Photography with an occasional poem
Honestly, I would forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on! The point of my visit to Lincoln was to capture the Cathedral, although I had no idea of the surrounding evironment. And then I didn’t upload a photo of said Cathedral. So here it is. And for the benefit of any US viewers – yes the timbered houses around the Cathedral are indeed older than your country…
No, this image is not from Runnymede where the Magna Carta was sorted, but from Lincoln. As is evident, the name of the pub is the blog title, and Lincoln Castle is just hovering in the background. As it was evening I was tempted to go and eat in the pub, and the food looked good, but it was packed out. So I went home and had a mini pork pie instead. Living life on the wild side…
The weather has not been ideal for the type of photography I usually enjoy doing, but the harsh sunlight normally suits black and white making use of the contrast to emphasise textures and patterns. So I took the chance to explore the cathedral quarter in Lincoln in the early evening. Doubling down on the contrast I decided to shoot into the sun to try and get a starburst. I think the cobbles came out nicely…
OK, so anonymous is a bit of a cop out. Truth is I am rubbish at plant identification. If it is not a rose, bluebell, or poppy I am lost. So I don’t know what it is , but it stood out in the sunlight so I snapped it. This was taken on my new long lens at a local nature reserve. There were a lot of ‘twitchers’ around looking for a night heron, which is apparently a little rare. So of course I have a camera and a long lens, and the assumption is I am also looking for this elusive bird. I tried to sound knowledgeable for the first twenty people that asked if I had seen it, but the truth is I am as knowledgeable about birds as I am about plants. Does it look like a robin, or a swan? Then no, I haven’t seen it. But neither have you, and I have a photo of a dead plant, so who is the loser?
On an early morning walk in Yorkshire I came across this tree. Lone trees are a classic subject for photography, but what attracted me was the foliage. It seems it could not decide if it was summer or autumn (fall for those who love to destroy the English language), and was playing it safe with both. Amazing that it is not random, but split down the middle like that.
Normally I am not a fan of sunsets, but on this evening I made an exception. The sun is setting over the Gower Peninsula in Wales (I do go other places), and in the foreground is Worms Head which marks the most westerly point on the peninsula. Worms Head has nothing to do with worms, it comes from the Viking word “Wurm” which means dragon, and you can possibly see that the shape resembles a sleeping dragon. Ah… maybe that is why the sky was so fiery?
Well the answer is yes. In the last 15 minutes of the last boat trip on the last day, we managed it. I was resigned to never seeing a breach – after all David Attenborough’s crew can sit for three months and see nothing – but finally they played. What is more remarkable for me is that this dolphin was nearly a mile away and I could easily have missed it even being there. I may have mentioned before, but I love this camera.
Not a lot of landscape photography this week, as we went to Cardigan Bay looking for dolphins. Cardigan Bay has the largest concentration of dolphins in the UK, however, they can be a nightmare to photograph, and to track as they move through the sea. But, as the saying goes, the more photos you take the luckier you get. Now the question you have to ask is whether I managed to get one of the classic shots of a dolphin leaping and arching from the water. We will see…
I hope you are impressed that I can be bilingual? Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast is home to thousands of gannets. I would say you can’t move for them, but as they spend most of their time on the seaward side of a very tall steep cliff that is highly unlikely. Suffice to say, you can’t miss them. This is the classic pose of a mating pair making it known they are interested. Ornithology lesson over.
As I have mentioned before, I struggle with flower photos, but every now and then I get something that I feel is ok. Seems a bit early, or I am losing track of the year, but the poppies are back. It is pouring down with rain and hailstones today, so I have not been out, but this is one from last year.