Stockwood Discovery Centre – Signs of the New Season

Although I had decided to visit the Discovery Centre because I had cleared my desk, I did not have high hopes of capturing much but after a short walk around I was pleasantly surprised by small pockets of colour and life. In parts I was amazed to find a plethora of ladybirds, in another an abundance of bees, and a lone comma butterfly.

Naturally since the daffodils had appeared on the green at Caddington, I expected to see a profusion of yellow, but a surprising number were yet to open, most of the flowers were of the smaller varieties, such as pansies. I met up with two of the gardeners, Jan and Sue, and both were very helpful in pointing out areas of interest, and taking me to areas not open to the general public, so I feel very honoured, and grateful.

The sun was out, having little effect on the temperature due to the chilly wind, but casting interesting shadows, and helping leaves to glow when I was shooting against the light. I came away with a warm glow from the satisfaction of capturing some worthwhile images and from the welcome I received. When I first arrived there were few visitors, but when I left, the central area was awash with children, their parents and guardians, all making the most of the play areas and the sunshine. Maybe Spring is just around the corner.

Windy and Cold Marsworth

There was a constant chorus of birdsong in the wooded entrance path to Marsworth reservoir, but all the birds were hidden amongst the bare branches, so to tempt them out into the dappled sunshine I spread liberal amounts of birdseed on the tops of the fence posts that lined the path, but only on those in sunlight.  I then put a small groundsheet on the damp earth and sat and waited.

They were in no hurry to oblige, but I was sure they would come to accept my presence if I kept still and when I moved, did so slowly. I had surmised correctly, and soon I had shots of  robins, blue tits, great tits and chaffinches. Fishermen and dog walkers began to arrive and they were disturbed too often, so I got up and walked along further till I spotted a dry path that led to the water’s edge of Startops End reservoir, so I strolled along the stream that came between them, and all I found were a pair of grebe just visible between the branches at the foreshore, so I came back and found another spot by the hide to see a pied wagtail and more robins.

I continued from there along the Grand Union Canal, and watched a narrowboat through Lock 42, then back for a spell at Marsworth. The sun had by now disappeared and the wind had got up, but I did get some shots of the reeds before the sun went. There seemed to be only one pair of pochards left, but numerous black headed gulls and mallard pairs.

Jarvis and Toureen Mangan Harpenden – Bricks & Blocks

The Foresters Development must have many righteous working on site, since despite the forecast for drizzle and clouds, the sun was out quite often for my visit today.

The most obvious work to be seen on site this visit was brickwork and blockwork, the slabs appear to be complete, but iron reinforcing for staircases are still being prepared, and many of the drain services are to be seen sprouting from beneath areas of concrete, or close to concrete sumps.

It was interesting to capture artistic drips of concrete, the repetitive pattern formed from black plastic drain pipes, and the initials of the Groundworks company from items of building material hardware, spotted whilst moving around the site covering the ongoing work.

Jarvis and Toureen Mangan Harpenden – Bricks & Blocks

The Foresters Development must have many righteous working on site, since despite the forecast for drizzle and clouds, the sun was out quite often for my visit today.

The most obvious work to be seen on site this visit was brickwork and blockwork, the slabs appear to be complete, but iron reinforcing for staircases are still being prepared, and many of the drain services are to be seen sprouting from beneath areas of concrete, or close to concrete sumps.

It was interesting to capture artistic drips of concrete, the repetitive pattern formed from black plastic drain pipes, and the initials of the Groundworks company from items of building material hardware, spotted whilst moving around the site covering the ongoing work.

Wilstone Late Afternoon Colour

After a disappointing morning, I felt disinclined to return without trying to capture something more meaningful, so went to Wilstone Reservoir, the largest of the trio of Tring reservoirs, it was as deserted as had been the canal, with just one pike fisherman on the promontory. Since the sun looked as if it would set in a sky bereft of clouds I decided I would stay down here till sunset.

The shots I managed to capture here at least meant my time was not totally wasted. I will now have several images that capture texture, and others that will make ideal cards that espouse peace and serenity. However, I do not find such serenity relaxing, I seek action, I enjoy capturing people at work and play, I enjoy seeing the fruits of people's labour progressing towards completion.

Buckland Puddle and the Grand Union Canal

Monday morning and promise of clear skies and sunshine. I set off for Buckland and the Grand Union Canal after checking all my emails and diverting calls to my mobile. The destination was a small pond just off the canal that I gather is known as Buckland Puddle. It is a fair trek alongside the canal, from the nearest I can park the car, when carrying a tripod, small seat and a full camera bag, but I need the exercise.

I hoped that I would stand a chance to capture some of the birdlife, but considering how remote the spot, I was amazed at just how silent it was; nary a whisper of birdsong, and I stayed quite a while with only one brief visit from a couple checking out the pond. Birds overflew but only very occasionally. I took a series of shots to show the scene, a few reference shots of the camera and gimbal head, and little else. I did notice that several fishermen had lost their floats, high in hawthorn branches. After several fruitless hours of waiting, I resigned myself to the failure and waste of time, and just took a few shots of the bridge over the canal and the locks beyond. Just over the bridge is evidence of an old water meadow.

I packed my gear and took myself off to Wilstone Reservoir, hoping for something better over there. The clear skies remained, which was at least some consolation.

Focus on Imaging 2011

I have been going to Focus at the NEC near Birmingham for the last several years, as purely a visitor for the last two. I arrived well before the ten o'clock opening and was amazed at the long queues, the pre-registered queue being the longest probably due to the burgeoning growth of online-literacy.

Talking to several exhibitors, there was more than simply interest, the attendees were reaching for their plastic and cash. On a stand from a Chinese company, I was somewhat surprised at their lack of preparedness, they were unable to handle credit cards, and every transaction cost had to be looked up on a laptop database, but their prices were very reasonable and I was able to buy a spare battery for one of my cameras, only to also find they could not give me a receipt, I am hoping that their promise to email me one after the show is fulfilled, so I can satisfy my accountant. Their reason for attendance appeared to be to acquire agents over here, but it seemed an odd way to go about it, selling inexpensively direct to end users at the show.

I came to the show intent on some purchases and some networking, I was able to do both, and in particular I needed a levelling plate to go beneath a gimbal head, I found both a better product, and a lesser price than I had expected, from Novoflex, a company I can remember from my earliest days in photography. So I was well-served.

In the afternoon, I had met up with Adam Woolfitt, and we toured together till the close, and during this time I was able to point out some stands that might be of interest to him, and we met up with numerous people he knew, some of whom I had also come into contact. I had hoped to catch up with Sean McCormack, but although I did visit the stand he was on, I had arrived too early, but I did catch up with John Beardsworth on the Adobe stand, both of whom I know from our connections to Lightroom. I also had a quick chat to Steve Newberry with whom I have worked on the Adobe stand in previous years.

Only after Wednesday at the earliest will it be apparent to exhibitors whether there is a buoyancy to our market, but certainly my impressions were positive, and I felt my day was well-spent.

Groundworks at Foresters Coming on Apace

Despite the forecast of a cloudy morning, it was already bright even before my arrival at the Jarvis Foresters site where Toureen Mangan’s groundworks are entering their final stages.

Foundations elsewhere on the site are now being worked upon, as work on the central structure is nearing completion of the groundwork stage; the concreting of the floor of the basement area is now finished. Several staircases have their reinforced concrete completed, and brickwork and blockwork is well underway. The crane is moving iron reinforcing rods from storage areas to where it is needed, and shuttering is being removed.

I was amused to see how Acro jacks and panels were being moved from the first floor to the ground. Around the site skips are filling, and soil spoil is being put onto lorries for removal from the site. A heavy duty angle-grinder was carving its way through concrete like butter showering both water and sparks. There was a lot of varied activity to be captured.

Still Very Much PreSeason at Walled Garden

On this my second visit to Luton Hoo’s Walled Garden this year, it is obvious that the weather has taken its toll; some of the polythene covering on the greenhouses has been shredded by the winds, and the incessant rain has puddled much of the roads and paths, and growth has been held back. Despite this there are the signs of Spring, and the volunteers have done sterling work in clearing the beds for the new season. There is also new paving for the tree-lined path to the greenhouses.

In the former Mushrooom House, the handcart restoration is progressing from the stripped-down kit of parts I saw on my earlier visit; the wheels have been treated for woodworm been filled and were being sanded down, and a new end piece for one of the sides was being shaped. Next door, a staging was being prepared for one of the propagating sheds; it was taking shape from reclaimed wood and later being trimmed to fit against the large pipes.

The sun was very intermittent, but in a brighter moment I brought the previous year’s restoration project, the Apple or Egg Cart, out into the courtyard to record it in all its glory.

In the greenhouse, which had been Rosetti’s Studio in the TV film ‘The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood’ a couple of far more recent garden benches were being given a new white coat. In the gardens, raspberry canes were being dug up and consigned to the smoke and flames of a bonfire just outside the walls of the garden. Along the Potting Shed wall the first signs of Spring growth were to be seen below the windows, and along the tree-lined walk were some flowers from last season alongside snowdrop clusters, and soon with a bit of warmth the daffodils will come into bloom.

Marsworth – Teeming with Birdlife

Taking a walk between Marsworth and Startopsend reservoirs on a Sunday morning in February, especially having got up early to have a haircut, is certain to be on the chilly side. Add to that a biting wind, and despite some sunshine, it was good to have fingerless gloves to hold a camera.

I spotted a chaffinch cheerfully chirping early in the walk, but was unable to see it clearly through all the branches, next I spotted  a robin and a pied wagtail, and learnt that the robin was distinctly territorial, so the wagtail was soon displaced from the fence top! The early part of my visit with its sunshine allowed me to take shots of various pochard (Click the blue text here to see some beautiful birds), both ducks and drakes and also the red-crested pochard, but as the sun was overtaken by clouds, and families with children threw bread to the mallard and coots, in swooped the jealous and greedy black-headed gulls, intent on stealing every last scrap by attacking en masse.

What was interesting about that is that invariably most of the gulls would leave the melée early and chase the first successful gulls for the morsel, leaving just a few of their number on the water to pick up the sodden remnants. I managed to capture some of the gulls who had the bread, who on being chased managed to lose a grip on their food; in one case because it decided it wanted to sqwawk!

Although I brought along some seeds for the smaller birds, none flew to my carefully prepared small piles strategically place in attractive settings such as stripped bark, fence-posts, tables and winding gear – at least not whilst I waited at a distance!

Bricklaying Begun at Jarvis’ ‘Foresters’ Development

Since my last site visit, Toureen Mangan has received another award – Sunday Times – Best 100 Companies to Work For. Not only that, but they have moved from 40th position 25th in the rankings; so congratulations are in order!

Also since my last visit bricklaying has begun, and the last level of concrete slab is under way. The entrance to the basement car park is now being cleared. The pictures in the gallery tell the story.

Sunset and the End of the Day

The day was slowly dying as we left Luton and headed for the Tring reservoirs; a frequent destination of mine, but a completely new experience for the girls. I had already received an enthusiastic “When can we go back to the Discovery Centre, Bumper?” so I was on a roll for the trip to Tring.

On the way they recognised the Pitstone Windmill where two summers ago we had enjoyed some time taking individual multiple images of each of the girls at different places in the same picture. I had shown them how to paint through masks in Photoshop and each had created their own composite pictures on my Mac, and taken away a small print at the time. We soon came down the hill and into Bulbourne where they had a fleeting glimpse of the Grand Union Canal.

In Tring, we turned off to Marsworth, over a humpback bridge and parked by the kissing gate entrance to the Marsworth and Startopsend reservoirs, but just before we entered I took them across the road to see the Tringford reservoir and the Trout Stream.

We walked along the banked path between the two reservoirs, and along the canal towpath, with a stop for creating ripple patterns in the water with small branches, making eyes and eyebrows (an eyebrow activity!)

I thought barge families were supposed to be ‘green’ but a Greenpeace-bannered narrowboat was chucking out great gouts of blue smoke as we walked along the canal. We were having a very peaceful end to the day as the sun set over the water, and ducks flew in overhead, to land on the lake.

Stockwood Discovery Centre – Family Visit

Due to an “it just came off in my hand” brake disaster with her own car, it was well into the afternoon before Catherine was able to arrive with her two girls for a planned visit to the Stockwood Discovery Centre.

I wanted all of them to realise just how extensive it all was, so had decided on a plan to do a whistle-stop trip around everywhere before the girls were to decide which area they should come back to. I then spotted Janet who was carefully trimming one of the hedges and introduced her to my family. She then generously offered to take us into the currently locked greenhouse to show me some lemons and limes.

It was a privilege indeed as there were also some other stunning exhibits and she told us some of the stories behind rescues she had achieved with her green fingers, reviving some plants others had considered impossible; one that had needed a splint, but most that simply needed some TLC. Also, a cactus that had been left in a box by the greenhouse door by a visitor.

When we came out a short time later, it came as quite a surprise to learn that the Centre was due to close in just ten minutes! We had barely arrived – so much for my whistle-stop tour, but we did spend the last few minutes in the Play Area after a very short exercise on the press-up bars, and both the girls asked could we come back again. Then before the sun went down we headed for the Tring Reservoirs.

Marketing - Networking Event at the Knowledge Hub

Wednesday afternoon, early evening, found me breaking away from a day helping to retrieve a client's corrupted hard drive, and driving to Putteridge Bury to attend a marketing seminar at the Knowledge Hub; a department of the University of Bedfordshire.
Arriving early gave me few moments to chat to John Sentinella and one of the evening's speakers, Anthony Prior of Sheridan Global, before joining the rest of the delegates downstairs for tea, coffee, snacks and informal chats – in short: networking!
In those few minutes the numbers below swelled considerably, and it was not long before the room was a buzz of animated conversations amongst small groups around the central table of food and drinks. The room is somewhat baronial in style with wooden panelling and a magnificent fireplace at one end of the room with a hanging tapestry above, beyond and to it's right, stone window surrounds with just a hint of light from outside. After a while we were summoned by a ratchet-wielding Master of Ceremonies to move to an even grander room where the presentations were to be made.
There were two speakers offering two perspectives; the first challenging our preconceptions of 'Value' and 'Customer Satisfaction' the second by Anthony Prior given over to showing how his company records how shoppers behave by plotting their eye movements during typical forays into various shops and stores, then analysing their results, and presenting these to the commissioners of their work with their analysis of the findings.
The evening was well-attended, and I have tried to convey the atmosphere of the gathering and the animated discussions that ensued, hopefully without influencing any of what I captured adversely. I was the fly on the wall; but it was the meeting's buzz, not mine, that is shown in the gallery's pictures.

Catching Up with Developments at Foresters

The start of the day was forecast as being misty, with a slight chance of brightening in the afternoon, but it was a week since I had visited the Jarvis and Toureen Mangan development just off High Street Harpenden, so after a check with a colleague living at the far side of the town, I gathered my kit and set forth.

After only a short while, the sun shyly appeared with a milky appearance, so maybe all those working here were righteous! So that was indeed a pleasant surprise, and it soon mean that many of the tradesmen out in the sun began shedding outer garments and the guard rails became coat hangers!

The structures were taking shape, and areas previously used for storage were now being excavated, and the spoil being removed by the lorry load. Also with the basement floor nearing completion, this meant that this could now become a secure area from the worst of the weather.

I have tried to convey several of the different activities taking place, so the chronology is not strictly correct, but to gain a complete idea of what was taking place it meant choosing different viewpoints. One person cannot be in more than one place at a time, so if a task was being repeated, I would return later to capture the missing angles, so a more complete story emerges. The other aspect was this meant the lighting was vastly different, and in photographic terms this meant shooting at 200 ISO outside to 4000 ISO in the basement area, and shutter speeds outside might vary for trying to show movement using slower speeds at one moment and stopping motion at others. This was challenging, and I have to own up, I did make mistakes as a result!

As I left the site, I then found that not only had the sun come out, but so had the crocuses. Spring may soon arrive!