Leaves & Flowers at Stockwood

Having not taken any photographs for a while and now, almost over an intransigent cough, cold and conjunctivitis, I felt a trip to the Discovery Centre coming on. The near certainty of it being crowded by half-term hordes of children was only to be expected, but considering that it was not even sunny and warm, even I was surprised at just how full it was.

There were less blooms than I had imagined, but there was at least a good number of bees, though I heard none of the buzz because of the high ambient noise and the not infrequent passing of landing aircraft passing directly overhead.

Although sunlight does bring both flowers and leaves to life, flat lighting does offer quite good saturation of colour, so the gallery of images fortunately do not disappoint, so I was able to make the best of my time there, especially as leaves are at their freshest.

Clerkenwell Design Week 2014

Since my meeting up with fellow photographer Geoff Dann was going to be late morning, I decided to visit my erstwhile working partners at the Colour Company before visiting various showrooms taking part in the Clerkenwell Design Week. Since it is some time since John and Annie Swift and I had met, we spent much longer catching up than I had planned, resulting in less time spent visiting the various venues, but I had no regrets. It also meant I would try to catch a few moments with another former colleague Steve Warner on the far side of Clerkenwell.

It was good to see the area buzzing with activity as numerous visitors thronged the streets of an area I have always considered to be the working centre of London. I have considerable affection for the area having spent a goodly proportion of my working life treading the local pavements, and it is good to see just how much the area is welcoming change. It used to be home to numerous photographers, graphic designers, printers and small advertising agencies, most of those I knew well have left, but their spirit lives on.

I visited and was made welcome in all the showrooms I, and later Geoff, visited. We broke for a snack lunch alfresco in Clerkenwell Green and discussing what we had seen and reminiscing. After our repast, we headed for Sans Walk so I could introduce Geoff to Steve Warner. On arrival we met Mark who shares this bijou workspace, and despite my having no recollection of meeting Mark, his memory was far greater than mine and was able to recall that we had met and he was able convincingly to prove it: he knew of my interest in motor racing and my knowledge of Photoshop, so advancing years are having a greater effect on me than I had thought! Both Steve and Mark showed us some of their recent impressive work, resulting in even less time being spent on touring locations connected to CDW 2014, but we assured them both we were headed for the dungeons of the House of Correction with its underground catacombs of cells, now given over to artists, craftsmen and women and their exhibits.

Whereas above ground in the various showrooms and outside I was shooting at ISO levels from 200-400, down here I was handholding shots as low as 1/6th of a second at 256000 ISO! Both Geoff and I recollect the days of film, when such shots could only be undertaken using a tripod and heavy lighting gear with its attendant loss of atmosphere and spontaneity, and a lengthy delay before seeing the results of our labours!

We had also earlier paid a return visit to Zaha Hadid’s gallery and one particular installation still held and enduring fascination as it yielded new viewpoints, and it was interesting to note they had brought down some of their historic models and concepts and placed them on open display where last year they had been in a secure area only available to the fortunate few.

Altogether the day was once again a success and was full of interesting encounters.

I hope the gallery of images gives as much pleasure to those viewing as it gave me capturing them.

Bamville Away to Ley Hill at Amersham

Peter Carr had mentioned that Bamville Cricket Club were to play away at Amersham on the Saturday, and as I had missed their first match which had been a winner for them, I made a concerted effort to try to attend this match. Fortunately Peter’s  pessimistic message that they were not fielding a strong team of members, but a series of friends and friends of friends did not reach me till I arrived at the venue, as had I received it before setting off I might have given it a miss.

However, the team was strong, and the ground much larger than Bamville’s own, and largely level at the boundary. The weather was favourable but variable, sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy, but bright. I had brought two different lenses and a 1.4 converter which was fortuitous as the distance to the creases was much farther than Bamville’s and I learned that there was more than one snag with using the converter with my 100-400mm lens; I was aware of the vignetting, but had forgotten that the autofocus was limited to a single central spot, so when using AI Servo placing my subject at edges was not on, so composition was often compromised.

What also did not help is either my EOS 7D or my 300mm lens was suffering a glitch, so I have to find the time to investigate further and more than likely pay a visit to Canon’s workshop sometime soon, and dip into savings!

I spent time at different spots around the boundary trying to meet Peter’s desire for me to concentrate on shooting their team’s batsmen when they were in, and their bowlers and fielders when the Ley Hill team were batting, I had to resist the temptation to choose what I felt was more interesting at any one moment in time. I had very little chance of catching bails in the air at the distance I was away from the action as that was not really practical which was a shame.

I must be a handy mascot as Bamville won, so maybe I’ll be invited again! We spent a short time downing a drink at the Eagle which was literally a bridge across a stream from the far boundary, before we both went our separate ways back home.

One sequence I shot I have made into a short animated GIF for fun. I have since learned the name of the bowler featured is Nigel Quinton. I hope it is enjoyed.

Brogborough Lake – Saturday in May

A second bite at the cherry, though once again I am not arriving at the beginning of the show; I arrive at around midday, and the weather does look more promising, and there are way more windsurfers today. However, I have come with different lenses assuming there to be racing, and yet within moments of arriving at the foreshore, I see the very definite signs that the brisk, and gusty wind is inviting some of the surfers to jump.

Alerted to the colour of the sail to watch I keep him/her in my sights (at this distance working out whether male or female is not possible without prior knowledge). One thing is certain from my previous visits to this club, is there are girls aplenty that have taken to this sport and there is no shortage of talent amongst their number.

For those who do not know this venue and are interested in taking up windsurfing, I can highly recommend you take a look at what they offer, everyone is welcoming and friendly, and the new managers Emma and Sam Barnes would be happy to hear from you.

It turned out that I was able to follow several surfers when it was gusting to try to capture those moments when they took to the air, and due to the slight change in wind direction, much of that activity took place nearer than had been the case on Friday.

The rain did come down and the wind certainly blew, so there were times when I chose to keep my camera gear inside the cabin, despite there being several who were making the most of the wind whilst I was inside.

Altogether I was happy with the shots I got, and certainly the 100-400mm lens was the choice, though 200-400mm would certainly not be turned down, but that's way out of my budget, and so far no one has made me an offer to handle one in anger, but I can dream!

I was pleased with my afternoon, but it has not made my cough go away or restored my voice.

Brogborough Lake Break

Having been somewhat indisposed since before the May Bank Holiday due to finally succumbing to the generosity of my my young grandchildren in being gifted a nasty cough cold and Conjunctivitis, I felt the irresistible urge to be outside. It was windy, and the morning had even had spells of bright sunshine, so it was hard to consider anywhere else than the shores of Brogborough Lake and the likelihood of there being ardent followers of the wind taking advantage of the windsurfing opportunities.

Sadly I had to clear the decks before going and that meant it was early afternoon and the spells of sunshine were now were overtaken by cloud and rain, but that still offered a chance for the brave to be more than happy with the wind, and me to be content to grab the opportunity to capture them using the wind to jump. I managed to get a small gallery of images, but more importantly learn there was an even better opportunity on the Saturday.