Goosander
A male Goosander (mergus merganser) drifts casually along the Lancaster canal in search of its next meal of fish, with its red bill lined with saw-like teeth, denoting why this diving duck belongs to the sawbill family genus.
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix G9 M4/3 mirrorless camera using a Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 MEGA O.I.S lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f5.1, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/80 seconds*
Gather ye Rose-buds…
‘Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to day,
To morrow will be dying.
The glorious Lamp of Heaven, the Sun,
The higher he’s a getting;
The sooner will his Race be run,
And neerer he’s to Setting.
That Age is best, which is the first,
When Youth and Blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.’
“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by English poet Robert Herrick (1648).
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix G9 M4/3 mirrorless camera using an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens with settings at ISO-100, aperture at f/7.1, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/50 seconds*
Capped-off
How many years has this capped-off pipe been holding back whatever pressure is inside its rusting, cylindrical form?
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix G9 M4/3 mirrorless camera using an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/10, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/15 seconds*
Pareidolia: trunk or Lion?
A quick glimpse at this fallen tree trunk, slightly covered by this tree’s low boughs and you could be mistaken for presuming that a Lion has taken up residency in deep and darkest Forest of Bowland in Lancashire, as the beast slowly edges itself out from cover, ready to stretch its jaws from a yawn to a roar!
*Shot on a Canon 6d 20.2mp full-frame dSLR using a Canon EF 70-200mm IS USM L lens with settings at ISO-400, aperture at f/5, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/400 seconds*
Fly on Bluebells
*Shot on a Canon 80d 24mp dSLR camera using a Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Nano lens with camera settings at ISO-100, aperture at f/8, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/200 seconds*
End of day
Shot from the slopes of Clougha Pike in Lancaster, UK as our splendid Sun sets on another roasting hot Summer’s day, peering across Morecambe Bay towards Barrow-in-Furness on the Cumbria peninsula.
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix G9 M4/3 mirrorless camera using a Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 DG Vario-Elmar Lens with settings at ISO-400, aperture at f/22, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/1250 seconds*
Golden gaze
*Shot on an Olympus E-P1 12mp micro 4/3 system digital camera using a Soligor 35mm f/2.8 wide-angleprime lens with camera settings at ISO-250, aperture at f/4, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/320 seconds*
Dead-head Hoverfly
A close-up macro shot of a Dead-head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) feeding on a Bramble’s flower, as the insect uses its tongue to lap-up nectar from the sweet stamens.
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix G9 M4/3 mirrorless camera using an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/5, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/640 seconds*
Walk up Hawthornthwaite Fell
The snaking access road at the rear of Hawthornthwaite Fell in Lancaster – complete with the Shooter’s Hut nestled in the woods at the start of a ‘forgotten valley’ – that takes you around three-quarters of the way up the imposing moorland dome and suddenly stops at a gravel turning circle near the highest Grouse Butts.
From there, a leaning, weather-beaten sign points in the general direction of the trig point on Hawthornthwaite Fell’s summit, with just a barely-perceivable Sheep trail through the tangle of heather and bilberry bushes for the hardiest of ramblers and fell walkers to attempt to follow…
*Shot on an Olympus E-M1 Mk1 16mp m4/3 pro mirrorless camera using a Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 II Lumix G X Vario Power O.I.S. lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/6.3, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/1250 seconds*
Open Poppy
An open Poppy – its’ paper-thin lilac and purple petals arranged like taffeta around its seed pod – invites any passing winged insects in the hope of future pollination; although the flower’s ability to self-pollinate can negate this need.
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 20.1mp digital Bridge camera with camera settings at ISO-80, aperture at f/8, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/100 seconds*
Stretch the Horizon 