Photography News

St Lawrence Church (Fri 19th Dec).

HDR colour and monochrome images of St Lawrence Church, Broughton. Shot handheld using my Canon G11.

Ice Patterns (Sun 28th Dec).

Macro images of fozen puddles using the Canon G11 and a mini tripod.

Oak Tree (Tue 30th Dec).

HDR images of a nearby Oak Tree with frozen water and frost covered grass in the foreground. Shot on a cold, sunny morning using my Canon G11.

Gravestones (Wed 31st Dec).

HDR and tonemapped images of frost covered gravestones in the Holy Trinity Churchyard. After seeing the frost in the morning, I grabbed my Nikon D200 and tripod and headed for the Church before breakfast.

Robin (Wed 31st Dec).

An inquisitive robin seemed to take an interest in what I was doing while photographing the gravestones. It didn't seem bothered about getting close and appeared two or three times.

I decided to return after breakfast with my 105mm macro lens in the hope of getting some close up shots of the bird on a gravestone.

By the time I returned, most of the frost had disappeared. I spread some breadcrumbs and chopped up bacon fat along the top edge of one of the more photogenic looking head stones and waited. The side lighting from the sun on my chosen stone was perfect. The shadow behind the top of the stone would have made the bird really stand out against the background.

After about 20 minutes, the robin re-appeared. Unfortunately it didn't spot my carefully placed bait, but it did at least pose on another nearby headstone. The lighting on that stone was not as good; the bird was not lit by the sun.

I managed to grab a few more shots while the bird was perched on a branch only about two feet away. It was so unexpectedly close that the f4.5 aperture I had set on the macro lens meant the depth of field was insufficient. Consequently, it's feet and claws are not as sharp as I would have liked. It really needed an aperture more like f8. This photo really shows how robins puff up their feathers to insulate against the cold.

Painting News

Staithes.

I have just completed an oil painting of the Yorkshire fishing village of Staithes. It is based on a photograph and painted on stretched canvas 23.5" x 15.5".

I started this painting several months ago but lost interest about half way through. I returned to it earlier this month determined to finish it.

In total, the painting has taken many weeks to complete. This is partly because of the amount of detail in the buildings. Painting reasonably realistic looking brickwork and window details can be quite time consuming.

I am reasonably happy with the result, although I may decide to add a few figures. A couple of people on the footbridge may help create a focal point. I need to let the paint dry for several weeks before it can be varnished and framed.

Photography News

Moonlit Church (Sun 2nd Nov).

As an experiment, I tried shooting the local Holy Trinity Church at night using just moonlight and stray light from surrounding houses and street lamps.

It was close to a full moon with an almost clear sky. There were just a few scattered high altitude clouds.

The camera's auto focus would not work at all under the low light conditions. Using manual focus was just about impossible too as it was too dark to see. In the end, I placed a torch on the ground in front of the building to give me something I could focus on.

Exposure was guessed. I tried 1 minute at f5.6 (ISO 100). The Nikon D200 only allows auto shutter speeds down to 30 seconds, so I used 'bulb' setting counted out the seconds as it was too dark to see my watch. For some reason, long exposures using 'bulb' setting drain the Nikon's battery quickly.

I also tried leaving the shutter open for 2 minutes. This gave a more optimum exposure, but the stars then appear as short streaks. I could have increased the ISO setting, but that would increase the noise.

I like the way the long exposure made the clouds streak across the sky.

Conversion to monochrome using Photomatix tone mapping enhances the detail contrast and makes the stars stand out. Subsequent blue toning in Photoshop creates a spooky looking image.

Funfair (Sun 9th Nov).

The final day of the Campbell Park funfair.

Beacon (Sun 9th Nov).

Campbell Park beacon with the sun behind.

The two figures gave an interesting silhouette.

Frost (Mon 24th Nov).

Ground frost on a cold, sunny November morning. Winter is on it's way.

Peace Pagoda (Thu 27th Nov).

The clouds caught my eye while walking around Willen Lake. I used the Peace Pagoda as a foreground subject. I shot three frames using my Canon G11 and processed them as HDR.

Caldecote Lake Panorama (Sat 29th Nov).

The trees on the eastern side of Caldecote Lake had some nice autumn colours even in late November. On saturday afternoon there was golden yellow sun light and not much wind so the reflections in the water looked interesting. I created a stitched panorama from 5 frames shot hand held using my Canon G11.

Photography News

North Yorkshire (Sat 27th Sep - Wed 8th Oct).

A photographic expedition to North Yorkshire based in the fishing village of Staithes.

The weather was good for most of the 11 days with only one day rained off.

The trip included Fountains Abbey, Rievaulx Abbey, Saltburn, Skinningrove, Whitby, Saltwick Bay, Robin Hood's Bay, Grosmont and Goathland for the NYMR steam railway, Falling Foss and May Beck, the Moors, Eden Camp and the Yorkshire Aircraft Museum.

In addition to my Nikon DSLR and Canon G11 compact, I took along my Nikon FE film camera with a selection of prime MF lenses and some rolls of outdated Kodak High Speed black and white infrared film. This was mainly intended to photograph subjects such as Abbey ruins.

Fountains Abbey. (Sat 27th Sep)

Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located south-west of Ripon, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for over 400 years, until 1539, when Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The abbey is now a Grade I listed building owned by the National Trust

We visited the Abbey in the afternoon during the journey north. When we first arrived, the weather was cloudy and did not look too promising. Later the sun did manage to break through.

I took a few digital images outside before switching to infrared film once the sky had improved.

I was keen to photograph the 'Great Cloisters' or 'Cellarium' inside the Abbey after having seen images in books and online. This is the area where the monks stored food.

Unfortunately, at the time when I went inside, conditions were not ideal. The sun was creating bright pools of light in the otherwise dark interior. With hindsight I should have gone inside earlier when the sky was cloudy. I resorted to bracketing in the hope of making adjustments using HDR.

The image still required some cloning work in photoshop to remove the distracting bright areas and give me the result I wanted. I converted the final image to monochrome, blue toned it and added some noise.

There was just time to photograph the nearby St. Mary's Church in digital and infrared before continuing our journey. The plan was to arrive in Staithes before nightfall. Unfortunately this meant there was no time view the interesting Church interior.

Rosebury Topping. (Sat 27th Sep)

We stopped briefly to grab a couple of shots of Rosebury Topping in evening light as we headed east towards the coast.

The viewpoint was not ideal; the wave-like shape of the hill is not as strong as the view from further east. Although the light was good, the composition could really use some foreground interest such as a few sheep or straw bales.

Staithes, Redcar. (Sun 28th Sep)

Most of Sunday morning was spent in Redcar, shopping for food in preparation for the week ahead. The afternoon was spent exploring Staithes, although the light was too flat for serious photography.

Lealholm. (Mon 29th Sep)

Lealholm is a small village midway along the Esk valley between Glaisdale and Danby.

Grosmont. (Mon 29th Sep)

Grosmont is famous for it's preserved, picturesque railway station. It's engine sheds and workshops are where NYMR's steam and diesel engines are maintained and restored.

Our arrival coincided with two NYMR steam trains: The Eric Treacy and The Green Knight.

The light levels were fairly low. I tried to keep to 100 ISO to mimimise sensor noise, but that meant low shutter speeds. Consequently some of my hand held shots of the engines, even with a wide angle lens, were blurred due to camera shake and had to be discarded. It was difficult to use a tripod because of people on the platform. Also, trains are not always stationary, so a tripod can be restricting.

This HDR image, shot using a tripod, is probably my best steam train photograph from the trip.

A few more shots around the station.

Ruswalp. (Mon 29th Sep)

We stopped off at Ruswalp, hoping to photograph a steam train as it passed over the bridge. In the end, all we saw was a modern two unit diesel. I had to make do with a shot of the empty bridge and surrounding trees.

Staithes. (Mon 29th Sep)

After returning to Staithes in the evening, I took a few shots of the old unconverted first world war army huts on the site where we were staying.

Staithes. (Tue 30th Sep)

This was the first chance to photograph the view of Staithes from above with early morning sun. It was a difficult shot because of flare.

Whitby. (Tue 30th Sep)

Whitby Abbey is a Grade I Listed building in the care of English Heritage.

The classic view of the Abbey reflected in the pond.

HDR processing using Photomatix software can produce interesting surreal images.

Images of the Abbey also look good when converted to monochrome.

Probably the best images are obtained at dusk when the Abbey is floodlit. The Abbey can still be photographed when the site is closed to the public by shooting over the surrounding walls.

For more close up shots of the ruins, I tried to avoid areas of distracting bright light through gaps in the stone work.

I converted some images to monochrome and experimented with toning in Photoshop.

The Abbey ruins from the visitor center courtyard and a view of Whitby town from Saint Mary's Churchyard located next to the Abbey.

More floodlit images of the Abbey ruins.

The much photographed steps and lamp posts leading from St. Mary's Church down to Whitby town.

We had planned to repeat these shots at dusk when the lamps were lit, but ended up having a pint and eating fish and chips in the town instead.

Colour and monochrome images of the harbour.

Saltwick. (Tue 30th Sep)

Saltwick Bay, Saltwick Nab and Black Nab are a short walk along the coastal path to the south of Whitby.

A useful photographer's guide to Saltwick can be found here.

We were hoping to find the wreck of The Admiral Van Tromp located near Black Nab. This was a fishing vessel from Scarborough which came aground during a storm in 1976 with the loss of 2 lives.

The wreck has been photographed so many times, it has become a bit of a 'cliche'. Nevertheless, some of the images do look nice and we were keen to have a go.

We were unsure of the exact location or even if the remains still exist or have been washed away over the years.

We spotted some wreckage from the cliff top but it looked as if it was surrounded by deep mud and did not appear particularly photogenic.

Subsequent research indicates that what we actually found was the wreckage of the Creteblock.

The Creteblock was constructed around 1919/20 from reinforced concrete rather than steel which was in short supply during the first World War.

As we were unsure of the tides and did not bring wellies, we decided to play safe and not climb down for a closer look.

I did eventually spot the wreckage of the Admiral Van Tromp in one of my photos of Black Nab taken from the cliff top.

Saltwick Bay also contains wreckage from the passenger steamer The Rohilla. which ran aground in October 1914 with the loss of 83 lives.

Staithes. (Wed 1st Oct)

Early morning sun made a walk down to the village worth a look. I tried using Lobster Pots and Rope as a foreground.

Rievaulx Abbey. (Wed 1st Oct)

Rievaulx Abbey near Helmsley is another former Cistercian abbey that was dissolved by Henry VIII. It was originally one of the wealthiest abbeys in England. The ruins are now maintained by English Heritage.

As usual, I converted some images to monochrome and added toning.

This old stone barn near the Abbey made a nice image when converted to monochrome.

Helmsley. (Wed 1st Oct)

Helmsley is an attractive market town located where Rye Dale leaves the moorland to join the flat Vale of Pickering. The town is close to Rievaulx Abbey and is home to Helmsley Castle.

Helmsley Castle. (Wed 1st Oct)

Helmsley Castle is a ruined medieval castle now looked after by English Heritage.

The surrounding dry moat and steep earth embankment make the ruins difficult to photograph from a distance.

Staithes. (Wed 1st Oct)

The sky had turned yellow/orange by the time we arrived back in Staithes for the evening. The smoking chimney of the Boulby Potash Mine to the north made an interesting sunset image. The mine also produces rock salt.

Staithes. (Thu 2nd Oct)

A few images from an early morning walk around the village.

Goathland. (Thu 2nd Oct)

Some images from Goathland Station. Our visit coincided of the arrival of a steam train from Whitby. The 2807 locomotive was visiting from the Gloucester & Warwickshire Railway. A diesel train travelling in the opposite direction arrived a few minutes later.

Beck Hole. (Thu 2nd Oct)

The bridge over Eller Beck at Beck Hole near Goathland. This was difficult to photograph because of the bright sky and deep shadows under the bridge. I resorted to exposure bracketing and HDR.

Skinningrove. (Fri 3rd Oct)

Skinningrove lies on the coast just north of Staithes. It is the home of the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, which we did not have time to visit.

The shoreline has some interesting subjects for photography. It is cluttered with old boats, rusty tractors and old fishermen's huts.

Saltburn. (Fri 3rd Oct)

The Saltburn Cliff Lift is one of the world's oldest water-powered funiculars. It replaced a rickety hoist that was first built after the opening of Saltburn Pier in 1869.

The hoist was introduced after was realised that the steep cliff walk was deterring people from walking from the town to the pier. The water balanced cliff lift was built after the original hoist was condemned as unsafe in 1883.

Saltburn's Victorian pier was the first iron pier to be built on the North East Coast. It was opened in 1869.

This was a good opportunity to try out my new SRB 10 stop ND filter. The filter does introduce a warm, slightly brown looking, colour shift. It can be corrected by selecting 'auto' colour balance in Adobe RAW.

This wideangle view of the pier from the beach is probably my best image from the eleven day trip. The simple 'rule of thirds' composition, the reflections in the wet sand, the yellow ochre and grey-blue complementary colours of the beach and sky all work together. A larger version can be found under 'Photos Of The Year' at the top of this page.

Some HDR images from under the pier using the 10 stop ND filter.

The offshore Redcar Wind Farm with it's 27 turbines can be seen from the top of Saltburn Cliff.

Eden Camp. (Sat 4th Oct)

Eden Camp is a modern history theme museum near Malton.

The museum a good place to visit when the weather is too dull or wet for landscape photography. Most of the exhibits are housed inside themed wooden huts.

Interior photography at the museum is a challenge. Most of the huts are intentionally dimly lit to create atmosphere. Attempting to capture this on camera requires high ISO settings. I was surprised how well my Canon G11 compact handled the low light conditions.

We stopped near Goathland on the way back to Staithes to photograph a rainbow.

Straw Bales. (Sun 5th Oct)

I got up early to photograph straw bales in fields just to the north of Staithes, near Cowbar Nab. The early morning golden light was perfect.

The bridge visible in some of the images was part of the old Middlesbrough to Whitby Railway. The line was closed in 1958.

Cowbar Nab provides a good view of the cliffs to the north of Staithes.

I created a stitched panorama looking down on Staithes from Cowbar Nab. This used four frames shot using my Canon G11 hand held.

Staithes. (Sun 5th Oct)

Some images of Staithes fishing village and the harbour.

Some images were converted to monochrome and toned or coloured.

Danby Dale and Blakey Ridge (Sun 5th Oct)

The drive over Blakey Ridge and Danby Dale offers classic views of field patterns, dry stone walls, farms and field barns.

The Lion Inn is a good place to stop for a pint. It is located at the highest point of the North York Moors National Park. At an elevation of 1,325 feet, it has stunning views over the Rosedale and Farndale valleys. A standing stone is located on the road over Blakey Ridge not far from The Lion Inn.

Hutton-Le-Hole (Sun 5th Oct)

The road south from Blakey Ridge drops down to the village of Hutton-Le-Hole. The village contains the Ryedale Folk Museum which we did not have time to explore.

Rain (Mon 6th Oct)

Monday was too wet and windy for photography. The deserted wet cobbled streets in Staithes looked interesting as we walked down to the Cod and Lobster for a couple of pints in the evening but I didn't take my camera.

Robin Hood's Bay, Falling Foss, May Beck, Ruswarp (Tue 7th Oct)

Although it was a nice place to walk around, for some reason I struggled to find interesting images at Robin Hood's Bay.

The falls at Falling Foss were somewhat disappointing from a photographic point of view: The view from the top is partially obscured by trees. Although it may be possible to climb down to the base for a better viewpoint, the climb is perilous and almost vertical in places. A knotted rope is required.

More interesting compositions can be obtained of May Beck and the bridge next to the falls.

We stopped off at Ruswarp on the way back to Staithes to photograph a couple of NYMR steam trains. Unfortunately the sky at that time was overcast and bland. The light levels were low and I had to use fairly high ISO settings (320 to 400) to avoid motion blur. On the D200 with it's DX sensor, this means the images are rather noisy.

The 45428 Eric Treacy from Whitby steaming over the river Esk at Ruswarp and the 75029 Green Knight travelling in the opposite direction.

Yorkshire Aircraft Museum (Wed 8th Oct).

Yorkshire Aircraft Museum is situated near Elvington, not far from York. We stopped off for a couple of hours on our way home.

Most of the aircaft kept outside appeared to be old prototypes and did not look particulary photogenic. Many of the cockpit canopies and engine intakes were covered to protect them from the weather.

The aircraft kept inside the hangers were in better condtion but were crammed together. It was just about impossible to get pictorial images of entire aircraft because of public walkway restrictions and distracting backgrounds. Instead I looked for smaller details.

While walking between the buildings, I spotted this multi-coloured oil and water puddle on the tarmac. The reflected figure silhouette adds interest to the image and helps the composition.

More images to come...

Kodak HIE Infrared Results.

After developing the two rolls of Kodak infrared film I used on the Yorkshire trip, I realised my exposure bracketing had been too heavily biased towards over exposure. As most of the shots were not taken in full sun, I skipped my usual '-1 stop' exposure frame, thinking I would need extra exposure.

This would have been ok as the first frame from each set does look correctly exposed. However I had also added one extra frame with another stop over exposure to each bracketed set. This meant the last frame of each set is heavily over-exposed.

Because the film has no anti-halation layer, it acts like a light pipe. Light from the over exposed frames travelled down the film and caused slight fogging around the sprocket holes of some of the correctly exposed frames.

Initial tests indicate I should be able to overcome this by retouching in Photoshop after scanning.

Another issue is film grain. The grain on the two films I used on this trip appears considerably larger than with previous Kodak HIE negatives I have processed. The developer was stock ID11 which is the same as I have always used. It was developed for the standard 7 1/2 minutes at 21 degC. Wash water was tempered at around 20degC, so it was not caused by reticulation. The developer was made up from raw chemicals about 1 month ago. It had been used once before on a part roll of Rollei infrared with no problems, so I don't think it was down to an error in weighing or mixing the chemicals.

I suspect the increase in grain is probably related to the age of the outdated film. The use by date is 2008.

Scanning three consecutive bracketed frames and combining them using Photoshop's HDR helps reduce the grain.

I tried printing one of the Whitby Abbey images using my Epson 1290 inkjet printer, but am not particulary happy with the results: If I use black ink only, the print has a slight green/cyan cast and appears too light. If I use all 5 inks, the contrast is better but the print has a blue/purple cast. The cast looks more obvious in the transitions between midtones and shadow.

I have read in forums that the Epson 1290, although it produces good quality (though non-archival) colour prints, is not that good for monochrome unless you use dedicated inks such as Lyson.

I may have to go back into the darkroom at some stage and try printing using multigrade paper and chemicals. It will be interesting to find out if my outdated paper is still ok.

London (Fri 10th Oct).

An afternoon and evening trip to London, primarily to photograph the Waverley Paddle Steamer as it passed through Tower Bridge.

I took along a mini tripod and a small selection of manual focus prime lenses to save weight. My heavy 17-55mm and 80-200mm zoom lenses stayed at home.

I took a few shots of The Dolphin Statue and Tower Bridge before crossing to the South Bank to avoid shooting into the sun.

Unfortunately, when the steamer arrived at the bridge, it was not under it's own power but was being towed by a tug. That was not a real problem as the tug could easily be cropped out.

The big problem was the Thames pleasure boat that spoilt the shot by stopping and obscuring the view just as the steamer was passing beneath the bridge. As with the Tall Ships Festival in September, boats chartered by press photographers also did their best to get in the way of photographers on the bank.

Tower Of London 'Poppies In The Moat' (Fri 10th Oct).

After The Waverley headed back down river, we photographed the 'Poppies In The Moat' memorial at The Tower of London.

The Tower of London's dry moat is gradually being filled with over 800,000 ceramic poppies to commemorate the First World War Centenary. The work is entitled 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red'. The installation by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and theatre stage designer Tom Piper, was first unveiled on 5 August 2014 Eventually there will be 888,246 poppies installed, one for each British and Colonial fatality during the war.

There must be many thousands of photographs taken of this exhibition already, but it does look pretty spectacular.

Photographing the sea of poppies was made difficult by additional barriers placed between the path and the wrought iron fence. I can only imagine this was meant to stop people impaling themselves on the spikes.

A polarising filter helped bring out the red of the poppies by cutting out specular reflections from the ceramic petals. As the light began to fade, the filter made exposure times too long and it had to be removed.

At sunset each day a bugler plays the Last Post and names from the Roll of Honour are read out. It does get crowded at this point; if you want to avoid the scrum, go as early as possible, before the morning rush hour. The exhibition is floodlit as night falls, and the mood lighting remains on until 11pm. More basic lighting is kept on throughout the night.

Tower Bridge (Fri 10th Oct).

After the sunset ceremony, I took some more images of the Dolphin Statue and floodlit Tower Bridge while there was still some light in the sky. I took night shots of the illuminated London skyline reflected in the river with The Shard in the background.

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain Building (Fri 10th Oct).

I took some night shots of the nearby Reynolds Porter Chamberlain building before heading for home.

Willen Lake Mist (Sun 12th Oct).

A walk by Willen Lake in the early morning mist with my Canon G11 offered some interesting minimalist images.

London (Sat 25th Oct).

Photographs from St. Pancras and King's Cross railway stations using my Canon G11. Plus images of street art around Old Street and Hoxton.

The Meeting Place is the famous bronze sculpture in St Pancras station by Paul Day. It stands around 30 feet high and was installed in 2007. The frieze around the base of the main sculpture was added in 2008.

The departures concourse at King's Cross railway station, refurbished in 2012. The cascading roof structure was designed by Arup.

The East End has some cool looking street art. I spotted this near Old Street/Hoxton.

Photos of street art by Andy Seize at Charles Square Estate (Hoxton).

Website News

Photos Of The Year.

The 'Photos Of The Month' section has been re-organised and renamed 'Photos Of The Year'.

The old system did not allow for easy expansion as the number of images increased: To keep the number of thumbnail images in the horizontal scrolling region reasonably small, images from previous years had to be selectively dropped as new ones were added.

From now on, only selected thumbnail images for the current year will appear. Images from previous years have been moved into new 'Photos Of The Year' sections in the News Archive pages.

This change means the ability to access 'Photos Of The Month' images by title from the 'Galleries' pull down menu in the main header at the top the page is superfluous and has been removed.

New Gallery Categories.

• 'Colour, Ships'
• 'Colour, Victory Show'
• 'Mono, Victory Show'

Photography News

The Victory Show (Cosby, Leics. Sun 7th Sep).

The Victory Show is a tribute to World War 2, held annually in a site near Cosby, Leics.

This year the event ran for 3 days (Fri 5th -> Sun 7th Sep).

Highlights of the show are the main WWII battle re-enactment and the flying displays of aircraft from the era.

The show also includes static displays of WWII aircraft, 1940's vehicles, heavy armour and tanks. There are also model remote controlled aircraft, fairground and Farming Machinery.

New Colour and Mono 'Victory Show' Gallery pages have been added to hold the images. Aircraft images from the show can be found in the existing 'Colour Aircraft' and 'Mono Aircraft' galleries.

Some colour and mono images from the flying displays and static aircraft.

A selection of colour images of military vehicles, enactors and static displays. Some of the images are enhanced using tonemapping to add interest.

Mono and toned images from the static displays and enactors.

More images to come...

Tall Ships Festival (Greenwich Tue 9th Sep).

We photographed the Tall Ships Festival 'Parade of Sail' event from the north side of the Thames using Greenwich College as a background. The main parade took place in the afternoon from around 13:30 to 15:00. We were shooting against the sun, so lens flare was a potential issue. The background buildings were in shadow and appeared somewhat dull. On the plus side, it did mean the ship's sails were sometimes backlit.

I mainly used my 17-55mm Nikon DX zoom lens set to f8 or f11 with a tripod. For the smaller ships, I switched to my 80-200mm zoom.

I used an ND4 (2 stop) Cokin graduated grey filter on many of the images to reduce the brightness of the sky. This meant I was unable to use a lens hood. Instead I used black card as a sun shade to prevent flare. I used a polarizing filter on some shots - although the effect was only slight.

Two or three boats chartered by press photographers decided to use the same viewpoint. Annoyingly, they were often in the way of photographers on the river bank.

As well as taking more conventional images, I tried stitching 3 separate images together to create a wide panorama.

A new gallery category 'Colour,Ships' has been added to hold the images.

Graffiti (Tues 9th Sep).

Some Graffiti images shot at the 'Buzy' near Milton Keynes rail station.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Aircraft' gallery
• 'Mono, Aircraft' gallery
• 'Colour, VictoryShow' gallery
• 'Mono, VictoryShow' gallery
• 'Colour, Ships' gallery
• 'Colour, Graffiti' gallery

Photography News

Rollei Infrared 400 film tests.

I bought 5 rolls of 120 Rollei Infrared 400 black and white film from Firstcall. This is now the only infrared film still available.

I have not used this particular film before so I decided to test the exposure and development requirements before using it on an important subject.

I waited for a sunny morning. I metered the subject using the Bronica's metered prism with no filter and the camera set to 400 ASA. This indicated 1/250 sec @ f11.5.

I then added 5 stops for the Hoya R72 filter. This gave 1/8 sec. In other words, the expected equivalent film speed including the filter was 12 ASA. I double checked the metering using my trusty Gossen Lunasix hand held light meter. I exposed 5 frames at f11.5 with decreasing shutter speeds: 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 sec.

To avoid wasting film, I removed the part used roll in the darkroom, cut the exposed section and developed it in ID11 stock for the recommended 6min at 20 degC.

Visual examination and scanning the negatives shows the optimum exposure to actually be closer to 1/4sec @ f11.5. i.e. around one stop more exposure than expected. This means either metering at 200 ASA without a filter and adding 5 stops for the filter or metering at 400 ASA and adding 6 stops. Either way, the equivalent film speed with filter is more like 6 ASA. When using infrared film I usually bracket at least +/- 1 stop (3 frames per image) as camera meters are not sensitive to infrared wavelengths.

The negative strip below shows four frames shot at 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 sec.

There appears to be a slightly dark uneven band just visible on the right hand side of each of the frames in the flat tone area of the sky. I think it must be a processing issue: There are no signs of fogging around the outside of the frames. The most likely cause is that I did not fit the spiral retaining clip to the developing tank center column. The spiral may have slid up the column when the developer was drained. As I only used the minimum quantity (500ml) of stop bath, that would mean the top edge of the film would not have been fully immersed.

Grain appears quite fine - even with stock ID11. Rodinal is reported to give even better results.

Negative contrast appears fairly high so I adjusted the Silverfast curves during scanning. Reducing the stock development time from 6 min to around 5.5 min or using dilute developer may help.

MK Museum Forties Weekend (Sun 31st Aug).

I spent an enjoyable Sunday at the MK Museum Forties event. It was good value at only £7.50 for the whole day. The weather was ideal. Exhibits included cars, military vehicles and weapons.

In addition to the re-enactors (Home Guard, Winston Churchill, etc.), there appeared to be quite a few visitors wearing 1940s clothes and hairstyles from the era. Most were only too happy to pose for photographs.

The highlight of the day was a Lancaster fly past in the afternoon. Originally two Lancasters were expected but the Canadian aircraft was grounded with engine problems.

Images to come...

Website News

New Gallery Categories.

• 'Mono, Animals'

Photography News

Macro.

Some macro shots of dragonflies and butterflies near the river Ouzel.

Wrest Park (Tues 8th Jul).

A return visit to Wrest Park. This time mainly to photograph the Bath House using infrared film and digital HDR. The sun was in the wrong position on my previous visit; it requires a morning shot.

The Bath House (digital HDR).

The Bath House shot using Kodak HIE infrared 35mm film. This is an HDR image created from four scanned frames with 1 stop exposure difference between each. The resulting image was blue toned in photoshop.

The monochrome infrared image looks quite surreal; it reminds me of illustration from a fairy tale book. I took it further by adding a fairy sitting on a toadstool using photoshop.

The pavilion interior (HDR).

The pavillion exterior (HDR).

The Chinese bridge (HDR).

Interior stairway (HDR).

History Live, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire (Sat 19th Jul).

A return visit to the English Heritage History Live event. Heavy showers during the morning meant that most photography was restricted to later in the afternoon.

A few images were converted to monochrome and sepia toned.

Flowers and Insects.

Macro shots of a red rose and insects in the garden.

IFMK.

Images from the Milton Keynes International Festival.

I could not resist a portrait of this guy and his amazing clothes.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Macro Insects' gallery
• 'Colour, Macro Flowers' gallery
• 'Colour, Wrest Park' gallery
• 'Infrared' gallery
• 'Colour, Kelmarsh' gallery
• 'Mono, Kelmarsh' gallery
• 'Colour, Aircraft' gallery

Website News

New Gallery Categories.

The photo galleries have been reorganised. Several new gallery categories have been created and some images re-classified and relocated.

New gallery categories:-

• 'Colour, Linford Festival'
• 'Colour, Motor Vehicles'
• 'Mono, Motor Vehicles'
• 'Colour, Windmills'
• 'Mono, Windmills'
• 'Colour, Wrest Park'
• 'Mono, Wrest Park'
• 'Colour, Bluebells'
• 'Colour, Abstract'
• 'Colour, Togfest'
• 'Mono, Abstract'

Photography News

June has been a busy month for photography. Consequently, I am struggling to keep the website up to date.

Willow seed and daisies.

In early June, wind blown willow seed sometimes falls like snow. The white carpet on the ground can make interesting macro images.

Stony Stratford Classic Car Festival (Sun 8th June).

The annual Classic Car Festival took place in Stony Stratford market square and high street on Sunday 8th June. I created new Mono and Colour 'Motor Vehicles' gallery categories to hold the images.

I found time to have a look around the town before the show began. This old garage door with it's flaking paint caught my eye.

I arrived about an hour or so before the official start of the show which meant I could get a few photographs before it became too crowded. As it was a bright sunny day, both contrast and photographer shadows were a problem.

In some cases, it was impossible to isolate the cars from distracting backgrounds or people. I resorted to airbrushing in Photoshop which can be quite time consuming.

Close up details can make interesting images and avoids unwanted backgrounds.

Cornwall (Sat 14th -> Fri 20th June).

Some images taken during a 6 day holiday based in Rinsey, a few miles west of Porthleven on the Cornish coast.

This was not primarily a photographic trip, so many of the images are simple record shots. The holiday was a last minute decision, so there was no time for the usual location research beforehand.

I took a backpack with my Nikon D200 DSLR and three lenses. I also took a tripod, but it often stayed in the car. On days that involved a fair amount of walking I only carried my Canon G11 compact. On this trip I did not take my infra-red film equipment.

The weather was bright and sunny on most days which created the usual problems with contrast.

Porthleven (Sun 15th Jun).

Views of Porthleven and the harbour.

Monochrome images of Porthleven.

The coastal path between Porthleven and Rinsey.

A few detail shots taken in Porthleven and the coastal path.

The tin mine on the coastal path at Rinsey.

Sunset at Rinsey.

Godolphin House and Gardens, near Helston (Mon 16th Jun).

Godolphin is an historic house and medieval gardens run by the National Trust.

In addition to the gardens, it has some ancient stone outbuildings and a small collection of wooden carts.

Basset Mines, Redruth (Mon 16th Jun).

The Basset Mines consist of 'South Wheal Frances', 'Wheal Basset' and 'West Wheal Basset'. In 1896 the three mines merged to form the Basset Mines Ltd. The Basset mines were closed, due to a slump in the price of tin in December 1918. The mines form part of the 'Great Flat Lode Trail'. We visited the remains of the South Wheal Frances Mine.

In many cases multiple exposures and HDR was used to cope with bright skies and high contrast.

A gallery with some interesting monochrome images of the mine ruins can be found here.

Some monochrome images.

Godrevy Point and Lighthouse (Mon 16th Jun).

We were hoping for more colour in the sky for this sunset. With hindsight, after having seen other images on the web, it would have made a better shot if we had walked slightly further north east, climbed down to the beach and made use of foreground rocks. It always pays to do a bit of research beforehand.

I took this shot after the sun had disappeared below the horizon. I used f22 with a three stop ND filter plus a 2 stop polariser to give a very slow (20sec) shutter speed.

Kynance Cove (Tue 17th Jun).

Views from the cliffs above Kynance Cove.

The beach at Kynance Cove with the tide on it's way out.

Sand Patterns on the beach at Kynance Cove.

Lizard Point and Lighthouse (Tue 17th Jun).

Them good old buoys.

Rust detail by the old lifeboat station.

A blue and white painted hut used to sell souvenirs made from local Serpentine stone.

Poltesco and Cadgwith (Tue 17th Jun).

Ponies on the coastal path between Poltesco and Cadgwith.

Cottage at Cadgwith.

Boats in the harbour at Cadgwith.

Glendurgan Gardens (Wed 18th Jun).

Rinsey Mines (Thu 19th Jun).

We got up at the crack of dawn to try and photograph the Rinsey mines in the early morning light. Unfortunately, deep foreground shadows meant the intended shots along the cliffs did not work as well as was hoped. The image below taken on the way back after the sun had risen further in the sky was probably the best.

Marazion and St. Michaels Mount (Thu 19th Jun).

St. Michaels Mount is maintained by the National Trust but is still home to the St Aubyn family and a small community. The rocky island is crowned by a medieval church and castle dating from the 12th century.

Rock detail at Marazion. It's tempting to think there is a signature in the rock.

Views of St. Michael's Mount from Marazion.

At low tide it is possible to walk to the island across the causeway from Marazion.

St. Michael's Mount Castle.

Stained glass windows in St. Michael's Mount castle.

Mousehole (Thu 19th Jun).

Although Mousehole has an attractive harbour, I struggled to find particularly interesting images. Perhaps because the tide was out.

East Pool Mines, Redruth (Fri 20th Jun).

East Pool Mines is now a museum owned by the National Trust. It has two preserved beam engines, one of which can be seen running although now powered by an electric motor.

Wheal Coates, near St. Agnes (Fri 20th Jun).

We stopped off in the morning to photograph Wheal Coates mine near St. Agnes on the way back home. The main engine house is on the coastal path.

To give context to the location, I felt it was important to include the sea in the composition. I used a clump of purple heather to provide foreground interest.

Great Linford Waterside Festival (Sun 22nd June).

The Great Linford Waterside Festival took place over three days (Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd June). The Cornwall trip meant I only managed to visit on Sunday afternoon.

The warm weather meant the beer tent ran dry early in the afternoon. Luckily the nearby Nags Head had plenty.

I mainly used my old Nikon 135mm manual focus lens to save carrying the heavy 70-200mm zoom. For most of the portrait shots I used large apertures to throw the background out of focus and keep shutter speeds high to minimise camera shake.

I accidentally had 0.7 stops under exposure compensation set on the camera for the first few images. In most cases I was able to compensate during processing in Adobe Raw.

A new 'Colour Linford Festival' gallery has been created to hold the images.

Chloe Allen and Antonio Lulic.

A crazy guy with a blue hat in the audience made an interesting subject.

The Milton Keynes Cheerleading Academy gave an acrobatic display.

Other bands on stage included 'Mr. Wolfe', 'Mungo Jungo', 'Sliver Tongue Bandoliers' and 'Mad Mods'.

These animal skulls and feathers displayed on one of the stands at the festival made a great still life. It works in both colour and mono.

Grand Union Canal (Sun 22nd June).

I found one or two subjects along the canal towpath as I walked to and from the Linford Festival.

A female Mallard with brood of ducklings and probably my best photo yet of a Grey Heron. This was shot hand held using a manual focus 135mm lens. The yellow evening light was perfect.

Barges on the Grand Union canal in early evening light.

Togfest, Bradwell Abbey, Milton Keynes (Sat 28th June).

Togfest is an annual music festival in Milton Keynes featuring 11 hours of live music.

There were some showers in the early afternoon but the weather cleared up later. Luckily one of the two stages was under cover in a barn.

The Silence.

My best photo from Togfest has to be this portrait of the stunning Livvy Griffiths. Livvy is the lead singer with Durham based band The Silence.

Livvy on stage with The Silence.

Here are images of a just few of the other bands at Togfest: 'The Jar Family', 'Lem and the White Fire' and 'Runner'.

Air Display, Old Warden, Beds (Sun 29th June).

Despite a promising start to the weather in the morning, the sky clouded over. This is not ideal for photography. For many images, the background sky was plain and uninteresting.

On my previous visit to this air display, I used a shutter speed of 1/200th sec for propeller driven aircraft. Some of the images were not as sharp as I would have liked. This time I used 1/250th sec.

I used my 70-200mm Nikon zoom lens with the camera set to continuous auto-focus, shutter speed priority and spot metering. I switched between ISO 100 and ISO 200.

Despite using spot metering, some of the images were under-exposed and required adjustment in Adobe Raw. I should have compensated by around 1 stop.

The highlight of the show was a Catalina fly past.

The Shuttleworth Sopwith Triplane clipped a fence with a wheel on landing. It ended up with a damaged wing and it's nose in the ground. The pilot was unhurt.

Other aircraft flying at the show included a Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, Gloster Gladiator, Miles Magister and Chipmunk trainers.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'Colour, Linford Festival' gallery (new)
• 'Colour, Animals' gallery
• 'Colour, Misc' gallery
• 'Colour, Aircraft' gallery
• 'Colour, Motor Vehicles' gallery (new)
• 'Mono, Motor Vehicles' gallery (new)
• 'Mono, Misc' gallery
• 'Colour, Windmills' gallery (new)
• 'Mono, Windmills' gallery (new)
• 'Colour, Bluebells' gallery (new)
• 'Colour, Abstract' gallery (new)
• 'Colour, Togfest' gallery (new)
• 'Mono, Abstract' gallery (new)

Photography News

Woodland Path.

The composition and overall bright yellow/green colour of this spring woodland scene caught my eye. The tree trunks provide foreground interest and help frame the image while the path provides a lead-in for the eye. I deliberately avoided distracting areas of bright sky though the leaves.

Ashridge Bluebells.

Dockey Wood near Ringshall on the Ashridge Estate is well known as one of the best locations in the area to photograph bluebells. The flowers looked particularly abundant this year - perhaps helped by the mild winter.

It can get quite crowded when the bluebells are in flower, with some photographers coming from many miles away.

The best times to photograph bluebells are the weeks before the end of April and the beginning of May. Too early and there are not enough leaves to create a canopy which can give too many gaps with distracting bright sky. Too late and the flowers can look trampled and weary. The early May bank holiday weekend is best avoided because it can get very busy, especially if the weather is good. It can get very frustrating with people getting in the way. This year the May bank holiday fell on 5th May.

The ideal weather is dry and bright with a thin veil of cloud to help reduce contrast. It is better if there is not much wind; otherwise the low shutter speeds required can result in blurred flowers and leaves. Annoyingly, we had just the right conditions on Sunday and Monday over the bank holiday weekend, but I decided to wait until there were fewer people around.

In my experience, early morning light does not work particularly well with woodland scenes and bluebells, unless you are lucky enough to have early morning mist: Low sun can give excessive contrast. Evening or late afternoon light can also create problems with contrast and bluebells can appear an unnatural looking red/purple colour. Unusual for landscape photography perhaps, but the best times are midday, between 9:00am and 4:00pm.

A tripod is essential as shutter speeds can be as low as 1/2 or 1 second when using the small apertures needed for a good depth of field. A polarising filter improves colour saturation of both the flowers and leaves.

I find a short telephoto lens is best; it compresses the flowers making them look more dense. It also means you can avoid distracting areas of bright sky showing through the leaves.

In total I made three separate visits, two before the bank holiday (Sun 27th April, Sat 3rd May) and one after (Wed 7th May). On the first visit, I used medium format (Fuji Reala). On subsequent visits I mainly used my Nikon D200.

As well as taking more conventional photographs, I experimented with vaseline filters and double exposures, in which the second shot was deliberately out of focus. The effects created using a vaseline filter look best if it is used sparingly. Horizontal smears create a vertical blurring effect which can look good with tree trunks and back lit leaves.

Two images combined using photoshop layers. The background image was deliberately shot out of focus.

Back lit images with vertical blur created using a vaseline filter.

If it's breezy, a slow shutter speed results in blurred leaves which can add interest by suggesting movement.

When Dockey Wood gets too crowded, it's worth visiting the smaller wood a few hundred yards to the North on the opposite side of the road.

Below are some scanned 6x4.5 medium format images shot on Fuji Reala colour negative film. The blue looks considerably more saturated compared to the images from my Nikon D200. In some cases I had to reduce the blue saturation in photoshop for a more natural look. I'm guessing this is down to the additional blue layer in Reala film. Some images were taken using a vaseline filter, some double exposure with defocus.

A diffused glow effect can be created in photoshop by creating a new layer from the background, adding gaussian blur, setting the layer blend mode to 'lighten' and adjusting the layer opacity.

For macro shots, try the quieter areas to the North and West of the Dockey Wood car park. The bluebells are not as dense but you can find more subtle close up compositions including grass, ferns and dead trees. There are also white flowers amongst the blue.

Ivinghoe Beacon.

The view from the car park at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon at this time of year provides images of bright yellow fields of rape seed.

A long telephoto lens helps pick out interesting compositions including the lines and patterns created by tractor wheels. Shadows cast by clouds can be used to create variations in the light. Walkers on the diagonal footpath provide a useful focal point.

St Marys Church, Ivinghoe.

I stopped off at Ivinghoe village to photograph St. Marys Church.

The best viewpoint appeared to be looking from the North East. The composition uses some foreground trees to provide a frame for the building. Luckily there was a gap for the tower.

The position of the sun was not ideal; the face of the church was in shade and the bright sky meant the foreground leaves would appear as a silhouette. HDR was the only option.

I shot 5 frames with one stop exposure difference between each frame. It was quite breezy, which meant the foreground leaves were moving between frames. The automatic 'ghost removal' in the Photomatix HDR software did a good job in avoiding blurring.

Some burning in of the grass in the foreground helps the tonal balance and leads the eye into the picture.

Backlit Trees.

I shot these backlit trees near Willen Lake using a vaseline filter to create vertical blurring. The yellow-green colours are just as shot and were not enhanced.

Tree Row.

I have photographed this row of trees along the bank of the Grand Union Canal many times in the past - usually in the autumn. This time I thought I would give it a try in the spring.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'Colour, Macro Flowers' gallery
• 'B&W, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery

Photography News

Morning Mist.

There was some early morning mist and fog on Easter Monday (21st April). It's fairly unusual to get mist at this time of year; it was partly down to the rain the previous day.

It's a shame the bluebells were not yet at their best until later in the month as mist can produce some really nice effects. The mist takes on the blue colour reflected up from the flowers. As it was a bank holiday I expect my favorite bluebell location (Dockey Wood in Ashridge) would have been too crowded for photography in any case.

I photographed the poplar trees around Willen Lake using my Canon G11.

Some of the images were converted to monochrome and split toned using Adobe Raw.

The unusual trees by the lake shore in front of The Premier Inn provide some finger-like spooky silhouettes. The morning sun is just visible in the mist. The images are enhanced by converting to monochrome and split toning.

Apple Blossom.

I used my Canon G11 to photograph apple blossom in the orchard near the Grand Union canal in Woughton On The Green.

Macro mode allowed me to fill the frame with just a few flowers and buds.

It is important to avoid distracting backgrounds. A large aperture helped throw the background out of focus. It also resulted in a fast shutter speed which mimimised camera shake and motion blur as the flowers were being blown by the breeze.

Cherry Blossom.

I found what I think is pink cherry blossom growing wild on the banks of the Ouzel River.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'Colour, Macro Flowers' gallery
• 'B&W, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery

Photography News

London.

We spent a day photographing in London on Saturday 1st March. This included a visit to one of London's cemeteries, Trafalgar Square followed by a walk down the south bank of the river to photograph Tower Bridge at dusk. On the way we photographed anything that caught our eye including the graffiti and skateboard park at the Southbank Centre.

Paddington Old Cemetery.

The original intention was to visit Kensal Green Cemetery but after a navigational error (we had no map) we ended up at the nearby smaller Paddington Old Cemetery instead. Unfortunately the main chapel building near the center of the grounds was being renovated and was fenced off.

we found a few shots on the short walk back to Queens Park tube station.

Trafalgar Square.

A few not very imaginative shots around Trafalgar Square on the way to Waterloo Bridge and the south bank.

South Bank.

There were the usual street artists and an old-fashioned merry-go-round. I deliberately used a slow shutter speed to blur the movement.

Southbank Skate Park.

The Southbank Centre Skate Park has plenty of interesting graffiti but is quite dark for photography. Without flash, the skateboarders are inevitably blurred. There are more images in the 'Colour Graffiti' gallery.

Blackfriars Bridge.

Some not very original shots around Blackfriars Bridge.

A captured moment - a little girl and her sister find a flower washed up on the river bank.

St. Paul's.

The almost mandatory postcard/tourist images looking across the river to St. Paul's. In my defence, the light and clouds did look quite good that day.

Tate Modern.

The girl wearing red caught my eye. The low light meant the two girls were blurred which helps convey the impression of movement.

Millennium Bridge.

Another classic postcard image.

Hays Galleria.

The Navigators sculpture by David Kemp. It really needed a tripod because the light inside the Galleria was so dim.

Wall Poster.

It would have been nice to pose a figure in front.

Tower Bridge.

The best time to photograph the bridge is at dusk when the floodlights are switched on but there is still some light in the sky. I had no tripod with me, so had to find somewhere to rest the camera.

Thames skyline at dusk.

A couple of shots looking west from Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge Medium Format.

I made a return visit to Tower Bridge late in the afternoon a couple of weeks later. This time I took my medium format kit, velvia film and a tripod. Unfortunately there were no clouds in the sky, but the results are not too bad.

I scanned the film using an Epson 4870 photo flatbed scanner using 8000x6000 pixels and 48bits/pixel. This gave a large high resolution 48M pixel image. To avoid accentuating any grain in the sky, I selectively applied USM to the bridge only. I selectively applied a noise filter to the sky area to get a nice smooth graded tone with virtually no visible grain. You won't see the difference on the much smaller image on the website.

I couldn't resist a couple of shots of the illuminated glass RPC building on the way back to Tower Bridge tube station. I like the way you can see right inside the building. It reminded me of looking into an aquarium.

Local Images.

These back lit reeds by the river were shot early one cold morning during 'the golden hour'. The orange light from the low sun was perfect. Preventing lens flare is tricky when shooting into the light.

Mist.

A succession of misty mornings with no wind produced some interesting local images, both in colour and monochrome.

I really enjoy photographing in misty weather. It is a great way to isolate the subject from otherwise obtrusive backgrounds. The soft diffused light gives delicate tones and de saturated colours. Most of these were shot around Campbell Park.

I added a sky with an ominous dark cloud from another photograph to accentuate the 'shelter' sculpture. It also helps balance the composition.

Daffodils.

A repeat shot of daffodils with the Holy Trinity Church in the background.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'B&W, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'Colour, Macro' gallery
• 'Colour, London' gallery

Photography News

Local Images.

This mute swan obligingly posed for me with the Holy Trinity Church in the background.

Colourful patterns on an old log.

Graffiti under a bridge.

Shadows.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'Colour, Macro' gallery

Photography News

Storms.

The start of 2014 brought heavy rain and storms. When the sun did manage to appear between the clouds, it created some nice lighting for photography. It did mean braving the showers, being prepared to get wet and waiting for the right conditions.

Mackerel Sky.

A classic mackerel sky (alto cumulus clouds) shot early one morning following a disintegrating frontal system.

Frozen Leaves.

A couple of cold mornings made for some interesting macro images of frost covered leaves. I used my Canon G11 hand held which unfortunately meant not all the images were sharp. Next time I will take my Nikon, macro lens and a tripod.

Wrest Park, Bedfordshire.

Wrest Park is open at weekends (10:00 - 16:00) in winter. Being out of season has the advantage of fewer people to get in the way. You can have the gardens almost to yourself for the first hour or so after opening. Choosing a Sunday with bright weather meant not having to wait around for the light.

Unfortunately, the much photographed shadow patterns inside The Orangery cannot be seen at this time of year as the sun is too low.

I mainly used my Nikon D200 but also took my Nikon FE with a roll of precious outdated Kodak HIE infrared film.

The Pavilion mad a good subject for infrared. Puddles created reflections that added foreground interest and helped the composition.

The sun was not in the right position to get a decent image of the Bath House. To avoid ending up with a silhouette, I tried a different angle using a path to create a lead-in for the eye. Unfortunately the foreground was in shadow so the resulting image is not that strong.

Below is a selection of colour and monochrome images from Wrest Park. The full set of images can be found in the 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' and 'B&W, Beds, Bucks & Herts' galleries.

Segenhoe Church, Bedfordshire.

We visited the church ruin near Ridgemont on the way back from Wrest Park. It was almost dark with a clear sky and full moon. Obtaining the correct exposure for both church and moon was impossible. With hindsight I could have shot 2 or more frames and combined them into a single HDR image.

Frost and Ice.

Some local macro shots of frost and ice patterns.

Rosebery Music Room.

I managed to capture some pink skies and clouds by getting up early one morning. The clouds also look good when converted to mono.

A pair of Swans on the fish ponds behind the church made an interesting foreground.

Misty Morning.

Trees on a cold January morning with a weak winter sun breaking though the fog.

Gallery Updates.

• 'Colour, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'B&W, Beds, Bucks & Herts' gallery
• 'Colour, Macro' gallery
• 'Mono, Macro' gallery
• 'Infrared' gallery