Stowe Gardens 2 (Colour)

The second set of pictures from Stowe Gardens in July are in colour, although the very harsh lighting conditions in the middle of the day were not particularly conducive to colour photography.  To "help" us, Jonathan - the organiser - came up with a set of nine topics we might like to tackle:

1. Parallel
2. Out of Focus
3. Detail
4. Water and Sky
5. Taken Inside
6. A Colour Image which doesn't contain the colour Green 
7. Circular
8. Creative
9. My Choice

Well, I remembered the subjects some of the time, but mainly just wandered around in the hot sun enjoying the gardens.  I've captioned the images which claim to match the subjects...

 

Water and Sky

Parallel

My Choice  (who'd have thought I would choose dogs?)

Out of Focus

Definitely Not Green

A view of the Outside, though the Inside, taken from Outside

Detail

Circular  (done in Photoshop)

Circular  (done in camera)

Creative  (ish)

Stowe Gardens 1 (Infra Red)

Back in July there was an outing, organised by the RPS East Anglia Region, to Stowe Gardens in Buckinghamshire.  This isn't the first time I've been to Stowe (see previous visit here), but it was a great excuse for a day out in the sunshine - especially since it was midweek and I no longer needed to go to work.  Magic...

Stowe is a great place for Infra Red photography, and the bright sunshine resulted in high contrast images with lots of "glowing" foliage.

 

It was high summer when I visited Stowe before, so next time I definitely need to choose a different season.  Autumn colours, perhaps?

Sharpenhoe Clappers

Back at the end of July, a small group of intrepid photographers ignored the sweltering heat (see Mad Dogs and Englishmen for a description of the situation) in order to check out Sharpenhoe Clappers ahead of an RPS outing the following weekend.  Sharpenhoe is an ancient hill fort, now owned by the National Trust, which also happens to be one of the best places to see butterflies in East Anglia.  Chalkhill Blues, in particular, are plentiful; but plenty of other insect species are represented too.  Given the temperature of the day in question (about 35C in the shade), the aforementioned butterflies had absolutely no intention of keeping still to have their picture taken.  Not that the light was much to write home about anyway.

Being chalkland, the wildflower meadows around the fort were absolutely stunning.

One member of our party (let's call him Barry to protect his identity) had more sense than the rest of us put together.  Rather than chasing butterflies in the mid-day sun, he sat in the shade with his iPhone, photographing the butterfly patterns on a bag.  Not exactly "Nature", but at least he didn't end up with heat-stroke.

Here are the less intelligent members of the party (Jonathan, Sue and Ann) who, along with yours truly, decided that it was worth braving the heat.

The hill fort itself is well wooded, so offered a modicum of shade.  Very welcome under the circumstances.

Definitely a place worth revisiting, when the mercury is at a more sensible level.

Joe returns to Bristol

You wait ages for Baby Joe visits; and then, like London buses, two come along at once.  Actually, this was essentially the same visit because - as luck would have it - I was doing an RPS Advisory Day in Bristol on Saturday.  This meant I was able to take Frances and Joe back home on Friday, and spend more time with the family once the event was over.

Joe's rather wonderful hat was made by Frances for National Book Day, and is (of course) based on Winnie the Pooh.  Unfortunately the little man has a habit of rotating his hat by up to 90 degrees, causing him to resemble anything from Captain Pugwash to Lord Wellington. 

Frances and Christopher are very keen gardeners, so Joe will need to get used to visiting the local Garden Centre on a regular basis.

We see Joe again some time in May when he and Frances will be coming to stay.  Can't wait.

RPS East Anglia Exhibition at Wingfield Barns

Last Sunday I went to see this year's RPS East Anglia exhibition - the first for five years which I hadn't been involved in organising.  As always, Moira Ellice, Matt Clarke et al. had done a superb job, and the exhibition looked very impressive indeed.  The turnout wasn't too bad either, considering the remoteness of the location.

There was also a retrospective exhibition of Brian Beaney's work, ranging from darkroom monochrome prints from the '60s to his more recent digital "creations".

Since Amber always used to come with me to help at RPS exhibitions (see here and here), I though it was essential that Isla should be inducted into the tradition as soon as possible.  Like Amber she was less interested in the photography than the box of biscuits, but she was also happy to play with anyone who came through the door.