'Christmas in Cambridge'

There are the usual attractions on Parkers Piece in Cambridge this year though it no longer has the allure of going to the 'North Pole'. I was joined by some of our photography group on Saturday at the Fair and enjoyed trying to capture the lights and excitement (though not the sounds or the smell of the various food outlets)

Unusual Angles in Toft

Motivated by a Camera Club project, I took my Fuji X100V on a walk round Toft taking images from the ground, looking up, looking down etc. For close ups, I attached a 250X close-up filter. 

Swiss Garden at Old Warden

We hadn't visited the Shuttleworth Collection and Swiss garden at Old Warden for several years and so decided on a visit there yesterday, remembering the cafe for an old-fashioned brunch and large areas of wild garden beyond the formal area in the Swiss Garden. Unfortunately the cafe has been modernised and, just our luck, the kitchen was closed. The gardens are still impressive for the tall trees etc but it has all been 'tidied ' up and certainly is no longer the haven it was for insects. These are all I found in a 90 minute visit - the Welsh Chafer (brown beetle) has not been reported on the NBN atlas anywhere in the area so was an interesting find. The strange looking bug is a nymphal stage of the Tree Damsel Fly. Certainly the very hot conditions did not favour an insect hunt except for the Four-Spot Chasers.

Light Painting

Last night, Peter Wood treated us to an evening of his light painting displays. We were inside in a large Hall - not ideal as the light tended to bounce off door frames etc in the background but the polished floor made a great reflective surface to add an extra element without having to find a safe area of shallow water! I start with a Kingfisher as I had seen this on his FlikR site and definitely my favourite (www.flikr.com/photos/hugobia)

Polar Fair in Cambridge

Our second venue for night photography in Cambridge on Sunday was the Polar Fair - very busy generally but found a few quieter spots to record the kaleidoscope of colours and shapes. Last couple moving the camera during Live Composite mode (ie camera is taking 1sec exposure continuously - I don't think it records how many shots)