Santa is Just a Short Sleigh Ride Away

Lakeside is certainly selling Christmas hard with baubles and snowflakes everywhere.My favourite views were in the food hall where cold abstraction and isolation appeared to be the theme. I made a short visit to Lakeside before talking at Thurrock Camera club - thanks for the warm welcome. 

Autumn in Epping Forest

I spent the morning in Epping Forest on Thursday after talking to North Romford CC the night before. A bit of mist around and some beautiful autumn colours

Evening Photography Cambridge

 We stayed in Cambridge after the Botanic Gardens closed and did a bit of night photography. The first three are taken at f8 30sec iso 800 - recommended starting point for taking photos after dark. The others at varying shutterspeeds and apertures though try to keep latter at f22 where there are lights in the images to prevent flare and give starburst effect.

Macro at Cambridge botanic Gardens

We spent most of the day in the greenhouses at Cambridge Botanic Gardens photographing small plants and large leaves. The usual problems of depth of field, trying to get enough of the flower in focus without an intrusive background.

Cat Portraits - George and his Sister from Hindolveston

I stayed overnight at White House Farm (Hindolveston, near Holt), which I can thoroughly recommend for its comfort, great food and Mary's friendly welcome. These are her two cats, brother and sister. George is on the right in all the photos and generally ruled the household. I didn't have any flash with me so the light was very variable in colour and direction - they would make great studio subjects!

Wells at Dusk and Agatha Christie on Cromer Pier

I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Wells-next-Sea showing Julia's classes the best of Lightroom. It was  dusk by the time we finished so a couple of shots of the harbour. I thought it would be good to unwind with an hour on the pier at Cromer, only to discover that they were filming a new Agatha Christie series for TV there so there was no access to the area. The Partners in Crime six-part adventure series stars comic actor David Walliams and Jessica Raine and is due to be shown next year. They were using some incredibly bright lights to illuminate the front of the pier.
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Burwell Fen

We paid an afternoon visit to Burwell Fen as Short-Eared Owls had been reported to have arrived on the Fen. Beautiful clear light complimented the Fenland landscape. The owls stayed too distant for viewing from our end of the Fen but an Egret flew past in the sunset light, a female Reed Bunting perched and lots of Lapwings circled around.

Borrowdale Weekend - More Photos

A few more from the Lake district Weekend. The light was worth putting up with the squally showers to see the rainbows and the light on the hills. Fifth image is the view from my hotel room at sunrise on the Sunday.