Image of the week from Fowey

25th June 201925th June 2019 By cpadmin

Image of the week from Fowey

The image of the week from Fowey shows a view across the river to Bodinnick. Two images are attached. The daytime image is at high tide, whereas the second image is captured at 22:15. This is the view from the balcony of the apartment we rented for two weeks. The Bodinnick ferry runs across from Fowey to the slipway shown. The bright orange car ferry is not included as it is not very photogenic, but functional! This ferry terminal is said to have existed since the 13th century. I enjoyed watching the comings and goings on the river. Large and small boats went past.

A day time view from the balcony

Ferryside

Ferryside is the name of the blue and white house. It was bought by the du Maurier family. Daphne du Maurier wrote her first book at Ferryside, which used to be known to the locals as Swiss Cottage. Originally the property was a boatyard. Bodinnick nestles on the hillside amongst the greenery. The steep hill is a challenge to man, beast and motor! The yellow lines on the road do spoil the image a little!

After dark

The long exposure of the night time image makes the water appear calmer when it is reflected in the lights. The road has water on it from the rain. It was fascinating to watch the lights in the houses come on one by one and add to the image.

We stayed at Fowey river views https://www.foweyriverviews.co.uk/

Image of the week from Fowey

After dark from the balconyMore of our images can be seen at www.compassphotography.co.uk

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm, tripod.

Daytime: F3.5 1/1600 ISO 100

After dark: F8 13 secs ISO 400

Cornucopia of colour

26th May 201926th May 2019 By cpadmin

Purple alliums in front of daisies
Aster alpinus goliath in the dry garden

There is a cornucopia of colour in a new collection of images captured at Hyde Hall in late May 2019. It was a slightly breezy sunny afternoon. I walked round the garden in a different sequence.

Normally, I arrive at the garden when it opens in the morning to capture images without other folk in the way. This visit was in the afternoon. As a result, it meant that the sun had moved round to a different angle and gave different opportunities.

Two images from the new gallery are shown above. One of the images shows Purple alliums set in front of a pastiche of out of focus bank of daisies. The second image show the compact purple and yellow aster on a bed of pebbles.

Click on this link to see the whole cornucopia of colour gallery.

The whole slide show includes more purple alliums, yellow roses in the rose garden, Californian poppies, a white Iris shaped like a polo mint and two restful images captured from a bench below the small pond.

This link will take you to our other Hyde Hall galleries

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings for alliums: F6.3 1/640 ISO 100

Settings for aster: F5.6 1/1000 ISO 100

Visit our website www.compassphotography.co.uk

Buttercup field in full bloom

19th May 201919th May 2019 By cpadmin

Buttercup field in full bloom

One of the best things about summer is a field of buttercups gently swaying in the wind. Our image of the week this week shows a field in Little Baddow, near Chelmsford in Essex. The field with this view is across the road from the car park at Papermill Lock. One of the houses at the Lock is seen on the left of the image. You can tell its still May because not all of the trees have greened up.

This image of the buttercup field is my favourite from the series. A curved sweep of yellow buttercups start in the centre right of the image. It makes its way out to the hedge row on the left and then across back to the right hand side.

The second image is show from the height of the actual buttercups and is a veritable sea of yellow. Dropping down to this height did mean that the movement of the nearest buttercup is a blur though.

Have a look at more of our images on www.compassphotography.co.uk

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Image settings f3.5 1/2000 ISO 100

A carpet of colour

5th May 20195th May 2019 By cpadmin

A carpet of colour was on view at our local garden centre last Wednesday morning.

Rows of freshly potted baskets hang from the ceiling above benches of small pots of flowers. Sometimes the colours are in rows or blocks and other times they are random. We can see geraniums, though actually they are pelargoniums. It worth going round to see all the plants and pick some nice ones, however, not only does the carpet of colour look nice, the plants smell wonderful. The people who work at the garden centre tell me that they can’t smell the plants. I think that’s because they are there all the time!

It will be time to start to make our own hanging baskets, just another week now. There is also a close up of a pink geranium/pelargonium. It’s in one of the hanging baskets and you can see the tiny hairs on the stem and well as the pastel shades of other flowers in the background. If you are wondering where the image was captured click on this link here

To see more of our images visit our website www.compassphotography.co.uk

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V Tamron 16-300 lens

Settings f4.5, 1/250, ISO 100

The Horse Chestnut candles are lighting up!

26th April 201926th April 2019 By cpadmin

The Horse Chestnut candles are lighting up early this year.

The Horse Chestnut candles are lighting up early this year. I really enjoy seeing them! In Essex we normally see them at the start of May, however they are here already, at the end of April.

Castle Park in Colchester is the location of this image. Demonstrating that the candles are early this year, I captured this image in late May 2015. There are lots of trees along the banks of the stream at the foot of the hill in the park. You can walk right up to them.

This close up portrait image of the candle shows the flowers to have a fluffy texture. The white flower contrasts nicely with the out of focus greenery in the background. The ribs of some of the ovate leaves are also in focus

The Horse Chestnut is tree of the month on the Countryfile website. It says, “The leaves of the horse chestnut appear early in spring, unfurling like the hand of a giant whose great fingers straighten in response to the warming sun. It is not native, having been imported from Turkey in the 16th century, but still it is entwined within our culture – not least in autumn, when children search so eagerly for its fallen treasures.” I am sure we all remember playing conkers at school!

White and pink flower pyramids appear on the branches and look like candles. They look like candles on a Christmas Tree, suggesting a reason for the tree’s alternative name, the candle tree. It is a great joy to see them appear, it’s a sign that summer is on the way!

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V – Tamron 16-300 lens

Settings f7.1, 1/50, ISO 100

Hyde Hall on Easter Sunday

21st April 201921st April 2019 By cpadmin

Hyde Hall on Easter Sunday

An early visit to Hyde Hall on Easter Sunday enabled me to capture some super images in the sunshine. Hyde Hall is an RHS Garden in Essex, UK

The attractions included red and white blossom on the Malus trees, this one had no label! The purple Bergenia stood out against the white pebbles in the dry garden at the top of the hill. Magnolia judy is a delicate pink lurking around the far side of the lake overlapping the footpath. The strangely named Rododendron saint tudy (yes “tudy”) has lovely deep purple flowers and is found in a shady path to the right of the house.

The 150-600 lens enable me to frame a long distance image of houses along the B1418 in Woodham Ferrers. The leaves on the tree are bursting forth over the right hand diagonal half of the image. Behind them on the low skyline we see the houses and the undulating yellow field with its tractor tracks.

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Have a look at more of our images on www.compassphotography.co.uk

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm – setting vary

Bluebells in Bicknacre

19th April 201919th April 2019 By cpadmin

Bluebells in Bicknacre – image of the week

Bluebells in Bicknacre is an image from Thrift Wood nature reserve in Bicknacre. Thrift Wood is one of Essex’s hidden gems. Hidden in plain sight as lots of people drive past it en-route from Danbury, through to South Woodham Ferrers.

The Essex Wildlife Trust manage Thrift wood. Getting to the wood is not easy, there is no car park. There is a small “pull in” on the B1418 where you can park. The wood has lots of paths to stroll along and round back to where you started. You can see more about Thrift Wood on the Essex Wildlife website for Thrift Wood.

This is a great place to go and see the bluebells at this time of year. It seems that the bluebells are a week or two early this year. Captured today at tea time as the shadows lengthened, these images show the carpet of flowers in Thrift Wood. The bluebells will probably come out further in future days.

Have a look at our other images at www.compassphotography.co.uk

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V

Settings f4.0, 1/100, ISO 100

Bluebells in Bicknacre at Thrift Wood Nature reserve

A top view from the Sky Garden

12th April 201912th April 2019 By cpadmin

Image of the week – A top view from the Sky Garden

A top view from the Sky Garden was captured last week from the highest part of London’s “Walkie Talkie”. 20 Fenchurch Street is the official name of the “Walkie Talkie”. The views from up here are truly wonderful. You can walk around all four sides of the Sky Garden and look out on the sights of London. These include the Monument to the Fire of London, the architecture of the wharves and Tower Bridge. A unique complete view of the whole of the Tower of London is available. Canary Wharf is in the distance and the river twists and turns are a delight to see. Aeroplanes turning to go into City Airport seem to turn at the same height as you to make their descent!

This image shows…

This image shows the platform where you can eat and drink whilst enjoying the view. The platform is “inside” The “outside” terrace is in the fresh air, it allows you to look through the glass screens and capture images of the river. The river Thames slowly snakes past and the image shows boats moving up and down the river. The high angle opens up amazing views of the buildings on the south bank. HMS Belfast looks like a toy from this height. The great thing about this building is that it’s free to go up to the top!

My only regret was that the sun stayed in!

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V

Settings f6.3, 1/100, ISO 100

Red tulips, yellow fields and bright sunlight

10th April 201910th April 2019 By cpadmin

Red tulips

Red tulips, yellow fields in bright sunlight have made today a great day for taking photographs. The red tulips are in a pot in the garden and I first captured them from the side with the straw bale and the raspberries on the wall behind. As the sun moved round a closer shot shows the texture of the petals, which is something we often miss. Finally, I managed to position the camera above the tulips and capture them looking down into their circular pot. The flowers are still not fully open, perhaps that will come in later days.

Yellow fields

Driving north from South Woodham Ferrers up towards Woodham Ferrers the road goes up and down and round curves and bends. In all seasons this undulating journey provides a wonderful view of several trees on the skyline. Today the trees in the image stand out against the blue sky as the white clouds scud by. The oil seed crop in the field leading up to the horizon is currently turning the brightest yellow aided by the bright sunlight. The line of the horizon is a really attractive curve from right to left. Some of the trees are breaking bud but one of them may be dead. All in all it’s a great view and the panoramic image shows it off best. Please resist the temptation to look for too long if you are driving up there though!

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings vary

Looking out down river!

29th March 201929th March 2019 By cpadmin

Image of the week – Looking out down river!

Looking out down river is the statue of Lord Nelson. The statue is in Greenwich, outside the Trafalgar pub and well worth a visit. From this position Nelson gets to see all of the boats travelling up and down the Thames. It is as if he is watching over the comings and goings. The traffic on the river is much less than it used to be though. Less traffic does allow you to see the sweeps of the river as it snakes around and back again. In the distance you can see the Millennium Dome. On the left of the image is Canary Wharf.

The statue was erected in 2005 to mark the 200^th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar. The Nelson statue was created by sculptor Lesley Pover after being commissioned by Trafalgar owner Frank Dowling.

The pub has great views over the river from the bar. Lots of people like to have their photograph taken with Nelson and he usually obliges without a grumble! Find out more about the statue using this link

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V

Settings f6.3, 1/320, ISO 100

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Image of the week from Fowey