In the Back Garden…

            I had initially intended a trip to the River Great Ouse, but because I needed several food items and it meant some needed to be brought back to my freezer and fridge, I decided to forego a further car journey. I am very fortunate to have a Buddleia in the back Garden and Butterflies consider the florettes irresistible, and their recent arrival meant I could simply walk into the back garden and enjoy photographing them. 
            I therefore initially put the 60-600mm Sigma lens on the EOS R6 body as this gave me some distance, to avoid my being a threat, but to ensure some stability, and manage the weight, I mounted the camera and lens on a monopod. I later used two other lenses purely hand held, the 24-70mm and the 100mm Macro Canon lenses.
            All three lenses are in frequent use, and invariably accompany me for trips to local woods and lakes. Sadly of late, another of my favourites, the 12-24mm Sigma wide-angle zoom has seen less use as it is my favourite for recording architectural and city scenes, and I have not been frequenting towns and cities of late. However as Lockdown eases and the threat lessens, I may well visit London and give it an airing.
            This proved to be a pleasant way to relax in warm sunshine and unlike my trip to Brogborough, the processing of the images was completed the same day as the shooting, so there was no pressure involved in getting the gallery up on the blog.

Forest Centre Walk

My elder Daughter Catherine pays me a visit, and we take a walk in the Forest of Marston Vale, I use the opportunity to note the advance of the season, taking photographs of the blossom, and other incidentals that caught my eye; the trip was very short as Catherine could only spend a short time before heading back to Cambridge, but however short it is always very welcome, and I love and cherish every moment, however brief – now  that the Vaccination programme is well under way, I am hoping family life can return to some semblance of normality.

                Breathing fresh air and being outside is vital, and I feel blessed in being able to be in the open with a camera and lenses to capture whatever I can that is pleasing and interesting, and hope it is of interest to others; those who follow what I have written and experienced in the Great Outdoors – it has been satisfying to note just how many visitors view what I have put up in the galleries over the last week, I hope that is providing others who may well be more constrained than me, the chance to share in what I have seen and recorded.

                This is especially heartening considering that the content has not been as varied or as exciting as when say, the sailors have been out windsurfing on Brogborough Lake. Purely from my perspective, it ensures I keep learning how to get the most of the new camera body, which has allowed me to shoot unencumbered with a heavy tripod.

                This specific afternoon I had only the monopod for added stability, and the Canon EOS R6 body is able to provide improved images from my existing range of lenses and, for Sporting activity, a faster burst rate, so this recent investment I made in that Canon body has definitely been a good move. Being greedy, I would still like to have more sunshine however! All this afternoon’s images were taken with the 24-70mm, and its handy Macro facility when needed.

Southill Visit – Millennium Wood

 

Having had the good luck to capture some shots of a woodpecker, albeit at quite a distance, it reminded me that the other location where I had caught sight of one was in a small wood in Southill which though at a greater distance from me, had one distinct advantage as where I had come across it was in a clearing within a clearing atop a mound at the Millennium Wood, so that was where I was headed, and also of note was a small secluded lake nearby. However, that turned out to be a non-starter as it was within private grounds, and clearly defined as such with signs displayed at its high hedge boundary.

Due to my somewhat laggy SatNav on the phone, I also managed to add several miles to the outward journey by passing the junction on the A421, and having to travel to the next one and retrace my path to the earlier junction!

As my visit was at a weekend, I was in luck with parking meaning there was no distance to walk from the car, and anyway I was travelling light with just one camera, the EOS R, and the 24-70mm lens with its macro facility which came into use on a couple of occasions. The Wood is in the midst of adding more trees, and the established ones still had the first leaves of the season so were looking very fresh. It was however very noticeable that there were a preponderance of very insistent flies, something I associate more with hotter climes, and in the time I was there, became very annoying, and considering the small lake was not too distant with a far more suited habitat, I cannot account for why they should be so abundant.

The light was good throughout, and I only encountered three other souls during the time I was there, and the sounds of birdsong was almost constant with one particularly loud and insistent bird giving it its all, though I never caught sight of it! Needless to say on this visit I never heard nor saw a woodpecker, but was treated to the lament: “My toe Hurts Betty” from wood pigeon or pigeons almost as continuously as the unnamed bird I first encountered upon entry. Considering it was a warm Sunday afternoon I was very surprised to find so few visitors to this haven of Peace and freshness, so alive to the sounds of birdsong.

Newton Blossomville – Becomes My Destination

 

The original plan was to continue my search for nearby lakes or stretches of river that are easily accessible from Marston Moretaine and give me a chance to be close enough once parked to be able to carry my heavy tripod to a suitable spot to observe and capture wildlife activity. To that end, I first looked at both Google Earth and recent OS Maps of the area. I thought I had located the nearest likely spot, but the traffic was moderately heavy and in my haste took the wrong turning, which resulted in a long detour before I was back on track. To compound the wasted time, I realised there was no access to the area I had contemplated!

However, I did have another option, and found myself in a familiar location, and the sun was finally breaking cover though half-heartedly, I briefly called in on a newly updated barn, housing a Car Repair and Paint Spray booth to chat briefly with the owner. After a brief chat, I continued on my way heading towards the charmingly Olde Worldly-named village of Newton Blossomville. Before arriving I spotted inviting landscape of undulating fields with young, and just opening fields of Oilseed Rape, and there was a parking spot ideally located at the best viewpoint!

There was enough light that I had no need even for a tripod, and this was too good to miss. There was another opening immediately opposite the car, so no climbing involved either. I  had the EOS R with its flip out screen so both high-level and low level shots were possible and I needed the light to give me as small an Aperture to have good Depth of Field, and since there was a gusty breeze, a reasonably high shutter speed, I varied my Shutter Speed as well as my Aperture to get the best chance of both a lack of movement, and a reasonable depth of field, relative to my choice of viewpoint. So the aperture varied from f/7.1 to f/9, the Shutter Speed from 1/250th to1/800th and the ISO I kept at 200˚, to keep the Noise level down. All shots were using the 24-70mm lens.

In addition to the undulating fields at various stages of growth, I found the nearby pylon was beautifully aligned to give the next pylons in a symmetrical positioning with an early shot in the bag, but with poor lighting and a chance later with the sun co-operating! And of course the golden colour of the rape at its base to add colour and season to the shot.

Having got a few shots, I put the camera back in my bag in the boot, when I heard the gentle clip-clop of horses’ hoofs in the distance, I took a quick check then took a few shots as they approached me, and they stopped for a brief chat. Since they seemed interested, I handed the lead rider one of my cards, in the hope of a possible additional viewer of my work on the blog.

Before returning home, I took a quick look on the far side of the village where I had taken shots of harvesting last year, and noted that they had Oilseed Rape there in place of Wheat. I also enquired about the nearby lakes opposite where I had parked as to possible avian wildlife.