Multiple Exposures in London 1. Dark Mode

I have some hotel bookings that were postponed but not refunded so I am having a couple of nights in the Travlodge in Docklands (2 nights for £29!!). As I had to travel up by train and then walk a fair way to the DLR railway, I only brought my fuji compact with me - a good opportunity to try and understand what the various multiple exposure modes do. Here a set in Dark Mode - probably going to be my favourite. 'love the conjunction of people and objects that results in some of the images

 

August - The In-Between Month

Every year I intend to record our local landscape throughout the year but somehow it lapses. So a new start in a month that passes from summer greens to autumn browns with still some golden fields of awned wheat to be harvested and a field of flax and sunflowers giving the promise of colour to come. For my benefit when I forget, the first three images are taken from the boundary post.

Using Fuji X100V for Nature Images 2.

On today's visit to Royston Heath, I spent more time with the X100V looking at its potential for environmental nature shots. I am pleased with the results on the Chalkhill Blues and Wasp Spider. These are taken at F8 with auto firing of the flash just adding a bit of 'sparkle' to the images. Used at closest focus point, the backgrounds are quite diffuse but pulling back gives a pleasing amount of separation but still detail of the habitat.  

 

Sharpenhoe Early Morning

We made a short early morning visit to Sharpenhoe and enjoyed an hour or so as the insects warmed up. Mostly the Chalkhill blues were feeding but we found one pair already coupled. Lots of Burnet moths emerging from pupae and expanding their wings, a fine yellow spider enjoying a Chalkhill breakfast and a Small White basking on a leaf.

Holly's Allotment

Holly's allotment in Cambridge was looking wonderful last week despite the very dry conditions. It is a mixture of colourful flowers and vegetables all with a structured yet not too formal layout. 

Sharpenhoe Butterflies and Burnet Moths

Weather is never what you want! - last year our RPS Nature Group outing to Sharpenhoe was a literal wash out with 24 hours torrential rain before the day. This year we chose Friday, which turned out to be the hottest day of the year (and third recorded hottest ever in UK). This brought the butterflies out in great numbers but meant we couldn't survive on the chalk slopes much beyond lunch. There was a strong breeze which helped cool us but further complicated the photography. Enough excuses - here are a few captures from the day - mostly Chalkhill blues of which there were 1000s  but also Burnet moth, Speckled Wood, Tortoiseshell and Brimstone. Mixture of straight shots and focus stacks, which unfortunately show defects if focus where the subjects were moving too much in the wind. A following post will show somewhat  better images from Saturday morning.