Riverpark, Bedford — What LockDown?

I decided that although I was very much aware that almost anywhere I chose to visit would be crowded, so would require careful navigation — there were two possible Bedford locations large enough to make keeping my distance acceptably straightforward. On this occasion, that destination was Riverpark. Close by the car Park, was a quiet enclosed area which naturally drew me in! Though my camera was  to hand, the reaction of a Muntjac is way faster, especially for a mirrorless camera, but despite my speedy reaction, it had disappeared from view way faster than I was capable, I did marginally better with a rabbit a while later, but rear ends of most animals fleeing are rarely of great note! But, I kept the two shots of its exit.

An overflying light aircraft gave the chance to practice my skills at shooting distant, moving subjects when out and about with this mirrorless LUMIX FZ10002. The most serious handicap with this camera is focussing in fussy scenes, or more detailed backgrounds behind a small or diffuse subject. I need to speak to someone with an understanding of how to set up custom controls so I can speedily alter apertures to define the depth of field I might need.

Other subjects that I managed at least some shots were damselflies and Demoiselle butterflies, ducklings, goslings, Swans and Jackdaws, and an overflying helicopter, which is testament as to how versatile is the LUMIX with its fixed zoom lens. I enjoyed the exercise, and it was good to see that all the youngsters behaved well with the birds and their young, and everyone I came across were very respectful of distancing at all times.

There are numerous well-shaded paths, that wend their way around small lakes, and I spent quite some time sitting on a conveniently sited stone by one of those small lakes capturing shots of the activity in amongst the reeds. When I next venture out I will likely visit the river Great Ouse, but walk in the opposite direction to the one I took on my last a fortnight or so back.

Lemsford Springs Visit

In what now seems ‘Another Life’ I used to regularly visit a Colour Lab in Clerkenwell, that outlived the one for which I had been their Sales Manager, Longacre Colour Labs; that Lab was Metro and their Print Manager at the time was Grant Jenkins. After I left and set up on my own as SOLUTIONS photographic, I began creating 35mm slides initially on a Slide Writer, and then began getting scans done by my erstwhile Retouchers, The Colour Company who had by then also broken away from Longacre.

I started to gain experience of electronic retouching myself, and so I was getting my customers’ transparencies scanned by the Colour Company, I would then often create montages on my Mac, and do any retouching back out at my home in Slip End, and later Caddington, both were in Bedfordshire, and since the files were to be output to transparency, I would deliver the exposed 35mm films to Grant and he would bring them into Metro the following day where they were  processed, and either picked up by myself or someone from Colour Company, or in some instances my clients.

There was a mix of 35mm slides and 10x8 and 11x14 transparencies, but the 35mm slides soon gave way to retouching 5x4, 10x8 and 11x14, and ultimately all the work was being supplied as files. But the friends and business relationships endure to this day.

Yesterday, I visited the home of Grant and his wife Clare and daughter, Elizabeth and it was good to catch up, and in the latter half of the afternoon Grant and I visited nearby Lemsford Springs Nature Reserve, and the gallery of images which I took are linked from the title of this narrative. The keys to this Reserve were obtained from a nearby private house, and arriving at the first hide, we met a charming and friendly couple both of whom were also photographers, and we stayed awhile learning of what they had already seen from this vantage point. The man had a longer zoom on than I was using on this occasion, and he showed me some excellent shots he had got of a pair of Mandarin Ducks. I managed to also get a few shots of the beautiful bird, but mine were way smaller, because on this occasion his lens had a far greater throw.

We also visited another hide, and later found we were unable to complete the entire route due to the height of the water on this occasion due to all the rain we have had of late. It was a warm afternoon despite the wind, which by the river here we were well shielded. It was good to meet up with Grant and his family after a long gap. It was a shame it has been so long, and I hope it is not as long till the next time.

Therapeutic Trip to Bromham

Every so often circumstances conspire to cause me stress, and I need to get relief in some form of therapy; the best I know is to grab a camera and take some images. On this occasion, I had lost time and was desperately trying to make it up getting a series of Christmas cards printed, alongside a series of emailed versions that I needed to sort for those for whom I had no addresses and so was trawling the address book to add to my master email. Hence, once this task was largely sorted, I opted for phototherapy.

I decided that a reasonable destination was the small Nature Reserve and lake at Bromham, however the SatNav was not particularly helpful with accepting a destination, so I had to opt to tap an intended destination on the map, since it consistently refuses to accept the destinations I provide unless it happens to have the specifics in its database, and even more irritating it deletes my entry! So much for the updated, SatNav! 

Upon my final arrival it was very muddy and the sun was dropping rapidly and was soon lost below the horizon of the wood surrounding the lake, and the paths through were waterlogged and interspersed along their length were large pools of water, that made it not worth my while heading to the lake itself, so I decided upon capturing shots of leaves, berries and views that at least recorded what I felt were deserving in the lowering light levels. Handily, the number of images I felt worthy of being of interest by the time I had worked my way through, came to exactly enough to create two gallery pages without my having to throw any out, and satisfied my need for the trip.

I commend them to those viewing the assembled gallery as interesting, though hardly world-shattering examples of photography, and I felt more relaxed once they were edited, assembled and these narrative words that are now complete. I only saw a lone bird, met one interesting man exercising his dog who seemed intent on inflicting wounds on itself, and needed constant recalls from danger! When I was finally leaving I met a couple who were just returning from their constitutional, and before I drove off we chatted briefly, and I said ‘yes’ in reply to the voice which greeted me asking whether I wished to head for ‘home’.

A brief Afternoon Visit to the Forest Centre

I felt sweating in front of a computer screen on one of the hottest and certainly muggiest afternoons in a long while was not the most productive way, nor the most comfortable, so a short trip in an air-conditioned car then sweating whilst trying to hand hold the 100-400mm lens steady on the 5D MkIII was preferable; the aim being to try to capture dragonflies in flight.

Foolishly I thought using a tripod was a good idea, but it really wasn’t and soon though I did use it on occasion as a monopod, it simply became a burden to carry with me! As I entered the steps to the reeds I spotted a tiny lizard, but I just watched it as it soon found a way to elude me, certainly well before I could have readied a camera! I carried on down to where I soon spotted a few dragonflies flitting and briefly hovering above shallow pools among the reeds. It took me fully a sweaty twenty minutes without ever reaching the point where I could press the shutter release, and during that period a couple from Windsor paid a short visit, which gave me a spotter, for the lady was able to point out a small red dragonfly stationary on a reed, so I got my first shot of the day, but I had my sights set on the larger species that were brightly coloured green and blue and hopefully hovering in flight long enough for me to focus and capture.

I persevered for some time and the couple continued further into the Reserve and later returned and in passing wish me success. Later another photographer came along and she mentioned there was a large family of rats below the bird feeder, so I decided to take a diversion from dragonflies and went along and took a few shots as the youngsters came out in the open for a while before being spooked and returning to cover. I then returned to my original spot as did the photographer and occasionally in the lulls between dragonfly visits we chatted, and on mentioning I enjoyed shooting kingfishers she told me her boyfriend chose the colours of a kingfisher for his canoe – I did wonder whether that platform might be successful in attracting our feathered friends, but I think not.

Eventually as the sun dipped further, I decided I might move to the reeds at the edge of the lake in front of the play area, and this proved marginally better and I did manage a couple of passably sharp shots of one in flight, but got some interesting compositions of one in the reeds, static. Then as I took a winding route back to the car I spotted another that alighted on a blackberry cluster and later still some bees among the flowers, so my journey was not wasted, so there was to be a gallery in the end, and it meant the perspiration had been worth enduring.

Autumn Morning Mist at Marston Moretaine

Click – A Monochrome Alternate View for a few shots in black-and-white

I am not an early bird, more a night-owl, which is my downfall when it comes to capturing the undoubted beauty of sunrises and the dew-laden webs of autumn spiders. Sunday morning I was up early – for me and by foregoing breakfast was able to be out with my camera before the sun had had a chance to burn off the heavy mist, so I walked along the road towards the Nature Reserve, trying to capture some of the charm of the glowing mist before the sun had claimed the day.

We have been lucky that this year the autumn colours have remained with us for longer, due to the absence of high winds alongside the rain, and so there was still colour to be seen in the hedgerows. I even learned of a plot of fenced-off land that will become a graveyard that explained something of the tarmacced walkways in the field opposite the Nature Reserve’s land – the wooden sign giving this information was festooned with the work of numerous spiders beaded with droplets bestowed by the dew.

I entered the Nature Reserve by way of the kissing gate and learned that I was definitely a late guest to the party, as there were cyclists and dog-walkers enjoying the warm morning mist; there was simply no chill to the air and all those I met were warm in their greetings too. I presume the lack of wind was allowing the low-lying mist to enclose the warmth from the previous day and the sun was definitely winning the challenge to clear the air and herald another pleasantly warm autumn day. I used the time to capture what I saw, even though there was nothing to make the heart beat faster, just serenity, and reminders of the year that was passing in the faded green and russet tones of the hedgerows.

Dancers End Walk

I learned that BBOWT – an ugly Acronym for the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, had a Nature Reserve at Dancers End, Just off the A41, and it made great play of this being the site for the Duke of Burgundy Species, well sadly I never saw any butterfly beyond a lone Cabbage White, flitting around the lower field before even entering the Nature Reserve. I met up with a couple who have visited regularly to walk their dog for the past twelve seasons, and they have never seen one. Later still I met a man who was doing a survey and he has not seen any for several seasons either.

Had that been the only reason for visiting I would have been sorely disappointed, but I was planning to enjoy the walk and just see what was there, so my enjoyment was not curtailed, but since so much is made of this species, I do feel they should update their information.

Upon arrival at the Car Park, what struck me was the fine architecture of the Pumping Station, it was sad to see that it was faring so badly from neglect, but it is an imposing sight, and I do hope that it is restored before it crumbles into oblivion.

The walk really begins after crossing a field of knee high grass and the road to entrance. On a Summer Sunday I do advise you cross that road with cautions as the route is favoured by cyclists who rush silently down the hill in fair numbers due to the remoteness of the lanes hereabouts. When I arrived it was before eight, so very quiet, but when I left, I had to stop and pull to the edge every fifteen yards, and they were using the lane in both directions!

Anyway back to the walk. The first stretch is across an open field, but no sooner do you go through the gate it becomes a slog as it it is steep, and thoughtfully there are steps, but with three heavy cameras it drew sweat and had me puffing in the heat, there are defined paths, and within the woods the flora is very varied, with some areas full of birdsong and others unnaturally silent, and over to my left as I climbed there was a very strange bark, though what made it I never learned. It was very loud and short and definitely was not a dog. I heard it later as I returned from the central meadow, it sounded very much like a warning but I have never heard any sound exactly like it.

I have tried to capture some of the feel of the place and was surprised to find a few clumps of bluebells that were still fresh, as elsewhere they have been over for some time. I can certainly recommend a visit if you want complete serenity and enjoy solitude; it is a step back in time.

No Duke of of Burgundy butterflies, peace, tranquility, Dancers End Pumping Station, Nature Reserve, BBOWT

Paul Elliott at Hammer & Tongs, Bulbourne Lock

In the early afternoon I spent some time walking around a few areas of College Lake Nature Reserve, an old chalk quarry close to Bulbourne that is preparing to open in an extended fashion for the May Bank Holiday, but most of the wildlife stayed away, or knew I was coming! I did however take a few photographs, so that later I can see the changes. I can see that they will undoubtedly cater well for school groups to learn about woodland life and crafts, wildlife and how chalk came about and why it was mined.

I then wandered down the newly opened path to Bulbourne Lock, where I first paid a visit to the ex-Canal Warden and her husband on their boat, and then walked into the works of the artist blacksmith, Paul Elliott and engaged him in conversation, asking him whether he objected to my taking photos in his workshop and gallery. He was entirely happy with this and he talked to me about the piece he was working on for a charity auction on behalf of the Heroes. He was putting the finishing touches to the patina, before lacquering it to protect it.

I also recorded some of the heavy tools he had there that seemed from a bygone age. It certainly proved how well they were engineered, since all seemed to be still in regular use! Here is a real craftsman as well as an artist with some beautiful work, and outside are other examples of his work, just randomly scattered around. I can definitely recommend a visit to take a look around, especially since there is life a plenty here with Bulbourne Lock, narrowboats, a pub, the towpath and College Lake all close by, just park up at the lake and walk down.