Bank Holiday RHS Hyde Hall

Bank Holiday RHS Hyde Hall. This image shows the lake (or pond) in front of the main house at RHS Hyde Hall in Essex as it was late this morning. The new restaurant is visible at the rear of the image and some of the fencing from the nearly complete building work is just visible too. More importantly, the sun is out, the sky is blue and the trees are breaking into leaf.

The water has reflections of the yellow and green foliage, the sentinel trees and some of the structures. It is a bank holiday in the UK and a family group is enjoying feeding the fish on the lakeside. There were several families enjoying this today. In the foreground the daffodils have “gone over” and other plants are preparing to show us their best.

As a whole the site was busy with many people coming to see the craft fair too.

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

Settings: F7.1 1/320 ISO 100

Tower Bridge London

Tower Bridge London. I visited this iconic monument yesterday and for the first time went up to the top and traversed the two walkways which link the towers. What an experience, the views are excellent. There is a glass walkway through which you see the traffic going across the bridge and of course the water. The attached image shows one of the views through the glass walkway.

There are excellent audio-visual presentations of the history of the bridge and its construction. A screen shows the bridge opening times. Finally, I waited to see the bridge open to allow the Thames Barge Hydrogen, which is normally moored at Maldon go under the open bridge. The two images shown below are from Butlers Wharf. One is the whole scene and the other a close up of the barge. If you are interested on travelling on Hydrogen get in touch with Topsail Charters

The main reason for the visit to London yesterday to see the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, which was very interesting. Lots of special images, however there were a number of very ordinary, but none the less interesting images too. Perhaps I’ll have a go next year!

Why not have a look at the images on our Compass Photography Group website

A view of Greenwich

A view of Greenwich. It’s a rainy day, so we thought we’d send out a view of Greenwich on a sunny summer evening, captured from the top of the hill. We are alongside and just down from the Royal Observatory and the Greenwich Mean Line itself. Palace, Hospital, College – the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, has a long and illustrious history. 

The centrepiece of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. The classical buildings of the Old Royal Naval College were designed by England’s greatest architects and are considered amongst the finest in Europe. Featuring the sumptuous Painted Hall and the neo-classical Chapel, the site has seen a variety of uses. It has been Greenwich Palace, the Royal Naval Hospital of Seamen and then the Royal Naval College. Read more at https://www.ornc.org

Behind the college is the River Thames, though the buildings hide it. Straight in front to the right is Docklands Development and its towers. To the distant left is the city of London and one of the many bends in the River Thames. It’s marvellous that this huge green space has remained free for us all to roam on amidst the commercial developments of London. Roll on summer!

Multi Coloured Rose

A multi coloured rose. Shakespeare said that “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. This rosebud was originally white. A florist has cut the stem in four places and left each part of the stem in different coloured inky water for 24 hours. The stem has then conveyed each different colour to the petals, providing a unique rose bud for our delight.

This macro image provides a unique rosebud and the highlights the intricate veins of the petals that have carried the coloured sap from the water to the stem to the petal. The petals provide a clockwise spiral around the bloom, leading our eye towards its centre. At the centre we find the tightly compact leaves coloured yellow, peach and green.

 Equipment: Canon EOS 7D Mark II EF 100mm Macro IS USM plus Extension Tube Set

Image makes front page news

Image makes front page news. The front page of the South Woodham Focus used one of our images on its front page this week.  The Focus is a weekly news magazine for our town, carrying news, adverts and comments by residents. A photograph from a reader usually appears on the front page.

This image was captured last week at Woodham Ferrers as the sun went down. I wish that I had been there half an hour earlier to catch the sun in a higher position. There is still a nice milky pink feeling about the picture though. The image below is a scan of the front page and thus does not really do it justice, however its nice to see our stuff in print!

 

Spring at RHS Hyde Hall

A visit to RHS Hyde Hall this morning allowed me to capture so excellent colourful images. Spring has sprung. Bluebells, blossom and colourful bedding plants are just waiting to be enjoyed and photographed! The reds and whites of the blossom are striking, as are the purple tulips in front of the main house, which I understand has been renovated. With the sun shining the lakes are sparkling too.

One of the images captured today is shown below. Our website shows several of today’s images. Go to our Hyde Hall page and have a look. These replace the older ones on that page.

It is interesting to note that new signage has been placed around the gardens pointing to a number of attractions. One of the images on the web pages captures one of the signs with a colourful background. These signs are also at wheelchair height.

It is amazing how fast nature has moved in the last two weeks, don’t miss the spring! 

 

Woodham Ferrers sunset

Went looking for a sunset last night (20th April). Left

it a bit late really, however here are two of the images I managed to capture. If you know the area one is captured from opposite West View Nursery and the other is along Lodge Road. Nice milky sky, but wish I’d got out earlier in the evening!!

Sunny Sunday Evening in Orkney

The Isle of Burray is seen in a view cross the water on Orkney. There is water everywhere on Orkney, either in the form of fresh water lochs or in the form of the sea. More precisely we see the “Isle” of Burray from the A961 along from St Margate’s Hope. Isle is in inverted commas because the Churchill Barriers connect several of the islands, including Burray, to the mainland. To create a panorama, we are shown only an upper mid-section of the whole image, excluding the sky above and larger area of water at the foot of the image.

The evening sun is bathing the water and land in the warmth of its light under a sky that is dominated by the massive Cumulonimbus cloud formation above it. Note the absence of trees and the large number of poles bringing electricity and telephone lines.

 

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

Settings: F5.6 1/800 ISO 100

Paglesham tractor tracks.

This image, “Paglesham tractor tracks” was captured by Shru whilst she was driving near this lovely Essex village early in 2018. 

Situated in the north east of the Rochford Rural District, Essex, the Parish of Paglesham includes two hamlets. The hamlets are Eastend and Churchend, which situated near the River Crouch and Paglesham Creek. It is part of the Roach Valley Conservation Zone. At the Eastend is The Plough and Sail Public House. This area of Essex is one that is perhaps under explored!

The tractor has created twin brown tracks, therefore there is a contrast colour and texture within the image. The bright green multi-lined furrows where the soft shoots of the crop are sprouting, contrast with the rough the bare earth of the tracks. Brown tractor tracks lead the eye deeper into the centre of the image, subsequently heading off in the distance on the left.

See more about Paglesham using this link

 Equipment: Canon EOS 7D Mark II EF70-300mm IS USM

Settings: F9 1/6400ss ISO 2500