Bedford Park - Warm Afternoon

            Warm sunshine in early October is certainly an invitation to be outside, and is an invitation I find irresistible — so I head for a park I have not visited recently, and the beauty of sunshine lies as opposed to light from an overcast sky, is this casts shadows, and enhances texture and detail. A single teazel separated from its blurred background is therefore an ideal start point. Intricately patterned leaves either obliquely lit from above or through from behind are too good to miss! The leaves and sharp thorns of brambles, or the breeze lifting their leaves to display the rubbing beneath are always aspects of nature that will catch my eye, and entice me to record them. For the next several minutes, I found myself fully absorbed by the textures and colours I found all around; some so abstract they might well have been shot from above by satellite! And, as if to emphasise the beholder, as I panned towards what lay immediately beneath me, I grabbed a shot of my own silhouette, before taking a couple of rippling reflections that were accentuated by the original uniformity of the protecting rail, by the Canoe Slalom Course.
            A nearby bush was alive with bees and butterflies eagerly feasting. Rushing water within the pool by the lock gates, and the contre-jour but now somewhat forlorn remains of the spiders’ labours also caught my eye, as did the Mallard ducks being tossed by the turbulence of the water, then the frantic aggression from one male towards another (possible suitor?!) After this, the chasing male spread its wings to dry them, for the next encounter, perhaps?!
           A pair of swans found there was far more interest below the surface than above — but no! One at least had found a tasty morsel of reed upon which to feast. The predator Mallard ignored the passing feather from the previous fracas as it drifted past and the duck continued to paddle against the current. On the shores other Mallards relaxed in the warmth and swans dried their wings, or simply displayed their plumage as a mark of power. Overhead, gulls were gathering, and occasionally swooping to gather morsels of bread being thrown by children onto the water by the shore. This provides me with the chances to capture the gulls as they hover. In sunshine, it also gives me a better chance of capturing detailed images of the birds in flight; that is until some careless dog owners do not control their charges, and two dogs frighten the assembled birds! That irresponsible behaviour is a disgrace, and shows a callous disregard of the owners’ responsibilities!
            There were several Cormorants in the lake on this occasion, and I was intrigued by one which had something in its beak, but it was too distant for me to see exactly what it had in its beak, but after it had played with it awhile, I was unsure whether it had eaten it, or dropped it back in the water. The Grebes sadly kept their distance from the shore on this occasion, because it is a species I enjoy watching. The ravens I encountered on this afternoon seemed to accept my presence as unthreatening, and came reasonably close, and it was interesting that one pair was so different in their personal grooming - one was immaculate without a feather out of place, the partner: the complete antithesis! Unlike the male Mallard which was washing itself all over! While it’s partner watched calmly from the shore. The subsequent display seemed to justify the male’s behaviour, as they both snuggled up to each other — a display I have never ever witnessed before! I suppose you must admit, that definitely should be a feather in its cap!

           One of the Finger Lakes must be especially shaded from the wind as its surface is almost entirely covered by a layer of green algae, but the birds on it seem undeterred by its coverage, and their passage through closes behind them, as they paddle further. As I head back to my car, I stop to take shots of a Magpie that heads in my direction, entirely unfazed by my presence, but eventually, far less so with a couple of men heading towards me from behind the bird, as they licked their way through ice cream cornets. I resumed my pursuit of leaf textures, dying leaf structure, and berries — the Magpie flew off, and I captured a few more varied leaves and berries on the last stretch before returning to my car, and home, ending a satisfying and enjoyable afternoon’s exercise of limbs and brain. Enjoy!

Harold-Odell Lake Visit

        I pay a visit to the park at Harold-Odell for the first time in a long while; I parked outside the centre, as I wanted to first take a walk down the path that led down to the river as I had not noticed this in the past. I was under-whelmed, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, but I did take a couple of shots for the record.
        It seemed pointless wasting petrol to drive into the car park, so I took my camera with the Sigma 60-600mm mounted on the monopod and walked into the park which was reasonably busy, certainly by the lakeside, with young children with their mothers, excitedly chattering and enjoying the freedom, and the excitement amongst the ducks scrabbling for the bread being provided by one of the dads. One might imagine that the birds fighting for these morsels were starving, but I reckon this is simply a cunning ploy by these birds putting on a show, to ensure a constant supply, and provide enjoyment of the spectacle to these gullible humans; they certainly do not look under-nourished! And certainly, it had the desired effect of ensuring the children were enjoying themselves.
        Just beyond the water’s edge a gull looked on from the vantage of a tall pole close to the shore, perhaps waiting to see some unattended morsels.
        As I walked around the lake, I noticed several new carvings gracing the paths, which I hope inspires others to produce similar works of art. I enjoyed the time I spent roaming the gardens, it inspired me to come again, as there were still several areas I never covered, and I think that some of my family will find a visit rewarding. I hope that some of what I captured will entice others to pay the gardens a visit. I enjoyed capturing some of the swirling shapes created by the everyday activities of the birds on the water.

Sunny Visit to Priory Park Bedford

The weather was warm and bright, and it had been a fair time since I had been to this place, but I was really looking forward to what it was going to offer on this occasion. What really pleased and surprised me was the variety of subjects. I had been concerned that it might be difficult to keep my distance from the expected numbers of people I would encounter as the weather was so warm and bright, but everything went well, and finding subjects for the camera was no problem at all.

Although the camera kit I brought with me gave me various opportunities, I only put the 60-600mm Sigma zoom on the Canon EOS R6, and attached it to the monopod with a small ball joint head, so I could have a stable support with minimal weight. As I have found from excursions in the recent past, this is kit I can carry all day long with excellent scope for almost every aspect of images I am likely to encounter. Although I did have another lens in my rucksack should I encounter subjects that needed real closeups, but everything that came my way, or I found when deep in the woods never needed any change.

One surprise for me were the zealous swans, as on more than a single occasion I would see one head aggressively towards another at high speed and with much slapping of wings on the water, causing the victim to head away at high speed. Now, I have no idea of the sex of the participants, and whether it was predatory or sexual, but my guess is that it could be related to both. I did my best to cover the encounters which seemed to occur a few times in quick succession, but my observations never settled on a conclusion.

There were times when shots I had hoped to capture failed, one in particular was definitely down to my not spotting a bird a few feet in front of me; it was very close, and only broke cover when I had become a foot away! Another failure was a series of shots where the bird I was panning was flying against the rippled water surface, and the entire sequence held the rippled water in focus, not the bird in flight, surprisingly I had not noticed this whilst shooting, a failure which really annoyed me!

I noticed that I spent longer in the park than the majority, so perhaps afternoon tea drew the majority to their homes. On my return trip back to the car, I closed the monopod leg, considering the afternoon’s shooting was over, when I came across a couple of energetic magpies, only to put the camera back to work for one last time.

I found the afternoon rewarding, and well worth the extra miles to exercise my legs and brain, and I hope that those who take the time to look at the images enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the challenge of taking them.

Just the Day before I Left for Paris…

The sun shone out of a blue sky and the air was crisp and cold, but the temptation to get out to take pictures was irresistible, and I was fairly sure that Tringford Reservoir would be a haven for birds in need of food, and the public would be out for walks around the edge, and more than willing to offer. As I passed Pitstone, I spotted some hot-air balloonists out in the reasonably still air, however as is often the case I was arriving late, but at least they added some interest to the Windmill.

After a few shots that included the Ivinghoe church, I set off for Tringford where I was rewarded with a low golden light across the reed beds and slowly melting ice across much of the surface – the small trapped twigs melted some circles in the ice which made interesting patterns, and the blue ice against the golden reeds made for an interesting contrast in colour.

Further in where much of the ice had melted, small islands were left, which meant bread thrown by passers by was only reached by skittering ducks or the long necks of swans.

I caught a hurried sight of a cormorant, interesting groups in silhouette and one narrow boat idling along the nearby canal. Altogether a restful interlude before my trip to the Montmartre district of Paris, where I spent six days, mostly alongside an American photographer to help him understand how Lightroom was to help in his photographic workflow, how it linked with Photoshop, and also how he could explore new retouching techniques for his fashion and beauty photography. Galleries of images taken mostly at night in the few breaks I took from the training, and these sunnier pictures are now ready.