Garden Buddliea Gallery

        Living in Marston Moretaine means that I am close to both lakes and open countryside, and in different weather conditions there is never a shortage of varied subject material for photography. On this occasion I only opened my back door and my Buddliea was hosting different butterfly species about their business of pollinating, whilst savouring its abundant and welcoming pollen.
        The preceding days had been dull and uninviting for them, but on this day, the wind had subsided, the sun shone, and I was feeling the need to be outside as duller weather was forecast, so it was not a difficult decision to forego exercising my car, and to simply take advantage of the visiting butterflies and exercise my small LUMIX, without any need of even a monopod for support. This camera does have its quirks, and I do need to keep using it frequently to establish the best way to master it, as my memory, or rather, lack of it, necessitates that I keep up my familiarity with its controls, as they are not as easy to master as my Canon bodies and lenses.
        It is interesting to note that fellow photographer, Adam, had arrived at a similar conclusion as myself but two years or so earlier than me, and in his case, the choice was Sony equipment. In my case I was at the NEC for a photographic show, and I was meeting up with a fellow photographer with whom I had once worked alongside, who had brought a friend with him who suggested I visit the LUMIX stand as he felt the FZ10002 might well be worth taking a good look at, as he had recently bought one, and was highly impressed. Playing with it on the exhibition stand, and looking at the impressive results, on an impulse, together with this endorsement from a user, I decided to buy one, there and then, along with a spare battery and charger as it seemed like a reasonable risk. I have to say it has lived up to, and exceeded expectations, and although it is still not as easy for me to exercise total control over it compared to my Canon bodies, it is no toy! The pictures in this gallery I could not have managed with my long zoom on the Canon camera without recourse to a tripod, and even then I could not have moved around to capture the shots I managed with the LUMIX! Thank you Panasonic.

Afternoon at Stewartby Woods and Lake

               I had spotted an entry to the woods with a broken gate, now open wide. I parked on the opposite side of the road to investigate further, but soon spotted something of interest in the nearby hedge — some three examples of the industrious work of Labyrinth spiders. Perhaps because of the consistent noise of passing vehicles, these seemed less shy of my bringing my camera to bear to capture shots of the makers of their homes and the means of regular food provision at the front entrance to their homes!

               Having taken two of my cameras from the car, I locked it, and crossed the road with them, and followed the path into the woods. I found that the path around the lake has been carefully improved to provide what will ultimately circle the entire lake; currently the reason the path circling the lake is incomplete is because of construction work on the forthcoming Rookery South power station. Upon my entry to the woods, it was not long before I spotted one of my personal favourite insects, hoverfly.

               I have no idea, since this was my first introduction to these woods, how frequented these woods are, but in the short walk along the path, I was very disappointed by the number of discarded poo bags were in evidence, and other examples of ill-disciplined human litterbugs with carelessly discarded crisp packs. Why is it so much bother to retain food packaging and dispose of it upon return from a pleasant walk in the woods? During my visit, I saw very few people, yet had I counted the bottles, cans, doggy poo bags and the like discarded, the numbers of such detritus far exceeded the number of human individuals I encountered, which is a really sad statement of how we treat our environment. Many people now have few personal spaces around their homes, so these Public Spaces are really valuable areas for recreation and relaxation, and should be treasured.

               Bedfordshire is a lucky county, in that the past scars on the landscape caused by the extraction of clay have been reclaimed as lakes and woodland for the enjoyment and relaxation for everyone. Just a little thought by everyone for how much enjoyment can be had in these places would mean all visitors who come here to walk, play and relax could be rewarded by the sights and sounds to be found in these places. Rant over — enjoy the shots of spiders, bees, butterflies, hoverflies, wildflowers, tree-lined avenues, and lake views.