Ann Miles Photography

Photographing Rugby

2012-01-29T06:45:00.002Z

One of my first attempt at photographing the game with the odd-shaped ball. Not easy as the game alternates between very static scrums, line outs,which need a vertical format, and sudden dashes with the ball. I will certainly give it another go - thanks for inviting me, Chris.

Trip to Wicken

2012-01-27T18:58:00.003Z

It was such a beautiful bright afternoon, I couldn't resist a trip to Wicken for the bird feeders and Burwell Fen for the Owls. The Woodpecker and Goldfinch are from the Roger Clarke Hide. There were still 6 Short-eared Owls in all on Burwell Fen that I counted, one of which flew so close to where I was sat in a ditch that it frightened itself as well as me. This is the first image and it is not cropped!! After that it hunted a bit away from me giving a wary look every time it passed.

Moscow Night Shots

2012-01-26T18:16:00.006Z

I am slowly processing the shots from Moscow. I took a lot of night shots and many of these really come alive with a bit of Lightroom and Viveza magic. These were taken with the G12 and, except for strong birefringence, compare well with the 5D that I used for most shots.

Botanic Reflections

2012-01-25T21:05:00.003Z

A visit to the Botanic Gardens today in very flat lighting produced some interesting patterns in the leaf shapes and the reflected trees in the lake. I could see all manner of faces in the first image - especially for Tricia (I hope the ankle is less painful in the airboot).

Moscow Daily Life

2012-01-24T14:11:00.005Z

A bit of a break as my broadband has been down for a few days. I am continuing to process the Russian trip photos in spare moments. Here are few images of everyday Moscow life - the Metro, cars, trolley buses and buses along with street scenes and shopping.

Monochrome Portrait

2012-01-20T21:39:00.004Z

I don't often post portraits but I am especially pleased with this one of Sadie, which I have converted with Silver Efex.

Monochrome Flowers

2012-01-19T10:54:00.003Z

I am preparing for a talk on art and nature, as part of the RPSPermajet day at the end of the month at Smethwick. Here are a few monochrome conversions of spring flowers which I think work well.

Cambridge Night Photography

2012-01-18T08:25:00.004Z

Club outing to Cambridge last night to practise taking images in full night conditions away from artificial lighting as far as possible. I have colour corrected using the darkest part of the sky and this gives a good representation of the colour of the light sources in the image. My favourite is the last of King's College with a sprinkling of stars.

Frosty Morning

2012-01-16T15:33:00.005Z

A combination of frost and infrared gave some very gentle images - taken on my usual dog circuit round our village in Cambridgeshire.

More from the Moscow Metro

2012-01-15T21:29:00.004Z

Nik Viveza Software

2012-01-13T16:09:00.004Z

Three pairs of images to show the power of Viveza (Nik Software) to put life into backlit subjects or night images. The left image has been processed with Lightroom to get as much as possible into the shadow and highlight areas of the raw images. They were then processed with Viveza and show the strength of the software to adjust difficult images. The final stage will be clone out the street lights in the Church image.

Moscow Metros

2012-01-12T17:22:00.003Z

I took a lot of images in the Moscow Metro as there were no restrictions on photography other than finding space to raise the camera. The trains were generally dark green rather than London's red ones so monochrome conversions don't lose much impact and sort out the colour casts. Each station had its own theme - often with impressive sculptures and paintings. I will post a few more when I have sorted them.

Catkin Time

2012-01-11T14:18:00.005Z

Beautiful sunny day here in Cambridgeshire today - temperature up to 12 degrees. With the very mild start to the year it is not surprising to see hazel catkins in full bloom. Ruby, one of our red setters had to get into the picture in the background. The lichens are developing well in our small woodland plantation - very strident yellow in the sunshine.

Avenues

2012-01-10T15:34:00.005Z

I am gradually sifting through the Russian photographs and will continue to post images as I find ones I like as, at the end of each year, I turn my blog into a book and it is good to have a complete record of my favourite images from trips. Here are some 'Avenue' views that I liked at the time of taking.

London Dusk

2012-01-07T21:02:00.003Z

I have been sorting through some London images from last year as I need an image for an exhibition later this year and decided that three of them had potential for monochrome prints while two of them definitely require colour for impact.

Night Shots

2012-01-06T18:07:00.006Z

I have started processing the images from the Russian trip. Here are a couple of night shots put through Silver Efex. The statues are outside Park Inn where we stayed in St Petersburg. It was snowing very heavily at the time. The tram is also from that city.

Winter Arrives in St Petersburg

2012-01-04T06:08:00.005Z

As you can see, it snowed on our last morning in St Petersburg before flying home. I am looking forward to processing these images fully but I am putting up a selection of them now so as to complete my diary of the trip. A full gallery (or more!) of my favourite images will be put on my website in due course. Most of the images seem to work best in monochrome but there are some colour images around the city ending with a good bye to some very cold pigeons!
A wonderful trip and many thanks to Berni, Anatoli and Anya who showed us the rich heritage of their cities.

Moscow Square

2012-01-04T05:40:00.006Z

Moscow Square is at the end of Moscow avenue, the longest in the city (9km long). It was built in the southern suburbs of Saint-Petersburg in the 1950s. At the rear of the square is the impressive building that housed the Soviet of Leningrad. In the centre of the square is a statue of Lenin, dubbed "Lenin dancing." In the area there are many very well-built accommodation buildings from the Soviet time when profits did not govern the rules of construction.

At the end of the avenue is the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. This powerful and impressive monument was built as the focal point of Ploshchad Pobedy (Victory Square) in the early 1970s to commemorate the heroic efforts of the residents of Leningrad and the soldiers on the Leningrad Front to the repel the Nazis in the 900-day Siege of Leningrad during World War II. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, which was dedicated to the city of Leningrad and was completed on 27 December 1941, is played as a musical testament to the 25 million Soviet citizens who lost their lives in World War II due to the German invasion.

I took a brief walk in the icy winds to the beach at the back of the Park Inn Hotel. A bleak place in winter looking out over the Gulf of Finland.

Catherine's Palace

2012-01-02T18:55:00.004Z

My original plan was to find a trip that included the Peterhof Palace and Gardens but it seems that these are not visited by groups in the winter. However, Catherine's Palace at Pushkin provided many of the images that I had in my mind when thinking about a trip to Russia. There was enough snow and the grey skies were perfect. These images are straight from the camera - there are quite a few metal statue coverings that I think I will remove but these images will give an idea of the beauty of the lake and gardens.

Three Architectural Icons.

2012-01-02T16:58:00.006Z

The Peter and Paul Fortress, built by Peter the Great in 1703, is the oldest landmark in St. Petersburg. The needle-like spire of the cathedral rising from the bell tower of Peter and Paul reaches a height of 404 feet. Inside the cathedral are the extravagant tombs of almost all the Russian rulers since Peter the Great and a very ornate ceiling.

Smolny Convent of the Resurrection (Voskresensky) consists of a cathedral and a complex of buildings surrounding it, originally intended for a convent. It is considered to be one of the architectural masterpieces of the Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who also redesigned the Winter Palace and created the Grand Catherine Palace in Pushkin, both of which we are due to visit.
The Singer building is a seven-storey building, built in modern style (1902-1904) for "Singer" manufacturing company.

St Petersburg at Sunset

2012-01-02T14:04:00.003Z

I spent two 'evenings' in the City as the light faded. The first two shots are of Nevskiy Avenue showing the Christmas lights and the Kazan Cathedral.

The Church of Saviour on the Blood reflects in the Griboyedova Canal.

The next evening I concentrated on the view up the Bolshaya Neva, of the embankment buildings on Vasilyevskiy Island and of Dvortsovyy Bridge.

Park Inn at Dawn

2012-01-02T13:45:00.003Z

A couple of images of the Hotel that we are using in St Petersburg. It is enormous (1,200 rooms) and very characterless but comfy and quiet enough. Dawn is not till 10.30 am so it is not difficult to be out before the sun comes up.

Golden St Petersburg

2012-01-02T05:00:00.005Z

Yesterday afternoon, the city was bathed in golden light during our visit. Two of the images were taken along the river showing the skyline. The domes of the Saviour Church next to the smoke from the power station and the new glass building next to the historic Battle Cruiser Arora show the contrast of old and new in the city. The dome of St Isaac Cathedral can be seen both far and near in the next two images. Finally a view along one of the many canals.

Smolenskoye Cemetery

2012-01-01T19:34:00.004Z

I visited the Smolenskoye Cemetery on a frosty New Year's Day. It rivals our Highgate Cemetery for atmosphere being mainly unmaintained and showing damage from the Soviet era. Up to 800,000 people are estimated to have been interred at Smolensky Cemetery before the Russian Revolution, making it the largest 19th-century cemetery of St. Petersburg.
The cemetery is the traditional burial place for academics from St. Petersburg University, actors, writers and artists. I am looking forward to processing these with Silver Effex and getting the best out of the files.

Snow Shower in St Petersburg

2012-01-01T17:48:00.003Z

I was so excited when it started to snow while I was in Palace Square - only an occasional shower was forecast and that is what we got. However, I couldn't have been in a better place for the snow.
It didn't stay around on the city as it was followed by light drizzle. I took the opportunity to look round an outside art gallery at pictures of St Petersburg in a 'normal' winter.

St Petersburg - Romantic City

2012-01-01T05:36:00.004Z

As you can see, my main reason for the trip, to photograph St Petersburg in the snow, has failed but it is still a beautiful city even on a grey overcast day. Romance is everywhere - both in the architecture and with the many bridal couples around the city. They have a civil marriage (maybe also a religious service) and then they take to the streets visiting all the main sites in the city's history for photos. At some stage they attach a padlock to a bridge (or tree in Moscow) and throw the key into the river so their union cannot be broken (well that is the theory).

Last Morning in Moscow

2011-12-31T16:59:00.003Z

A very grey day for the visit to the Kremlin so we did not see it at its best. The first two are for Tricia - yes they still goose step when changing the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I liked the contrast of the modern building and the traditional onion domes.

Gorky Park Moscow

2011-12-31T16:24:00.003Z

Two of the dozens of snowmen in Gorky Park - they run snow machines to create enough snow when nature doesn't oblige. They also have the strange habit of putting leg warmers on their lamp standards and tree trunks. But, of course, what I enjoyed most was the huge ice skating rink and trails. I took a great many shots so expect to see one or two more when I can sort them on a larger screen.

Novodevichy Convent

2011-12-30T20:00:00.003Z

The Convent with all its gold leaf and coloured brickwork looked great on a sunny crisp morning.

Moscow Metro

2011-12-30T13:24:00.005Z

The underground system in Moscow is amazing - the trains run every minute so there is no waiting for the next train. Many of the stations are exhibition halls for painting sculpture and mosaics. There are also no restrictions on taking photos. I am sure, except for the crowds around at times, I could have used a tripod. Here are four different stations showing the variety of lamps and pillar construction.

Night Tour of Moscow

2011-12-29T19:39:00.004Z

The first image was taken as the sun went down and the lights came on along the facade of the splendid GUM department store. Great shame about the ice rink constructed in front of GUM.
The other images were taken during a night tour of the city. The obelisk is in Victory Park and commemorates Russia's limited successes in battles. The crescent moon completed the scene.
We then went to the lake in front of Novodevichy Convent - said to be where Tschaikovsky got inspiration for Swan Lake. True or not we toasted him with Vodka - any excuse does!!!
The final stop was back in Red Square

2011-12-29T19:25:00.003Z

A few more images from yesterday. First some more of those terracotta and yellow walls specially for Tricia - haven't had the falling snow yet but still hoping. The second is a panorama of the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre.
I spent the afternoon on Sparrow Hill doing my favourite thing - people watching. I don't have any efficient manipulation software so there is a bit of work to do on the lamp posts etc.
The final image is for my doggy friends - human and other - I am afraid that I can't translate so have no idea how to potty train a dog.

From Red Square area

2011-12-28T16:17:00.002Z

Hectic schedule today so not much time to write but here a few images to be going on with.

Greetings from Moscow

2011-12-27T18:20:00.005Z

Well made it to Moscow - in fact the flight went very smoothly arrangement-wise (though actually quite a lot of turbulence) as we had a tail wind and arrived about 40 mins ahead of schedule. However, the coach drive to the hotel took almost as long - two and a half hours - as the guide said, the M25 is not the only motorway car park. There is still snow on the ground but it is now unseasonably warm and raining - just my luck when I've come for snowy images.

The next two images are from my 8th floor hotel bedroom - will enjoy photography from up here at dawn and dusk.

Essence of Christmas

2011-12-25T19:20:00.002Z

Couldn't resist posting one image of my grandaughter Sadie full of the excitment of Christmas Day.

Greetings to all

2011-12-25T08:04:00.003Z

Taken from our sitting room window - up to a dozen goldfinches have been visiting us this week - so glad I didn't remove any of the teasel seedlings this year. The equivalent time last year and the goldfinches were struggling to find the seed heads.

Cambridge at Dusk

2011-12-23T07:31:00.005Z

Testing out the G12 for evening photography before heading for northern parts after Christmas - seems to do a very good job at ISO 400 the noise is reasonable (1/60 2.8) and it gives good balance of daylight and artificial light (no colour correction applied)

Night Images from Yarmouth

2011-12-21T10:53:00.005Z

We took a walk into Yarmouth from our B & B on Saturday and I took the opportunity to do a bit of night photography.
The first two images were taken with long exposures (30 secs and 60 secs f10 ISO 500) when it was completely dark - always a surprise as to what can be captured by the camera and not seen by the eye. The other two were taken on the brightly lit promenade (2 secs f22 ISO 500). Best converted to monochrome to make the most of the high contrast conditions.

Rough Seas and Surfer

2011-12-19T18:32:00.005Z

More images from the weekend in Norfolk. First four from Happisburgh and last one of surfer having fun at Sea Palling.

Rough Seas and Sunshine

2011-12-18T19:34:00.004Z

It was a bright clear morning and a rough very high tide at Happisburgh. Hail stones on the beach added to the texture to the sand.

Seals at Horsey

2011-12-17T21:53:00.003Z

There are around 400 Grey Seal pups on the beach at Horsey - all ages but all unbearably cute.

Cambridge Winter Light

2011-12-14T20:57:00.003Z

Beautiful winter light in Cambridge today - the low angle of the sun is just right to illuminate Trinity College and the interior and exterior of Kings.

Fenland Skies

2011-12-10T07:48:00.005Z

Amazing skies yesterday afternoon from blue with characterful clouds to golden storm clouds, finishing with a full moon large on the horizon. Reflection colours and shapes caught my eye. A couple of owls hunting but not a lot of activity but couldn't resist the montage.

As the Light Fades

2011-12-06T08:38:00.003Z

I stopped off on the way to Abington Club last night and took a few shots as the light faded. All shots are hand held as I didn't want to use a tripod in the town. The Mosque roof made an interesting foil to the moon and street light. It is right next door to a pub which had obviously seen a bit of trouble. The first two street shots below were taken while there was sufficient light to be able to balance natural and artifical light.
For the last shot where the natural light had gone, I closed up the aperture to F22 to prevent burn out on the lights and worked at maximum ISO (6400). I am impressed what a good job the noise reduction in the raw converter has done.

Remarkable December

2011-12-02T20:23:00.004Z

Three images from Grantchester and a couple from Cambridge taken in December but looking more like October with the leaves still on the willows and the grass very green.

Yet More Owls

2011-11-30T21:16:00.005Z

I think this might be becoming an obsession - another trip to view the Short-eared Owls. This time the light went quite quickly but gave some attractive dusk shots.

Owls at Sunset II

2011-11-27T20:23:00.003Z

Three images taken as the sun went down and a collage of a squabble between two owls.

Owls at Sunset I

2011-11-27T20:01:00.007Z

Once the wind dropped this afternoon, we went over to see if the Short-eared Owls would be flying and were rewarded with views of maybe up to 10 birds quartering the various parts of the Fen.

Windy Wicken

2011-11-27T08:57:00.003Z

Very windy at the Fen yesterday - only one owl took to the air but it had such unusual light plumage that I have posted it anyway.

A Town Near You

2011-11-24T19:47:00.002Z

Typical scenes from any town in England today. The poster in the first image sums it up - 'Will today be Your Lucky Day?' I didn't want to get too close to the guard dog in the last picture.

Brandon Marsh

2011-11-22T17:39:00.004Z

I took a trip to Brandon Marsh near Coventry today in between lectures in Droitwich and Redditch. It was very dull light but suited the Cormorant and flight of Shovellers. A Kingfisher had been seen fairly regularly at one of the hides so I sat waiting for an hour or so. just as I thought I would give up it arrived and posed for photographs from all sides as well as a yawn or two, I missed the flight towards me however.

Short-eared Owls

2011-11-19T19:33:00.006Z

Phil and I dusted off our long lenses and took a trip to Burwell Fen to look for the Short-eared Owl invasion that had been well publicised on the Bird internet sites. Sure enough we managed to see at least five different individuals; maybe more. The birds were all very different in coloration; I don't know if this relates to their breeding area as these birds have probably come here from a variety of summer habitats.They each seemed to hold a territory for hunting - two spent a lot of time squabbling or maybe just playing with each other and with some crows. The first shot shows Wicken Fen windpump in the background to give the location.

Santon Downham and Brandon

2011-11-13T21:06:00.003Z

We visited Santon Downham St Helens area and Brandon Country Park on a beautiful warm Autumn day today. The beech trees still had their leaves and there were lots of spiders' webs strung between the branches. Not sure of about the woolly grey one but the Yellow spikes are the Yellow Stags Horn, the purple one, the Amethyst Deceiver, and the large balls are Earth Balls.

Very small toadstools

2011-11-12T23:18:00.004Z

As it had rained this week, we went to Gamlingay Wood in search of toadstools. The only ones we found were very small indeed which tested the macro facilities on our Lumix and G12 compact cameras.

Saturday's Wedding

2011-11-08T23:23:00.005Z

Well it didn't rain on Saturday for the wedding and the dull light was good for photography and showed off the autumn colours. It wasn't as warm as it had been but the ceremony was held outside.

Fingers Crossed Please

2011-11-04T21:11:00.003Z

It is my daughters' wedding tomorrow at a lovely outdoor venue so fingers crossed that the forecast rain stays away long enough for the ceremony and a few photos (yes - I am doing the photography!).

Senedd building Cardiff Bay

2011-11-03T22:29:00.004Z

I took the train to Cardiff Bay from Rhiwbina station, which is close to the Travelodge in Whitchurch. It was only £2.05 there and back including a stop off in Cardiff City Centre.

It is two and half years since I visited the Senedd building. The main public building of the National Assembly is an open building into which you can walk, have a cup of coffee in the Oriel on the upper level, and go into the public galleries from the Neuadd on the centre level. It is a sustainable building, built of traditional Welsh materials such as slate and Welsh oak. It is also sustainable in the way it is heated; for example, the earth exchange system uses heat from the bottom of the old dock, on which the Senedd stands, before it became the area which is now Cardiff Bay. The large funnel recirculates the air in the building.

Autumn Colours

2011-11-02T18:15:00.002Z

Called in at Westonbirt Arboretum on the way to Cardiff to lecture for next two evenings. Proved to be exactly the right time for the maple colours. The light was pretty poor but didn't detract from the wonderful reds and oranges.

CCC Exhibition

2011-11-01T21:58:00.003Z

Two reasons why no blog posts since Saturday - 1) I have been helping put up and steward Cambridge Camera Club's Annual Exhibition in the Guildhall in Cambridge and 2) Sadie is now very keen to stay on two not four feet and can therefore reach all kinds of new things. She really enjoyed the Exhibition - just needs the prints a bit lower next year.

2011-10-29T22:47:00.005+01:00

Some monochrome images from an afternoon on Dungeness Beach. I intend to redo the conversions with Silver Effex at some stage but hope these give the feel of desertion and loneliness of the place.

Olympic City

2011-10-28T21:41:00.005+01:00

We visited the Olympic City site on an amazingly warm day for late October. In fact, today they completed the Orbit by Anish Kapoor but we had left before they lifted the last curved piece onto the top. The Stadium looked great with a foreground of cosmos flowers.

To contrast with these images taken from the viewpoint near Pudding Lane, the following show some of the security surrounding the buildings viewed at lower levels.

Ironbridge

2011-10-26T08:23:00.003+01:00

We visited Ironbridge Blists Hill on our way back from north Wales. As I had been fairly recently (August 27th blog), decided to concentrate on one area. The Ironworks is an 1815 cast-iron framed smithy building from the Woolwich dockyard (my homeland), whilst the machinery and furnaces housed are from Walmsley’s Atlas works in Bolton. I am still working through the images but here are five to show the colours and the shapes that occupied me for my time there.

Saturday at New Brighton

2011-10-24T18:33:00.005+01:00

We were so chuffed with our 4th place at the PAGB Interclub print finals on Saturday that we found the energy to spend the twilight hour at New Brighton, photographing the lighthouse. These show the change in the colour as it went to full night conditions. The final shot was lit by car headlight, hence the white light.

Friday at West Kirby

2011-10-23T22:37:00.004+01:00

I had no internet access at weekend so a bit of a backlog. Here a few dramatic skyscapes from Friday when we broke our journey to Connah's Quay at West Kirby on the Wirral for an hour or so at dusk. I was amused to meet Dennis Healey - or anyway his eyebrows - on the walkway.

Autumn mists

2011-10-18T15:26:00.001+01:00

Back in Cambridge and enjoying the autumn sunrises and misty cobwebs.

Aberdare

2011-10-15T19:50:00.007+01:00

Went for a walk around the Dare Valley Park, Aberdare, previously the site of several coal mines including Bwllfa Colliery. The river has been diverted to form a large lake and the various coal tips landscaped. I enjoyed the trees, water and ferns.

Newport Wetlands Centre

2011-10-14T18:07:00.003+01:00

Visited Newport Wetlands Centre, which is run by the RSPB, in the company of Steph who I reckon I haven't seen for about 20 years but didn't look any different. It is a very large area of reed beds under the shadow of the Severn Power Station. There were several Cetti's Warblers singing but not a lot of birds to see as the tide was low. Still many butterflies on the wing in the warm sunshine. We also disturbed a grass snake - as I didn't have a suitable macro lens, tried the fush eye and quite pleased to have captured snake, Steph and her delightful dog.

Modern Liverpool

2011-10-12T23:19:00.003+01:00

I am in Bath at the RPS and haven't had a chance to take camera out of the bag so decided to do a new web gallery on my main website of monochrome Liverpool images. Here are a couple of the 20 images that I particularly like.

Infrared Cambridge

2011-10-09T19:40:00.003+01:00

A few images taken in Cambridge with the IR camera on Wednesday . The first two in Kings College showing the delicate tones that are possible. I liked the reflection of the organist in the mirror in Clare College Chapel - thanks Peter for the idea. The last two show the two extremes of tones - St John's gates where the background foliage has been rendered very pale with the wrought iron standing out well (a bit of mirror imaging here to give a simpler composition). The spiral stairase in St Johns has been rendered with very rich tones in infrared.

Farewell to Guernsey

2011-10-04T08:48:00.006+01:00

Just a few final pictures from Guernsey as I said goodbye yesterday. Many thanks to Jan and David for making me so welcome in their lovely home and looking after me so well. The first image shows the view that greeted me each morning
from the main room on the left where we breakfasted etc.

We had a quick trip to Jerbourg Point and photographed a lot of water with beautiful turquoise hue, a few yachts and views of Herm.
The flight back with final view of Fort Grey, Rocquaine Bay and Lihou Island, familiar from our daily trip along the coast to St Peter Port.

Thanks again to Jan and all the Spectrum and Prism Photographic Club members (and others) that made me so welcome.

Also a very big thank you to David for sharing his home with me.

Pastel Sunset

2011-10-03T06:40:00.003+01:00

I spent an hour or so enjoying a perfectly calm clear evening at Portelet. The colours produced as the light faded were all subtle pastel shades until the final glow lit the sands with a fiery red.

Saturday in Guernsey

2011-10-02T07:31:00.005+01:00

A free day with just a lecture in the evening so time for a walk along the coast from Portelet. Spent a bit of time photographing the sea. Though it was very calm using the 8 neutral density filter allowed a slow enough shutterspeed to give a bit of movement to the water. Then had a go at the myriad of bees on the ivy and, later in the day, a great green bush cricket (thanks Godfray for the correct identification) on a knipofia.

Lowlight Photography

2011-10-01T06:42:00.005+01:00

We did a lowlight workshop in St Sampson harbour yesterday on a wonderful warm evening. The first two are of the harbour facing the two directions to show the spectrum of colours.

As the sky and land balanced in light tones, I concentrated on the cranes using a 15mm and then 24mm lens.

We moved to a completely dark harbour, which proved quite a challenge. We were amazed that the planet Jupiter was bright enough to produce shine on the water and the myriad of stars. The final picture was taken at the Cup and Saucer - Jan's suggestion of using the railings has really worked - thanks.

Parasol

2011-09-29T08:44:00.001+01:00

Parasol mushroom on cliffs in Guernsey at sunset

Guernsey Workshop Week 1

2011-09-28T07:37:00.003+01:00

Arrived safely in Guernsey via Stansted so exchanged the cool blues and metallic silvers for most beautiful golden sunset on out way to Spectrum Photographic group for their meeting.

Yarmouth Folk

2011-09-21T22:07:00.002+01:00

You are getting Yarmouth in instalments as I am still processing the images from the weekend and I am busy writing course notes for my trip to Guernsey next week. Yarmouth was a busy place with a bowls festival in full swing, lots going on on the Pier though the beach was none too busy. Perhaps the quartet all dressed up for the wind explained why.

Mecca Bingo Yarmouth

2011-09-18T21:17:00.004+01:00

Another of the buildings that we visited last week during Heritage weekend. Designed by Francis Burdett Ward, the Regent Theatre in Great Yarmouth opened on 26 December 1914. It was from the outset made for theatre and cinema use. The auditorium is decorated in Louis XVI style. The last movie shown was Blade Runner in September 1982. The theatre is now used and operated as Mecca Bingo. The main auditorium is beautifully maintained but downstairs in the old kitchens, things are decidedly sad and neglected. These feelings seemed to be echoed in the old lady waiting for the Bingo to start in over an hour's time.

Rainbow, Full Moon and Beach Huts

2011-09-12T07:22:00.003+01:00

A sequence of images from a late afternoon visit to those Beach Huts. Beauriful sunny scene when we arrived and then the storm clouds came. End of Pier image has no HDR processing - the clouds reminded me of the images of hurricanes approaching in USA. No rain came until after a visit to the Fishing huts and then only enough to give a rainbow over the Beach Huts. To finish the unreal scene, a full moon was present just above the horizon - you can just see it in the centre of the bow.
The clouds disappeared and the moon gave lovely lighting on the water.

Gorlestone Pavilion

2011-09-11T08:07:00.004+01:00

One of the Open Heritage buildings is the Gorlestone Pavilion, a Victorian Theatre. It is still operating as a traditional theatre of the time with separate tables and flags to wave for drinks etc.
Much of the backstage parts of the building are in desparate need of restoration and the building has just been given charitable status so can start applying for grants etc.

2011-09-09T22:12:00.007+01:00

Visited Norwich today and got carried away with various chairs. It is Open Heritage weekend so quite a lot of private buildings were open.

And finally one of the many racing wheelchairs in the streets of Norwich.

Wedding Venue

2011-09-04T21:05:00.003+01:00

This blog is fast becoming weekly rather than daily as intended but hope to put that right once the Cambridge Camera Club is underway for this season and The London Salon has been put to bed for a couple of months - being Secretary of two organisations is not a good idea.
A few images from the Geat Barn, Little Bradley (near Haverhill), venue for Claire and Tom's reception on Saturday. Beautiful day and a lovely place to take the wedding photographs. Lots of nooks and crannies, flowers, trees and seats - even room for a game of bowls. The barn itself is light and spacious. The evening was warm enough for people to spill out onto the lawn after the meal.

Blist's Hill

2011-08-27T20:55:00.004+01:00

I last visited Blist's Hill about fifteen years ago and took a series of infrared images so I was keen to try the same viewpoints with my digital infrared. The trees have grown a lot over the years and a whole restored Victorian town has arrived but I managed most of the views (I will post one of the original images when back from our trip).
The original mine produced coal, clay and iron ore - the coal was converted to coke, which fuelled the blast furnaces and the clay was used to make bricks to line the furnaces. Only limestone was brought in from outside the site.

Tale of Two Piers

2011-08-26T22:21:00.005+01:00

Yesterday evening we made a short visit to Llandudno and walked out on the well preserved Victorian pier as the sun was going down giving great skies.

This morning we took a stroll through Colwyn Bay town down to the Pier - a sorry sight as it has been empty for many years now as the owner went bankrupt. Hopefully they will restore it before it completely collapses.

On the Beach at Prestatyn

2011-08-26T07:30:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to Margaret and Helfin for entertaining us to lunch and then to Margaret for sharing her favourite beach. Right on cue storm clouds arrived giving some great lighting on the lighthouse. Above image appropriately for those who know Margaret is 'Boy and his Dragon' taken with the fish-eye lens.
The sky was ready-made for infrared so a few more beach images including some very attractive Sea Holly.

Museum of Liverpool

2011-08-24T22:32:00.002+01:00

Fantastic staircase in this new museum.

A tribute to Liverpool folk.

2011-08-24T21:43:00.002+01:00

Infrared Photography Liverpool

2011-08-23T21:23:00.004+01:00

Fort Rock Perch in New Brighton was built in the Napoleonic period to protect the port of Liverpool. It was used in both wars and now houses an amazing collection of items. There are great views of the Lighthouse.

In the afternoon we took a cruise on the Mersey from Seacombe with the Mersey ventilation chimneys. Beautiful skies for infrared photography.

Liverpool's new waterfront

2011-08-23T09:30:00.005+01:00

We took the bus into Liverpool today and explored most of the city on foot! Here are a few pictures from the Pierhead area of the waterfront showing the new Museum of Liverpool and the various apartment blocks completely overshadowing the Liver Building.

Scenes from the Wirral

2011-08-21T22:37:00.002+01:00

The weather at West Kirby was very windy with rain clouds being brought in frequently but by the afternoon at New Brighton it had cleared to give a fine afternoon.
The Travelodge at New Brighton is right on the Promenade and we have a fine view of the lighthouse and Liverpool Docks from our secong floor room. Walking further round towards Birkenhead gave us views that made us realise how much the skyline of Liverpool has changed.

Yellow Horned Poppy and Chicory

2011-08-20T20:11:00.000+01:00

Yellow and Grey at Duxford

2011-08-16T19:29:00.003+01:00

Rather a long gap since my last entry - I have been busy putting together a Blurb book of flower and landscape images from my eight trips to Wengen in Switzerland. This is finished at last and so time for an outing. We visited Duxford Air Museum as Phil always enjoys the airplanes and I was happy to have a go at the yellow and grey decor.

Bletchley Park

2011-08-07T06:55:00.003+01:00

It is probably 2 years since our last visit to Bletchley Park and, as expected, the huts are deteriorating quite fast. The wooden huts above are part of the museum displays but the brick buildings are at the moment leased by a commercial company and are obviously not maintained. Great excuse for a bit of infrared photography. I have a new Gallery on my Website if you want to see more images.

The Luck of the Draw

2011-08-06T07:45:00.003+01:00

Well today was beautiful light, but - guess what - the tide proved to be not quite high enough to drive the waders off the mud so today we had to settle for single birds (Ringed Plover, Knot and Turnstone) and one small flock of Dunlin.

Waders on the Wash

2011-08-04T18:40:00.008+01:00

I would put this as one of the hundred things to do before....... The sound and sight of flocks of thousands of waders passing overhead is amazing.

The rain stayed away more or less for the early morning so we got our time with the thousands of Knot, Dunlin and Oystercatchers that had been driven off the wash mudflats onto the shingle banks by the very high tide.
I tried all combinations of shutterspeed, aperture and ISO and am still not sure I got quite what I wanted so will return tomorrow and hope the tide is high enough to drive the waders off the Wash.

Eye Green Peterborough

2011-08-03T19:02:00.002+01:00

We arrived at the Travelodge in Eye Green in the middle of a very heavy thunderstorm so had to wait for 30 mins for the rain to ease off enough to get out of the car and wade to the lodge entrance. Once the storm had passed we took a walk round the local Nature Reserve. Lots of wet pictures.The hawthorn berries made an interesting subject for monochrome conversion using either maximum or minimum red channel

Sunshine in London

2011-08-01T19:05:00.002+01:00

Saturday was a bright sunny day in London - very contrasty light even at 5 o'clock when I was crossing Trafalgar Square on the way to the station. The tourists in the square are very different to even five years ago in that they now spend much of the time huddled in threes, pairs or singles reviewing their camera images rather than feeding the pigeons.

Covent Garden was really quiet when I passed through in the morning in contrast to the crowds in the evening.

London Folks

2011-07-30T06:08:00.004+01:00

Intrigued by this set of people in Trafalgar square - styles of dress, interaction with each other and especially their feet had stories to tell. The Festival Hall and Embankment was taken over by a Vintage Weekend so lots to see and photograph - again the feet took my eye.

Dragonflies (Again!)

2011-07-24T20:39:00.005+01:00

After a week of cool and cloudy days, we were very lucky that the sun shone and the temperature was reasonable for today's RPS Nature Group and CCC visit to Burwash Farm. Each of the six ponds had its patrolling Emperor dragonfly and by the afternoon there were quite a few laying females. I used manual focusing as the constant ripples and movement of the foliage prevented the autofocus picking up the moving dragonflies. I was surprised to find in one of the shots, the Emperor Dragonfly was doing a roll of victory as it passed me.
By the afternoon there were plenty of Common, Azure and Blue-tailed Damselflies.

Enjoying Grantchester

2011-07-22T21:44:00.002+01:00

A few images taken around Grantchester Meadows with the infrared camera

Story of a Fox

2011-07-20T07:37:00.003+01:00

I have been starting to sort through my Swiss holiday images and thought I would record the tale of the Fox as a lesson on keeping your longest lens on the camera when walking. I had been photographing flowers and was in a bit of a hurry to get the train back to Wengen so did not change to longer lens. Round the corner comes this bold fox carrying a discarded sandwich so the first shot was with the 50mm (fortunately not the 24mm). He came pretty close so a reasonable shot was had before he headed off into the rocks on the left. As I had a hard-boiled egg left over from lunch (dyed an orange colour!), I threw this for him as delaying tactics while I changed lenses. It worked and with my 70-200 mm I was able to get closer photos as he buried the egg and then went back to retrieve more discarded lunch.