A New Lake to Visit — Weston Turville

On the last visit to my nearest lake, Marston Lake, I met a man who mentioned two others that may well be worth a visit, one at Clayton, and the one I chose to visit first, which was at Weston Turville, which looked very promising as parking close by seemed to be achievable. So on a very warm and sunny Good Friday, I set off in hope. My SatNav however, possibly due to an overload of families heading off for the Bank Holiday weekend, was definitely not being at its most helpful, and the lags meant that on several occasions, it was so slow in informing me of direction changes, I missed several vital turnings, resulting in various diversions to get back on course. It was not however a bad omen.

Initially, so that I had a good idea of the location, I took only one camera, the 7D MkII with the 24-70mm lens so that I could cover the ground speedily to get some idea of the layout, and I travelled a good distance to reach the farthest reach of the lake and to the canal beyond, which was the Wendover arm of the Grand Union Canal, at Halton.

This walk provided me with further signs of the new season, with its fresh young leaves emerging all around, after I had made various detours to reach the lakeside and get an indication of numerous possible vantage points, that might prove useful, I headed back to the car to get a tripod, the Benbo, and the longer lens, the Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens on the EOS R body. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, I should also have picked up the 1.4x Converter. Initially, I tried setting two the tripod’s legs in the water, hoping to remain really low, but there was no satisfactory way I could get a convenient height, so erected it on the Bank instead. For quite a while after having spotted a lone Grebe in the distance, he never came particularly close, which was a shame; had I taken along the Converter, it would have been a considerable advantage — next time!

It was good to wind down as for various reasons, the last couple of weeks have been stressful, so much of the time was spent observing and hoping, and my patience was rewarded by the Grebe coming very slightly closer, but the ‘pièce de resistence’ was the Swan making a noisy flapping from the far end of the lake and heading straight towards me! It alerted me, and I managed to twist around and fire off a few shots before he came in to land. I was so pleased, that it rounded off the afternoon, and I immediately packed everything up, and headed very happily back to the car. Once all the kit was safely packed, I headed home, very happy, and I hope what I captured makes anyone viewing the gallery equally as pleased with the end result.

Stewartby Lake – Powerboats in their Element

Sunshine always brings out the best of Water, reflections off the surface, ripples, when disturbed, and when really exercised – Spray, and Spume – Powerboats tear water apart, and create the drama for those who watch from the shore; armed with my camera, a long lens and a robust platform from which to capture the excitement that the performers are enjoying, I spent the afternoon trying to do justice to what the participants are enjoying in full.

I parked up at the far end as close to shade as I could find, and put together my tripod, the Benbo and gimbal head, and my 7D MkII and the Sigma 150-600mm. Wanted to get as low as possible to gain clearance between the hulls and the water when possible, which meant setting up the tripod where there was a chance of my finding a sound footing for the tripod legs and a raised bank behind to allow me to sit, so that the camera and I was as low as possible, but the foreshore is an unstable jumble of bricks, so this was not as easy as I had imagined, but in the end I found three different viewpoints that were satisfactory, though the first was marred by a very powerful odour.

Only once I was settled did I realise, I was right in front of the family I had met on my last visit, and also later their mother when she arrived was parked alongside my car! On this occasion, I did not have my spare telephoto with me, but I need not have worried as he was shooting movies on this occasion.

The reason for the differing viewpoints was also related to the lighting angle and to vary the shots as much as possible, but the available angles were still somewhat limited, by  both the distance and that the enclosure itself limited the choices, so overall coverage is limited to one corner. On this occasion due to having been before, the number of shots is fewer than before, and I was more ruthless in what I accepted.

I hope that I have captured the spirit of the afternoon, and I hope the other inhabitants of the lake; the swans, their cygnets and the grey lag goose capture the overall atmosphere of the place.

Late January – Brogborough Sun & Wind

          Finally a weekend comes along with wind and sunshine at the lake at Brogborough, and hardy Windsurfers can make the most of what late January has on offer. The really keen ones were on the water by the time I arrived at just after eleven.

          I set up the heavy Gitzo tripod, with the 7D MkII and the Sigma 150-600mm Lens on the gimbal head to the left of the foreshore, so that I was in a position to make the most of any sun that might appear as forecast. What I had not foreseen was just how waterlogged it was, so I changed my shoes for boots with some tread on them! Later I even moved the tripod because as I followed the action I was making a lot of mud from my constant changes of position, when panning. 

          I was not expecting exciting jumping, but was pleasantly surprised by capturing a couple of the sailors lift off from the water. Sam’s dog provided me with rolling activity presumably to have a good scratch! In order not to delay any more from getting the gallery of images up on the blog I will keep my narrative to a minimum as tomorrow is an important day when I pay a visit to Moorfields at Bedford for my initial visit to sort the cataract in my right eye. 

          There are a lot of gallery pages, hopefully covering everyone who was out on the lake, so for those in a hurry I have put a few headliners to whet the appetite.

Dull Day, and Tiniest of Butterflies

At Lunchtime, I put out some washing and spotted three of the tiniest of butterflies, or maybe moths, I now have the task of learning just which?

Certainly the eye structures would possibly point to some sort of day-flying moth, but either way I had never seen such colourful butterflies of that small size before, so when I also consider the wing structures maybe this is another pointer towards moths. With the camera out, when they disappeared, I concentrated on a few bees instead, until they returned. When one settled on the wall, it was no larger with wings open, than the mortar between the bricks!

In case anyone reading this happens to know, I would be most grateful to learn; it was certainly good practice at trying to shoot such energetic and small insects, and in the end, I was grateful that the camera body was the 7D MkII as this has flash, and being so dull, this at least gave me a slight chance of seeing what they looked like close up. I did try without using a high ISO, but the success rate was poor.

A postscript – The tiny moths are Mint Moths, which is confirmed by where I found them – close by a patch of Mint!

Doris Blows in at Brogborough

Waking to warnings of high winds, meant that after a long wait for winds of sufficient strength to encourage Windsurfers to make or find the time to leave work on a Thursday, at last that day was here. I phoned Sam to check whether he had heard from any sailors, and learned three were scheduled — that was promising! I checked when they might arrive and gathered early afternoon, so I let him know I might see him later — that was hardly the full truth, I had made up my mind to definitely make it!

I then assembled the camera and lenses I planned to take along, but put the 70-200mm on the 5D MkIII and the 150-600mm was already on the 7D MkII, taking along a 300mm and a couple of other primes to cover the distances that I might need to cover, but as it turned out my first choice proved to be those I used — the 7D on the Gitzo tripod, and the 5D MkIII slung around my neck, for handheld closer shots.

The wind at home was fairly blustery, and fairly strong, but later on the road to Brogborough Lake it was considerably stronger, I presume to it being less built-up than within Marston Moretaine. When I met up with Sam, he reckoned it was the worst he had ever seen it, and he was not exaggerating! I drove over and on arrival opened the boot to assemble the tripod and gimbal head, and Doris blew the boot lid down on me!

I spotted Sam and he told me three were getting knitted up and one was already on the water, so picked up the gear and headed towards the bank, but since the wind was directly on the shore and the larger breakers were sending the slime inland, I put the tripod down a fair way back! It was not long before there were generally at least two out on the lake, and for a change I operated on the basis of shooting as often as I could because with the best will in the world shooting was very hit and miss, because I had to keep one shoulder against the tripod as the wind threatened to blow it over. Also, I had to keep resetting the levelling head as one or more tripod legs dug into the muddy, water- sodden ground — it certainly was not easy keeping the surfers in shot.

Every now and then a squall would come up, and I had to break off to keep my kit safe, but as one passed, I'd be back out and shooting again, also,if my subjects came in close, I would forego the camera on the tripod and shoot handheld, which as I find it hard to accurately synch the two bodies some of the true chronology is awry. I did get a few jumps and sequences, and was reasonably satisfied with what I did capture, but at least half of what I shot was binned, but I am really glad I made the effort, so I hope they give those who had braved the weather some pleasure.

Brogborough – a Therapeutic Visit

My priorities since the house in Caddington was definitely finally selling and I could rest assured that the house for which I had put in an offer was definitely going to become my new home, have been exclusively concentrated upon ensuring that the move was made as efficiently as possible without the distraction of my involvement in photography, I made just one concession, because the event had been planned long before the sale, and that was to relax in the company of fellow photographer Geoff Dann by visiting  Clerkenwell during its week of Design celebrations. Today I had two electricians helping to transform my new third bedroom into an office to house the essential electrical paraphernalia that are now the essential tools of the digital photographer.

I spent the early part of the day seeing that what I planned was capable of being achieved, and answering any questions that arose, and trying to ensure that the mountain range of boxes somehow allowed access to those areas that needed twin and switched sockets where either none existed previously or were single and unswitched, the office needed a minimum of twenty four, and these were to come mounted on a board on a separate circuit.

The weather was fine with a promise of sunshine and hopefully a breeze, so once I knew all was underway, I decided I needed therapy and the conditions seemed to promise a remedy just a short cycle ride away – the lake at Brogborough, and the undoubted windsurfing fraternity eager to be on the water, so I gathered my gear together and strapped it in the basket newly-mounted on my push-bike and set off. On arrival the medicine was there in abundance as were the windsurfers, and I took a long draught  as I set to mounting the EOS7D MkII with the Tamron 150-600mm onto to the gimbal head atop the newly-purchased Giottos carbon fibre tripod. I sat down right by the water’s edge and gave myself just over an hour to capture a few shots to break my self-imposed fast and get my ‘fix’.

The wind favoured those who enjoyed jumping and so I imbibed with relish when the surfer’s desire matched my own, whilst there was a lull in the human activity on the lake, I turned my lens on a young family of ducks who with their mother in attendance braved the turbulent waters close to the shore where I was ensconced. Little did I know at this stage how that family were to become the unwitting stars of a small drama played out upon the shoreline. I turned my lens back upon the main scene and spotted one man who seemed intent upon jumping and managed to capture at least something of the action.

The wind dropped and several surfers returned to shore amongst them the hero whose small jump I had witnessed and I let him know by thanking him for his display. He came over and said that there seemed to be a small amount of air beneath the board. The wind picked up and the sun joined in and he took to the water again, and this time there was no doubt about there being air beneath, for which I was very grateful.

Soon after this we spotted three lone ducklings braving the increasing swell and even finding themselves ignominiously being flung ashore – the drake was nowhere to be seen and several surfers then decided this was a situation that could not be endured and a plastic bin was commandeered to attempt to scoop them from the maelstrom, and return them to the family group, the first two were soon scrabbling away safely in their makeshift lifeboat as their human saviour attempted to scoop their sibling to join them to be returned to their mother. However, that was not to be, he or she, feared these great human warriors were out for sport and he/she was not in the mood for playing their game, and for the next several minutes he/she managed to outwit the machinations of these evil giants which was causing both great mirth and much concern in equal parts in the observers of this tragi-comedy unfolding before us all – we may be giants in stature, but we were no match for this plucky ducky! Sheer weight of numbers finally completed the rescue by which time the mother and the rest of her fold were back on the scene so all three were finally reunited with the family, and we all heaved a sigh of relief and were really happy for the mother.

My allotted time was up, so after a chat with one man, André, who had somehow emailed me concerning some shots I had taken, though I had never received the message, I apologised and hopefully we can meet up again and sort things, as we found we were both close neighbours in the village of Marston Moretaine! I returned to the house in good time thanks to a following wind, and I was glad of the medicine.

Marsworth, a Giottos Tripod and Birds

Saturday had been a wonderful dry and warm day, but I was so far behind that I had to spend all the daylight hours in front of a computer screen, Sunday was not scheduled to be great, but was bright at the start, but I still had work to do, and it was already clouding over as I set off regardless to the Tring Reservoirs.

I now had a carbon fibre tripod and was determined to see whether with a head leveller and the Lensmaster gimbal head, it was light enough to be manhandled a fair distance. Having it all assembled for quick use did not make it particularly easy, but it was manageable, and once settled, it proved its worth; it was very easy to get the legs in safe locations and then levelling meant the gimbal offered an easy and stable way to move the lens.

As I arrived at my destination Terry’s familiar face greeted me, and I settled quietly alongside and enquired as to whether his luck had been in, but sadly he had spent more than an hour already, fruitlessly. It seems it was likely Merv who had been down earlier, and had been luckier. We settled down to a lengthy wait before we caught sight of a kingfisher, but it simply made a flyby. We were surrounded by bluetits attracted by seeds which had been spread nearby, but they were wary of our robin. He spent very little time with us on this occasion. The squirrel was out and about, but often only visible through branches.

Terry gave in and departed generously remarking that his leaving might well be my good luck, and an hour after he left, he was proven correct as the kingfisher arrived and stayed a while, but never went fishing, though he did treat the fish to two jetted excretions, obviously everything is done at speed by kingfishers, also he did not choose the most advantageous branch upon which to land; it was badly shielded by other branches. I would have spent more time there, but the wind and rain arrived, so I changed my mind and left.

I had been glad of the leveller when it was in use, but keeping the camera, leveller and head on the tripod meant it was cumbersome on the return walk, though manageable.

Tring Reservoirs – 7D MkII 2nd Test

A second outing with the Canon EOS 7D MkII, again with the 150-600mm Tamron Lens, this time on all three of the Tring reservoirs, Startops End, Marsworth and Tringford and once again in bright sunshine; not that it contributed to my warmth, that was provided by far more insulated undergarments.

The subject matter was varied, but unexciting, but I was there primarily to get to understand the features of the new camera body, whilst there was reasonably good sunlight.

The response of the new body was excellent and I was impressed by the burst rate, now if I only my body would react with equal agility, my anticipation and reaction still need to improve if I am to get the peak of actions such as a duck diving, a dragonfly or a kingfisher taking off. Frozen limbs and fingers do not help; had I kept my hand on the camera the entire time, it would likely need thawing with a hair dryer! Memory is another of my failings, I forgot that the gimbal head does not remain in the car boot, so had to use a ball head in its stead.

The last shots of the gulls were taken using either the tripod with only one leg extended to form a monopod or hand held, as they were swooping and diving close to the bank. I also found that when the camera was on the tripod animals were happy to come close but off to one side, leaving me only able to watch helplessly, unable to release the camera quietly and speedily. This time it was a mink which climbed down a branch above me, then across another to disappear beyond the tree trunk and back into its hollow in a dead tree stump at the water’s edge. I suppose I should not be too disappointed as I really did only have a back view!