Marsworth Reservoir – its Abundant Birdlife

It is a complete fallacy that Britain does not have exciting wildlife of its own, and the Tring reservoirs are abundant evidence of this, as I witnessed for myself this afternoon, in glorious crisp sunshine and for the most part edge to edge blue sky. So much so that for most of the time even though I was comparatively motionless, I was very warm! It was only as clouds came across the sun, that the temperature dropped dramatically and made me realise that I had not worn adequate clothing and needed to consider bringing my photography to a close.

I was not able to capture evidence of every different bird species I came across, but to have got shots of a heron, a kingfisher, a Pied wagtail, a Little Grebe, a Crested Grebe pair, and a Robin is a fair testament to the variety found in this neck of the woods. In walking along the path between two of the lakes and the lakes and the Grand Union Canal, I fell into conversation with several people who had seen Bittern, Egret, Water Rail, Pochard and Snipe, but sadly none of those came my way!

I thoroughly enjoyed my few hours spent at the water’s edge, and my only regret was that a pair of Crested Grebe seemed to break off their courtship without completing their routine, and were also too far from the shore. My shots of the heron through a veil of intervening branches more than made up for that, and I count myself lucky I managed to save myself from falling in the water whilst trying to get the shots.

Brogborough Yet Again – Stronger Winds Than Were Forecast

I had hoped that Sunday would bring some wind, and I was not disappointed, but whereas I seemed just a fair amount here at Marston Moretaine, when I reached the lake at Brogborough it was blowing heartily and had attracted the energetic sailors, those that would jump at such an opportunity to give their skills a workout. They would be using their store of energy to generate plenty of body heat, such that they would not feel the chill, and to be fair, it was a warmer wind than of late, but keeping oneself concentrating on what I am tracking through the viewfinder, whilst being constantly battered by the wind, the chill effect soon becomes apparent. I am not compensating with much input of energy, just concentration, so really should have worn more, and this I failed to do.

I have been wanting to shoot from a lower viewpoint to emphasise the height of any jump sequences I might capture, so initially I went as close to the water’s edge as I could, but I then met with another problem and that was that my heaviest and therefore most stable tripod was not allowing me to get my eye to the right height for the camera and every third wave soaked me, so I had to move back to higher, level ground and stand rather than sit. During this transition I therefore missed some of the action.

Once re-sited, I then began to spot which characters were going to provide me with action, and I concentrated on following them trying to anticipate when they might take to the air. I learned later that the conditions that prevailed this day did not provide a great deal of height to the jumps. I also tried to back up the action with shots that covered the entry and exit of the water and therefore telling a fuller story.

Foolishly, I decided to break off and grab a cup of tea when the numbers on the water dropped, but I was not able to continue as before, because I had been unable to warm up sufficiently and so soon curtailed my shooting after a very short time, but I was very happy in the main with what I had captured and I knew the more I took the longer would be my time spent in front of a computer screen, so it was not too difficult a decision to pack up and retire to the warmth of my office! I do long for the joy of the sun along with the wind.

Whipsnade Zoo Visit

I have not visited the zoo at Whipsnade for several years, in fact the last time was when my elder daughter had her Wedding Reception there. However when the opportunity to go with my younger daughter came along, I was delighted to join her and the children despite the dismal weather forecast for the Thursday. Imagine my delight when overnight all that occurred was light drizzle and the morning turned out to be crisply cold but dry, and the few clouds dispersed to provide edge to edge largely blue sky!

I drove towards Aylesbury to meet up with my daughter in surprisingly light traffic, but once we set off in her car there was a long, slow moving queue on the A41, despite it having been described as 'overnight closure' — obviously the Highways Department use a different clock! Upon our arrival we met up with a Swimming class parent and his young daughter spending a short time with them before they headed for lunch then met up again for a while later.

The gallery of images that accompany this narrative are those of the inhabitants of the zoo rather than those of a purely family occasion, and to be blessed with such light was a bonus I had not been expecting, and the added bonus this gave allowed me to take advantage of the only lens and camera body I had decided upon — the full-frame 5D MkIII and 24-105mm lens. I was pleasantly surprised by being able to crop very tightly, yet achieve very acceptable results from considerable distances. So, had the weather been less bright, I would have found the 70-200mm a better bet — I count myself very lucky!

It was a great day out, and the most appealing shots for me, were those of the Flamingoes, followed ironically by the Hippopotami (though the pungency of the atmosphere within is a shock to the system!) and the Penguins. Whipsnade Zoo is a venue I can heartily endorse, and the friendly atmosphere is a compliment to all the staff whose hard work is very evident. The seemingly incessant rain of the last weeks certainly made the Car Park a challenging experience, so we can count our blessings even more for it having held off on that day!

British Wildlife Touring Exhibition – Stockwood Discovery Centre

I arranged to meet up with a fellow photographer, Colin Bowles to take a look at the photographs on display at the Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton from this year's awards, but I purposely made a point of arriving earlier so that I might take a few photographs of some of the plants within the gardens or in the long greenhouse, if I could manage to get in touch with one of the gardeners, Jan Tysoe.

She was not too sure I might find anything much of interest at this early stage of the season, though she knew it would not be a lack of trying on my part. I was dressed in layers for the outdoors, and away from the bitter cold inside the greenhouse, I was way over-dressed so hastily shed my coat in order to take a look the length of the interior in search of early signs of the coming season's growth.

It was not extensive, but the signs were there, and I spotted a minuscule snail on a leaf at the far end that was barely half a millimetre wide and at most one long, so had to move very close and up the speed, so that the shutter could cope with my unstable, shaky hands, but there was no way to convey an appreciation of it's scale.

I managed only a few images here before the call came through that Colin had arrived, so I gathered my gear and headed for the exhibition. Colin made an inherently sensible suggestion as to how we might proceed from the outside in, in order not to lose track of those images we had already seen by jumping from the outer walls to the inner display panels and back. It was interesting to note how many of the pictures elicited memories for Colin from his various travels around the world and his encounters with some of the animals or scenes, or how some stirred other memories from the past.

Whilst we were there a member of staff came around with a duster, and her duties must definitely have involved outside work as she was similarly clothed for the great outdoors, as she methodically ensured every one of the pictures were maintained at their best for the visitors.

Once again Colin and I both found the variety kept us interested throughout our visit, it is an exhibition we both recommend to be well worth finding the time to visit as it should be rewarding to all ages and this week is likely to be well-attended by children during their half-term break.

Brrr! Brogborough – Bitter Winds Favour the Brave

I made time to head for the lake at Brogborough in the hope that the wind might tempt the hardier sailors to venture there to make the most of what windsurfers need most – a stiff breeze. On my arrival however the lake was entirely free of humans, and knowing my time was likely to be spent experiencing windchill at its extreme for a long period, I stayed within my car keeping my body at a reasonable temperature and simply watched, waited and enjoyed the music from Classic FM. Travelling only from Marston Moretaine, meant the engine was barely reaching its operating temperature so I did not kill the engine till there was warm air within.

There were soon signs of activity, so then I gathered the tripod and cameras and put everything together, choosing the 7D MkII and the Tamron 150-600mm lens and mounted it atop the Lensmaster Gimbal head and the Novoflex levelling head on the heavy Gitzo tripod, having learned that the lighter tripods were buffeted by the wind meaning that they were not reliably stable platforms from which to shoot, in particular my carbon fibre tripod had to be weighted down for fear of being literally blown away!

I then grabbed the 5D MkIII and the 35mm f/1.4 to get some shots of the preparations as at this point there was even the occasional sunshine between scudding clouds, but fortunately no rain forecast as the ground was already treacherously sodden and slippery.

The presence of a camera has a beneficial effect here, as it does mean that those hardy souls who are honing their gybing and turn skills and their jumping tend to be within shooting range of the photographer, however, as I have learned, several are unaware that they can often come too close and it becomes well nigh impossible to capture unless you also have a shorter focal length lens within easy reach. Fortunately most of the time I have the coverage at both ends of the range when using either the 100-400mm on the full frame 5D MkIII or the 150-600mm on the 7D MkII.

I consider I was really lucky on this occasion as for most of the time there was a reasonable amount of light and plenty of on-water action to keep me on my toes, though when I was on the jetty, the water several times came up through the slats soaking my jeans and giving me soggy socks, perhaps I should have considered wellies and thick socks rather than my hardwearing shoes.

By the end of the day I was very satisfied with what I had captured; several sequences, the downside being the amount of time that I would be at the computer before being able to post a gallery on my blog.

Aylesbury Concert Band – Aylesbury Methodist Church

This was designated the New Year Concert for the Band but the weather proved not to be too helpful as it was cold and drizzly with snow forecast which tends to put people off attending which is a shame.

I arrived reasonably early and managed to park almost opposite the church which is always a benefit. The church has a horseshoe-shaped upper deck which because there was only one young girl up there, I had the opportunity to take photographs from different angles, and working from above means there are fewer obstacles to the view of the musicians.

The amount of light was also a benefit, but the one drawback was that I was visible and could cause distraction to those playing, I would have liked the back lights to be off so that I could not be seen.

The repertoire was varied, ranging from Sousa and Verdi in the first half to Strauss, Elgar, Hess and Gershwin in the second, and much to the delight of the audience the Radetzky March by way of an encore and I have a delighted lady clapping to that to end my gallery.

Marston Moretaine's Separated Church & Tower

Having not created any galleries for a while except those that were family-related, I decided that despite the cold day, I would take advantage of the warm last rays of the evening sun that must be lighting the nearby Grade One Listed Church.

Grabbing just the one camera and stuffing a wider angle lens in my coat pocket I walked along the road towards the track that led to the somewhat unusual local church to St. Mary the Virgin, whose tower is some distance from the body of the church. This gave rise to the story that the reason was the Devil was attempting to steal the tower, but he hadn't taken note of its weight and lacked the power to carry it more than a few feet before giving in and leaving it where it remains to this day. The true reason seems lost in the mists of time; maybe Time Team should be invited to delve deeper to discover the real reason, but the church building itself is an interesting mix of styles and dates from around 1340.

Currently due to the inordinate amount of rain that has fallen, the ground is waterlogged and extremely slippery in the grassy areas, but the brook that runs from the area and under the main road and by the side of the road leading to the Forest Centre, though its level is much higher than when I saw it in the summer, has been deepened again recently giving some confidence that this flood plain is receiving attention regarding flood risks. However I hope that some of the brambles might be removed to ensure an uninterrupted flow to this vital safety measure.

The nature of the church and tower's construction does not lend itself to a long thin horizontal format so I chose a more suitable image from the graveyard. The graves within its boundary do not seem overly crowded, but a stretch of land on the outskirts of the village have been acquired and it is planned that this area will become the extension to the church's graveyard at some time in the future.

Sunshine and a Fair Wind – Brogborough New Year’s Eve

 

I was hoping from the wind that swirled here at Marston Moretaine that conditions would be good at Brogborough Lake, and certainly there were signs of activity, but the wind was less strong here than I had hoped, but I entertained the idea that some of those present would exercise a few jumps for me.

In the distance someone obliged, but had I blinked I would have missed it, and despite staying beyond last time’s hour and a half, I mainly captured a series of high-speed turns, but unlike the jumpers, the sailors performed in too close for  the shortest end of my telephoto range, so invariably I was left losing half the sail and less of the trailing spume created by the manoeuvre. I was seeing faces however which from my different, front-on position of last time I was getting a good view of the boards’ undersides, but no clue to the anonymous sailor!

It is all grist to the mill, and post-processing sunshine shots is easier, but the sheer volume means I leave everything chronological rather than organise the gallery pages relative to the content, but that may well break the continuity of a sequence. I also have to improve the level and stability of my tripod to limit the amount of time straightening the horizon.

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge but need to ensure I always wear a scarf as my neck stiffened with the constant battering from behind as I bent over the camera.

A colleague of mine, Adam Woolfitt sent me an image of a kite surfer he had captured with St. Michael’s Mount as a backdrop and a shoreline of breaking waves, and it does make a difference!

Brogborough Lake – Boxing Day 2015

Many moons ago in what sometimes seem like another life, Boxing day was Day when Brands Hatch used to celebrate a very relaxed afternoon of motorsport, with often various humorous added attractions and all of us Marshal's used to be delivered of a Tot of Rum. Well, with a fairly stiff breeze and in the morning a fair amount of sunshine, I wondered whether the spirit of those days might prevail at Brogborough lake, with many turning up to work off the excesses of Christmas Day. I cannot be sure that was the motivation, but certainly there were several enthusiasts determined to take advantage of the conditions.

I was pleased me guess was basically correct, the atmosphere was relaxed, and despite there being no refreshments available, and sadly for the participants no showers, there was energy in abundance and I set to putting up my heavier tripod. After taking a few shots from this angle one of the sailors suggested I might like to take advantage of the wind direction to venture into the thicket and take shots of those jumping head-on, despite the direction of the sun – although the sun would not oblige by moving swiftly behind my right shoulder, it did take cover behind the clouds so that the lighting was far more favourable than directly into the lens.

This I did and I found the clearest spot I could, but it was far too slippery to consider making my way down to the foreshore – that is going to be a luxury of far drier weather, before I can take advantage of a low angle. For now, some shots were going to have the horizon bisecting the top of the sails in may shots. One lingering disappointment when shooting from this viewpoint is I see no faces, so the shots seem anonymous which is a shame.

Christmas is still the season of jumpers – fortunately! I did not expect to be shooting windsurfers in December, let alone on Boxing Day. It was also far warmer than any Boxing day at Brands Hatch, and that covered thirty-odd years.

Aylesbury Dignitaries Grace St. Mary's Carol Concert

The Aylesbury Concert Band played before the Mayor and other Council Member's at the Annual Carol Concert at St.Mary's Church in the centre of Aylesbury Town. My daughter who plays a Baritone Saxophone in the Band needed transporting there, so I arrived as the rest of the Band were setting up, and on this occasion I was playing a very low profile with regards the taking of photographs by only taking a handful of shots during the preparations and main performance and in the more relaxed and informal period at the end whilst the assembled dignitaries handed out mince pies and mulled wine. The lighting was in the region I tend to describe as 'Unavailable Light Photography' – to be truthful with modern technology it might more truthfully be described as 'Barely Available' and I found myself shooting at 12,800 ISO at often full aperture. In my defence, I have not applied any noise reduction to these shots and would definitely need to do so were any needed for print reproduction at more meaningful sizes than in the gallery, and some might not pass muster even then.

The music and the singing was thoroughly enjoyable and the church was packed to capacity actually requiring more seating to be found, and I could still see a few standing. By not using flash and using a long lens I felt I was being very restrained and this allowed me to retain the atmosphere even though this resulted in several either blurred or unsharp images that never made it into the final gallery.

This was my second Carol Service of the weekend the first having been at Fairford Leys where I was also treated to hearing an intimate Saxophone Quartet playing giving my tapping feet an airing!

Brogborough - Seriously High December Wind!

I only had a couple of hours at the most to get my fix of Windsurfing activity at the lake at Brogborough as in the afternoon I was due in Fairford Leys to enjoy hearing and watching my daughter playing Sax with the Aylesbury Community Band at a Carol Concert. On this occasion I would not be carrying a camera to the event, so needed this fix!

I wrapped up warm and setup my heavy tripod to give me some sort of stability, to have considered the carbon fibre one would have been lunacy, if I had a quick release mechanism for it I would have been best served by bringing along my Gitzo! In the future I think I will give it serous consideration in such blustery conditions; I must look into the possibility.

I found myself holding as tightly onto the camera to keep the tripod firm as contemplating  simply keeping light pressure on the shutter release whilst shooting. A tripod is supposed to be stable, well not this particular day! I was rewarded by some seriously skilled people braving the conditions to enjoy their sport and giving me some shots of which I was proud; there were several sequences where I came close to anticipating the start of the manoeuvres, but aligning the shots I would definitely be relying in sorting after the event in post processing as I might just as well have been in a bobbing dinghy as being on sloping dry land in that wind!

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and stayed only long enough to survive a very stiff neck and my painful and weak back which went just a few days before. I left the shots in chronological order and so some sequences will span some galleries I am afraid, but I had no more time.

Evening Skies over Nearby Landscape

Spotting the richness and power of the clouds, I hastily grabbed my camera and shot out to Stewartby and Houghton Conquest where it is marginally less flat than here in Marston Moretaine to capture a few quick shots of the effect these could have on mundane and unremarkable landscapes.

There were barely enough to create a gallery, but they could later provide backgrounds to cards with plenty of space for an accompany message. Simply Grist to the Mill. The image that heads this piece was me playing with duotoning one shot in Lightroom to almost simulate a snow scene.

I also took the chance to visit an engineering works who manufacture robot parts for the automotive sector of British Industry in case they might ever have a need for my services, but sadly they already have an incumbent, but I try to leave no stone unturned, and I had earlier helped a photographer based in Cardiff hoping it might generate some training at a future date, so the day was not not a washout.

Ampthill Christmas Lights – Switch On

Andy Fox came around to drop off the last of a series of mounted prints that now adorn the walls of my new home, and casually mentioned that he and his wife, Debbie were going to the switching on of the Christmas Lights in Ampthill that evening, and this struck me as a good way to spend the late afternoon and early evening as it was generally well-attended and a good show.

Since my arrival was not likely to be all that early I decided not to chance going too far into Ampthill to park, but I do need all the exercise I can get, so I parked just off the A507, giving myself a fair trek to reach the town centre; I soon found I had been overly cautious, as it soon became apparent I could have parked far closer, but I was not going to waste time and petrol to make the change. It also gave me a chance to add to my stock of images of autumn and textures.

The central roundabout had the access to the High Street barricaded off to make it a pedestrian thoroughfare and the Sainsburys car park had become a funfair with stalls, rides and charity tents and was filling with people when I arrived, and though the afternoon was cold, it was still bright and families were along full of the festive spirit. The decorations were mainly confined to shop windows, and the lighting scheduled to be lit were not extravagant, but that mattered not a jot – the atmosphere engendered by the throngs of people was all that mattered and the street was a happy place with chattering children and shiny balloons depicting Minions, Mickey Mouse, Super heroes and Ponies, and it was not long before one was lost to the sky, but I did not hear the sounds of crying for its loss, just a few adults remarking that it was on its way to the stars!

There was dancing and music playing in the run-up to the count down and dusk began encroaching very gradually with the crowd density increasing in direct proportion to the darkening of the sky. As I recorded the scene unfolding I spared a thought for such gatherings on the continent realising just how fragile was this peaceful scene I was witnessing, and I wondered how many of those present sensed those same sentiments – if they did, it certainly did not show or dampen their spirits, for which I was grateful. It is however worth at least understanding how tenuous this grip on everyday normality really is at this time, whilst not becoming despondent and fearful.

I enjoyed the event very much and was really grateful to Andy who brought the event to my notice, I hope I have captured the essence of the evening in the gallery of images.

November on Tring Reservoirs

I felt I needed to chance taking the opportunity to Visit the Reservoirs at Tring for possibly the last time this year., despite there being light rain forecast. When I first arrived it had not yet started, but as I took the first few photographs the first few drops arrived, but I was well wrapped up in case it got worse, but surprisingly for mid-November, it was not too cold – at least before I had been stationary for long.

The first bird of interest was a heron standing in just a few inches of water, but it barely moved during the time it took me to set up the tripod, and actually losing my footing on the steep bank of Startops End lake. I was surprised at just how many birds were on the water considering how much noise was being made by the workers presumably doing repair work to the far bank.

I headed beyond the end of the path between the two reservoirs of Marsworth and Startops End and waled along the Grand Union Canal, meeting the occasional dog walker, but as yet no anglers. I settled to wait by the reed beds in the hope of possibly catch sight of kingfishers, but for the first hour and a half, only a dabchick appeared, though I failed to capture the squirrel on two of its charges across the fallen branches and into its favourite lair within a large bush on the far side.

Also, the mink never ventured out of its hollowed tree trunk, but my firm favourite, the well-groomed Robin did join me and partook of my seed offerings, and gently chirped as it flew around its territory either side, behind me and by my feet. I did catch a fleeting glimpse of a heron overhead, but as there was so little leaf coverage, it almost certainly decided against landing on any of the high branches due to my presence.

Although I never felt like giving up and returning to base, it was a very long wait before the arrival of a kingfisher, and as luck would have it, he had succeeded in in catching a fish and was landing on a distant branch to swallow it. It took him quite a time to swallow as it was fairly energetically twisting in the vain hope of escaping, but a final deft flick, possibly also bashing it on the nearby trunk and the kingfisher began to turn it so it was headfirst and in one large gulp, and a straightening of its throat, it was down.

I stayed for another hour, but was visited no more, and by now was cold frosting still for so long.

I climbed back up the steep, muddy bank and made my return journey to the car. I did stop in the hide and chatted to an ex-Postie, newly retired and another birder, Michael eponymously named for his career and we all three chatted as I still took the opportunity to grab shots of a gull and some Crested Pochard, whom I managed to capture in flight as they left the lake and we also had a visit from another Robin and a Dunnock.

As Michael and I walked back to our cars, who should be coming in the opposite direction but Bob Menzies the Bailiff for Tringford!

Windy Friday at Brogborough Lake

Most of the summer when the sun has shone there has been next to no wind, therefore not the most exciting time for action of the windsurfing variety on Brogborough Lake. Along comes November and both wind and sun, but the sun has a cold brightness, and when the wind is strong enough to blow my heavier tripod over, my hands on the cold metal of camera and tripod soon became very cold indeed.

I knew I was not going to be free over the weekend, so the lesser numbers on the water had enticed me over in the afternoon of Friday, and I concentrated on trying to capture longer sequences as the keen freestylers practiced doing their turns in the air, I was very grateful that Sam Barnes offered suggestions as to what to look out for and where to expect the action, and where in the past I would be more concerned with the start of a manoeuvre, Sam made the point that the landing was more important, so I tried  to take longer bursts where hitherto I would stop short as I felt that to concentrate on the ignominy of failure might be unkind when the surfer failed. However, I could see his point that this might in fact help my subject to see why there was a failure.

So we shall see, I just hope that I don’t get a clip round the ear by showing a sequence where the end was less promising than the the start. This also reminds me that on this occasion I started shooting with the 150-600mm lens, but  that often meant that 150mm was too long due to how close inshore the windsurfers often came, then I remembered that I had put the 100-400mm in the car, so I swapped over, which meant I could be closer to the water’s edge and therefore have a wider view before the bushes obscured my view.