Category: Travel photography

Norfolk in summer

By cpadmin

Norfolk in the summer brings lots of photographic opportunities. Our visit was in July 2021, with facemasks, distancing and limits of the number of people allowed in shops.

Weeting

Summer in Norfolk
The row at Weeting, built before 1777

Weeting was one of the first places we stopped. It is an old village with the remains of a castle nearby. “The Row” on the village green is a row of thatched cottages build before 1777. No one is sure exactly when, the records have been lost! The compass photography website has a page with 14 images of Norfolk in the summer including Thetford Priory and Wells-next-the-sea, which is a great base for travelling around the county.

Gooderstone Water Gardens

Norfolk in summer
Weeping Willows overhang one of the ponds at Gooderstone Water Gardens, Norfolk

The image above is of the still waters at Gooderstone Watergardens. Here the willows weep over the water and the empty rowing boat. They reflect in the water making a gentle, very English scene.

Norfolk has some wonderful village names. The page includes images of Great Snoring and secondly Little Snoring. Both villages have remarkable village signs. Great Snoring’s sign is shown, reflecting agriculture and the village’s position in the Stiffkey valley, whereas Little Snoring’s sign is dilapidated.

Great Snoring
The village sign at Great Snoring, Norfolk

The image from Little Snoring shows its church with the separate round tower. One opportunity not to be missed, was capturing images from the top of Blakeney Church. Despite of the long climb up the tower the view was marvellous. Here an image of the windmill at Cley-next-the-sea is shown along with the sea in the background.

Beeston Bump is a hill just east of Sheringham. The views from the top undoubtedly make the climb worthwhile. Besides the sea views you can see Sheringham to the west and Cromer to the east.

Sunsets over the Adriatic

By cpadmin
  • Sunsets to die for
    Brac in the background
  • Tucepi sunsets
    Sunsets over the Adriatic
Tucepi Sunsets

Sunsets over the Adriatic shows two images captured at Tucepi in Croatia two years ago. Tucepi is not far from Makarska, which itself is not far from Split where you fly to. Every night we had a sunset like this. Both images have the island of Brac in the background. You can get a day trip to the islands of Brac and Hvar not far off the coast. One of the images is framed by the ever present pine trees. The trees cloak the beach and provide shade as you walk along the promenade in the hot sun.

To find out more about Tucepi click on this link

To see more of the images in our Croation Galleries, click on this link

Brythnoth from Heybridge

By cpadmin

Brythnoth from Heybridge. Two of many images captured on a walk from Heybridge Basin round the river Blackwater to face Maldon. I wanted to capture images at high tide. It was the hottest day of the year so far. The expanse of water at high tide is truly remarkable.

  • Brythnoth from Heybridge
    Brythnoth with the promenade snaking round
  • Brythnoth from heybridge
    Brythnoth and the Promenade Park

It is possible to get a view right across the promenade park to the boat yard and then to the Thames barges moored at Hythe Quay. One of the images shows the statue of Brythnoth on the left and the promenade snaking round in an “S” shape until it reaches the boat yard. It is amazing to recognise that things are not where you would expect them to be. Taking a view from the other side of the water is educational.

By removing the water and the foot of the image and the sky at the top of the picture panoramic images have been created. The technique emphasises the breadth of what is there to see. It’s an aspect missed with the normal proportions of an image. These images include one of Brythnoth on the extreme left and the full expanse of the Promenade Park across the long thin image.

Brythnoth from Heybridge. For more information on the statue of Brythnoth check out this website

More of the images from that walk can be seen on our website. https://www.compassphotography.co.uk/maldon-from-heybridge/

The little people in Warnamunde

By cpadmin
the little people in warnamunde
A fountain in Warnamunde

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

Madeira magic three recent images

By cpadmin

Madeira magic, three images from last week’s visit to Madeira. Two images are at sunrise, which in October is mercifully late! One image shows the mirror like hotel pool with reflections of the palm trees and rails. Leading lines to the palm trees come from the rails.

  • Madeira magic
    Funchal Sunrise
  • Madeira magic
    Sunrise along the coast
  • Maeira magic
    Funchal from Pico dos barcelos

The second sunrise image was captured from the promenade below the hotel. The white building and the palm trees are silhouettes against the cloud and rising sun. The bonus in this image is the Cunard liner Queen Victoria creeping into Funchal harbour. I did not see the ship until I was looking at the images in the hotel room after breakfast.

The third image shows Funchal from one of the viewing points high above the town. You can get to Pico dos barcelos on a long and tortuous bus ride that has lots of nice views along the way. Images can be captured from the viewing point here around 360°. There its a lot to see here. Madeira magic, three images from last week’s visit to Madeira.

Use this link to see more about Madeira

Use this link to see images from our previous visit to Madeira

2020 Essex Landscapes Calendar

2020 Essex Landscapes Calendar

By cpadmin
  • 2020 Essex Landscapes Calendar
    Buttercup field at Papermill Lock

The 2020 Essex Landscapes calendar from Compass Photography is now available. Attached to this post is a copy of the front page of the calendar. Below the main image for each month is an appointments matrix . Normally, this matrix would have blank squares. This calendar has placed more images in those blank squares in each month’s appointments grid.

To have a look at the images included in the calendar access the Compass Photography website by using this link. Our website includes a slideshow of the pages.

Calendars cost £7.00 each. Postage and packing within the UK costs £1.50 each. Postage beyond the UK is charged at cost. You can pay by PayPal or bank transfer, cash or cheque (UK only)

Please contact Mike by email (compassmike@btinternet.com) or phone on 07973-294820 to get your copy of the 2020 Essex Landscapes Calendar

Images of the Kent seaside

By cpadmin

Images of the Kent seaside

On one of the hottest days of the year I captured some great images of the Kent seaside. The sun shone without a break as I travelled from Cape le Ferne in the east to Dungeness.

Capel le Ferne is white cliffs of Dover country. It has a great café on the top of the cliffs. The Lees at Folkestone looked almost tropical in the images captured from there. Sandygate roasted in the sun. Behind Waitrose at Hythe I found some welcome shade along the calmness of the Royal Military Canal. Dymchurch was busy and it was extremely hot driving the steam engines at the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway so I was told!).

The beach at Greatstone had lots of people on it and pebbles reflected in the sunlight. Dungeness looked as special as it always does, perhaps more so in the sun. A yacht passed by near to the shore and provided a nice opportunity to photograph it in the blue sea against the yellow pebbles.

View more of the images from this day by going to the Compass Photography Website

  • Images of the Kent seaside
    Sailing by at the tip of Dungeness
  • Images of the Kent seaside
    Patterns in the sand – Folkstone
  • Images of the Kent seaside
    Dungeness – The boardwalk looking back to the road
  • Images of the Kent seaside
    Welcome shade – Royal Military Canal at Hythe
  • Images of the Kent seaside
    Pulling out at RHDR

Rayleigh Mill Hall Exhibition

By cpadmin
Photographs at the Rayleigh Mill Hall Exhibition
The images on display

Rayleigh Mill Hall Exhibition. Mike is exhibiting photographs at The Mill Arts & Events Centre (Mill Hall, Bellingham Ln, Rayleigh, Essex UK SS6 7ED).

The images are on display until the 16th August. The theme of the images exhibited is landscapes from above. The images show landscapes and seascapes captured from a high vantage point. as there was space I have also put some other images in the display too.

The Rayleigh Mill Hall Exhibition is free to visit and is open from 0900 to 1630 Monday to Saturday. Why not have a wander down and have a cup of coffee in the café too! I will forgive friends in Liverpool, Australia and Hong Kong for not attending!

View more of Compass Photography Group’s images at our website 

Use this link to see the Mill Hall website

Solitary and desolate at Bradwell

By cpadmin

One October day last year Shru’s ‘Chatty Walkers’ group took a drive to the solitary and desolate Bradwell on Sea. The ladies usually walk for health and this day’s adventure was to seek out St Peters Chapel. The walk was breezy but it was a fine sunny day. The chapel, we concluded was the oldest building that any of us has been in.

In this shot is the lookout building which was quite run down. The shadow of the building draws the eye in to an up the building in this portrait image. Shru particularly likes the criss-crosses of the supporting wood beams that form the lower structure. Setting the image in black and white adds to its starkness, desolate and solitary feel. The open door forms an invitation to climb up, step in and look out of the windows to the sea. The whole place has quiet a solitary and desolate feel to it.

Settings:

Canon EOS 7D Mark II EF-S 18-135mm IS STM

F5.6   1/1250 ISO 100

Solitary and desolate at Bradwell
The lookout at Bradwell on Sea

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Battle of Britain Day at the IWM

By cpadmin

Hurricane flypast on Battle of Britain Day

Battle of Britain Day at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in 2015. A fly past by a Hawker Hurricane in level flight before making a turn to land.

Battle of Britain Day
Hurricane fly past on Battle of Britain Day

Most of the ground crew have turned to watch the plane on that September Saturday, just before the main event started. The bright day is reflected in the colour of the grass, with some of the foliage turning to autumnal colours. Ploughed fields are also ready for the next crop.

Composition wise, I would like to have had the wing on the bottom right corner out of the way and the full wing of the parked aircraft in the foreground of the image. However, the Hurricanes don’t run to a schedule, and when standing in a crowd it is not always easy to compose the perfect image as they fly past. Note the group in the distance at the other side of the airfield. They are people who are seeing the show without paying!

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

Settings: F6.3 1/1000 ISO 100