29th December 2007 in Salisbury

Here are a couple of photos I took whilst collecting the newspaper. I went through woods behind our dwelling and took a picture from above. This is the clearest view and as you can see there are many branches and trunks in the way.

The second is from the best view of the south face of St Mary's Cathedral on a lovely clear day. Temperature about 8 deg C and no wind.

Canal Confusion in Cheshire and not a cat in sight.

The top image is a surreal version of the happenings on the Cheshire canal system.
A combination of 3 pictures blended together.

The middle image is another montage of two photos of the Anderton boat lift with a man for scale.

A rare sight of a lock-keeper

This image is an amalgam of three photos taken on Cheshire earlier this year. These were all canal based. So you can see the lock keeper opening the lock gate and the end elevation of a building by the lock and a bridge with some text painted thereon many years before. Also another image of a narrow boat that was passing through. Whether this type of montage is to your liking it is quite enjoyable making them. It may do well in camera club competitions but that is not paramount in my mind. That is the enjoyment of making an image that satisfies.

Orchid Mania?

Yesterday we had a little do for the members of our U3A Digital Imaging advanced class. We set up several places for them to take still lives. One of these was the orchid Sheila bought back in April and that has been flowering continuously ever since. Currently it has more flowers than ever. It is quite florifluous! Here are a couple of photos I took during that morning of the orchids close up. The arrangement had a big picture frame covered in white tissue paper set in front of a window - hence the white background to the pictures. Do click on the photos to get a larger view. This should reveal all the detail.

Slate Fantasies

These photos were taken in the Cwm Orthin [web site here] near to Blaenau Ffestiniog.

The images have been modified using Photoshop using Selective Colour and some Curves Adjustment Layers

The inside wall of the barracks













Barracks with a fallen wall

















Another fallen slate wall now horizontal
Another web site with pictures can be found here

West Wales in late October 2007

Bryn Brith 383m
by
Lynnau Creggenen



A ruined chapel found on the slopes of Cader Idris.
Taken in Infra Red on a Sony DSC F828 camera

Iron Handle as found somewhere in Cheshire. This has had other images put on top and blended in to give a slightly mysterious appearance. Well I think so.

A detail of a limestone pavement. This was found in Yorkshire in September.

The Blue Maze

I spotted this boy playing with this water maze at the Anderton Lift complex in Cheshire.
Local Bluebell woods. Here I have tried to bring out the young beech tree and suppress the brilliance of the flowers.
Here is a tiny snail investigating our hosta leaves yesterday morning. Note the dew. Taken with the Sony F828 and hand held.
A tulip in our front garden earlier this year.
I hope this mixture is of interest.

Heidi on the track
The Potting Shed
The Roller
Sally and Heidi
The Five Bar GateThese photos were taken last weekend at Sally's farm West Dean. We thought it would be a wet day but we had no rain and as you can see the clouds were superb. The visit was by the Salisbury Camera Club and apart from Sheila and me there was Sally and Phil. That is all - the rest of the members do not know what they missed. Maybe these photos can show them a little bit.

What'sCooking?

This is a dangerous kitchen. The cable that you can see was live. We knew this because of the little red light on the switch panel top left. And it was raining whilst taking this photo and you can see that there is no roof. But we came out still alive.

The location of this desirable residence is on the east side of the Isle of Harris, Scotland. The photo was taken in late May 2007.

Shapes

This photograph was taken on a beach on Harris. What is it?

More infra red photos taken this week. This time on the water meadows in Salisbury. Of the cathedral because it is so photogenic.
Do look at the link to the water meadows in blue
Do double click the images to see them full size too.
And why not put comments on line by clicking on the pencil icon.




The third image is of Stokesay castle with a gravestone from the next door churchyard.
A link to a super web site about the castle can be seen HERE

Our back garden

The Front garden in Infra Red


The Front garden.




The Front garden in normal colour

The churchyard at Whiteparish

Saturday walk into the city

A beautiful day and everyone we meet is happy. We meet quite a few people - a man painting his house, Margaret Younge a new member of the Camera club & the Spire U3A who had just bought herself a digital camera. Her daughter Sheila with her 2 daughters Lily and oh I have forgotten the other one. Drat. Met Evelyn and Maureen outside M&S too. Here too Sheila found a strange device. A small blue plastic thing. Maybe it was someones car opening device. So in a jeweler's shop, where we tried to buy some of those tiny silver batteries and the old ones were perfectly OK, we inquired if they knew. But no.
Sheila was interested in buying a new lens for her camera and we looked in 3 camera shops ending with Castle Cameras. Booked to see one on Tuesday but Sheila saw yet another Camera bag that took her fancy. She is always trying to find the perfect one. We took it with us on appro. Later Sheila decided that it was not built for women!
Onto to the Farmers Market to buy smoked trout terrine for lunch and then home wards. We saw a Security guy but he was no help over the wee plastic key. However in the Close the man in the hut who takes money for car parking was able to pass it on to City Security. Well let us hope that someone is not stranded in a car park.
On the way back I took a picture of Margaret's daughter and family and more of the man painting [really spraying hence the newspapers over the windows].

Yesterday we went to Parnholt wood near Farley, Hampshire. After looking inside St John's Church set alone amongst the fields we walked a mile to the wood to see the Bluebells. Magnificent they are too. I have added here a couple of the photos I took then. Double click the images to see it bigger and better.

Yesterday I took some pics of daffodils and primulas and a rather sad tent.
The tent was not occupied but it was with trepidation that I set up my tripod [yes indeed] to take this photo and another closer version. It was pitched under one of the arches of the bridge into the city that goes over the Avon.

Energy Savings

Bexhill

Two more photos from the stairwell of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill
Since the last blog the weather has been much colder. Quite freezing and even had snow.
Yesterday we went round the historic parts of Wilton. The pics will be posted up later.

We are back after being in East Sussex last week for 4 days. We had super weather - sunny, warm(ish) and in good company. There were 11 in total; all photographers and we occupied a complete hotel in Bexhill right opposite the De La Warr Pavilion [built 1935]. First picture of the stairwell. The second photo is of the small pavilions built for King George the Fifth's coronation.

We made trips to old Hastings [next 3 pics a) Man painting, b) Net Sheds, c) Fishing Boats hauled up onto beach, Rye Harbour (photo of red roofed shed on beach).

Dungeness (no pics) and the Romsey Marshes (picture of St Thomas a Becket's church at Fairfield set amongst lonely fields) and ended up near Beachy Head.

Actually the Birling Gap (next picture taken from the rocky foreshore) and then Seaford Head (showing the seven sisters). The latter overlooks the Seven Sisters white cliffs. Not to be confused with the white cliffs of Dover. I will add a sample of the photos I took during that time.

Remember to double click a photograph to see it full size.