365 Challenge Days 50-52: 10-12 April 2010 – A sunny weekend

Typically the weekend after the Bank Holiday has been delightful, so I thought I’d go for a series of images to capture a delightful spring weekend.
First up from Saturday morning (10 April) on the dunes near the entrance to Silloth Dock. this is one of a series that our youngest agreed to model for as part of my degree – the first lesson in fact.

Think she liked it – its her Facebook avatar now.
Next up – Sunday afternoon (11 April) – and a stroll around Siddick Pond with Marion. Lots of bird life and signs of spring everywhere. Not sure if this is Alder or Willow (the former I think) – but either way I was taken by the colour against the blue sky.


And finally for this entry – one taken in the garden after work this afternoon. (12 April) Never quite sure why this combination works so well on flowering redcurrant. it would look pretty awful as a colour scheme in the living room.

365 Challenge – Days 12-15 – Out and about

Not posted for a few days as I haven’t had easy access to the net – so four days in a single post today.

3rd March 2010

The first was taken on the 3rd March after a jaunt down the motorway to Berkeley, near Gloucester. My usual resting place is the Tortworth Court, and today was no different. By the time I’d checked in the choice was a photo in my room or try some low-light shots outside. As the building is rather splendid I took the latter option, as you can see here. Keeping the camera still was a bit of a challenge as I’d left my tripod at home (again), but  a handy buttress provided me with enough stability to carry it off, even with a shutter speed of 5 secs.

4th March 2010

Next morning was a very pleasant spring morning so I stopped to take a photo before setting off to work. The Tortworth is in the middle of an excellent arboretum, and one of the many unusual trees is the very first corkscrew hazel (Corylus avellana 'Contorta'). First discovered in a local woodland, and transplanted to the site in the 1800 by the then owner, all other corkscrew hazels are derived from this one tree, and produced by grafting.

 

As it was a delightful evening I took some time out to visit St Leonards Church in Tortworth village. While this is technically more than one photo a day, I thought I’d include a shot because if you’re ever passing nearby its definitely worth a look.













5th March 2010
Back home this evening and after a couple of days shooting outside I retreated to the more familiar ground of still life with this study of some grapes in the kitchen fruit basket.


6th March 2010
Decorating today. Have had a new wood burning stove installed in attempt to fight off the ever increasing cost of bottled gas – so the room is a complete mess, and is likely to remain so for a day or two yet. This shot captures my major preoccupation today.


And  that’s the lot – back on schedule.