, Pembrokeshire. It is owned by the RSPB and takes only 40 visitors a day, so we were pleased to be able to get on a landing trip.

We saw several of their 'special' birds including peregrines and choughs.

National Botanic Gardens of Wales

Today we visited the National Botanic Gardens of Wales built in 2000 with the main greenhouse designed by Norman Foster. It is the world's largest single-span glasshouse measuring 110 m long by 60 m wide.

We then went to Pendine Sands, a 7 mile beach of firm sands used to set four world land speed records, including two by Malcolm Campbell.

Kittiwakes at Mumbles

Swansea Waterfront Museum

Three images from Swansea's museum which we visited in the rain yesterday

From wet Wales

Summer ended again yesterday evening and Monday was back to cool wet conditions. We visited Penarth which has a splendid pier and Barry Island which was a bit bleak in the strong winds.

On Sunday, we visited the Newport Transporter Bridge only to find it has been closed for two years and isn't due to repopen till October 2010. It is one of only two such bridges in the UK - the other being in Middlesborough. You can just see the transporter platform going across - the workmen use it to get their supplies to the workshop on the other bank






We then went into Cardiff and walked round Cardiff Bay area - I greatly enjoyed the Senedd building - wonderful architecture and interesting heat and water conservation features in the design.