Poulteney Bridge Environs

I thought I would take a chance on parking in Bath, so set off along the A4, a route I used to use when hitchhiking to and from RAF Yatesbury, I drove right through the tourist-crowded centre and almost out the other side and found a spot at the very end of the road that would take me towards Chippenham, and which meant I avoided a lengthy queue when I finally left later on!

I walked back the way I came, then along Great Poulteney Street till the Bridge, where I took the steps to the riverside. Having navigated those who were enjoying alfresco coffee, teacakes and chat and being bustled by half of humanity, I arrived under the shelter of trees where an artist was well on the way to completing his watercolour of the scene, I checked to see that he did not object to my capturing his work in the foreground, and later was able to capture a couple fascinated enough by his work to discuss how long he had been labouring on it.

I was also able to encapsulate the scene by having a Japanese man directing his partner as to how to take his portrait, a man gently feeling his future offspring kicking or moving within his spouse’s womb, a young mum sunbathing whilst her child slumbered in a buggy, a two-child family resting and a couple ‘chimping’ the most recent digital shot on their point ‘n’ shoot camera by the railings in the background. I promise I did not stage it! Everyone was in their own world, yet part of the whole – bustling serenity.

The roar of the water over the weir was as fascinating for the birds as the human populace who were being brought to the very edge downstream in a pleasure boat, there were two types of gulls and innumerable pigeons and a lone cormorant flew overhead aloof to the smaller birds below. I walked back up the steps and once again passed the couples oblivious to the mass of tourists squeezing past, and walked around towards the centre to choose a higher viewpoint of the weir and the bridge. I spotted that some of the gulls did fly close to the parapet, and hoped in vain I could capture one coming straight for me from the direction of the bridge. Since it was not to be I simply practised catching them in flight regardless, and was quite pleased with my improving success rate.

I spotted a man shooting with an iPad! Maybe, I should consider doing handheld shots using a Sinar P with my old friend Scheimpflug at my elbow! I three times chatted to a photojournalist, Christopher which added interest to my afternoon.

Later, I walked towards the Gardens where the Portishead band was playing in the central bandstand, paid my fee, and joined them to savour the atmosphere and yet a different viewpoint of the Poulteney bridge. My sense of humour came to the fore when I spotted two organic statues, the first which brought to mind Oscar Pistorius of Blade Runner fame in the Olympics, and then another who I imagined to be a black belt in Judo!

The sky had been clouded over for some time, so I chose to return to the car and set off home, so that I could look forward to post-processing  probably 20GBs of raw images from the weekend!

A Sunny Autumn Day

Autumn in England when sunny, cheers the spirit; it is a time when farmers plough their fields in readiness for the next season. The landscape looks far cleaner and tidier somehow for all this effort, and I took the opportunity to capture some of these labours.

Also it may come as a surprise to many, but there can be a lot of colour to be found at this tail end of the year – in gardens and the hedgerows. I set out to capture this and along the way learnt about an unusual occurrence where a lone dear had suffered an identity crisis and thought itself to be a sheep, sadly I learnt this rather late in the day and the deer was lying down, but as you can see, it is entirely at ease amidst the surrounding sheep.

Autumn is generally noted for its golds, but red leaves and shades of reds with hints of green also abound. The difficulty capturing these in the hedgerows is that a breeze coupled with the difficulties finding suitable unmuddy places to shoot from make this rather hit ‘n’ miss, so a good deal of ‘chimping’ and erasing has often to take place; composition is often tricky as the wind blows leaves out of frame at the very moment when the lighting is just right and intervening branches and other leaves have been blown aside.

Taking photographs in the lanes and byways of the rural Home Counties can attract queries from the locals, some of whom are surprised that you find beauty in what they see as mundane, but in this way I often find myself invited to take a look at other attractions and get directed to even more interesting locations. I have learnt a lot in this manner, and had some very fascinating conversations. Had I not been photographing tractors in the field, I would never have learnt about the lone deer by way of example.

The flowers at the end of the gallery were taken after sunset, showing just how versatile the modern digital camera is under low light conditions.

Mechelen Cricket Club Visit Bamville and Win

Peter Carr, a member of Bamville Cricket Club told me his team were playing at home on Sunday, so I asked whether he'd mind my coming along to take pictures at the event; he said I'd be welcome.

Sadly I arrived a little late, and the game had started, because I had been busy catching up on work after a busy week, mostly spent away from my email, which had amassed a mountain. The morning mist had lifted and the sun was out in strength.

I had my 150-500mm lens on one body and 70-200mm on another and the long lens was on my tripod to to check out how effective the Acrotech head was - it proved to be useful, if somewhat restrictive. At the end of the day I went back to handholding to give myself more freedom.

I have whittled down the gallery of shots from some 500+ shots taken to 180 that give some idea of the afternoon's play, with its interludes for finding lost balls, removing dog poo and supplying orange juice, with breaks in the game when I captured some of the moments of relaxation.

Sad to relate the visitors won, but it was taken in good spirit, it's a shame I missed an excellent catch, and at least three clean bowled players; I must get out of the habit of 'chimping' so often!