365/292: 08 December 2010: Frosty, frosty, very, very frosty…

…it’s very frosty. And I’m glad I took the opportunity to grab this shot because it thawed about 3 hours later. The gardens in the hotel were rather surreal because there was so much hoar frost that it appeared to have been rendered in black and white rather than the usual mix of colours.

365/283: 29 November 2010: It’s hard on the birds

Delightful as it is to look at the weather gives our wilds birds a bad time. Have had quite a flock on my patio all day munching through the seed I’ve thrown out for them. These aren’t the greatest quality pictures, because they were taken through a less than optically perfect patio window, the light was poor and they move quite quickly (enough excuses – ed.) but I don’t often get the chance to get this close to yellowhammers or tree sparrows – so I’m gong to claim that the softness was deliberate as an artistic ploy.

First up then  - the yellowhammer. This ones a female – the males are much brighter.

And then the tree sparrow – rather dainty country cousin to the familiar house sparrow, or spuggie, (as it seems to be called in these here parts). Easy to spot the difference. It has a brown head patch (rather than grey) and a nice black cheek patch. Generally a lot rarer, but our garden seems to be a good spot for them.

365/11 – Snow at last – 02 Mar 2010

Woke up to thick fog and only the second covering of snow we’ve had this winter. I say covering – while everyone else has had tones of the stuff, this half-inch is as much as we’ve managed all winter. So out with the camera to make hay while the sun shines – if that isn’t too bizarre an analogy in the circumstances.

365 Challenge – Day 3 – 22 Feb 2010

This is my first shot while staying way from home. I have a sneaking suspicion it is this aspect which is going to test my imagination/creativity the most – particularly when I get to the other end of the year and I’m faced with regular dark nights in hotels. There’s a limit to the creative potential of the average hotel room I think. Still, at the time of writing I’m not in an average hotel – I’m in the Park Royal at Daresbury, and it’s actually very nice – pleasant staff, decent food and usually someone I know to talk to. Here’s a shot at twilight. Quite a long exposure so I held the camera firmly against a lamp post to provide a bit of extra stability to help the IS along. Rather like the mix of natural and varied artificial light.

Technorati Tags: hotel,reception,arrival,twilight,welcome,photography,Olympus