In My Garden

17-06-22

It’s 30 deg. C / 86 deg. F in the uk today, quite hot for this country. I decided to walk to the hairdressers and have what meagre hair I have shaved to a No. 2 setting, feels so much cooler. Then walked on into town to pick up some essentials, it was quite busy, but I can’t help but think back to the 60’s & 70’s and how lively the city centre once was. Stopped off at my favourite café, had an iced Americano coffee and a homemade cheese scone.

Yesterday I took a few images around the garden with my macro lens, still trying to get the hang of it.

Wild Strawberries.

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Stripy critter.

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Lavender ready to bloom.

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Michaelmas daisies.

Desert Varnish

15-06-22

Just watched photographer Ben Horne’s latest YouTube video photographing in Utah with an 8″ x 10″ film camera. He mentioned the desert varnish on the rocks and the scents and sounds in the area. It took me right back to when I visited Capitol Reef in 1992 (my first visit to the USA) We camped at Fruita N.P. for a couple of days in a very small tent, I was hardier then. I recently scanned in a roll of film from that time, I put off scanning it for so long because it has a lot of dust marks, but with the aid of Lightroom’s healing brush and a lot of patience and fan whirring on the lap top I managed to get some reasonable images. I can vividly remember the scent of Pine and Sage, and the heat reflected from the rocks.

Desert Varnish

Capitol Gorge

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Along the Scenic Drive

Olympus OM2n – Zuiko 24mm f2.8. Plus X Pan I think.

Around The Garden

10-05-22

The Humble Dandelion

I’ve been trying to tidy up the garden a bit, but as usual keep getting distracted by the flowers and cats.

New Growth

Herb Robert

Lilacs

The Lilacs are just going over, I love the colour they add to the garden.

Thursday Doors

05-05-22

Thornby Hall

I was going to post this for last weeks “Thursday Doors” over at Dan Antions excellent blog, but chores and other mundane things got in the way. After my adrenaline ride on the back of my buddies Triumph motorbike to Thornby Hall I managed to steady my hands enough to take some images.

View of the Hall

According to their website the site of the Hall dates back to the 1500’s. The building of the present hall starting in 1665. The site is now a meditation centre and as you would expect very calming, I think the lovely warm colour of the stone helps convey calmness.

Detail of the door and entrance above

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A simple side door

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The gardens around the hall are really worth a walk around, not too manicured, left to be more natural.

There was even a Redwood tree

I know it’s not a door, but I liked this little shelter/gazebo

Looking forward to going back for another visit, they serve really good food and coffee, not to mention homemade cakes !

Launde Abbey – Still Life

Well I still haven’t developed any film, and now have a lovely cold and tickly cough, serves me right for drinking beer and walking home in the winter weather. So here’s another two images from last November at Launde Abbey.

Nikon F801s – Tamron 28-200mm – Orange Filter – Ilford HP5 @ 800asa – Microphen

A week of reflection

It was a friend of mine’s funeral on Friday, the crematorium was so full, people sitting and standing around the sides of the hall. The eulogies from her husband, family, and members of the band she sang with were so heartfelt and moving. The wake afterwards was at a music venue in town, musician friends of hers paid tribute to her memory by performing small sets on stage, her fellow band members and husband concluding the evenings music and tributes.

I haven’t felt like taking photo’s over the last couple of weeks, There’s a roll of B&W to develop and a roll of colour to send to the lab for processing, both from Dec/Jan. So here are two more images from Launde Abbey that I took in November.

Autumn seed heads. Nikon F801s, Tamron 28-200mm, Ilford HP5, 800asa, Microphen, Orange filter.

Roadside Images

Grit. Nikon F801s -Tamron 28-200mm, Ilford HP5 800asa, Microphen, near Launde November 2021

Post. Nikon F801s -Tamron 28-200mm, Ilford HP5 800asa, Microphen, near Launde November 2021

Slanted. Nikon F801s -Tamron 28-200mm, Ilford HP5 800asa, Microphen, near Launde November 2021

Autumn Blanket

Sigma DP1 – November 2021 – From a walk to town.

With certain subjects the Sigma DP1 really shines, it’s a quirky little camera with it’s own image style, doesn’t hold highlights too well, can capture a lot of detail, great for woodland images, and photos in diffused light.

After The Harvest

All images Nikon F801s, Tamron 28-200mm, Orange filter, Ilford HP5+, 800asa, Microphen developer,

A few more shots from the area around Launde Abbey on a lovely day last November. I am quite impressed with the Tamron 28-200mm, great to be able to go from wide angle to short telephoto without changing lenses. Always avoided getting one of these lenses previously because of mixed reviews. It does fall off slightly in the corners and I noticed a bit of vignetting. but I’m pretty sure that was from the filter I was using. I did have to sharpen the images slightly more than normal in Photoshop.

Fluffy

Fluffy #1

Fluffy #2

Another 2 images from a lovely sunny day in November at Launde. Nikon F801s, Tamron 28-200mm, Ilford HP5 @ 800asa, Orange filter, Ilford Microphen developer.