365/146: 15 July 2010: Well done, Rhiannon!

Rhiannon’s graduation day – nuff said. (Swells with pride)

365/145: 14 July 2010: Manchester contrasts

Another night in Manchester – at this rate I’ll start to know my way around and half the fun of wandering aimlessly around a huge city centre will be gone. At the Ibis in Portland Street again to night, waiting for my pizza to arrive. OOOH! Luxury!

Went for a stroll in the surrounds and found this shot next the Bridgewater Hall. In my book it’s this kind of contrast that makes cities so interesting for photography.

365/144: 13 July 2010: Addiction?

You know you’re addicted to photography when you find yourself wondering if 15GB of memory card is going to be enough for a 14 day holiday – even if it is to Egypt.

The first hard disk drive to have a capacity of more than 1Gb was the IBM3380, which was first produced in 1980 (coincidentally the year I started work). It weighed in at 550 pound (250 kilos) – which would cause some serious excess baggage issues and store only around 2-300 pictures – which I could easily manage over a weekend in London.

So here’s to technological advance:

Oh – and I’d have to be seriously rich – 15 GB would have cost around $1.5million in 1980 – not to mention I’d have have needed a study big enough to take 15 washing machines.

365/143: 12 July 2010: House Martin Feeding Young

We have three house martin nests outside our bedroom window. they make a bit of a mess on the yard down below, and they wake us early with their rather cute burbling noises, but who’d be without them. A cat inside and house martins outside are, to my mind, vital parts of turning a house into a home.
The nest is almost as interesting as the birds I think. To quote Gilbert White from his Natural History of Selborne it’s “..a sort of rustic work full of knobs and protuberances..”.  And as we an see in the picture , the young “..sit all day with their heads out at the orifice, where the dams, by clinging to the nest supply them with food from morning to night.” Pretty much like kids everywhere then.

In the next one you can actually see the adult putting food in the middle youngster’s mouth.

365/142: 11 July 2010: Nostrils

I’ve always thought cattle have lovely expressive eyes – kind of watery and sad – so this evening I was trying for some shots with the co-operation of the local bullocks at the bottom of the village. Of course, they’re just a bit too inquisitive to pose politely so the eyes were a bit of a challenge so decided to have a bit of fun instead.

I’m guessing that it’s difficult to have expressive nostrils – moist seems to be the operative word…

365/141: 10 July 2010: Reflections on Rainfall

Had our first real rain for some considerable time this weekend – and aren’t peoples reactions so predictable. Yesterday it was – ‘ooh. the gardens are so dry ‘ and today it’s all gloom because we can’t go out. But the weathermen do it for me – sounding apologetic when they tell us that the good weather is coming to an end. Come on guys – it’s about balance – it’s not good weather if everything shrivels and dies. And if it didn’t rain I’d live in the Valley District or perhaps even the Arid Sand District – neither of which sound anywhere near as interesting. To celebrate the return of moisture here’s a pic taken on next doors nature pond:

365/140: 09 July 2010: Captain

A couple of years back one of the students that worked with me on a work placement bought me this as a leaving gift IIRC. been meaning to photograph it for a while…so now I have. Haven’t yet worked out where to mount it, but its time will come.

365/139: 08 July 2010: Borage…

…or borago officinalis as it prefers to be known in polite circles is a rather pretty blue flower with delightfully hairy stems which make for an interesting photo if you catch the light right. It originated in Syria, but now seems quite at home in the British isles. Apparently the leaves taste a bit like cucumber and it is widely used as a vegetable in some parts of continental Europe. According to Wikipedia the seed oil is is the highest known plant-based source (17-28%) of GLA 18:3, cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid – so now you know.

365/138: 07 July 2010: Snapdragons

Was going to write a long and rambling rant about the cost of a replacement docking lead for an i-pod this evening, but then went into the garden and saw these. While I don’t think the colour scheme would work indoors, they were so bright and cheerful I almost forgot about being ripped off.

But did you know that for only £1 more than the cost of an i-pod lead you can restore the sight of someone in the third world with a cataract operation.

365/137: 06 July 2010: Heating in July?

You have to be joking…but it was dreadful today so we lit the fires. And to commemorate the event here’s a picture of the flames. gather round and warm your toes.

365/136: 05 July 2010: Damselfly

Bit of a windy day today, which I always find a bit of a pain for photography. Wandered down through the wildlife garden next door but nothing really took my fancy until I came across several blue-tailed damselflies clinging to some sedges. They’re the commonest damselfly in England apparently, but no less attractive for that.

365/135: 04 July 2010: Mystery Object

Seems a shame not to put in another picture of the centre of Manchester but the weather was at best gloomy and overcast so have gone for something more abstract. Think it shows that you can get a photo from quite unpromising locations if you really try.

365/134: 03 July 2010: Portland Street, Manchester

In Manchester today – mainly to move Rhiannon from her student halls to a shared house in a leafy suburb, but also to see/hear The Halle at the Bridgewater Hall. First night of the Halle Proms apparently so nice accessible programme – Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto, Karelia Suite, Peer Gynt 1 and William Tell. Rousing stuff and great fun was had by all.

Sadly, but unsurprisingly no photos in the Hall so I settled for this shot of one of the dozens of magnificent buildings that make up Manchester city centre. This one is opposite the Ibis Hotel on Portland St and was shot from our second floor window.

365/133: 02 July 2010: Lancaster Services

Yesterday I featured an unloved plant – today it’s another of those great unloved things – motorway services. Formerly Forton Services, but now Lancaster Services, this place features regularly in my life. Judging by the number of colleagues I bump into there, it features in their lives a lot as well.

To be honest I think you have to admire the person who was brave enough to commission this rather interesting piece of architecture simply to act as a filling station for hungry motorway drivers. Have often fancied going up to the upper level, but it doesn’t seem open to the public. So yesterday it was stinging nettles …today lets hear it for Lancaster Services:

365/132: 01 July 2010: In praise of Stinging Nettles

I’m always surprised by the number of things we write off as pests, or just plain ugly, and then pass by on a daily basis without a second thought. Taking stinging nettles – yup, they’re a pernicious weed – yup, it hurts when you grab one by mistake. Buuuut…in isolation they could be considered quite handsome, and when backlit like these they are actually quite striking – almost pretty.  And if that weren’t enough, they make good soup and without the caterpillars of peacock, small tortoiseshell and red admiral butterflies would have nowhere to lay their eggs, and we’d have to go without so rather delightful butterflies. So let’s hear it for one of natures underdogs…