Worcester

It was such a lovely Spring day on Saturday that I decided to stop off for a few hours in Worcester on my way to Bristol.  My main interest was the cathedral, but here are a few shots from the around the town. 

The statue is, of course, Edward Elgar, who is inextricably linked with Worcester.

It seemed slightly incongruous that a beautiful mediaeval building had been turned into a mobile phone shop.

Speaking personally, I love to have my hops individually tailored...

There's something about the eternal and unquenchable optimism of a Labrador when it comes to food!

Just one of the many discount and money-lending stores in the city centre, although the top prize must go to the very large number of empty and boarded-up shop premises.

The local intelligentsia...

Stopping for a quick smoke.

Some more general views of the city.

Anyone for a spot of good old-fashioned rectification?

The Car's the Star

I was the "emergency backup" photographer for Peter and Holly's wedding on Saturday (or, at least, the bit where they arrived at Emmanuel College for the reception).  They had managed to find an "A" registration Hillman Minx for the wedding car, which rather stole the show.

By this point the "real" photographers had arrived...

So much more classy than turning up in a white Rolls Royce.

A few more rejects

A few more rejects from Saturday's Points of View outing.

Quite frankly, I'd be rather worried if anyone actually enjoyed Postie's given what they are, but whatever lights your fire I suppose... 

Details from a rather beautiful glass sculpture in the grounds of Jesus College.

Another sneaky grab shot from the wedding which was taking place in Jesus College chapel.

Finally, my "safety shot" for the Mood/Atmosphere section of the competition.  I'd have thought that "Miserable" counted as a mood, wouldn't you?

Points of View

Every year, Cambridge Camera Club runs a Points of View competition.  All participants are given a map with a marked geographical area, and given five hours to tackle five photographic challenges.  It's always fascinating to see each person's interpretation of the challenges, and how different it sometimes is from everyone else's.  This year's challenges were:

1. Tourist Cambridge
2. Corner(s)
3. Capturing a mood or atmosphere
4. Retail Therapy
5. Metal or Metallic Objects

I'll publish my five entries to the competition once it has taken place, but in the meantime here are a few images which either didn't make the cut or are completely off-topic.  I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide which is which...

I don't know if I should be worried, but I appear to have developed an obsession with dogs and ladies' underwear...

A Load of Bullocks

This morning we went to the In Focus showroom in London Colney to look at Spotting Scopes for Harriet's bird watching.  An impressive place, and it was fascinating to see how the optical quality improved as the price went up.  Not unlike photography, in fact.  The shop is part of a working farm, and there were some bullocks in an adjacent area.  Preferring fur (well, hair) to feather, it seemed like a good idea to take a snap or two of them.  Well, it would have been rude not to...

Flea Market

What does one do to pass the time on a "brass monkey" Sunday morning in Bristol?  Well, in our case we went to a Flea Market held at Bristol City football stadium.  Given the unseasonably cold weather, the place was absolutely heaving with people.  All human life was there, along with a fairly random assortment of everything from high quality antiques, through "shabby chic", right the way down to complete and utter junk.  I was trying out a new (to me) 85/1.8 lens I recently acquired, and these are the results.

It was a definite challenge not getting my own reflection in that shiny bum...