Interesting Tringford Friday

Once again I cleared all I could by early afternoon, and decided that I had not been in contact with Bob the Bailiff at Tringford Fisheries for a while, and a restful afternoon at the reservoir is quite appealing on a day that had the possibility of autumn sunshine. I put in a call to check Bob would be there, and set off, with every intention of taking some paperwork to my accountant in Ampthill at the end of the day, having also called her to see that was acceptable.

I arrived at the car park and walked along to the jetty, and no sign of Bob. I returned to the car to collect my camera and relaxed on the end of pier with my 300mm, occasionally taking shots of a gull that was circling at the top end, and heading into wind towards me keeping an alert watch for fish below the surface. Having watched this unfold for a while I called Bob and learned he was in a meeting. As I got up I was amazed at what I saw in the shallows only a few feet in front of me the brilliant colours of a large freshwater crawfish! Even though I had no polariser, and was faced with the wind creating constant ripples to the water surface, I was determined to record this because I reckoned this specimen was a good ten inches end to end!

I heard the clang of the gate and went back to the car park expecting Bob, but it was two other anglers who explained a friend had joined Bob at the Anglers’ Rest Public House and so he had stayed on! When I used to work at Pelling & Cross (now Calumet) their local hostelry was the ‘Doctor’s Surgery’ and their custom was such that the landlord moved with them! So much for Office Meetings!

I should show more respect for  my friend, as when he returned he made good his offer to row me down to the bottom end of the lake which gave me more opportunities to gather shots of herons. When we came back from this trip, I offered to take Bob home, and in Cheddington we stopped off at the Three Horseshoes, where I imbibed a half of bitter shandy, and we chatted to his local friends at the bar. A while later another local entered and hailed Bob, I looked up and it was a face that was extremely familiar to me, fellow photographer, Kevin Sansbury – neither of us knew we both knew Bob! What a small world! I stayed longer than intended, which meant my trip to the accountant was not made till Saturday! My life seems governed by serendipity, I plan very little to an exact timetable, and I had no idea how this trip would end – colourful crawfish and learning Kevin and Bob knew each other!

Autumn Afternoon at Stockwood

Decks cleared by noon and the sun was still around after clearing the morning’s mist, and though clouds were beginning to gather again, I decided it was worth filling up with petrol then dropping by Stockwood Discovery Centre in case there was any colour to be found in the gardens.

At first sight, it did not look too promising; the beds outside had been cleared, presumably for Winter bedding plants, and once through the entrance and past the Café, it certainly looked very end of season. I came across Jan one of the gardeners, and stopped to chat to get an idea as to where there might be some flowers eager to be captured by my lens. I drew her attention to one I had spotted, and learned it was a hollyhock, so that added just under 90% to my knowledge of flower names! Later I met someone who asked whether I knew all the names of the flowers, I replied that Tulips, Daffodils and Dandelions was about my lot, and I had already forgotten the new addition!

I may not know many of their names, but I do take a fair amount of time looking for details, lighting and texture, and as often as not I go for leaves rather than flowers. One leaf was in bright sunlight and from the front is drab, but backlit is quite another matter – it is a rich red, so I took shots front and back to illustrate the dramatic difference. I look for contrasts and shapes, which means I may often look at a group or section for some time before selecting one particular viewpoint. When I look back on today’s images I am surprised by just how much I found. This is very much a testament to the diligent work of Stockwood Discovery Centre’s gardeners, their choice of plants for every season, their weeding, their tending, their siting and their display.

It was also good to know that the stolen Wenlock Jug was now back where it belonged.

Woburn Deer Park

What does a photographer do when his main working computer develops a thin vertical green line from top to bottom of his screen? Although not debilitating in its own right, it could be a precursor to further problems, so it has to be taken to repairers and that means I suffer its loss for several days. It was marginally out of warranty, but Apple agreed to carry out the work under warranty, and it had been arranged that I take it to the Milton Keynes Apple Store.

When I took it in I was advised it could take anywhere between five to seven working days.

Upon this basis, I swapped out the faulty machine with a much older less powerful, though larger screened model, and connected up to those discs whose contents were the most vital for my continued working. I also made a complete clone of the Mac that was going for repair, but unfortunately it was unable to boot this older machine, so I sincerely hoped I would not be delayed too long.

Once I had worked as far as I could go, I chose to take advantage of the sunshine, and do what photographers do, I went to take pictures, and the location I chose was the Deer Park at Woburn. I arrived in the continuing sunshine and blue skies, but ominous black clouds were amassing, and soon the wind rose, and it began to drizzle, but I moved into the lee by some trees and continued shooting, and for a while it stopped raining, but the sun was shy and hid behind clouds, just occasionally casting its light on parts of the landscape, before new dark clouds arrived and the showers started again.

As I walked up the grassy path towards the House, my phone rang. Surprisingly, it was the Apple Store Milton Keynes who had only received the Mac from me the day before, to say it was now ready for collection. I thanked the chap for expediting the repair and asked when they closed, was told six o’clock, which meant I had a chance to get there just before they closed – I turned around and began the long walk back to reach my car and journey onto Milton Keynes. I arrived with half an hour to spare, and bought the Camera Connection kit for the iPad by way of saying thank you, and now have the task of putting all my kit back as it was! I would not be able to post process all the pictures till it was all up and running again, but it gave me an opportunity to tidy all the cabling, vacuum all the accumulated dust and check it all out. That made for a very long evening! I did start on looking at the photos, but after all the exertions, I had to give in and get to bed. This morning I caught up on all the email, and finished culling and the gallery is just going up.

Then I have to get off to London to the AoP Awards where I am collecting one for Martin Evening who is indisposed, where I will also be meeting up with Geoff Dann.

Marsworth Kingfisher

Seemingly it is difficult to avoid a very early start if you are to successfully take shots of kingfishers, the weather forecast was for the next day to be clear and dry despite the last several days having been wet and windy. So I made up my mind to prepare my kit for a sortie to Marsworth after little more than four hours, but out of synch with my established body clock, so sleep was more than a tad perfunctory.

Having parked the car, I put the lens and camera on the tripod, and took the almost empty camera bag along with the three-legged seat, a groundsheet and spare battery, and set off in the moonlight, but I was soon in the tunnel of trees and little more than the occasional glimpse of the moon filtered through the branches until I emerged by the reeds of Marsworth. A mild glow was appearing on the eastern horizon, as the full moon was setting slowly in the west, the puddles on the gravel path reflect the sky glow weakly, as I trudge towards the lock and the final tricky descent to the waterline.

In the dark and with the tripod, gimbal head and long lens over one shoulder and the camera bag from  my neck on the other side, it was difficult to make my way down the slippery path and by the hawthorn and other bushes, none of which can hold my weight, so balance is important. I made it down with a few pauses to test the ground beneath my feet, and into the brighter gloom at the fallen tree and the water’s edge. I now had to set myself up on the slippery and rotten bark and the most tricky part was finding secure purchases for the tripod legs, but eventually I succeeded, seating myself carefully entwined by the tripod legs on the groundsheet. Despite the cold, my exertions had warmed me considerably!

In totally unavailable light I caught my first glimpse of a kingfisher after an hour’s wait, I could barely see the branch upon which he had alighted, and he flew off only a couple of seconds later, but that at least gave me the hint he might land just there later, and it was closer than I had hoped, so not taking a shot was less of a disappointment. It was to be another forty minutes before he returned, and by that time the sun was up, and lighting the reeds, and the upper branches of the trees on the far bank.

I was to be graced just once more with the presence of a kingfisher, and then a long and fruitless wait as all the previous warmth left me, and my legs and bottom became stiff and seemed to weigh far more. Eventually I succumbed, packed up my gear and left; the small gallery has near duplicates, but gave me a neat grid, I was disappointed by far too many that lacked good focus, which was not good news as I had manually focussed all the time.

I have a long way to go yet.

Luton Inspire Pools

Featured in ITV's 'Splash' on Freeview Saturdays, at 7pm Ch.3, and 8pm Ch.33

Active Luton runs the Inspire Luton Sports Village which is located just off the main road to Hitchin. This is the site of an entirely new complex devoted to healthy activity – two swimming pools and a large gymnasium.

My interest stems from having taken photographs for a specialist groundworks company who were involved in fundamental works in the construction of the two pools – Toureen Mangan, a comparatively young company who have been listed in the Sunday Times ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ over several years. They were subcontracted to Wates for whom they have also won awards.

Driving past one day, now that the pools are open to the public, I thought I would see whether I could obtain permission to take photographs in the more glamourous state they are now in, completed. I paid a few visits to try to find someone who would be prepared to allow me in and finally succeeded. Members of staff were informed of my coming, and were happy to help me to get the shots I wanted, even though it was late on a Sunday.

I wanted to shoot when the pools were empty, as taking photos when members of the Public were using the pool presents too many issues to resolve. Taking photos at the end of a session presents its own problems, the splashed water around the perimeter is not so attractive, and there were numerous drinks bottles, sweet wrappers, life jackets, and other working paraphernalia dotted around, and the floating lane markers were out ready for the change in use of the pool. Tidying of these was my task, as the staff were moving the boom to the end to allow for the bottom to be moved, and I needed to avoid delaying them. Working in the ambient humidity levels there was perspiration-inducing – my pale blue shirt was now very duotoned; darkened by my sweating profusely. The humidity level reminded me of my time in Aden when first arriving there from the UK when I was in the RAF.

I was not complaining, I really wanted to take these photographs, as much to show how versatile these pools were, as indulge my interest in architecture. When the diving boards are in use the bottom is lowered to the full depth of the pool, but when just swimming is taking place, it can be raised. The length of the pool is also variable by repositioning the boom and this has small diving platforms along its length.

Gates to the main fixed diving boards are electronically closed when the pool is not at its full depth for safety reasons. Most of what I have discussed concerns the large pool, but the moveable bottom is also a feature of the smaller, Community Pool. The bottom there is raised to the surface to retain as much heat as possible when not in use, and this is shown in the last two shots in the gallery of pictures taken.

I would like to thank all those who helped to make this an enjoyable and satisfying shoot, and I hope that the results are pleasing.

Goodwood Revival 2012

Cars and Aircraft

This year I went to the Revival Meeting with my younger daughter who is carrying my next grandchild, so the pace was somewhat more leisurely; I had to be mindful of how much walking was involved.

We arrived in glorious sunshine and just high level clouds, and since we had set off later than many times before, and met traffic – the crowds had already amassed. 

Coming from the Car Park you walk through a multitude of vintage cars, a Funfare and an area of marquees selling memorabilia, games, clothes, you name it. Yet you have not yet ventured past the main entrance; I am sure many people spend hours in just this one area, and surprisingly, not everything at these stalls is at a premium.

The atmosphere was as it has always been at Goodwood’s events, one of joy and ease. There is always far too much to see in just one day, but everyone is happy, polite and patient, you never feel jostled.

The roar of engines for the first race was underway, and already aircraft were in the sky displaying their skills above our heads. One of my first port of calls was to say thank you personally to Jo Willitts for my tickets, but although I managed to enter the Richmond Viewing Area, she was not around, so had to leave a message with someone else instead.

I also made a call to a friend who was down for all three days, but the Friday had been too much, he and his girlfriend had overdone the day before, and were still at the nearby farm. We did however meet up much later at the banking beyond Madgwick, what a splendid couple they made – Toby with his pith helmet and white jacket, and Jo with her wide-brimmed straw hat - charmingly Colonial!

A Seriously Early Rise

I arrived at the reservoirs before dawn, very much at odds with my biological clock, after a far too brief, and very disjointed sleep. It was mild as I walked eventually along the path between the Marsworth and Startops lakes, and setting the camera to ISO 6400 took s a few shots of the reflections and silhouettes of the far bank against the slow dawning light.

I then walked to my bankside destination where I crawled through the undergrowth to arrive by a fallen tree and set up the camera and my seating, and awaited the rise in the light and hopefully, the arrival of a kingfisher. Ten minutes elapsed whilst still in comparative darkness, and there was a rustling of leaves and cracking of twigs. I greeted the visitor with the guess that he was after the same as myself. It turned out to be Merv, the generous and experienced wildlife photographer who had alerted me to the spot just a week back, I continued to set myself up, and we chatted in whispers. He spotted a kingfisher that I was unable to even see, such was his experience, but even at elevated ISO my chances of getting a shot was zero.

Merv spotted a muntjac in the clearing on the opposing bank, and when it came into my sight I managed to get a few shots of it before it continued its stroll back into the undergrowth.

Later, we both spotted a kingfisher zooming past, but on at least two occasions I simply had to accept that one had passed by, as I failed to register anything. Finally, one alighted on a branch in plain view and I managed to take a shot or two even when it moved to a fresh perch, and as he left I managed to get a blur of wings, that you can just make out is a kingfisher.

Those were the last sighting of any kingfisher perched in our tree studio, though we did see two more fly-bys.

At the end of four and a quarter hours we bid farewell to our viewing platform and walked along the canal till we came to the fork in the path where we went our separate ways saying that we would no doubt meet again as we both frequent these reservoirs. I was no longer a kingfisher virgin! There were too few images to create a gallery, but as a record…

Heritage Open Day Saturday at Luton Hoo

I drove to the Walled Garden to see what I could cover at the event, taking only one camera, my trusty 5D MkII and 24-105mm lens. I was surprised that there seemed to be far fewer visitors than I would have expected since entry to the event was free. But after only ten or fifteen minutes many more arrived. I must have arrived at around many people’s lunchtime!

I had been here only last Wednesday afternoon so I was not expecting to see too much of a change, I was soon disabused of that, as many more blooms were present than earlier, and weeding had continued unabated, and there were still even some volunteers working away as visitors wandered around. Deborah who designed and manages the Apothecary planting was constantly surrounded by enquiring visitors. The visitors were a mixture of individuals of both sexes, couples young and old and several family groups. I also spotted a few in guided tours learning of the history of the gardens and the plans for its restoration and regeneration.

The encouraging sign as had been the case on the Wednesday, was how many honeybees were to be found on the flowers; a welcome profusion. I was saddened by seeing that one of the greenhouses had suffered a serious collapse, I just hope some form of support can be arranged before the onset of winter.

I spotted a daytime moth which had made one particular flowerhead its territory, and was fascinated by its complex wing structure. I cannot find a name for it, it has a mark that is similar to the Silver Y moth, but it did not have the distinctive Y structure.

Warm Walk in Woburn Park

Woburn Abbey Grounds is criss-crossed by Public Footpaths, so some of the best things in life are still free. In the case of Woburn, even the car parking is provided free, at the edge of town.

From there it is but a short walk to the Lodge Gate and the Cattle Grid, I mention this as cars passing across this gives a burping sound, which soon becomes a distant memory as you walk deeper into the woods and alongside the lake. It was here that as I walked through the long grass I first spotted a dragonfly flying quite high before alighting on the branches of a pine tree. I now kept my eyes open for more and was soon rewarded.

I spotted a red one on a fence post, and soon realised it was using this as a staging post from which to make sorties for food – it would lift off, cruise around no more than five feet away vertically from the post, catch a fly on the wing and land to swallow it, before flying off yet again for another bite. I therefore hoped to be able to capture it in flight, but it was far too fast for that. A short while later I was able to take a shot of a larger blue one on the reeds.

Amongst the blackberries I spotted a couple of butterflies possibly grizzled skippers, but both were reluctant to open their wings when static. As I stayed close to the water’s edge in a gap between the reeds I was visited by a black swan family. When they realised I had no food they glided away.

I continued walking, past the cattle grid and beyond the farm yards till I came to the entry kiosk, where I checked where I was able to freely walk, here there were a few deer taking a refreshing break by stepping in to the lake from the shade of the trees flanking the bank. I followed the designated public foot path, till I met the path that climbed the hill leading to the House, from here I was able to take a few varied shots of the house and its setting, and just before I took this path I spotted a grey squirrel scampering in the grass. I met and chatted to a few other people, before returning the way I came and encountered the deer again in the water by the entrance.

Wheat Harvest Alongside A6 Slip End

I spot yet another Combine at work; this time in a large wheat field alongside the A6 close by Slip End.

Today was hot and dry and the harvester was trailing what seemed like billowing smoke as it powered its way through the ripe golden field, I had spotted it on my way to Luton Hoo, and since the afternoon was not yet over, I pulled off the main road and once again grabbed my cameras to see what I could record, I have a suspicion it may well be the same vehicle I had captured earlier at the end of last month.

The crop was different on the last occasion as it was oilseed rape, and the going was very different too. The ground today was much drier. I was not there long, but it was a useful record. I do not want my cameras to feel neglected.

Early September in the Walled Garden

Later, I visited the Walled Garden Project at Luton Hoo where volunteers were in abundance, and here the bees were in even greater profusion, and with a stronger breeze here the scent from the lavender was even stronger. The late rain and the recent warmer weather has given the large contingency of volunteers a good deal of extra wok redefining the paths among the individual garden beds. Here the sounds were not of shrill children, but the enthusiastic and friendly chatter as everyone bent to the task before them.

As I strolled through capturing some of the scene, certain areas were pointed out to me where the bees were extremely busy with their labours, and it was mentioned that I had not visited for some while, and one lady had noticed that my house was on the market, which showed I was not as invisible as I had thought.

I found that a new restoration project was afoot; that of a milk churner, and the one man Drag Saw was very much a working machine now as its engine had been running! I also paid a very quick visit to the Cactus house before leaving.

Early September, Stockwood Discovery Centre

If a Wednesday afternoon proves to be light on paying work, I grab the opportunity and my cameras and set off on my personal PR for some of Luton’s under-noticed gems. The Stockwood Discovery Centre falls into this category, although it is becoming ever more popular amongst young mothers and their children who do flock to the play area and in bright and warm weather to the grassy park space, but not too many stray into the gardens and wander among the flowers and the scents from some of the roses and the lavender.

Today, the good sign was the car park was full, and attendance was high. The shrill cries of young children could be heard from all around and the sun shone from a cloudless sky, I soon came across two of the gardeners who felt that the sun was causing the the flowers to look somewhat jaded. I hasten to add these were their words, so I set out to prove them wrong. Yes I was aware the flowers were not at their best, but there was still beauty to be found. As hopefully my gallery of images shows. Certainly the bees felt there was something to get out of hive for!

Early Tringford Visit

I was awoken very early by a client wishing to call in to collect some DVDs from me before he went to London, so rather than greet him in pyjamas, I made up my mind to take advantage of the early start as the weather was bright and dry even though on the chilly side.

I delayed him a few moments to show him other examples of my work, then tidied up and set off to be early at the reservoirs. I called at Tringford initially in time to help Bob Menzies with the preparation of a few boats for the anglers to set out on the water, then captured one angler casting. Across on the far side a large group of greylag geese were assembling, so I waited to see whether they would be flying off and just before they did, I received a call on my mobile, so missed most of that opportunity, but not long after I did capture a group of Canada Geese setting off, and they flew very past the very angler who had earlier been casting.

I then headed for Marsworth as there were now only a few coot and a lone grebe to be seen here, as I walked by the reeds I spotted a dragonfly, flitting by, and with great difficulty did manage to get a few poor shots of it in flight. Walking further along the path I heard a frantic flapping of wings and just caught sight of a grebe seemingly simply practising a takeoff, since it never took to the air but made several spurts despite not being chased by any other bird. At the junction of paths a coot was twice spotted dragging reeds to presumably create a nest, and on the bank of Marsworth two mallard were in animated conversation whilst others nonchalently stood alongside.

 I took the right fork to follow the canal and spotted some interesting artwork on the side of one of the narrowboats, that was named after the lady’s Nanny and had been painted by her husband, and towards the lock I spotted two artists facing opposite directions, one sketching the Lock, the other the canal and trees, and behind the bench I walked down towards the lake and some fallen trees in case these would provide any interesting wildlife, but all I found were a myriad of water boatmen.

I returned to Tringford in time to spot one fortunate angler landing a trout! And a wonderful rope ladder cloud formation.

Poulteney Bridge Environs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bristol Harbour Walk

The Bank Holiday Weekend was the ‘Family Get Together’ arranged by Mandy for the Saturday, and I stayed overnight and then had the opportunity to visit both Bristol and Bath before returning.

As I drove in I spotted a great viewpoint for the Clifton Suspension Bridge, so parked up and took a circuitous route to reach the spot I had seen. It was difficult to get exactly the shot I had originally glimpsed, because the sun was too often obscured by cloud, which was a shame.

Bristol was vastly changed from when I last visited, and I decided to take a walk along the harbour front of the Cumberland Basin, and found myself talking to some of the residents in their front gardens. There was a very obvious pride in their gardens, and their floral displays, and one group were particularly happy to chat. One lady mentioned she was visiting and that her display was further along, so I made a point of photographing her balcony and double-checking I had the correct apartment!

It was surprising how many languages I heard spoken amongst the visitors; Japanese, French, German, Polish, Scots, and just occasionally English! After I had walked till I could get a good view of the SS Great Britain, I returned to my car to drive to Bath.