Marston Moretaine - Two Seasons?

It was as I took the path between the gardens to reach my Lock-Up, that I spotted a large spider weaving its Web across from one of the fences to the garage roof; He was bright enough (and considerate to even six-foot plus humans!) to weave it high enough to avoid any normal height humans from destroying his work. I noticed also fresh blossom of both blue and white flowers, more commonly to be expected around in Spring, and only a short walk further a wide expanse of hedge with the totally expected colours of red and gold. And there another equally large spider who literally as I watched left across a gap to start his; they seemed of the same species, and despite my referring to him as male, I have no clue as to the sex of either!

Not unnaturally, after having collected a tool from the lock-up, I broke off to grab my camera and record what I had seen, the afternoon was bright with feather-like clouds formed by the effect of crosswinds blowing across contrails between large Cumulus clouds, and although the sun was occasionally occluded by these clouds, overall the light was bright and really brought out the very definite reds of early autumn in the leaves in hedgerow, so I spent an enjoyable time capturing the work of the spiders, the white and blue blossom hanging over the back of one of the gardens seemed at odds with the season, both colours were mainly very fresh, and such a contrast to the red covering of the hedge.

It was amongst the blossom that I heard the buzzing of a bee, and when I spotted it alight of the white flowers, I caught sight of the most hirsute of bees, it was as if s/he was wearing a fur coat! Upon even closer inspection later in post-processing that at one of my chosen angles it looked to be wearing spectacles!

 Look closely at the picture that heads this piece

It was wonderful to be able to catch these shots at that very early autumn stage when in amongst the abundant red leaves were t be found young yellow and green fresh leaves to add extra depth to the range of colours, I hope those viewing the gallery will gain as much pleasure from the beauty I captured as I did witnessing them.

The Chearsley Classic Car Show

There had been a possibility of a visit from the Battle of Britain Flight Lancaster, but on arrival and experienced the overcast skies and a forecast of rain, there seemed little chance, and so it proved, though a different option seemed to arise: that of a visit from the renowned DC3 aircraft, the Dakota, but that did not materialise either. The forecast rain did make an appearance though!

I went along with my younger daughter’s family and provided the transport and spotted the Fire Engine at the top of the field and hoped therefore to take another panorama, but I made a fatal error that meant that did not happen, but I did at least capture some of the atmosphere presented by the cars on show. I enjoyed the music from the tent and managed a few quick shots towards the end of the event, and took a few interesting details of the BMW hybrid i8 and spoke to its owner who lives a stone’s throw away. I also spotted the diminutive Corgi folding bike that derived from the military original, the Welbike (from the name of Welwyn; where they were developed for clandestine use during World War II) – I had seen one of these when a youngster in Putney, owned by a neighbour.

The rising speed of the wind put paid to the popular air-filled slide that the children enjoyed sliding down – the windspeed exceeded the safe limit for its deployment. Overall, the event was enjoyable and well attended, and the rain had not spoiled our enjoyment.

Goodwood Revival – Friday Visit

Martin Evening had received two tickets to the Goodwood Revival Meeting and I was joining him as his guest and doing the driving. The plan had been for me to drive to his home near Ashridge for five-forty-five, but rain-sodden roads, Friday morning traffic and my leaving slightly late meant I was later than planned. The trip down was uneventful and typical of a Friday morning, and as we travelled down the A3 nearer to our destination, it was obvious from the vehicle types in the traffic that many were heading for the same destination.

On arrival our first port of call was the Old Control Tower as Lord March’s guests, where we enjoyed a welcome cup of tea. Several of the staff there in the caravan and upstairs had been there last year, and some even remembered us; all were very welcoming. We had both been wearing hats as part of our costumes, but having taken them off when we entered and not been hat-wearers by nature, we both managed to leave without them! This only became apparent when it started to rain and we realised our slip-up.

We strolled among the throngs and by now we both had our cameras out, and Martin was keen to capture some of the exotic characters being portrayed as dancers, policemen, itinerant musicians, army, navy and airmen of British and American services. This year’s theme being Italian, meant Fiat 500s were in abundance, as were Italian beers and wines.

Martin tends to go for requesting his subjects to pose for him, whereas I prefer to be more discreet, as I feel it captures the subject’s imagination in acting their selected roles; so each to his own. I also have a greater affinity with the vehicles, having had thirty years as a motor racing marshal, so the challenge of capturing the cars on circuit was part of my aim. This meant we were not joined at the hip, and spent some of the time independently, then returning to the Control Tower for refreshments and chatting. On one of our return visits to the Old Control Tower, we met up with Lord March, who told us of a London exhibition of his work he was attending on Tuesday, and invited us to join him at the Private Viewing.

We had lunch downstairs later, and also took a walk to St. Mary’s corner, stopping off at various points to capture some of the cars in action, before taking a charabanc back to to main area. Whilst Martin took a wider walk around, I spent some time shooting cars at the Chicane, and was absolutely stunned by car 37 that looked like Al Capone’s and somewhat fragile, but deceived dramatically, as beyond all odds, it sped through the Chicane with seemingly no use of opposite lock - I am certain it was fastest in its category.

I met up with Simon Diffey after his session in car 22, but never found the other car he was driving in another class. Martin suggested we consider leaving before the end once I realised I was not going to be able to capture the second of Simon’s drives, and it proved to be fortuitous as just as we arrived back at the car, the heavens opened! The end of yet another splendid day at Goodwood despite the less than ideal weather.

Brogborough Sunday — Hydrofoil Windsurfer

I took a stab more in hope than expectation on Friday, but it was not to be! I had hoped to see Sam Barnes fly at Brogborough with the new Hydrofoil Windsurfer from Neil Pryde. On the Sunday morning just after nine o’clock I was in time to watch Sam take to the water. I still had a few more minutes wait before being rewarded by the success of much pumping and seeing the broad board lift from the shackles of the water and become airborne.

The somewhat fitful wind meant it seemed a poor return for the effort expended in its achievement, but I nevertheless was appreciative and happy that I had witnessed the event and eagerly awaited what I was sure to come. After a few more minimal leaps came a more sustained flight, which drew spontaneous applause from the small group of people gathered at the foreshore to witness this new innovation to the world of windsurfing in Britain.

I think I can say that we all shared with Sam in the exultation of seeing his success. As we continued to watch, and in the case of four of us with cameras to capture the growing confidence and expertise displayed by his pioneering spirit in impatiently waiting for this new device to arrive. Sam had waited quite a time for the Hydrofoil to arrive, and when it came the forecast was for a severe lack of wind frustratingly, but it did mean the elation today was really obvious and after a far longer flight, gave rise to a delighted whoop of joy heard from the centre of the lake!

I left the gathering before the end of play, and having packed up the car I spotted a refreshed Sam go out once again and almost immediately took to the air in one of the longest flights I had witnessed, courtesy of a stronger wind and Sam’s short rest for recuperation, but it was going to take some time to sort through the images I already had without burdening myself with yet more.

Brogborough Becalmed, But Full of Life…

Brogborough Lake is alive with insect and plant life, so on a warm afternoon with barely a zephyr to ripple the waters of the lake, there seems little chance of a windsurfer, which is disappointing for Sam Barnes who eagerly awaits the second chance to take to the water with his Hydrofoil Windsurfer. In case that might be the case, I chose to be around should the wind appear, though I was  there to capture whatever I could of the ‘little beasties’ and the leaves and flowers that formed their habitat.

There were a few dragonflies, and there were bees, damselflies and hoverflies, a golden Shield bug, and one or two insects for whom I had no name, or were species I had not seen before, so armed with the 100mm and 1.4 Converter on the EOS7D MkII and the 24-70mm with Macro on the EOS5D MkIII, I set about recording what I found. I spotted others, but failed to be quick enough to capture them, but nevertheless, it was still a very worthwhile haul for a gallery of eighty images, so not a waste.