Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Life After Death of a Tree

Sometimes trees have to be cut down - a very sad event to see life destroyed but nothing in nature is seemingly wasted. When I looked closely at the stump and logs from one giant that had to be felled to protect power lines at Paxton Pits, it was teaming with life. Here a few slime moulds, fungi and creatures living there - this from a short session before the rain came yesterday afternoon - tentative identifications on the thumbnail sheet. I especially like the simplicity of this slime mould Comatrichia nigra and the incredible camouflage of the Ant Damselbug. (Handheld stacks quickly processed - need a bit of refining when time!!)

Monday, December 23, 2024

Candlelit Carols

This year, the Toft community carol service was held in the church rather than outside and the church was full. I wanted to try and capture the atmosphere when all the candles were lit and the church lighting turned off, using either a longish exposure with wide-open aperture and high ISO or using Olympus Live Composite mode where the image is built up by repeated exposures (second image) and a smaller aperture can be used (first image). The congregation were relatively still in the first image and is my favourite.

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Winter Solstist at Hardwick

 The Winter Solstice at Hardwick Wood was celebrated today with a huge bonfire to clear up all the bramble, hawthorn and other spiky debris that would impede new growth in the coppiced areas. Unfortunately, I had a lunchtime commitment so I had to miss the jacket potatoes, chestnuts etc

Friday, December 20, 2024

Miniature Life in a Log Pile

It has taken a couple of days to process these images taken in one of the log piles in my garden - focus-stacked images with 60mm lens plus 26mm extension rings and natural light. The possible IDs are Trichia varia for the first and Hemitrichia spp for second - I need to photograph older stages to be sure according to expert advice. I like the orange peel surface on the first. The next six are various slime moulds (I think) and then a couple of fungi species (Henningsomyces candidus and ?), , finishing with an incredible spider sac with mesh bag - not yet identified to species but so intricate and colourful. 
 

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Final Venue for Cambridge Night Photography

After our visit to the Fair, we walked via St Andrews Street, Sidney Street and Bridge Street to Magdalene Bridge  and back via Trinity Street etc taking long-exposure/live-composite images. Petty Cury was empty except for one person in a wheel chair and a lot of rubbish bags. Yaseen Uasyf asked for some photos of himself on the bridge.

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

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)