Framedlight

Anglesey Abbey is a house on the outskirts of Cambridge, now owned by the National Trust. I visited here, before the weather grew hot with Mairi and Rene. Here are a few pictures from the day. First there is Rene and Mairi and then some dragged images of the grove of Himalayan birches they have there (well someone had to do it!). Following from that there are some garden flowers, elder and pine cones, then a doorway and a vista of a crocodile of school children traversing the meadow.

I have a filing system for photographs on my computer which is based on years, months and events and I have taken to putting in that a 'home' folder every month, where I put stuff I have taken close to home. This is getting a bit like a lucky draw so I thought I would show you some of these pictures, if you'll excuse their randomness. The first set are from a walk with a 35mm f/2 lens which I use for more street based photography, but wondered how it would portray the countryside. Bean flowers One of the dog walks I took this to see if I could capture the yellow of the buttercups This one was taken with the Lensbaby zone plate adaptor, which gives a very ethereal effect. Just with a 50mm - a slightly past its best peony Here are some of hostas and ferns in the garden. I liked the shadows of the ferns on the hostas.  The last ones were taken on  an evening after a warm day when, unexpectedly a mist came down. The flowers in the...

The second day in the Dark Peak Alan had a cycle race. So once he had gone, I set out on a walk. It was a dry day but there were a lot of cumulus clouds adding some interest to the sky. I had missed the sunrise (it was June!). The track led out of the farm yard,  over a stream and up on to the moorland and the path to Kinder Reservoir. When I had just got on to the path I was assailed by two curlews who must have had a nest nearby and were flying over me crying. Some pictures of the reservoir and surroundings. Hettie tired on the way home Back into the farm

At the beginning of the month I spent a weekend with Alan in the Dark Peak area of Derbyshire. We stayed on a campsite very close to a footpath that led up to Kinder. Here are some pictures I took while there, converted to black and white and made a little, as I heard the term yesterday, wishy washy.

The last couple of days of our trip to Northern France we spent inland, not far from Rouen. I had bought a guide book on Normandy for our trip and it contained a mouth watering picture of the Seine, shrouded in autumn mist, with a mystical castle rising up from a rocky outpost. Despite that it was now April and there was still snow on the ground we thought we would pay Les Andelys a visit. The castle is called Chateau Gaillard and was built by Richard the Lionheart in 1196, but fell to the French under Philip ll in 1204 after a lengthy siege. During  the 100 year war between the French and the English it passed back and forth, finally resting with the French. By 1573 it was uninhabited and ruinous and its destruction was ordered by King Henri lV in 1599. After we arrived at the castle a coach load of tourists came in and climbed the draw bridge up to the main door. I was only pleased with one general picture of the castle that I had taken. Here it is in two versions. ...

I have wanted to visit Etretat ever since I saw a seascape by Monet at an exhibition in Cambridge around four years ago. The town, with its arched white cliffs has been painted by many of the Impressionists and Monet repeatedly depicted it in different weathers and moods. We were there in April, and I am sure that in the holiday season it gets even more busy. Even so there was a snake of people heading up the cliff footpaths. We were in Etretat for two days. I was lucky with the weather which was mainly dry and sunny but at times clouded over to add a bit of drama. I tried photographing the arch using long shutter speeds and also fitting the Lensbaby lens to try and achieve that impressionist look. The Lensbaby seems to work better with the following of the path back down to town. Then back on the seashore and in the town itself.  

Travelling along the coast of France due west towards Le Havre you come across the lively port of Fécamp. Looking towards the west you can see a shingle beach, backed by the white chalk cliffs. Again there is that wonderful soft light typical of this shoreline. Hettie giving it some on the beach East is the town of Fécamp, with it's lighthouse and hundreds of bobbing boats. Here are some Lensbaby shots of the views from the wooden piers Our journey was taking us to Étretat, a haunt of many painters including Monet. We stopped for some lunch in Yport, a little town depicted by Renoir and Corot, amongst others. There was a row of distinctive beach huts. And the white cliffs appeared opalescent. Here you can really see the source of inspiration to those painters.