Apple Cart Renovation Coming on

At Luton Hoo’s Walled Garden there was a lot of activity cutting back on those plants that had fruited, mending fences, painting of doors and windows, making a gate and renovations to the Apple Cart are coming on apace.

The pumpkins, squash and marrows are all showing healthy growth, and bees and hoverflies were in abundance, giving me a chance to practice getting ever closer to record their incredible detail, and I did manage once again to capture some in flight, which is really challenging.

The figs got a serious haircut to encourage their growth, as did the leaves that surround the office window – these are the leaves which go from green to red and then white.

Catching a Tern Diving

I should preface this piece by saying it is well out of chronology, the images were captured around three weeks ago.
Startop and Marsworth reservoirs normally seem favoured by the Common Tern and they generally swoop and dive, but when John Sentinella and I were at Tringford reservoir recently we saw a single tern as opposed to several, that came and hovered reasonably close by before diving.

On the first occasion it did happen very close, but we were ill prepared and were only able to stand by and watch, but once alerted we spotted the same visitor on more than one occasion thereafter.

Here is a selection of shots from the second encounter. I did not manage to capture the moment of entry and exit from the water, but nevertheless, it is a reasonable sequence that shows this elegant bird in action. In every dive we witnessed the bird was unsuccessful, whereas the swooping technique seen on the other reservoirs seemed more successful.

A Cycle Ride through Caddington

Taking exercise on a pushbike with a camera was a way to capture some of the flowers on show. I also met up with my erstwhile Bookkeeper to see how she was faring. There were not as many flowers around as earlier or later in the year, but still enough for a gallery of thirty shots. A few passers by acknowledged my presence and one lady who had wondered what I was doing even invited me to come into her garden once she knew what I was up to.

She now has a small card of a shot I took with the words ‘Thank You’ which I hope will give her some pleasure. She had mentioned that her poppies were particularly good earlier this year and that she had taken a photo herself to remember; so the card showing one of her geranium will add to her memories.

A Morning Visit to Stockwood Discovery Centre

During my last visit I met one of the gardeners, a very knowledgable and extremely helpful lady, who today I learned was called Jan, and she had pointed out the Morning Glory which that morning had been a delight, but sadly was no longer showing despite some extra watering. This morning’s visit was as much to capture that display as anything else, but I found that I was able to find locations where it was much easier to get really close to bees and hoverflies, so I was in my element – even capturing hoverflies in flight!

The various different Morning Glories were a delight, offering numerous shapes with varied lighting and colours, even the leaves alone were worth capturing. I am really pleased with what I was able to record of such fleeting moments.

High Colour in Stockwood

The Stockwood Discovery Centre was bathed in Summer sunshine for most of my recent visit, and after a short conversation one of the staff, offered to show me the Morning Glory which she said had been looking wonderful earlier, but sadly they had retired for the day, but the lady offered to water them in case they graced me with their open presence a little later. It was not to be, but I stayed awhile in that greenhouse and after waiting for the sun to come from behind clouds, I felt I could have benefitted from a watering!

I was remarkably lucky with finding bees that allowed me to get in close as well as a butterfly, and the range of flowers that were in full bloom was exquisite. There was an exhibition of sculptures on show from Robert Bryce Muir, some of which I found very interesting – his display in one of the greenhouses runs through till the end of October. What held my interest was the patina on the first figures, and the reflective panels right at the end of the greenhouse. I hope Robert feels I have done them justice. The Centre has put on some interesting exhibitions here, and these add to the variety of what can be seen in this well-run amenity of which Luton should be rightly proud.

Another Essex Consultancy Visit

My task for this visit was to format and partition a new drive to allow scheduled backups to take place every night on the newly added drive. Knowing that there would be spells of forced computer inactivity whilst this took place, I set about my other task – that of passing on as much knowledge of both Photoshop and Lightroom as I could, but inevitably there were times either when a phone call came in or there was too small a gap to meaningfully use, so I would take the opportunity to grab some photos in my client’s garden – the twelve shots in this gallery are the result.

An Afternnon Visit to Windsurfers

Unfortunately, the shots of windsurfers on the Brogborough Lake are out of synch, as I was busy getting the shots of the Musical together, and also a recent trip to Tringford Reservoir with John Sentinella has yet to be processed as I also have to prepare for some training trips to Godalming and Calne and put a church image into a 360˚ panorama for Martin Evening.

The morning these images were taken was brilliant sunshine and a stiff breeze blowing, but I just could not make that, so had to make do with a far duller afternoon with occasion bright sun, but it was good practice for me. There was one jump I missed getting and one I just about caught!

Alice in Babraham Wonderland

Catherine invited me along to Babraham School to see her girl's Holly and Poppy in in their School Musical Show of Alice in Wonderland. It was well worth travelling over to watch and the weather for it was beautiful. I arrived at the school early to park up and awaited Catherine, and when she arrived we collected the girls to go for something to eat and drink in nearby Sawston.

This gave me a chance for a chat beforehand and we had fish and chips and a drink which we partly consumed in the car before returning to the school grounds where by now dozens of parents had now arrived and were milling around outside and chatting whilst inside the hall was being readied.

Once we all poured in, one parent was setting up a video camera two rows back but after checking his viewpoint realised he would be better off moving to the front, whilst I altered my position from the front to one row back, the end result was that one seat was left vacant immediately in front of me and I now had a better, uninterrupted view of the stage.

I tried to capture the expressions of the children that helped tell the story, and also spot the small amusing interactions when things went slightly wrong; I just loved one small girl's reaction to having done something wrong and she put her hands to her face to suppress a giggle.

I was extremely fortunate in the natural lighting which was provided from outside. The show was tremendous, with lively music and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Goodwood – Festival of Speed 2010

Thanks once again go to Lord March for his kind invitation to the event, and for laying on such wonderful weather!

The journey down was uneventful and although Catherine and I were arriving later than I had intended, it was the Saturday of the event this year and so was far less crowded on arrival than would be the case on Sunday.

The normally full Supercar paddock was almost bare, but offered a great opportunity to take a good look over the Pagani Zonda; one of only two cars present! The installation in front of Goodwood House was minimalist giving the impression of a bow to display two Alfa Romeos, a sleek roadster and a vintage racer. At this stage in the day, there was not a breath of wind to flutter the flags atop the roof. Later with a breeze Dougie Lampkin was to be found doing wheelies and stoppees along this very roof having presumably once again ridden his charger up the grand staircase!

The dry weather had turned the offroad section to desert and the four-by-fours were kicking up the dirt as they took to the banked bends and the leaps, coating everything nearby with fine harsh sand just not wanted by digital cameras! We listened for the mobile telephone call that would let us know that Lizzy and Tim had managed to make it to join us. This was one year when we gave the Rally circuit a miss, because of Tim's injured leg, but we did reach the set off point for the Shuttle Service and the queue stretched for at least sixty yards, so when we received the call we set off back down the hill and met up in front of the house.

I had planned to be down there for the Red Arrows, but instead watched from a lesser standpoint halfway up the hill where we multi-tasked by also watching the motorbikes doing wheelies. Part of my time was spent in the VIP enclosure where Catherine and I met up with Simon Diffey, one of the drivers racing, and Lord March who mentioned that he had actually tried to get hold of me, but had lost my contact details, so I presented him with two, so that both he and his PA had a record for the future. Hopefully this may mean another visit to help with Lightroom and Photoshop at some time. We all stayed till the very end; reluctant to leave this wonderful place, but all good things must end and eventually we left Lizzy and Tim to make their very long journey across fields to reach their car and we made our own trip back to the car and back home.

Serendipity and my Trip to Windsor

I had made a loose decision to drive to Windsor for opportunities to take more photographs, and so passing along Pepsal End lane and finding the source of heavy black smoke I had seen rising beyond Slip End, it was somewhat surprising that I pulled up simply to dial 999 and report the torching of a car. I then drove on, before thinking: hey, I am a photographer, maybe by taking shots before the firefighters arrive may just be useful. So, I parked up. grabbed one of my cameras and ran the half-mile back!

I managed to take a few shots before the fire appliance arrived, and started back to the car, but seeing the firefighters arrive, I captured them putting out the fire and continued my journey.

The route I wanted to take was on country roads, not motorways, so I was soon on my way towards Hemel Hempstead; I had passed the Aubreys Hotel when I spotted a couple hitch-hiking, so I pulled up and offered to take them to Hemel. Ironically, they were American and travelling in exactly the wrong direction for their chosen destination – St. Albans. But when they told me it was not their highest priority I asked would Windsor be of interest, both were delighted to say yes! So we introduced ourselves all round and I continued to Windsor. When I reached Burnham and it was not clear how to reach Eton from their I got Jane, my SatNav from the boot entered ‘Eton’ and we all laughed when she asked to me to turn around when I switched her on! I did so, but it looked all wrong so I turned around again. We managed to find a parking bay that would be free for two hours, and decamped.

We walked into Eton and on to Windsor after a detour to the Brocas, and then after a short time together we parted agreeing to meet back at the car before the two hours was up. We all had a great time, met back up and returned to their hotel where they kindly bought me a drink and we sat and chatted, and played with my cameras as I showed them how to get shots with a narrow depth of field. Altogether, we had all had a day that none of us could have foreseen, and really enjoyed each other’s company.

A Tuesday Visit to Tringford Reservoir

The weather was too good to miss and after clearing the small amount of work and diverting the phone to ensure I did not lose an opportunity for some more, I collected my camera gear and set off for the reservoir. There was a variable breeze and two fishermen were already out on the water, There was not a lot of activity, but enough to keep my hand in. Ironically, when the fishermen decided to come in we chatted and I told them I had not captured much of interest, and as they left through the woods I caught sight of a Red Kite, and soon spotted there were a pair soaring above the trees on the far side where earlier I had seen dozens of rooks.

I spotted a heron on the far side and managed just two shots of it in flight, and then got some shots of a grebe fishing and managed a halfway decent shot of him with a tiddler in its beak, he was not having the success he had a week or two back when I saw him with a crayfish.

I tried to see just how close I could get to damselflies and if I could capture them in flight; I certainly never managed both together! I also took a walk along the trout stream, but without any conspicuous success.

Aylesbury Community Concert Band at Cublington Fête 2010

It hardly seems a year since I last came to Cublington Village and their fête, but once again I came to watch and listen to the band in which Lizzy, my younger daughter plays saxophone. I did feel sorry for the players whose instruments were metal as it was very nippy and even had there been much sunshine the band were ensconced in the shade of a yew tree.

The concert was in two sessions, and I also found watching people try to lift a series of wooden bricks fascinating and seeing the youngsters entertained by Smarty Arty. The whole show, which included Morris Dancing in the Arena, was constantly promoted by the roving compere complete with straw boater.

Both Tim, Lizzy’s husband, and I were lucky with finding books to buy. I enjoy taking photographs of people at work, and although band members were playing, this is an excellent example of work. I have tried to capture the feeling of concentration and I am always impressed by the dexterity and dedication shown by a group of such diverse ages.

Ironically, the day proved very full before I even arrived at Cublington as I came via Tringford reservoir the Grand Union Canal and a farm where some steam engines were being prepared for an event on the Sunday. All of which subjects I found fulfilling.

Afternoon Visit to Luton Hoo again

Having spent a very hot and humid time at Butterfly World in the morning, I returned home to re-hydrate and offload about twelve gigabytes of raw files so I had space to take yet more photographs. Then I set off to pay a late visit to the Walled Garden in particular to see how the restoration of the farm cart was proceeding. I can report that the three main participants are doing very well indeed; there were just two this day, but there was much rubbing down of the old paintwork from the wood and ironwork and that the rear spring section was now all painted – black for the metalwork, Luton Hoo green for the wood.

Elsewhere the warmer weather had accelerated the growth of thistles which Charlotte Phillips herself was digging up, the pumpkins were now planted out, and Alex Hines was duly watering them with a hose that also gently watered a few on its own along the way! For another volunteer planting out, she was able to use a watering can confined to sprinkling only from the spout!

Another volunteer was busy tying up recalcitrant plants whilst bees danced attention on the blue flowers that they obviously took a particular shine to their allure.

It would appear that one Verbascum was being sacrificed to the Mullein caterpillar in its desire to propagate its moths; and they were feasting to the very obvious destruction of the plant, but the caterpillars were very striking in yellow and black looking as if they had some resemblance to Bibendum, the Michelin Man.

Even though a late visit it was a great chance to capture several different types of bee feasting as they pollinated, so very satisfying.

Butterfly World

It was a small group visiting the Stockwood Discovery Centre Luton from Essex that said I should visit Butterfly World at Chiswell Green, near St. Albans. They had said: "You must see the wild flowers!" I turned into the drive from a country lane and was gobsmacked! Before you have even arrived at the entrance to the complex, the drive is lined not with grassy banks, but banks of every colour of wild flower – reds, pinks, purples, blue, green, yellow and orange – all set against the clearest of blue skies and high cumulus clouds. Since there was not a lot of traffic, I put on the hazards, and spent at least five minutes just taking shots of what was there!

The complex is still young and not yet finished, but it was welcoming, well-organised and the architecture stunning. It seemed quiet and people free at first as I looked out at the giant beehives that are the loos, the alfresco restaurant area, the garden centre with its arched roof, the gardens with giant plant pots and a trowel. Before I left the entrance area, I had taken a few closeups of a caterpillar one of the staff had been tending in a small container of I believe willow leaves.

I headed for the Tropical Butterfly house, and all changed – I was prepared for the heat and humidity; I was totally unprepared for the hubbub! The greenhouse was full to capacity with screaming and shouting schoolchildren amidst fluttering dozens of butterflies. I assume butterflies are deaf, or have a high tolerance for noise! I concentrated on trying to capture the main attraction, and if possible butterflies in flight – in the end I caught just one mid-flight! After a while as I moved up the greenhouse, I noted that a few more patient youngsters were standing still in the hope of a butterfly settling on their hands or heads, one boy in particular had several settle for a short time on his hat, and a girl, maybe his sister insistent I capture the event, but every time I turned to capture a shot, the insect took off; to his dismay. I tried at least three times and felt really sorry that he was unlucky, finally I managed, and showed him the closeup on the back of the camera. He was amongst a small band of hopefuls that did stay in one spot and was quiet.

I stayed awhile with sweat dripping off me, trying to get shots of some of the larger specimens, but they were less inclined to remain in flight. When I finally came out, the cool fresh air was a delight and after turning around to capture the drying breeze all around, I strolled around the various garden, some of which were complete, many still under construction or simply not yet fully grown. I wandered through terracotta tunnels and on the other side of an upturned giant pot came across a similarly scaled box of matches. The walls were adorned with embedded dinky toys and other artefacts of a consumerist society, such as a headless Action Man, but also there was an old book with an open spread beneath a bank of wild flowers and the clear sky.

There is much to see here, and it deserves success, but the best of the wild flower display will not last long – I am glad I came when I did, and I will return as there is just so much to see, and photograph.

Afternoon at the Pirton Open Gardens Day

Before leaving the Stockwood Transport Show, John and I went around the Discovery Centre where I warmed myself up for the afternoon shooting in Pirton, at their annual Open Gardens Day, and what is the first thing I do is photograph an old motorbike!

The first garden I visited belongs to an artist, Maggie Barton, whose house and garden are a delight, she seems multi-talented as she sculpts, makes mosaics and stained glass objects and if I heard right, also paints. In her copious free time she also tends her compact garden. Entering through her front door I then went into the small circular area around a tree, the garden was I believe the best tended of all those I visited, and her other work was to be seen all around.

I did my best to visit all the gardens, but that was a tall order having arrived at around half-three, and in all there were gems, and I hope I have done justice to what was on show, I even spotted a fairly un-shy pigeon at the end, I also spoke to some interesting people and one other photographer whom I may yet meet again.