Rhiannon was home for the weekend before she disappears of to the US of A for 10 weeks work at Hanford.Had to run her to the station this evening which gave me a chance to take this rather sunny shot of her train departing Carlisle.
Monday, 30 May 2011
1000/462: 28 May 2011: Hedgehog
Found this little guy wandering around my garden early evening. Sadly this probably means there is something wrong as they're normally nocturnal. My guess would be that there's a shortage of slugs and snails and other delicious hedgehog munchies about the place. Tried putting out some cat food, but he/she wasn't really interested.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
1000/461: 27 May 2011: Korean musicians
Had these little guys on my bookshelf for several years. They were another gift from some Korean visitors I showed around site way back when...
They all sit on the end of gold plated spoons or forks - thinking I might do the other three tomorrow.
IIRC they are something to do with a traditional play performed in the Hahoe Cultural Village somewhere in Korea. Looks to be a flautist a koto player (or the Korean equivalent) and a drummer.
Friday, 27 May 2011
1000/460: 26 May 2011: British Journal of Photography
Quite a simple one today, 'cos I got home from a couple of days away and my favourite magazine was sitting on the kitchen worktop waiting for me. I like it for the quality of its production, the varied topics and styles it covers, and the fact that it isn't completely dominated by equipment reviews. It's been going for more than 150 years and long may it last.
1000/458a: 25 May 2011: Eye
This one inspired by a photo of a whale's eye I saw in a book recently - it also reminds me of the eye hieroglyph you see in lots of 'Egyptian' writing.
It's actually a monkey puzzle tree - presumably they lose their lower branches at quite a rapid rate. Of course - it could be an ent.
It was a sunny evening today which made for a very pleasant stroll around the gardens at the Tortworth and also give the opportunity for idyllic shots like this one below:
Thursday, 26 May 2011
1000/458: 24 May 2011: Yew Tree
This is, I'm pretty sure, a yew tree. Yews are pretty intersting as trees go. they are traditionally found in English churchyards - not sure why. It may have been to secure supplies for bow manufacture, because the wood is especially suitable for this purpose. Every part of the tree is poisonous except the red bit of the berry, and the leaves are poisonous even when dry. They are particualrly poisonous to horses and other livestock. According to Wikipedia death can occur so quickly that often the symptoms of yew poisoning are not recognised.
They are also very long lived - there is good evidence for some being 2000 years old, and siome suggestion that there may be examples as much as 5000 years old.
Setting this aside I love the fresh green of the new leaves in spring/early summer, and that's why I took this shot. the forget-me-nots and the churchyards setting seem typically English as well.
1000/457: 23 May 2011: Getting the Point
Fascinated by the patterns formed by the spines on this cactus. Not much else to say really - except that I handled it very carefully.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
1000/456: 22 May 2011: International Biodiversity Day
As you may have surmised from the title, today is International Biodiversity Day. Now until 2 days ago I didn't even know there was such a day - I didn't see any Biodiversity Day Cards in the shops, no chocolate pandas in the shop windows, and no little old men with ginger beards dressed as orang-utans giving away presents to small children in the local mall - but hey! perhaps I missed them.
Anyway to celebrate here's a picture of a tree sparrow - not exactly diverse as there's only one of them, so I've added some fungi below for good measure.
Happy Biodiversity Day everyone!
1000/455: 21 May 2011: Rosalie
Rosalie is a very fancy guitar - I looked at it, but didn't touch - owned by the lead singer of 13 Stars - see yesterday's post (100/454) for more info.
Anyway I was rather taken b y the inlay work and the general rather gorgeous appearance of the whole thing, so thought I'd enshrine it in binary digits.
1000/454: 20 May 2011: Cajón
Apparently this is a cajón. I'd never of heard of this until Ashley brought one home - he uses it as percussion accompaniment for the singer/ guitarist when 13 Stars do their 2-man acoustic set. 13 Stars? Listen to them here if you’re on Facebook
Interesting background on the cajón at Wikipedia - as ever.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
1000/453: 19 May 2011: Lily Stigma
Another attempt to vary my flower photos - this is a rather large lily which Marion brought home the other day. They have a rather powerful smell - which you can love or hate - and a very dramatic stigma - like this one in fact.
Edit: Have changed the post title from ‘stamen’ to ‘stigma’, because someone who knows considerably more about these things than me has explained the difference. Now…about the birds and the bees…
1000/452: 18 May 2011: Welsh Poppies
Very windy today - very windy. So I decided to use it to (slightly) creative effect. Waited until the light had dropped a bit then took this shot with a nice long exposure so that it would catch the poppies waving about. Probably not to everyone's taste, but I like it.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
1000/451: 17 May 2011: Broad Beans
Went for a strol in the nature recerve next door this evening, but couldn't see anything that took my fancy. They had some nice broad bean plants in their grow tunnels though. The smell hit you as you walked in - can't capture that, but here's the guilty party.
1000/450: 16 May 2011: Family Life
Big bruvvers and llittle sisters sometimes get along just fine. Not sure how this came about but Ashley ended up with hair like Manny in Ice Age.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
1000/449: 15 May 2011: Carnegie Singers, Workington
Just by way of a contrast from last night - this evening we went to see the Carnegie Singers at the Theatre Royal in Workington, singing a selection from Bach to Bernstein. No-one could say my tastes aren't broad.
1000/448: 14 May 2011: In a bit of a rush
Was just rushing off to see the British Pink Floyd Show when I realised I'd not taken my photo of the day. So...grabbed the nearest camera and snapped the nearest object - this mug.
Played with it in Lightroom to see if I could make it more interesting - not sure I succeeded, but I could scarcely make it more dull.
Saturday, 14 May 2011
1000/447: 13 May 2011: Art Filters (2)
Am rather liking the grainy black and white filter on the E-P1. It's transformed a rather ordinary shot of our landing from floor level into something rather more mysterious - especially as I've tarted it up with the selenium tining preset in Lightroom.
1000/446: 12 May 2011: Maryport Coastguard Point
Went out with the intention of doing yet another Solway sunset, or preferably using the light to do something with, but it just wasn't happening, so went for this rather graphic composition of the coast guard lookout instead.
1000/445: 11 May 2011: Abstraction
At a loss today - yet another mad head-scratching at ten o'clock wondering what to photograph. Loosing interest in household ornaments, so thought I'd try something completely different.
This, believe it or not, is a shot of the bubbles on the top of my fish tank, shot using just the 'moon style' lighting that comes on at night. The low light meant a long exposure, which blurred the movement, and there's a bit of photographer wobble in there as well.
Friday, 13 May 2011
1000/444: 10 May 2011: Art filters
“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and 'snap', the job's a game.”
Why am I quoting Mary Poppins? Well, my new camera has some 'art filters' to add effects to my images. Now as a 'photographer' I feel I should disapprove of these as suitable only for point and shoots, but the smiple truth is they add a bit of fun...particularly the grainy black and white filter. Not sure about the pinhole camera effect - after all i spent some money to get a decent lens - why imitate a camera without one.
Whatever, photo a day is sometimes a chore - so it helps to spice it up - hence the quote.
"And every task you undertake, becomes a piece of cake "
1000/443: 09 May 2011: Speaker
Left it a little late this evening, but managed to find this rather abstract looking loudspeaker because my son left his parcel shelf in the middle of the utility room - again.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
1000/442: 08 May 2011: Granny Bonnets
Marion and I can't agree about these. I think they have lots of rural garden charm and would be happy to let them spring up almost anywhere, while Marion thinks they're too big and unruly. So we have the usual compromise - we let them get on with things and dig them out when they're in an 'inappropriate place'.
These have obviously survived - and I still think they're charming.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
1000/441: 07 May 2011: I don't believe it!
Trying a bit of street photography in Carlisle today. No idea what these two were advertising but they certainly turned a few heads. It's not what you expect on the meek streets of Carlisle.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
1000/440: 06 May 2011: Moth
Another unidentified object. This moth took advantage of a door I opened for less than 30 secs to let the cat out.
This shot was taken very close - hence the thin depth of field - but I thought it made for a more intersting shot than simply flat against the wall.
For any moth experts out there, the colour balance on this is a bit off - it was actually white with a sprinkling of black spots.
1000/439: 05 May 2011: Apple Blossom
We have a rather ageing apple tree in our garden - we had two but one blew over 5-6 years ago. Unfortunately the one that blew over was the really productive one (we had over 200lbs from it one year) but the remaining one compensates by putting on a super display of blossom at this time of year.
For a change of viewpoint I took this looking down from our bedroom window. Sadly the wind and rain of the following night/day have given it a bit of a battering, so I'm glad I caught it while I had the chance.
Friday, 6 May 2011
1000/438: 04 May 2011: Cow
Was rather lost for inspiration today. The evening light was a bit flat and dull and that 'back to work' feeling had hit home.That said, I do find the steely blue grey patches on these cattle quite eye-catching, so here we go. Following in the footsteps of yesterday's post - does anyone know what breed this is?
1000/437: 03 May 2011: What's this?
These rather dainty white flowers grow in swathes along the dykes around our village, but rather frustratingly I don't know what they're called. Can anyone help?
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
1000/436: 02 May 2011: Morecambe, but probably not Wise
Went to Morecambe today, and given that we were brought up with Eric and Ernie I guess this photo of my wife and sister-in-law was predictable - inevitable even - although I’m not sure that makes it more forgivable.
Sea front at Morecambe is lovely - they've obviously spent a lot of money on it . Pity they couldn't persuade the wind to stop blowing (or at least ease off a bit) while we were there, but I suspect we'll be back again.
On the way there we called at the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis – their shiny new snow leopard was fast asleep, but there was plenty to see and go ‘Ahh!’ at.
In order of appearance – an unknown butterfly, a green iguana, a python, a pigmy marmoset, a squirrel monkey and spiny mice (who took my award for cute animal of the day).
1000/435: 01 May 2011: El Bombero
Oodles of sunlight pouring through the back window make even this big smooth red look quite light and playful. Don't be fooled - at 15% it isn't to be toyed with, even thought th lovely plummy flavours just ask to be gliugged back at a rate faster than is good for you.
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