Therapeutic Walk Before Sun Sets

Who is Spying on who? Is this a budding fellow photographer?

                                                                           Sorry, it was just too tempting!

          Somewhat late in the day the sun shyly arrives, and I collect my camera, and head out towards the path that skirts the nearby church; the sun brings out the variety of colours that abound at this time of transition. Leaves show both ends of the season’s colours; the russet golds of leaves falling, fallen, and temporarily caught before their final landing, to carpet the grass beneath, and the lush green of shoots that hope to survive the coming frosts.

          I capture also, the lush yellow of lichen and the varied structures of the coming season’s seed forms, and upturned leaves that more clearly define their veined structures that barely show when viewed from above. Beyond the denuded branches, the clouds display their forms, and on the water form a backdrop to branches reflected on the surface of the stream in the deeply cut field boundary to save the fields from flooding. Occasionally, shafts of gold penetrate gaps in the boundary trees to highlight the richness of a nearby tree as the sun gets ever lower, and the clouds themselves are also edged in gold as the sun finally dips below the horizon, and beyond the nearby rooves. 

          I am doing my best to catch up on some of the individual trips I have made in recent days, but other pressures have meant that there are several trips I have made with pictures taken, but have yet to be processed as other pressures have prevailed. However I can take some comfort that despite the dearth of new images reaching the blog, the readers’ viewing figures have remained high, and seemingly visitors have in some instances ventured beyond the present page to view shots taken back in August. I wonder whether that came about by using the Search box and entering subjects of specific interest, or whether some reached the bottom of the initial screen then decided to venture even earlier.

          I have taken some pictures that have yet to be processed, but I am hoping that they will see the light of day soon and I apologise if the subjects feel neglected, it just seemed easier to deal with some later shots that were nearer the surface.

Autumn Woodland Stroll

          The sun beckoned me out from where I had parked my car close by a Vauxhall Car Showroom; a handy spot from where to cross the busy main road, and enter a park. One of the beauties of sunlight when photographing leaves is that when leaves are backlit, the internal structures are revealed, adding interest to even the most mundane of leaves. So it was hardly surprising that seeing sunlight streaming in from the direction my camera was facing, rather than over my left shoulder, it would feature such an image so early in my walk. Nevertheless, strongly textured leaves soon became the focus of my attention in the seasonally natural hues of dark green and red.
          Against such a backdrop, I then sighted a Shield bug, making its lethargic way around the handily, rippled textures of the leaf. The combination of sunlight and the season’s varied and rich colours always appeal, as do the dark gold of dying leaves due to drop from their stem when the wind breaks their grip.
          It is interesting to note that when I am spotted aiming my camera’s lens close to something of interest to me, and almost right on top of my subject, passers-by are often sufficiently puzzled to enquire just what it might be that I am looking at? This breaks down any reticence they might feel normally, about asking me what has caught my interest? I cannot be sure in this instance whether this was the case, but one of the next shots I took was of a couple of well covered, happy people who engaged me in brief conversation. If they spot this image I hope they were pleased with the outcome.
          I continued walking close by the trees to spot further subjects for the camera and was alerted by the loud and obviously happy chirping of an immaculately groomed Robin generously providing me with differing backgrounds for the shots! Up till then, I had not taken much note of the sky and it’s few clouds, but I took a quick shot before going back to closer subjects of tree trunk textures and leaves, and leave you with an ivy-clad tree ‘giving me the bird’!

Milton Ernest - Autumn Colours Abound

               This Autumn day was warm and bright and found me in a garden close by the River Great Ouse in Milton Ernest, and although the gallery of images only spans a single page, I was rewarded with a fair variety of leaves, berries and flowers. I was also visited by a few birds from time time, though none came close for long enough, or in a suitable spot to warrant my capturing them. However, I was far from disappointed with the images I was able to record, what disappointed me, and was an irritation was the long forced delay in my posting the gallery on the blog! The cause of the delay was my computer suffered a crash that took till today to resolve. I received some generous help from Adobe, and was extremely grateful for the technician’s willing support in resolving the situation, as he patiently waited whilst the computer responded to his careful restoration of several hundreds of images, that had been lost (fortunately — only temporarily) — due to the mishap that had occurred a few days back — To say I was relieved would be a gross misrepresentation of my feelings of Gratitude and Relief! His Patience was exemplary, and I sincerely hope he was aware of my gratitude — I had feared it may have been terminal, as after the mishap, the total within the catalog had been reduced by two or thee orders of magnitude, so to see the extra digits certainly gave me a Very Warm Fuzzy!
               It was a dull day today — outside, but now that I can publish this small gallery, the day in my upstairs room now is way brighter than the lights can ever reach!
               To those souls who visit my blog page, I apologise for the delay, but I am exceedingly grateful that despite this lack of activity from my end, somehow the visitor numbers have held up extremely well indeed, which adds to my relief; so I thank you all very sincerely for your support, and I hope this single page gives visitors as much pleasure as it gave me in their capture.

Brogborough Life Mix

            Having decided that there was likely sufficient wind to tempt windsurfers to head for the lake at Brogborough, I ensured that my small LUMIX had a fully-charged battery and a fresh card, and headed out to the car and drove to the lake, and it was a relief to see there was at least some activity in the Car Park.
            However, I did not see much activity on the water, so locking the car I headed for the shore. I did then see one sailor on the lake, and looking around there were a few others preparing themselves or their gear, so I returned for the camera. There was a slight breeze, and warm sunshine, so no need for anything more than the camera. I took a stroll along the bushes, as I had already seen signs of crane flies and interesting leaves, and some blackberries.
            During the time I was getting shots of these as I walked along the bushes, a few windsurfers were launching onto the lake, but the fitful nature of the wind meant the number of sailors were now to be captured on the water, but I can be easily distracted, and the frothing water at my feet, and the arrival of a dragonfly soon attracted my attention. In the lull, I returned to activity on the water, before spotting damselfly alighting close by.
            My third page of images was finally concentrated entirely upon human activity, but from not too many souls, and as these numbers dropped, I chose to return to process the images back home. I gather that stronger and more sustained winds are due, so I am very likely to return soon.

Late Afternoon Local Walk

          My younger daughter and her family came to visit and, since they had spent the time mainly indoors, Lizzy prepared a cooked meal so that on their return it was ‘bath and beds’, to be ready in the morning for the return to School the next day. Once I had waved them off on their journey home the sun was yet to set, and I could not resist grabbing the camera and heading out. After almost immediately crossing the main road, I found beaming flowers inviting me to capture their images even before I had reached the path into the woods. It was gratifying to know that I had recorded these blooms before the onset of Autumn, and heading past the bend and onto the path into the woods. 
          Although the fresh, red berries were an announcement of the next season, there were still brave new leaves to suggest the current season was not yet over, and there were still blackberries to fully ripen; I succumbed to the temptation to sample a few after at least honouring their presence in a photo! The versatility of this camera allowed me to squat to record a shot of the slow passage of a slug across the path. Later, on my return home I was able to note it had survived the wheels of bikes and the feet of passing humans, though unable to confirm whether this was as a result of fewer evening footfalls, pure chance, or simply a different slug in a similar spot on the return trip. 
          I feel there is great beauty and power in clouds and I often find myself drawn to capturing them both alone in towering power, or restful backdrops to buildings, hills, landscapes, lakes, sea, or trees — theirs is an attraction I have felt over years and they still retain this power. 
          This walk was not over long, nor was there a wind to make vast and rapid changes to their form or stature, but they nevertheless changed their structure during the few minutes that elapsed as I walked on both my outward and return journey, which exercised my limbs as well as my imagination and enjoyment of the late afternoon.

Riverside Garden Life

            Light, Life, Textures and Colour are the features that entice me to use a camera to record; and on this particular warm afternoon a short distance from the River Great Ouse becomes the record of what I found and as I filled a quiet afternoon. The insects at one stage completely covered the flowers as they sought out the bounteous gifts on offer, and played out their reproductive cycle amongst the colours and scents of their environment. Light captured the silky threads that bridged the seed heads as if to form a high wire for insects to perform gymnastic feats for the audience of roses beyond. The supporting plant pillars seemingly offered by outstretched fingers from seed heads. It almost seemed as if the plants were offering their generous support to the web-spinning insects by holding index fingers as pylons — is this fanciful to consider there are links formed over aeons between animals and plants?

             Certainly, there are the very obvious examples of pollination aided by the the enticing provision of nectar. Nearby a small butterfly was undoubtedly providing a service for flowering plants, and ultimately ourselves in the provision of nutritious honey from those natural activities of bees and flowers. I could also see amongst some tall stems the structures at a greater scale; the heads of tropical palm trees.

            A repeating theme of the pictures I take is often the capture of textures and, some leaves caught my eye by the sunlight finding and highlighting the surface of a single lush, heart-shaped leaf amongst the flowing curves of grassy leaves. In the shade of overhanging leaves, a finger of still water by the river’s edge was caught in a pool of sunlight with lace-like golden threads of roots, backed by the reflection of blue sky and silhouette of the shading tree. I did not have a polarising filter to hand which might have better captured what lay beneath the reflecting surface water.

            All the pictures in this small gallery were taken several days back, but I have not had the opportunity to process them, due to a mix of pleasurable time spent with my elder daughter, and frustrating, unproductive time that hopefully is now behind me.

Private Garden Life

I set off in sunshine, with the distinct possibility my hope for uninterrupted sunshine might well be doomed, however, the Gods appeared to have been benevolent on this occasion, as the dark clouds were slow-moving, and seemed to pass by without dropping their ominous load.

In order to keep my distance from the avian visitors to this garden, I opted for my trusty long zoom, Sigma 60-600mm lens on the EOS R6, as I could operate easily to get both close-up detail, and more general views, with minimal moving around, so as to avoid disturbing the myriad birds which visit the garden.

The variety of colours on show was a delight, and I was lucky enough to get a series of shots of one brave bird, who came to bathe in the water, and be generous in moving to different locations to keep my attention! I also ventured to the riverside nearby, but of the three ducks originally close to the bank two beat a hasty and vigorous flapping retreat, the other simply headed off determinedly, keeping its head away from me, but no energy exerted to leave the water!

I will let the images captured tell their own story of an ultimately very relaxing afternoon close by the river.

Marston Woods Afternoon

Although it was late in the day, since Winter Time had now started, when I arrived at the Car Park, no cars were present, and high fair weather clouds only occasionally occluded the sun, which still had some warmth, but nevertheless I had still put on a pullover.

I took off the soft cover on the LUMIX FZ10002, so that it would hang from my neck unencumbered by the case and ready for me to shoot; I did however put the two lowest factor closeup lenses in their cases into my back pocket, in case I need to come in close on a specific feature I wanted to capture. I did have one image I had captured earlier in the village, so the first image specifically taken in the woods was one of a series that captured the tunnelled avenues I walked prior to coming out into open landscape where the stream flowed through a culvert before once again flowing to the side of one of the main avenues ahead.

I chose the path that once again had trees and bushes both sides, but was open above and, for much of my walk I captured the trees and sunlit areas that opened around me. Whilst within the woods, I had met very few other walkers, and had enquired whether any had seen particularly interesting examples of the native wildlife, and one man told me he had seen a magpie. My interest on this occasion was for something a tad more exciting. With my arrival in a more open landscape, my eyes and camera turned to the contrasting colour of sky and clouds on Autumnal shades of leaves against the lush green of grassy avenues, the rich copper tones of leaves caught in sunshine and the large high clouds in a rich blue sky. Occasionally I caught glimpses of fresh young leaves in areas sheltered from the wind.

As I walked back towards my car, I came close to the edge of one of the lakes with a few remaining green reeds and their reflection set against the blues of sky on the water’s surface that then graduated gently into the coppery colour of khaki reeds on the distant shoreline, I also liked the detached smaller puff of cloud, neatly framed reflection on the water’s lightly rippled surface by the curve of the grassy bank.

After further walking in the open with little of note, I arrived at the final path leading to my return walk within the woods, but I took a few shots in the by now faltering sunshine as the evening sun was being shaded by the clouds signalling the onset of evening. These were of the shielding and carved wooden wall around the the bench designed by John Muir. My walk in the open areas was now coming to a close, as I captured the last views of the trees alongside my return to my car. The last couple of shots in the Woods were of the juxtaposition of fresh green leaves set against the vibrant yellow of some larger earlier ones from the same stem.

I stopped on the way back where the extra height of the lane across the main road gave me one last look at the dying sun as it made its final bow with a distant glimpse of a rainbow between the far horizon and the cloud base. Ironically, it was while I took these closing images that a van driver stopped also interested in the sunset, so I handed him a card, so that he could see what I had glimpsed and just managed to record. I hope he is not dismayed by the long delay in my putting them up on the blog, but I have faced several problems on my computer in the last few days, which I am hoping are slowly being resolved…

Brogborough Lake Path Walk

Since the Lake is not open for Windsurfing or Angling currently, I parked to one side of the gate to avoid blocking access, and entered the path that encircles the lake along with my currently ever-present LUMIX camera, ironically in the hope of capturing this year’s Dragonflies, but although they were around, they rarely settled, or hovered awhile, and also rarely came close, whereas the damselflies were numerous and were even to be found In the field margins.

There were spiders either hanging around or very busy linking up several different branches or leaf groups. I also noted a strange winged insect with long tails, but my first interesting bird was a distant Wagtail which, as I quietly manoeuvred closer would loop past me to hop around the same distance from me, but on the other side of me! I moved closer to it, but even more slowly, and have relied on cropping the images to use at a fair size. It kept me busy for a while, as it was rarely still for long, and they are interesting birds. I did get some shots of one Dragonfly, but at one stage the reed he was on fell into the water, and wet its wings, so when I spotted that it had become partially submerged, I got a small branch, and lifted the reed out of the water, so that it’s wings could dry out, and after five minutes, was relieved to witness him dry enough to flap his wings, and moments later take to the air. I was mightily relieved, and it lifted my spirits in realising I had likely saved its life.

Two Geese families soon appeared slowly from the right of me as the respective parents carefully watched me to see if I represented a danger, the appraisal lasted a couple of minutes, then both the Greylag and Canada Geese families slowly brought their charges gingerly past. They had judged that I was not a danger, and both sets of parents kept their young close as they passed by; so they were still taking no chances.

I had thought that the Dog Roses would soon have finished flowering since I had seen the first of them quite some time back, but they were still making a good showing as I continued walking further around the lake. The still waters on this trip meant that it the bottom of the lake clearly showed the origins of their past life as the numerous bricks were evidence of where they had been unceremoniously dumped if they were damaged or otherwise sub-standard. At least now the large planting of trees and expanse of water coloured by the reflection of extensive blue sky and high thin clouds made a most attractive sight, which once the current Lock Down becomes a distant memory will return to, become the background to joyous human activity for Windsurfers, Hydrofoilers, Paddle-boarders and Swimmers, not forgetting the Swans, Ducks and Geese that call this expanse of water their home too.

On this trip, I spotted later a gap in the bushes where a small makeshift bridge had been built over the stream, and decided to risk crossing over, and found myself on a raised bank, with a path bathed in shafts of light from gaps in the cover of leaves which attracted the flying of hoverflies. I decided here was an interesting challenge for this camera, to try to capture then in flight, or possibly static on the back of my hand, but this is one activity that is hard to master using a mirrorless camera, but I do like a challenge, and I spent fully half an hour in attempting to capture at least one, in flight. It was not going to be a great shot, but that was no reason not to make the attempt! They do not match the quality of the rest of the images, but it occupied my brain hand and arms, and I hoped the hoverflies might take a leaf out of the lone fly’s book, by realising I meant no harm.

My last two shots were of the shadows cast by shafts of sunlight through the trees that silhouetted some of the taller weeds in the wide verge.

A Different Destination, Still Interesting

It is often interesting to set off for a prescribed destination, and minor disappointment when that becomes not possible, but often that can still prove to be worthwhile, and that was the case in this instance, for the result was I met some interesting people. Yes, we kept our distance, but this did not prove to be a hindrance, I learned something from those I met, and we all seemed to enjoy our chance meeting, and I was allowed to take photographs up close in some of the front gardens.

The original plan was to find access to a group of lakes, but they appeared to be entirely inaccessible to the public, and so, undeterred, I move on elsewhere, and soon find subjects for my camera — the subject soon presented itself to me — as I drove away from my initial disappointment, ahead a field of Gold was revealed; the first fields of rapeseed I had so far seen this season, so I pulled the car over to a convenient spot to park. I noted that I had been to this spot before, around three or more years back, and captured an evening sky. On this trip, I had parked in the spot as before, and taken a stroll along the nearby road towards the field where I captured a few landscapes of rapeseed, before returning along the lane for shots of a distant horse, a chat with a couple who had been passing me after traversing the path through the field of rape. The man turned out to be an angler who was able to suggest a good spot to see kingfishers.

On the journey back to the car, I met two more of the residents of these cottages, allowing me to record some shots in their respective gardens, and to stop long enough to chat, whilst maintaining at a respective distance. I also crossed across a small planking bridge to get a couple of shots through the trees to an open grass area that was a right of way to distant fields. I managed a glimpse of a robin just before leaving this spot, and heading for home after a brief chat with a man mowing his large lawn between his current cottage home and his erstwhile large home, now his son’s family abode. I hope that his break to chat to me did not delay his completion of mowing, since this was no small lawn! A church bathed in sunshine later attracted my attention as that was also having its lawns mown, I was offered a chance to view the interior, but on this occasion I declined, but perhaps I will take up the offer at a later date.

I stopped once more, on a bend with a view of the large former Country House at Ampthill, that is now divided into flats that I had earlier photographed from Stewartby with my long Sigma lens a while back. The reason for this brief stop was the abundance of trees sporting mistletoe balls of varying sizes, but I took advantage of a shot of the big house as well.

A Short Walk With a Camera

  To stay healthy at any time for a man in his mid-seventies, he needs to keep both body and mind fit, and in the straitened times we now find ourselves, the key to being able to survive, if one unfortunately contracts the Covid-19 Virus is ensuring the body's health at the time.

I am fortunate in having open spaces close at hand, so I am making the most of the fine weather by taking long walks, and a camera; the former to exercise the body, the latter to keep the eyes and brain active, by taking a keen interest in all that surrounds me, and when observing others, being aware of keeping a good distance between them and myself for the safety of both parties.
Either one of us may well be hosting the virus, so maintaining this separation is both selfless and selfish, apart from being a strict discipline that has to be observed. From both personal observation and similar anecdotal evidence from others, it would seem that where say a month ago if someone was walking along either the same path as yourself or on the other side of the road, most would avoid any conversation or even glances; of late on each occasion I have been pleasantly surprised at how almost every person of either sex or any age, now will catch one's eye and offer a greeting, many times with a smile, and often a brief conversation. I wonder – am I being overly optimistic that when the peak of this crisis is behind us, we will still retain this behaviour?
On this trip I once again took along the lightweight, but very versatile Lumix FZ10002 zoom, mirrorless bodied camera, and started recording images of flowers, initially in my own garden, then the nearby flower boxes and front gardens belonging to my neighbours. I spotted a small unusual bee that on this occasion was unable to capture as it was was way too speedy! It is unusual in that unlike other bees it has a pronounced pointy nose (note the highly technical description! – Not!)
I had no fixed plan for the subjects I was intending to capture, but fresh blossom was certainly an early feature, as were Tulip heads as yet not fully open, likewise very young and fresh leaves, beginning to unfurl. Later in my walk it was other buds, a cat and a lone Ladybird, that soon disappeared beneath a leaf.
The walk lasted far longer than it will take anyone viewing the gallery, but I am trying hard to master the different behaviour of a mirrorless camera, and I am certainly not yet as effective with this, but I am certainly impressed with the quality it can achieve when I consider its cost and versatility, coupled to its portability.

A Climb to Millbrook Church

As many who know me will realise, I rarely travel without a camera, and on those occasions, I will have made a conscious decision not to be taking photos, or my family will have made that decision for me! Yes, I do have a phone  that Sports a camera, but for me that is not a serious option. For several years my choice has been a single lens reflex, and although I started as a Nikon devotee, there came a point where I opted to jump from film to digital, and at that juncture Canon offered a better quality than Nikon, so I jumped ship. 

Both camera makers spent the early digital years, swapping the lead in terms of quality or ease of use, but as I simply had to wait a short while when Canon was behind before the next model made a jump, I stayed loyal. This was as much due to my investment and the prohibitive financial cost of making such a jump. Both systems are very equal, and there are subtle handling differences which would mean at critical moments I could fail to capture a shot.

Recently, as I made the switch to a mirrorless body, I fell into just such a situation. I had my recently acquired EOS R and Sigma Sports 60-600mm crash to the ground, and whilst both were being repaired, I went back to my DSLRs, only to find I had lost the fluidity in the handling, that used to be second nature! The differences are only slight, but my brain is less agile than it was when I made the jump to digital all those years back!

I made a trip to my accountant today, and on the return trip, I parked the car in the village of Millbrook, and grabbing the camera I took a steep path up to the top to see what the views might be, and whatever else might be of interest. It was only when I reached the summit and saw the view, that I realised I had actually been to this same spot before, but on that occasion, I had started from the opposite side of the same hill! It had not been a wasted journey, but it was one of those forehead-slapping moments!

The end result is a single page gallery of what caught my eye, and certainly gave me a quality that justified my purchase, and its flip screen made all the difference to the ease with which I was able to get the low angles of some of the shots, and also the landscapes, due to the lack of shutter vibration, coupled with the larger pixel count inherent in the file size increase over my 5D MkIII, had I taken the same shots with the latter.

It was a useful opportunity to become more familiar with the EOS R for when I need to work swiftly and intuitively in the future.

Marston Lake Walk, and 'Swims'

 

 

Rather late in the day, I will decided I would see whether the wind I had in Marston Moretaine was also blowing at Brogborough, but even before reaching the turn-off, I could see by the stillness of the trees I was passing there was not even a breath stirring the leaves on trees! As I came upon the gate to the Windsurfers’ parking area, it was firmly locked. I pulled into the small lay-by opposite the entry to the Anglers area, locked the car and wandered to the water’s edge to see whether there was any activity on the lake, and confirming there was not a soul or even a ripple on the surface, and strolled further along the shore to see if there were any walkers or birdlife, and having rounded the bend to see the full stretch, turned around and headed for Marston Lake.

Approaching the lay-by close to that lake, I crossed the road and parked so that when leaving I would be facing in the direction of Marston Moretaine. I had brought some crisps and a biscuit, so before grabbing my kit, I had a bite to eat. Just in case there was some birdlife around, I decided to take my long lens in its bag over my shoulder and belted to my waist. With the benefit of twenty-twenty foresight, I should have made the decision to forego that choice and relied entirely upon the EOS 5D and it’s 24-70mm lens that I had taken along, just-in-case! I did however take along my monopod having extended it to use as a walking stick, because my back was still weak from my last trip with the heavy Benbo tripod and the Sigma Sports 150-600mm!

I had decided that since the low light from a clear blue sky really enhanced the colours of the lake and the threadbare trees along its margins, I would be able to gather views of each ‘swim’ as I understand this to be the correct term for where anglers cast from. It struck me that putting together images of each and every spot around the lake might well be of interest for the club to promote itself either in print or on the Web. And purely from my angle it meant that the images would hang together as an entity when the gallery was visited.

I managed to cover just short of half the perimeter path around the lake before I realised that my back would probably give out if. I went too far, so I cut short my trip as the added (superfluous!) weight of the heavy camera and lens in the bag, meant I had a very good chance of doing myself further harm! The sun seemed to confirm my decision as being correct, as when I turned to retrace my steps the sun dimmed as the clouds began to slowly cover it and it began to head ever closer to the distant trees.

I also noted that there might well be a shortcut to my car, but it might prove to be tricky, especially as there was not only mature brambles, but a mound of mud and rubble to negotiate; having my monopod, came in very handy in checking the terrain, and also providing extra and very welcome support as I navigated a way through — successfully! This saved my back considerably as it meant at least four hundred less yards to cover with my unused burden of the heavy camera bag and totally redundant contents!

I felt that despite the additional burden, the images captured were worth the effort, and the exercise did me no harm, and it had been pleasantly warm throughout. I also met and chatted to three anglers along the way.

Stockwood Discovery Gardens – Windy Yet Quiet

There always seemed the threat of rain from the clouds, ever on the move, yet sharing the time with bright sunshine. The light when bright tantalisingly transient making the taking of photos a challenge, yet the gusty winds driving the swaying Pampas grass, offering curving shapes to their height. Overhead, to a background of scudding clouds, the aircraft ferrying passengers to foreign lands, whilst the children sit in schoolrooms with dreams of their summer holidays past and their renewed focus now on lessons fresh.

I had set off for the gardens for a postponed visit to meet up with friend Jan a recent gardener for Stockwood. Upon arrival in the Car Park, I had not spotted a nearby car with someone aboard till, after opening my door and gathering my camera bag, a familiar voice called out; Jan must have arrived mere moments before me. Her car door was open, and she  glanced up from looking at her phone to greet me. On hearing her voice, I remembered I had brought three booklets relating to the camera she had earlier had from me, and brought them over for her, since I knew that had I not given her then, I was almost certain to be later leaving with them still in the back of my car!

We both chatted whilst collecting our camera bags and walking into the Discovery Centre. Upon arrival, Jan was greeted from all the gathered staff at the Reception Desk, all welcoming her and obviously pleased to see her and chat, before we both moved off and into the gardens, where there were several other staff all happy to see her and catch up. It was very obvious here was a very popular lady, so I soon had my camera out to see what I could record. I stayed nearby not wishing to interrupt, and looked around at the very definite signs of the passing season until Jan was free to lead me to where we might find interesting subjects on which to focus, and every so often making observations thus adding snippets of useful information that I hoped I might later recall.

Jan led the way pointing out items of interest, but we did not shoot either specific leaves or flowers, or even from the same viewpoints, but I did offer suggestions and reset some of her camera controls and explained why. I did on occasion suggest alternative viewpoints to help in separation of subject from background, and different orientations, such as vertical, to emphasise the length of a stem; I was only offering guidance not rigid rules. In return, I was trying to glean names and other facts, such as why the plum trees suffered a particular infection due to the adjacent Pines.

At one stage in our meanderings, I completely lost Jan, and went around the entire gardens searching, before returning to where we had last been when my phone rang, and I learned Jan was wondering where I was! She described her location where we met back up and after a short while of further shooting we headed for the cafeteria. There were far more people in here than outside. We sat and chatted, and Jan showed me some shots of hers on a tablet. When you consider how sparse are fresh new blooms, it is still amazing just how much there is still to see and capture. 

It was nearing the time to leave, and after a short last trip around and a farewell chat at Reception, but just as we headed for our cars, sadly I started seeing a blindspot in my field of vision, and recognised the onset of a Migraine. I asked could I have a glass of water and took a couple of Paracetamols and headed for the car where with closed eyes I sat till the episode was over and the pills had taken effect. I did however thank Jan for the afternoon and bade her farewell. Ten minutes went by as I sat in my locked car with eyes still closed before I opened to check whether full vision was restored – it was, so I got out, locked the car and returned to Reception in case I had not thanked them for the glass of water and having apologised finally headed out and before leaving, phoned a lady who had once worked with me on a part-time basis to see whether I might visit. I chatted with Shirley and her young grandchild, Tom before finally heading home.

Stockwood Discovery Centre Visit

 

I had finished processing shots taken at Brogbourgh and the gallery of images had been posted, so now the next venue was the gardens at the Stockwood Discovery Centre on the outskirts of Luton. I had not visited for some time and I have two Birthday Cards to create by the end of the week so a couple of fresh leaves or flowers would come in handy. I phoned a couple of friends in Luton, one of whom must have been on holiday, and the second person did answer, but was going out, so my trip would have just the single purpose.

I would however take advantage of the slightly discounted fuel before the return journey. On this occasion I would be travelling somewhat lighter, since on this occasion I really only needed the one lens on the EOS 5D MkIII, the 90mm Tamron Macro, though should I need others, the camera bag held a couple of alternatives.

On my arrival, it was fairly evident that the School holidays had begun, as few spaces were left in the Car Park, and once inside, it was also evident that this was an ideal venue for young mothers to bring their young and to socialise! However, most stayed close to the Café and play area, or sat in groups on the lawns or in the shade of the trees. My venue were the gardens and the greenhouse. The clouds that greeted me originally, began slowly to dissipate, but on a couple of occasions when I did want sunshine, I had to be patient till the sun came back from behind the clouds. I spotted a lone butterfly and a few bees, to add to the leaves and flowers.

Although the dry spell had taken its toll of some of the plants, and many of the flowers had had their day, I still found ample subjects for the camera, and some will feature in cards, so my trip was fruitful and I was able to refuel as part and parcel of the journey.

Stockwood Discovery Centre – Is Spring on its Way?

I met up with a former gardener for the gardens at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, Jan, to see what our chances were for capturing in photographs, any early signs of the upcoming Spring – at first sight with much of last year’s former glory removed along with any weeds that survived our lacklustre Winter, the prospect looked doomed to failure, but when we looked more closely, there were many signs of new growth, even signs of bloom – there were small clusters of Snowdrops in a couple of different spots.

At this time of the year without the leaf coverage some of the intricate twists of the branches can be seen to form beautiful shapes which become lost to sight when the leaves arrive. Some of the leaves on show on the day were variegated which always adds to their beauty especially when these fresh delicate colours are set against the more saturated and darker colours of older leaves. Grasses from the previous season dry and curl, forming interesting whorls, but are often difficult to capture when there is a wind as one naturally wants minimal depth of field to isolate them from their background, but you are fighting to  get them with minimal movement – high failure rate – but I did get a shot!

Occasionally, I would look around and Jan would be nowhere to be seen, yet on another occasion, I would spot her in deep concentration moving in close to some plant that caught her eye, it was interesting to note how she spotted items of engineering interest in much the same way I spot small details that have no other connection than the shape or the light falling on them sparks the idea for a picture.

We eventually decided that the warmth of the restaurant was calling, so we sat and chatted with one of her friends over cups of hot chocolate and looked on the backs of our cameras at shots we had taken, then headed for the exhibition area where the British Wildlife photos were on display, which were stunning, we also took a wander around the display of vehicles where I learned yet more of Jan’s varied past employment with Electrolux and her time at the Riding Stables in this same complex. I learned a little bit about the nature of the chain on a horse’s bridle and bit, when she spotted it had not been fitted correctly, and duly corrected it and explained its use. As I write this piece I learn that the shot she took of  the Prancing Horse adorning the front of the Steam Engine is now a card for a friend of hers, so already her visit to Stockwood has been profitable!

When we then headed out the sun had been out for a while, but it had had no effect on the temperature, it was bitter still, and the wind was far more noticeable once we were beyond the walls of the Gardens, Jan returned my Macro lens, but I was sad to learn the lens I spotted and suggested she might find useful had not met with the same pleasure as the micro she had borrowed from me.

The time spent was enjoyable and I came away with some interesting images despite my first impressions of what we might find.

Stockwood Discovery Centre, Garden Visit, and Exhibition

I have been searching for a photographer’s darkcloth, as a means of using the review screen on a dSLR in bright sunlight when trying to capture a movie of a windsurfer, since using the external monitor via HDMI does not react fast enough (perhaps I should rephrase that a bit – the monitor I have does not react fast enough!) For me to follow the action, I need a good handle on what I am looking at on the screen, so that I can pan accurately.

On this morning I visited the studios of Kevin Calvert where Steve White had kindly located a small piece of black cloth which would serve the purpose well, and he was happy to let me have it, hence as I was close enough to Luton, I detoured to Luton and the Stockwood Discovery gardens. Knowing this might be a possible chance to take a few end of season shots of autumn leaves and the odd few late flowers, I had the camera with me.

I was using the 5D MkIII and the 24-70mm with the macro facility and I took a few shots in the open garden areas, before spotting that the greenhouse was open, and checked it was not about to be locked, perhaps it was not the best idea, since while inside, the rain started. Undaunted, I tried to use the opportunity of capturing leaves and flowers with glistening droplets of water on them. In this at least, I was lucky that the rain dwindled to a light spotting rather than the downpour that had preceded; but I was still very wet and had to keep shielding the lens as I moved around.

I soon completed a meaningful number of shots and headed for the exit, where I learned that the Garden Photographers’ exhibition was on in the gallery,

so I took myself off in that direction, where with no visitors I grabbed a few shots of the display and then put the camera away to look at the images on show; my absolute favourite was the embracing poppies, followed by some wonderfully atmospheric landscapes, a beautifully lit man chopping pears, a humourous full-on portrait of a wild hamster. I may well visit again if time allows, but I can definitely recommend it, but as often before, was saddened that in the time I was there, there were no other visitors.

Brogborough Becalmed, But Full of Life…

Brogborough Lake is alive with insect and plant life, so on a warm afternoon with barely a zephyr to ripple the waters of the lake, there seems little chance of a windsurfer, which is disappointing for Sam Barnes who eagerly awaits the second chance to take to the water with his Hydrofoil Windsurfer. In case that might be the case, I chose to be around should the wind appear, though I was  there to capture whatever I could of the ‘little beasties’ and the leaves and flowers that formed their habitat.

There were a few dragonflies, and there were bees, damselflies and hoverflies, a golden Shield bug, and one or two insects for whom I had no name, or were species I had not seen before, so armed with the 100mm and 1.4 Converter on the EOS7D MkII and the 24-70mm with Macro on the EOS5D MkIII, I set about recording what I found. I spotted others, but failed to be quick enough to capture them, but nevertheless, it was still a very worthwhile haul for a gallery of eighty images, so not a waste.

A Mentoring Session at Stockwood

Jan Tysoe has been an Important Gardener at the Discovery Centre in Luton for some years, and recently retired. During the time I have been visiting she has helped me by showing me some of the plants she has tended, and often rescued. I made a special visit to the gardens to help her when she came, not to labour, but to take photographs with her newly-acquired digital SLR camera and lens – I was here to return the favour.

Jan texted me to say that she was by the Water Feature, so on arrival, I headed there wending my way through the throngs of families by the cafeteria and the play area. She had a friend with her sitting on the nearby bench, I joined them and hand Jan a small card device I had made specially to get across the idea of Reciprocity; the way to maintain the same Exposure, by balancing the size of the Aperture against the length of Time the shutter was open for any given amount of Brightness in the image. I then explained why she might wish to choose a particular Aperture so as to define the Depth of Field, and use this to make the subject of her photograph stand out from its background.

I had created two strips which could be moved in tandem for any given exposure to display a pairing of Shutter Speed and Apertures and explained why she might choose a wide aperture such as f/2.8 for a narrow depth or f/22 for a wider depth, I only touched lightly upon the limitations of the shutter speed for the freezing of any motion. I gave her the device to work with later. I did however move to some nearby blooms to explain how for any focussed distance the aperture chosen defines a depth that extends slightly further behind than in front of the focussed point. At this juncture I also explained that for this exercise setting Aperture Priority was important and set the camera for around f/8 and to give her a good chance of successes, I left the ISO speed at 1600˚ which was where I found it, but did say in passing that was a tad high for the camera body I had given her a while earlier, a Canon 10D and might result in some noise in the pictures.

I also tried to impress her the importance of framing her picture and using half-pressure on the shutter button to acquire focus from the centre, then place the subject within the frame. To get this message across, I asked her to place the flower first on the right of the frame, then the left and explained how this might be important for composition and possibly later to add some text for say, a greetings card.

After this, we began strolling around the gardens, with my occasionally giving further suggestions as to viewpoint and backgrounds, or when she was intent on a particular picture grabbing a few of my own and sometimes showing how and why I had taken the individual frame.

The time we spent was all too short, but hopefully helpful, and I look forward to her results; meantime here is the small gallery I created at the time.

Waddesdon in Sun & Showers

I was invited by my daughter to visit Waddesdon with her two children for a Day with Scooters, and naturally another visit to the splendid setting of house and gardens, the first this year was an opportunity I was not going to miss. They now have a car park area in the lower part of the park, and one then takes a coach to the fountain roundabout that is the start of the main drive to the front of the house, one of several houses belonging to the Rothschild Banking dynasty. The guide we met was bubbly, helpful and on seeing the scooters, she said if we hand these to the driver, he will stow them in the front of the coach, and after taking the ticket from us we boarded, with the two children heading straight for the back seats!

Soon the coach filled with other families, but on that coach we were the only ones with scooters, and seemingly we were early as when we reached the drop-off point we only saw a couple of others with scooters in the distance by the house. We headed for the small tent to get our maps for the ‘Tour de France’ trail and chat to further, friendly volunteer guides – you are made to feel warmly welcomed at every turn.

My daughter had prepared lunch for us all, so we headed for a bench and whilst she prepared everything the two children happily scooted back and forth along the path, eventually coming to sit down to eat and drink, then we consulted the maps and began the trail, after the first stop which had been reasonably level, the path sloped more steeply and the boy’s brake on the rear wheel proved difficult to slow down safely, so for a spell he had to walk (not what he had hoped), but we were not killjoys: we had already had minor spills and with thin summer clothes, knees and elbows are easily grazed.

Every so often I took opportunities to take photographs, though generally close at hand should mishaps occur. The two of them found a den that appealed and later when the rain came all of us found welcome shelter there.

We broke for tea where we did have a minor disaster with our little girl whilst trying to sit on the chain between heavy iron barriers managed to pull one over on herself, which did open the floodgates for tears, but fortunately though she did receive a bump, it was mainly the shock that caused her to sob.

As we collected or drinks and both children had ice creams, it began to rain and we sat down at the front of the house, with both children seeking temporary shelter beneath a table! We donned wet weather gear and headed for the children’s ‘base’ before heading back to the trail after the rain, and soon the sun returned.

On completing the trail we headed once more to the tent for the collection of their trophies. It was while we were there we noticed the three step plinth, on which some parents were placing their children for photos – one inventive father placed his child on the top step, then dived his head beneath her legs and carried the child off on his shoulders! I was impressed by his lateral thinking!

We left after a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The gallery of images has flowers, leaves, butterflies, bees, landscapes, and colour.