Happy New Year – A little light at the end of the tunnel – portents perhaps of a return to some semblance of normality although some way to go and Tier 4 restrictions to endure in the meantime.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
Year-end Walk
So 2020 comes to an end and many will be wishing good ridance to it. Travel restictions have meant that photographic opportunities have been few and far betwen this year and frankly the weather hasn’t helped either. Who knows what 2021 will bring but one thing is for sure, climate change is having a dramatic impact on the weather, it seams that dry crisp winters are a thing of the past to be replaced with seemingly endless drag grey days and rain. A final year-end walk and a final couple of photographs.
Continue reading “Year-end Walk”The Wreck
The Wreck on the hill – Lajares
A Quiet Summer
The Pandemic drags on and opportunities to get out and about to photograph the wildlife have been few and far between. A brief foray to Suffolk & Norfolk yielded little with many of the popular sites overwhelmed with holiday makers that should have been abroad staycationing instead – so just a couple of images – hopefully autumn and winter will bring a little more activity and perhaps a little more enthusiasm on my part.
Continue reading “A Quiet Summer”Horton Plains National Park
8 March 2020
An early start this morning so as to be at the entrance to the park not long after dawn and to catch sight of the endemic Sri Lanka Woodpigeon at its well kown roosting site, before they flew for the day, this being the only real chance to see this species on the trip.
Kandy
3 March 2020
En-route to the central highlands of Sri Lanka we had a quick stop-over in the former capital Kandy.
Polonnaruwa
1 March 2020
A break from the wildlife today as we decided to visit the archaeological relic city of Polonnaruwa.
Polonnaruwa was the 2nd ancient kingdom of Sri Lanka, it was established in the 10th Century when the Chola Dynasty (Tamils) from southern India invaded Anuradhapura the then capital.
Sigiriya
29 February 2020
A morning visit to Sigiriya, probably the most visted site in Sri Lanka.
En route to Habarana
28th February 2020
Following our 2 days in Wilpattu we had a transfer day over to our home for the next few days near Habarana. Habarana is the gateway town for the Minneriya National Park one of the best spots to see Asian Elephant on the island but more of that tomorrow.
View from the Top(ish)
Well not quite the top, in fact to be honest no where near the top, but about 2/3rds of the way up the Burj Khalifa – that said plenty high enough.
The Burj Khalifa at Night
Whilst the Burj Khalifa makes a good subject during the day, at night it comes into its own as indeed does the Olympus OM-D EM1 mkII image stabilisation – all images here are handheld.
Glasto
A week of trying to get a decent sunrise photograph of Glastonbury Tor and not alot of success largely due to rather inclement weather conditions coupled with a degree of lazyness on my part. These are the best I could manage.
Lone Tree
Lone tree, blue sky and a few cows = A bucolic English scene.
No Deer
An evening walk in search of Deer – no luck – with the harvest in full swing I think they have headed for the hills – nice sunset though.
Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills are a range of hills in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern.
Deer Stalking
On an evening walk last night I spoted this fellow (male roe deer) in a wheat field but typically I didn’t have anything longer than 60mm with me and he was a long long way off. So this evening I went out again but this time with the M.Zuiko ED 300mm f/4.0 IS Pro (600mm FF) in hand to see if I could find him again. I did but again he has a long way off in fading light and very flighty. These are big crops and ok a full resolution but don’t bear much further enlargement due to atmospheric disturbance .
Tree
Lone tree with a leading line – rude not too really.
Challenging Tewkesbury
Sometimes things just don’t work out as planned. Tewkesbury was a bit like that, on paper it looks like there should be good photo pickings – the confluence of the rivers Avon and Severn, a long maritime history and a striking Abbey.
Hidcote
Hidcote is an Arts and Crafts garden in the north Cotswolds, a stone’s throw from Stratford-upon-Avon. Created by the talented American horticulturist, Major Lawrence Johnston its colourful and intricately designed outdoor ‘rooms’ are always full of surprises and makes a good place to try out some new equipment – but more of that later – first a few images from around the garden.
That Windmill Again
After a long wait for a cloud and dust free evening at last an opportunity presented itself to tackle the La Oliva windmills, or in this case just one windmill, with a starry sky. Unfortunately the milky way didn’t show its face or at least not the galatic core.
