Boys and Girls

More correctly I should say Boy and girls...

 These shots are of one brightly coloured male and some less colourful female Stonechats. 

They were spotted along the south west coastal path near Valley of Rocks at Lynton, Devon. It was a fantastic spot, even though I had a touch of vertigo at one point along the cliff top path. I wish I was as sure footed as the goats that wander freely on the hills and cliffs overlooking the Bristol Channel. 

There was all manner of wildlife to see from the sea birds down below including Razorbills, cormorants and various gulls, the odd dolphin and then the birds in the shrubs and grass along the path.

The stonechats were busily flying around and making a good deal of noise. It was particularly difficult to capture a shot of the male as he would not settle in any spot for long and I just couldn't get close enough. I know this is not a particularly good picture of the male but I have included it simply to show the contrast between the sexes. The females as you can see are not as brightly coloured however I think they are still lovely looking birds and I think I have managed to get a few decent shots. 

It was amazing how quickly I overcame my fear of heights as I got absorbed in taking these photographs. As I look at them now I can still hear the faint echo of "Michael, Get away from the edge!"

Out of this World

Several months ago I purchased a Star Tracker mount so that I could do some deep space astrophotography. You may recall that last year I captured a fairly nice shot of comet Neowise over Castlerigg in Cumbria and I thought at the time that I would love to do more astrophotography but I was limited to only short exposures without a tracker mount. So I bought the mount and ordered a control cable to make the most of the wifi capability but that only arrived a few weeks ago so again I was limited to what shots I could take and to be honest the mount was left in its box while I waited for the cable and then for clear skies.

On Friday night, with the promise of a clear sky and having watched a few tutorials online I headed up to Bolton Abbey hoping to capture some shots of the priory with the core of the Milky Way rising in the background. I had a very clear image in mind and I was excited as I set off with high hopes. Imagine my frustration when I arrived to find the site closed off and no way to get the image I had visualised. I was ready to pack it in and go home but on the way back took a detour to Gisburn Forest which is a dark sky site and thought I would try for some deep space objects.

So the image above is just one of the shots I took. Bear in mind I am new to this type of photography and just getting to grips with the equipment so I took some time setting up and although I took four different views of the night sky I took multiple exposures of each view so capturing each final image took between 20 and 30 minutes. This first image was a 6 minute exposure and is exactly how it appeared in camera. I thought I had pushed the exposure a bit too far and the stars are starting to stretch, and although there are some nice colours visible I wasn't convinced I would have a useable image to show for my efforts.

However I have used an image stacking program called Sequator and stacked 5 images, all 6 minute exposures of the above view using the tracking mount and thanks to the magic of technology the flaws in the individual image have been corrected to produce this final image... 

 I have to say that I am so very pleased with this image, the first deep space photo I have produced. I can see faults with it and that is something I can try to address in  future pictures, as I say there is always so much to learn.

The other thing I need to do is learn more about the stars and constellations as although I am thrilled to have captured such bright and colourful objects I have no clear idea what they are. I do have some very clever apps that would tell me, in the field (quite literally) but I didn't think to make a note at the time so for now I am just going to have to enjoy the image and next time I go out I will pay more attention to those details.

Dunster Castle

 Dunster Castle on the North Somerset coast is a real gem. The first image was probably my favourite view of the castle and I think the image is made by the stunning foxgloves.

The second image is looking out over the rooftop of the castle  across the Bristol Channel. It really is a wonderful setting. The medieval village of Dunster just below the castle is also really wonderful with lots of really old houses and an octagonal building at the heart of the village that was once a yarn market.

Raindrops

 Here are the last two shots from a rainy visit to Hestercombe in Somerset.

I just love the way raindrops collect in the folds of leaves and cling tenaciously to the tip before finally falling to the ground. There is something really satisfying about the glossy droplets reflecting the world around them.

Openings

 These shots are from the formal gardens at Hestercombe, after a walk around the extensive landscaped garden which had been really quiet the formal garden were much busier, despite the rain. The gardens were designed by Getrude Jekyll and Sir Edwyn Lutyens and although the formal gardens were beautifully laid out I think I preferred the more expansive less formal gardens. 

I did however really like the stone walls surrounding the formal garden and the little gateways and "windows" that opened the views to other parts of the garden and inviting you through to see what is on the other side.

Spooky with a surprise ending!

 

Introducing Miss Willmott's Ghost...

I had thought I would post just one image today, from the two above, I thought that one on it's own would be quite a strong image and that to post a second might detract from the other, the problem was I couldn't decide which I liked best. Even now as I look at them I go back and forth and just as I think I like the first one best because of the ghostly wispy light in the background I then think that i prefer the angle of the flower in the second and on it goes...

I chose to photograph these in black and white because in the rain and shadow they were not that bright or colourful and I think that they actually look stunning in black and white. The lack of colour accentuates the spikiness. I also focused on individual flower heads because en masse they were a bit of a jumble but individually they are quite striking.

This by the way is a sea holly, Eryngium giganteum more commonly known as Miss Willmott's Ghost. It has earned this name after someone called Ellen Willmott who is said to have carried seeds at all times which she would plant in the gardens of fellow horticulturalists. Hopefully her habit was appreciated.

So, to the surprise ending; having intended on posting just one image (I am leaning towards the first one as my favourite) I have actually posted 3. As you can see from this last image the plant produces blue flowers which are short lived but attract all kinds of pollinators. In this case a bumblebee is taking a break and sheltering from the rain, if you look closely you will see some raindrops clinging to its fur.

Fowl Portraits

 One of the features at Hestercombe Garden is a mill pond, which is home to a number of ducks and swans and other wildfowl.

I know that Mallard ducks and Mute Swans are really familiar birds and maybe not the most interesting of subjects simply by virtue of the fact that they may seem commonplace. However, take a closer look and they have really expressive faces.

When I say take a closer look I really did get close for these shots. I had a bag of seed in one of the pockets of my camera bag and so I threw a few seeds down and the ducks flocked around me trying to pick up a few scraps. They were so fast and close it was actually very difficult to get a decent shot. I had to be careful not to step back onto an errant duck.

The swan really did get close to me, at one point s/he reached forward almost touching the lens and in the third image you can see just how close, it has a slightly menacing look, which was backed up by a warning hiss. In profile s/he looks a little more serene

Having saved these images as JPEG files they lack some of the detail in the original Raw files but they are still nice images.

Oooh That's Nice!

 Oooh That's Nice! is the reaction I got for the first of today's images, which for me is closely tied with the second image as my favourite. 

I really like Foxgloves, they are such dramatic flowers and especially when you get a nice straight specimen like the first image it is really special. The colours are so vibrant and the pattern inside each flower is so striking, it is no wonder they are so effective at attracting bees.

I like the second image with the contrast between the bright flowers and the stone wall, there is something quintessentially English about this.

When I took the third shot I thought it would work a little better, the fern in the foreground is in focus as are the flowers with a nice shallow depth of field so overall it is a nice image.  However, I think the foreground is swallowed up by the green background and perhaps needs more contrast, I wonder whether it might look better for someone with better colour vision than me.

Sunny Side Up!

 Even on a wet and grey Monday these beautiful daisies were guaranteed to brighten things up. 

These are Oxeye daisies, or marguerite and there was a mass of them along the edge of a meadow creating a colourful border marking the edge of the path. Close up there is so much detail in the centre of these flowers so take a closer look if you can.