St. Mary’s Church Visit - in the Snow

At last some sunshine to accompany the Snow! Snow on a cloudy day is just not worth photographing, but really comes alive when the sun catches some of the crystals; the sparkle gives the snow form, and life, and this morning was a good time to walk to Marston Moretaine’s parish Church, which is just a smidgeon different from many village churches, the main structure lacks a tower. A short distance away and out of kilter with the church proper stands the buttressed tower, there is a weird myth surrounding this involving the Devil lifting the tower and tossing it away from the body of the building, and thus far, I have seen no real explanation for the odd juxtaposition of the two structures, but my cursory and ill-informed observation would suggest that both appear to be of different ages and style.

The history, or lack thereof does mean that it is very different from the average Parish Church, so merits interest. I decided it was worth capturing whilst it still has a carpet of snow surrounding it, so I took a wander around, sadly some more interesting views would have to await a later afternoon, as several of the views I was able to capture whilst the snow was moderately fresh were not lit to advantage, and having made a single circuit, clouds were massing to remove that vital ingredient sunshine, which was marked by the ringing of my phone bearing a message from one of my daughters.

The Tower appeared to be a meeting point for pigeons and doves, and the graves themselves were severally decorated with Spring flowers, but sadly the frosts and the burden of snow had caused these floral tributes to take on a sad demeanour, but it was definitely apparent from their numbers, that relatives were keen to keep their forebears in mind. One such was a balloon gently swaying to the light breeze with it’s handwritten message of love to a departed grandparent. What I noticed which was a surprise was how several were marked with headstones whose dates were surprisingly recent considering there is a planned new area for graves on the outskirts of the village, which pre-supposed that this cemetery was close to capacity, I therefore concluded that some must be family plots.

It was a brief visit, but I had been waiting for that vital conjoining of snow and sun, and was not disappointed, I also managed yesterday to gather some small expanses of virgin snow in case they could later be used to adorn a future Christmas Card, since for the last few years, snow has been notable for its fleeting appearance in our winters, and I always enjoy using recently captured images.

Stockwood Discovery Centre – Is Spring on its Way?

I met up with a former gardener for the gardens at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, Jan, to see what our chances were for capturing in photographs, any early signs of the upcoming Spring – at first sight with much of last year’s former glory removed along with any weeds that survived our lacklustre Winter, the prospect looked doomed to failure, but when we looked more closely, there were many signs of new growth, even signs of bloom – there were small clusters of Snowdrops in a couple of different spots.

At this time of the year without the leaf coverage some of the intricate twists of the branches can be seen to form beautiful shapes which become lost to sight when the leaves arrive. Some of the leaves on show on the day were variegated which always adds to their beauty especially when these fresh delicate colours are set against the more saturated and darker colours of older leaves. Grasses from the previous season dry and curl, forming interesting whorls, but are often difficult to capture when there is a wind as one naturally wants minimal depth of field to isolate them from their background, but you are fighting to  get them with minimal movement – high failure rate – but I did get a shot!

Occasionally, I would look around and Jan would be nowhere to be seen, yet on another occasion, I would spot her in deep concentration moving in close to some plant that caught her eye, it was interesting to note how she spotted items of engineering interest in much the same way I spot small details that have no other connection than the shape or the light falling on them sparks the idea for a picture.

We eventually decided that the warmth of the restaurant was calling, so we sat and chatted with one of her friends over cups of hot chocolate and looked on the backs of our cameras at shots we had taken, then headed for the exhibition area where the British Wildlife photos were on display, which were stunning, we also took a wander around the display of vehicles where I learned yet more of Jan’s varied past employment with Electrolux and her time at the Riding Stables in this same complex. I learned a little bit about the nature of the chain on a horse’s bridle and bit, when she spotted it had not been fitted correctly, and duly corrected it and explained its use. As I write this piece I learn that the shot she took of  the Prancing Horse adorning the front of the Steam Engine is now a card for a friend of hers, so already her visit to Stockwood has been profitable!

When we then headed out the sun had been out for a while, but it had had no effect on the temperature, it was bitter still, and the wind was far more noticeable once we were beyond the walls of the Gardens, Jan returned my Macro lens, but I was sad to learn the lens I spotted and suggested she might find useful had not met with the same pleasure as the micro she had borrowed from me.

The time spent was enjoyable and I came away with some interesting images despite my first impressions of what we might find.

Sunny Broglake – Roxy Takes the Upper Hand

Man’s best friend does not always let the Man take the lead – I witnessed Roxy give Sam the runaround – she had decided that it was Sam needing the exercise, so though she would run after the tennis ball; more often than not, she would either run further away then drop it or arrive beneath it, let it land then let it lie where it fell, with Sam calling in vain and having to walk to reach it – she was getting him well-trained!

I had come over to see whether the sunshine coupled with a light wind might entice some takers for a spot of windsurfing; Sam had prepared his board to do some hydrofoiling had there been some sailors taking to the water, but it was not to be. I had also been on the look out for any birds that might visit as there was one singing its head off, but no sooner than I had a long lens on the camera, it decided no mate was coming so went his merry way!

So all I have to remind me of the brief visit was a chat with Sam and a few shots of his interaction with Roxy.

For Sale – Acratech GV2 Ball Head

Note: This item is not hyperlinked to a Gallery on this occasion; it shows several views in a single fair-sized pdf, to return here use your Browser's back arrow.

I have found this to be an excellent choice for use with the Tamron 150-600mm lens on either my 5D MkIII or 7D MkII body, but having now purchased the Sports version of the Sigma similar range lens, I have found it can slip after a time with this far heavier combination, and this is also probably aggravated by this lens being far stiffer to zoom.

It is therefore a ‘horses for courses’ situation not a flaw attributable to the quality of the product, I am having to re-assess what I need for the Sports 150-600. I learned after using a loan version from Sigma that the original shoe was not man enough, so immediately bought the longer foot which is Essential (not an Option in my book!).

Purchasing the Sigma Sports version was also not a criticism of the Tamron – it is an excellent lens and performs well for me still. Its advantage is in its far lighter construction, so if hefting long distances with it to reach your subjects you will welcome the benefits! Unless you are either a masochist or an Olympic weightlifter carrying the Sigma and solid tripod any distance you will need to remember after the shooting, you still need to have the energy to return to where you left the car! Hence why to date I have not parted with it.

Back to the point, I am considering purchasing a larger and way more expensive head so will need to defray some of that cost so I am reluctantly considering this is the highest value item with which I am prepared to part.

It is fairly priced at £270 – Interested? Reach Me Via Comments

It is a PDF of the series of unretouched images that I have taken showing its features and condition of the head.