The temptation of the Thistle
Close-up of pollen attached to the flower head of a Spear Thistle, just ready to tempt any passing insects.
Round and round
An illuminated roundabout road sign held aloft by an angled pole, backlit by a purple-hue Sunset.
Just a second
A Long-tailed Tit takes a breather on an overhead telephone cable.
One Man and his Dog
This Collie seems a little miffed that its owner is reading a morning paper during their stroll!
Foxglove swirl
A Foxglove looking resplendently glorious, its incandescent purple petals starkly emphasised against the swirling green background bokeh.
Arachnophobia No.2
This Common Garden Spider was scurrying up its web on a dry-stone wall and even though I was using extension tubes for a macro image, believe me when I say this Spider was pretty damn big already for a UK variant, even before its close-up shot!
Leaving on a ‘Ladybird’
I quickly snapped this shot of a four-engined Jumbo Jet as it passed a few thousand feet overhead whilst I was on Oldham Edge, a usual rallying point for aircraft wishing to land at Manchester Airport 15 miles in the distance. Using an old Sirius 500mm mirror lens with a set aperture of f/8 – a member of the refraction lens family renowned for their inability to render a sharp image, even in the old days of 35mm film cameras – I was pleasantly surprised by the result of this quick ‘point-and-shoot’ shot after some post-production sharpening.
As I messed around adjusting the picture, I spotted the plane’s number on its fuselage – G-VAST – and so after browsing the internet for just a short time, I have discovered the following facts about this particular aircraft:
- The plane is a BOEING 747-400 Series and is named ‘Ladybird‘;
- It was manufactured in 1997 and put into flying service the same year;
- Virgin Atlantic have thirteen B747-400 aircraft in their fleet;
- The aircraft is powered by four GE CF6-80C engines;
- The seating configuration is 44 (upper deck), 32 (central deck) and 310 (lower deck);
- It carries more than 57,000 gallons of fuel and has a range of 7000 nautical miles.
Anyway, that’s as far as my aviation expertise goes, so hope this information has been of interest to anyone reading!
Better safe than sorry
Judging by the oxidisation of the chain links and the padlock loops, both these locks have become seized together due to rust and have inadvertently created the most perfect security possible. The irony of this impenetrable metallic lock-down? Well, even the person with the keys can’t get them to open now!
King Charles trot
A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel out walking the walk and showing whose “Top Dog”!
Alabaster virginity
A sculpture of the Virgin Mary, its white-hewn surfaces now beginning to dirty from the perpetual elements, hardy lichens and perching birds. And yet this icon to Christianity – epitomising the innocence of femininity and the unselfishness of Motherhood – still manages to radiate a kind of purity from a lifeless stone statue; a testament no doubt to the ingrained Biblical foundations that our Western social strata has been built upon for many hundreds of years.
Stretch the Horizon 