Big Cats at Colchester

26th July 202026th July 2020 By cpadmin

Big cats at Colchester

Big cats at Colchester. This week we had a day at Colchester Zoo. We booked tickets on line and turn up for our time slot. This post shows three images from the many that were captured on the day at Colchester Zoo. A page on our website has a slide show of twelve images

The male lion sat lion sat majestically, surveying his domain. What else would you do if you were him? The lionesses were stretched out asleep. The tiger stretched on the roof of a hide in an aloof way. People wandering past seemed of no interest! He yawned as if we bored him!

Our penultimate visit was to the cheetahs. The expression on this cats face seemed to say “what a fine specimen I am”. And he was a fine specimen too

Big cats at Colchester — What a fine specimen I am!

The flamingos were difficult to photograph, they kept moving. In the image of them shown in the slide show they are nosing an egg around. Sometimes one of them would sit on it. You could title this image “bottoms up”. Have a look for it on our website page.

The website page is https://www.compassphotography.co.uk/a-day-at-colchester-zoo/

Looking straight down

23rd July 202023rd July 2020 By cpadmin

Looking straight down from the top of the Moot Hall. The roof of the Moot Hall is open to the elements. From the roof you can see the Blackwater Estuary as far as Bradwell and the Promenade Park in the east. To the south you can pick up tower blocks on Southend seafront. From the other sides fascinating images of the town itself can be captured. You can see where building really are. Not where you think they are!

Maldon High Street as you have never seen it before is the image looking straight down over the front retaining wall here. Perspective is added by the brick which appear to be horizontal.

The bricks are actually on the vertical wall and lead the eye down to the clock, which is seen from a strange angle. Moving further down we see the balcony and its flower boxes which are on the first floor, level with the Court Room.

At the top of the image is street level and people crossing the road!

The back of the viewing platform offers a nice view towards Heybridge. Looking right over the edge is a view all the way down to the prison yard and its primitive sanitation. The high walls are visible and the green floor of the yard shows that the sun doesn’t get there often.

The Moot Hall will soon be open for visitors again, check out their website. Click this link to see our gallery of images from the top of the Moot Hall. See more of our images by visiting our website www.compassphotography.co.uk

Photoshoot at Moot Hall

15th July 202015th July 2020 By cpadmin

I did a photoshoot at Moot Hall in Maldon recently. The Trustees and the manager of the Moot Hall in Maldon monument wanted to update their website and publicity material, therefore they needed some new photographs. Three of the images from the day are shown below.

The ground floor of the building opens into the Committee room. Sales and local events are held here. Off the committee room is a beautiful red brick spiral staircase. This staircase has been blocked at the first floor level at some time in past centuries. It is still very photogenic!

On the first floor we find the Court Room. The court room tried people and even had them transported to Australia for stealing a handkerchief! There are more stairs to climb to reach the court room is the council chamber. For the photoshoot the Mayor and her mace bearer came. For the photoshoot both people put on their formal robes and processed in with the mace.

More of the images captured from the photoshoot at the Moot Hall can be seen on our website

Have a look at the Moot Hall Website here

Moot Hall photoshoot — The committee room

Virtual Exhibition at Rayleigh Windmill

3rd June 20203rd June 2020 By cpadmin

Virtual exhibition at Rayleigh Windmill. A number of my images associated with the re-erection of the sails on Rayleigh Windmill have been posted on the Rayleigh Windmill Facebook page as part of the 2020 virtual exhibition being held this year. Go to the links below to have a look and the images

The windmill website

Copies of the images displayed

More images of the re-erection of the sails can be found on our web page

Rayleigh Windmill — The sails arrive “on the back of a lorry”

Carpets of Yellow

16th March 202016th March 2020 By cpadmin

Carpets of yellow

There were carpets of yellow at Warley Place Nature Reserve in Essex today. I have never seen so many daffodils in one place. It was amazing that there were several “fields” full of them as you walked round the nature reserve. We have not been to this place before and only realized what there was to see there from a Facebook post by a friend in the Team Essex Photography Group. Wendy saw a Woodpecker as well, but we were not that lucky.

Daffodils over the hedge
Daffodils everywhere
Daffodil slopes
Daffodil corner

You will have to be quick to see the carpets of yellow, as the daffodils will finish soon.

I image that the country park has bluebells too. I can’t wait to re-visit at the appropriate time and see them. BUT, given the government’s announcement today I wonder if that will be in 2020?

Warley Place Nature Reserve is run by Essex Wildlife Trust, it is open every day during daylight hours. This 25 acre reserve is the site of a house and once famous Edwardian gardens belonging to Ellen Willmott. Click here to link to the Warley Place Nature Reserve website

See more of our images by visiting our website www.compassphotography.co.uk

Sparkly day at Abberton Reservoir

4th March 20204th March 2020 By cpadmin

Sparkly day at Abberton Reservoir shows the sun shining through the clouds onto the water and making it “sparkle”. The sunlight picks up the choppy nature of the water and creates the white and grey contrasts. The sun is shining from the right hand side of the image. The clouds in the distance are multi-coloured, even dark and foreboding. The wind is turning the wind turbines slowly in the background. The unusual lighting from the clouds creates a silhouette. The wind turbines, the bare winter trees and even the fence posts all stand proud from the slope above the water.

Abberton Reservoir is located south of Colchester near the village of Layer de la Haye, north of the Blackwater opposite Bradwell. Essex and Suffolk water own the reservoir. Essex Wildlife Trust manage the nature reserve at the reservoir Use this link to see their website

Just below the visitors centre there is a hide by the water’s edge. I was inside the hide when I captured this image, looking south. The image was captured just before lunchtime on Wednesday 26^th February. This was undoubtedly one of the few nice days, in a week which once again has started and ended with a storm. See more of our images at WWW.Compassphotography.co.uk

The little people in Warnamunde

14th January 202014th January 2020 By cpadmin

I am currently indexing some of my old photographs and I found this 2012 image of the little people in Warnamunde. We went there for half a day when the cruise ship stopped in Rostock.

The sculpture is actually a fountain. This fountain is unique in that it’s not a spouting fountain. The fountain is linear and water runs alongside a procession of 19 bronze figures. The sculpture is based on an actual practice in Warnemunde. The citizens, dressed in their finery, walked together to the tax office to pay their taxes. They wanted to make it a happy event. The website says this event still takes place in Warnemunde. It reminded me of the borrowers, hence “the little people in Warnamunde”. Click here for more details

Click here to see our other travel images

Winter warmer!

8th January 20208th January 2020 By cpadmin

Winter warmer!

The dull, grey and cold days of the New Year need a winter warmer! Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ is just that. This colourful-barked dogwood are typically grown for winter colour, when their colourful, leafless stems shine like beacons in the bare winter garden. Cornus sanguinea has red stems, and looks fantastic when planted with evergreen shrubs, and among spring flowers.

The image below was captured at RHS Hyde Hall recently and as you can see the colours are vibrant. A large space is required to get the best effect though. Most of us don’t have a garden big enough to allow this plant to show itself off to best advantage. We can still look forward to summer warmth!

See more of our images at WWW.Compassphotography.co.uk

A Bright Winter’s day

1st December 20191st December 2019 By cpadmin

Today was a bright winter’s day in Maldon Essex. I took the opportunity of a brisk stroll around the promenade to capture some images. It was the first outing for my new camera! Really pleased with the results.

Hythe Quay was the home of a cluster of Thames barges. They make a colourful display. Maldon is the home of the Steam Tug Brent Trust. They are repairing two tug boats. Click here to have a look at the Steam Tug Brent Trust website

The tide was half out. This gave lovely textured patterns in the mud, as well as a visually pleasing sweep round the river

Have a look at the other image galleries on our website WWW.compassphotography.co.uk

Suffolk in Autumn

14th November 201914th November 2019 By cpadmin

Suffolk in Autumn comprises four images from an overnight trip this week. The catalyst for the trip was the concert being held by “The Hot Club of Cowtown” in Bury St Edmunds. I chose to take the scenic route to Bury, up through Clare and via Ickworth.

The main street in Clare was full of fallen leaves and this gave a great opportunity to create a really leafy Suffolk in Autumn image.

Ickworth is a national trust property – see their website I went there to photograph the huge Rotunda. Alas, scaffolding covered the Rotunda! At the bottom of the Italian formal gardens is a path which curves round. The wall and the shadows of the wall lead your eye nicely round to a tree with golden leaves. Classic leading lines!

Leading lines at Ickworth — Leading lines in the grounds of Ickworth

Moving on the Bury St Edmunds I spent time in the Abbey Gardens. One ruin amongst others! Firstly, I came across golden trees and then ruins of the Benedictine Monastery. I progressed down to the stream and found many opportunities for autumnal colours.

In short, there was lots to see in Suffolk in Autumn! The autumn colours seem brighter this year

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Big Cats at Colchester