Weston-Super Mare is Being Rebuilt

Would you want a room even for £15 in the hotel above left.

The Pier View Parlour is closed along with the Grand Pier but there is plenty of rebuilding activoity going on in WSM at the moment.

Here is one for my collection of dogs and owners with matching hair colour.

Macro Images from Botanic Gardens

First Migrant Bird arrives

Chiffchaff singing in Toft Wood this morning

- the first migrant that I have heard.

Trials on White Balance

Two images taken inside Great Wilbraham Barn with automatic white balance

Images below are similar views also taken with AWB and then the white balance corrected in Lightroom

The last image is taken with custom white balance by photographing a white card and setting the camera's custom white balance before shooting the scene. Colour rendition looks better but would need further trials. Anyone got comments on theoretical value of the two approaches?

Favourite primrose image

The flowers are just coming out in the west Cambridgeshire woods. These primroses were taken last year with 16mm lens. I am looking forward to repeating with the 15mm fish-eye to compare the image. It involved lying almost in a stream to get below the flowers.

Frog Spawn Appeared overnight

Very complacent frog sitting among newly laid frog spawn.

Primrose and celandine

A couple more spring flowers at their best at the moment

Spring is here

Beautiful sunny day today, so all the coltsfoot are in full bloom on the banks. Strange plant in that it has flowers before the leaves appear.

Millie and Ruby's relatives at Crufts

Red (on left) is Ruby's nephew once removed - definitely a family likeness.

Not know name of the setter on the right but was from Millie's breeder and very like her when she was younger.

Closeup into a thistle rosette

Motion in the Ring

Took a lot of these at Crufts. I like the flow of this one but I guess there should be something sharp. Unfortunately everything is moving in different directions, including the ears, in an Irish Setter

American Cocker Spaniels at Crufts

I want to illustrate the enormous bond that exists in so many cases between owner and dog, even to the matching of hair colour.

Images from Flyball at Crufts

Need a soundtrack to go with these images as the dogs bark continually while waiting their turn over the jumps.

Paddling pool 2

There is a loneliness about paddling pools in winter. No happy splashing and laughter, just discarded rubbish and silence

The Drummer

Taken with rear curtain flash to attempt movement of the drumstick - more or less worked.

1/60th sec f4.0. Manual focusing. Flash set ETTL and rear curtain.