A Walk Along the River Great Ouse in Bedford

        The sun was favouring the River Great Ouse with its warmth and light as I arrived to spend a relaxing couple of hours in early September. I strolled through wooded shade towards the riverbank, and as if to confirm the warmth a paddleboarder came into view, soon followed by a narrowboat. By now I was right by the riverbank, and spotted an unusual gourd-like plant floating on the surface on a long stem, which disappeared from view into the depths. A Robin paid a fleeting visit to a shadowed branch of the canopy, so my eye turned elsewhere and a small butterfly caught my and unlike the Robin, it seemed unfazed by my presence. I walked on with boats passing by on my left.
        My lens and I caught sight of the first Dragonfly of the day and from my low viewpoint it appeared to match the desiccated and web-strewn seed pods of its vantage point. Soon I was to spot an abundance of dragonflies choosing far more fresh examples of vegetation, greener reeds waving slowly in the occasional breeze. A Cygnet gently passed by as I captured yet more dragonflies moving from one vantage point to another with occasional dances with potential suitors. I found interesting eddies to capture in the gently swirling waters caused by raised stones close by the riverbank, or clumps of vegetation. Also in the shadows and shallows, the water seemed to glow in the dappled light coming through from gaps in the overhanging trees that had started to shed their leaves by the bank. Drapes of Ivy hanging by the path’s edge seemed to provide a silhouette of an Elephant and its trunk, and I mentioned that to a passing couple walking past me, and they smiled and agreed with my observation! From my constant seeking of suitable viewpoints to choose clear views of birds and insects, I often note that flying insects are always willing to practise their skills by attempting landings on unstable waving reeds and leaves. This day was no exception; several times a landing will be attempted, then abandoned shortly after, when the blade of grass or reed drastically dipped under the extra weight! I also observe shape similarities in nature that have equivalences to human engineered tools — I tempt the reader to spot a dragonfly on the handle of a whisk!
        I don’t only observe the denizens of the animal kingdom on these photo sorties, I also capture fellow humans making the most of these areas, as once again I capture appealing scenes of wave-rippled reflections of brightly coloured paddles and cascading water as they leave the water. Leaf textures and shadows add to their appeal, and overlapping backlit leaves can form shapes that can be recognised as entirely disconnected impressions of other familiar objects — see if you can spot a caricature dog?! Or a Duck in the healed wound of a tree that years earlier had lost a branch. Or the basis of tic toe in blades of grass, or individual characters of the Alphabet? This park also can trace incidental architecture from the time of Egypt’s Pharoahs, and to continue this game see if you can spot a lamp standard keeping its eye on a runner?
        Perhaps it’s just me, but the world is full of interesting shapes and juxtapositions, and this trip just seems brimming with subliminal artefacts! Hopefully, I can catch up with some more of my backlog of images yet to see the Light of Day.

Priory Park Walk

  Priory Park in Bedford is quite varied in content, and ideal in which to walk, yet feel quite alone in the open space I find. On this visit, I was unsure whether I would find subjects for my camera, after parking my car at my destination, so initially made the decision to walk the route sans camera. that was less than ideal as it turned out as the point at which I entered the park was one long and less than exciting straight path. having walked its length, I decided I should reconsider that decision, so turned around and headed back. On a day with such oppressive heat, this was definitely a poor start, and wasted a considerable amount of energy and time!

I returned to the car and made a new decision, I would take my light rucksack and add food and flask, as well as my camera; in this instance the Lumix FZ10002 once again. Then I headed back along the recently walked path with its proven lack of interest to go deeper to see what I might find. The first item of interest I feel sure was a jackdaw feather – Its condition was pristine, which I found to be surprising for such a well-developed feather.

Early in my walk, I came across a lone Coot, that’s feeding from a part of a currently dry weir, and it seemed totally oblivious of my presence, so rather than take up a large part of the gallery of general images, I have created a standalone gallery that covers the bird’s activity as a separate entity.

The direction I later took was beneath one of the bridges along the river, which displayed considerable colourful graffiti and across the water from me, a group of youngsters set fire to something then stood around watching it envelope in flames. On my side, I spotted a partially full bottle I supposed was a lager, on a ledge, little realising that one amongst that number of kids a moment later was to appear on the same side as myself and pick it up, and wantonly throw it to the ground, smashing it. Sadly as a lone witness to his vandalism, there was little point in remonstrating since in total, the group possibly numbered around ten youths, so I just recorded more graffiti and took a shot of more civilised and relaxed behaviour beyond.

The road above my chosen path was carried in a curve around these various waters with some very interesting architecture of a far more recent bridge, which had far greater appeal, since much of my career had been spent photographing varied aspects of architecture in and around London and further afield.

As my walk continued I found myself recording bees, butterflies and cygnets and then I left the river to return to my car, and spotted an overflow of luxurious grapes hanging beyond the bounds of the house offering a bounty for passing walkers when they are ripe! Alongside also some very young acorns caught my eye, as did the skies that greeted me on my return home.  I should add also, that the route I took to leave the park was foolishly chosen beyond the bounds of the park and made the journey back to the car even longer than the walk within!

In terms of satisfaction, the shots beneath the road bridge gave me the most pleasure on this jaunt as I appreciated its curves and structure.

Harrold-Odell Lake– Alive with Swans

Although it was a dull day, I decided to visit the park at Harold-Odell, to see what birds were on the lakes. It was certainly a good choice of venue, as there was a plethora of birds; the largest number of swans on a lake I had seen in a while, a Cygnet and numerous gulls. I spotted a Shoveller, some Pochard, male and female, Mallard ducks in a couple of family groups. I had my sturdy Benbo tripod, and had put the 2x Converter on the 60-600mm Sigma Sports on the EOS  R body. All the birds were congregated at this near end of the right hand lake, but if they were close to the shore, it was by the far bank. As I approached the near bank there was a noisy exodus of half a dozen gulls that spooked several of the ducks, which was a shame, but a man dressed in black and moving a large tripod with a long lens might just be considered a threat, I suppose.

It was definitely a good move to have the Converter in place because the only large birds were the swans, and even when at a distance they were never an issue, and they are definitely very capable of taking care of a feeble human! Obviously, it would have been very nice to have had some sunshine, and even better had my subjects come much closer, but it was good to come away from a computer screen and be outside taking pictures again, and the swans gave me some nice shots, and it was good to see the Shoveller and Pochard.

I feel revitalised once more, since I had not had a chance to get any shots of fireworks this time around, though there is a weekend coming along, so there is a possible chance still. I also wonder when there might be some wind and sun that beckons the windsurfers; I should not be greedy, but I was greeted by an early call from an erstwhile one-off client who is wanting some building progress shots, which came as a very welcome surprise, so we are meeting next week, so as the man who as he jumped from the Empire State Building was heard to say as he was passing the twelfth floor: “I’m not dead yet!”

Bromham Lake – EOS R Familiarisation

 

 

When I first ordered the Canon EOS R body in addition to the straightforward adapter giving me access to the direct use of my pre-existing lenses, the ring that appealed was the one that gives the user a ring that allows instant access to a feature that otherwise would mean several key presses through menus to make a single change to a needed setting.

The most useful one that I ever need when using my cameras to shoot rapidly changing subjects such as wildlife and sports, is when lighting situations change due either to backgrounds beyond a subject having an adverse effect on my metering, or when my pre-determined settings are rendered suddenly beyond the preset limits — the beauty of this ring is that I can use it to make a compensation for the circumstances, with my finger taking first pressure on the shutter release as I turn the ring, to add or subtract from the measured exposure, then press the shutter further to take the shot. No taking my eye from the viewfinder and menu-diving to make the change.

This trip was the first occasion to put this to use as the ring arrived in the post that day, and I was considering going out to search for new locations despite the overcast sky as it was not raining and it was surprisingly mild. Having had a poor connection with the phone’s SatNav to the car’s speakers I never reached my original destination, but I did spot the sign to one I had visited previously — a small Nature Reserve at Bromham. So I took the long lane to where it’s entrance provided a small parking area. For this venture I took my Canon 100-400mm MkI lens and my Sigma 1.4x Converter in case I needed the extra throw.

I also added the monopod, to give me a steadier shooting platform as well a a support when negotiating slippery banks. It proved its worth in both modes! This year’s weather has been definitely out of kilter, the last week has been unusually mild, and this was apparent as not all the Autumn leaves had been shed, and the catkins were gently sway in the light breeze.

There were a few birds to be seen flitting across the paths as they flew between the meagre cover either side, a sparrow, a robin, and a rook briefly caught my eye, but there was little birdsong to be heard for most of the time I was there. I put out some birdseed in case there was a chance I might get some shots of these birds, but none came to my carefully dispersed piles on tables or tree stumps, so I moved deeper into the woods, taking stock of possible images that might allow me to check out the new camera body further.

The aspect I still found problematic was using the screen to move the cursor around the scene I was viewing through the eyepiece; I found it was often difficult to move to where I wanted it, as either my finger’s proximity to the eyepiece would move the cursor, or when. I lifted my finger, it would jump to follow my finger as it moved away! I think this maybe down to my being a spectacle wearer, and therefore being farther from the eyepiece. I can see myself having to adapt the way I move the cursor! However, when I get it right the sensor does an excellent job of getting my shots sharp, and the extra file size means the graininess of the higher ISOs I often use is greatly reduced, meaning I can get far more from my longer lenses in difficult lighting.

I am waiting upon a new delivery to Sigma of the 60-600mm Sports lens so that I can  see how the lens performs with this body, as it would be a real boon if it really performed well bearing in mind the mentions I have made relating to this full frame sensor. Time, as they say, will tell!