Flowering
A Rhododendron begins to bust into life, its purple flower unfolding in time with the change in weather.
*Shot on a Canon 80d 24mp dSLR using a Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX Macro lens with settings at ISO-100, aperture at f/5, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/20 seconds*
Time glides by
A close-up of Morecambe’s clock tower faces on the Bay’s seafront, as a Herring Gull glides past eyeing opportunities for its next meal (which will probably be a Gregg’s pasty, swooped at and snaffled from someone’s hand whilst still on the wing)!
*Shot on a Canon 600d 18mp dSLR using a Canon EF 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM telephoto lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/7.1, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/800 seconds*
Sunset silhouette
The bare limbs of an Oak tree in silhouette as the dying Sun sets behind its leafless tendrils.
*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 f/5.6, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/6400 seconds*
Holme Wood, Wyre, Lancashire
A shot of Grizedale Brook as it runs through Holme Wood, tumbling and gurgling between the stony bed, on its journey into Grizedale Dock reservoir in Wyre, Lancashire.
This wooded valley’s area is a magical place, where almost every surface is cushioned with years of moss growth and a multitude of fallen trees’ limbs curl and clutch from the undergrowth, adding to the fairy-tale atmosphere as you wander through Nature’s reclaiming now we have left it alone…
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 20.1mp digital Bridge camera with camera settings at ISO-125, aperture at f/2.8, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/500 seconds (‘Toy’ filter applied in-camera)*
Follow the leader
A skein of Canadian Geese, each in slight off-alignment to the bird to its left, traverse the sky at high altitude on their journey onwards.
*Shot on a Panasonic Lumix G9 M4/3 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/7.1, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/1000 seconds*
Distortion (rolling shutter style)
Proof that older mirrorless cameras – such as the Olympus E-M1 mk1 pro M4/3 camera – do suffer from the ‘rolling shutter’ effect when using electronic shutter as opposed to mechanical shutter: this mini wind turbine was whizzing around in a stiff breeze and when captured using the electronic shutter of the E-M1, all Earth-bound physics went out of the window (the three turbine blades are actually in their normal 1/3rd positions, honestly)!
*Shot on an Olympus E-M1 Mk1 16mp m4/3 pro mirrorless camera using a Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 MEGA O.I.S lens with camera settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/4, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/4000 seconds*
Washing line recall
A photo from a few years ago showing some of my shirts and T-shirts on a washing line drying, sizes that are now lost in the eons of Time and that I can only dream of fitting in nowadays!
*Shot on an Olympus E-P3 12mp M4/3 digital camera using a manual M42 mount Helios 58mm f/2 lens with camera settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/4, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/2000 seconds*
Tumultuous clouds
Some tumultuous, overcast cumulus clouds, heavy and bruised with expectant rain, contrasted against the brilliant shine of the disappearing Sun’s glimmer.
*Shot on an Olympus E-P5 16mp m4/3 digital camera using a Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 MEGA O.I.S lens with camera settings at ISO-100, aperture at f/7.1, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/2500 seconds*
1st quarter Moon
Hand-held shot of a ‘1st quarter Moon’: I believe that this is the correct astronomy nomenclature for the Moon’s phase that is shown in the photograph above…
(I was going to just write ‘half-Moon’ but that phrase does not appear to exist anywhere in planetary vocabulary it seems!)
*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-200, aperture at f/8, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/200 seconds*
Fern and Foxglove
A rain-spattered Foxglove – its bell-shaped purple flowers bejewelled in droplets – thrusts between the unfurling leaves of a Fern, which grasps and consumes the undergrowth beneath its shadow spread: a clash of purple and green and a battle for Sunlight supremacy during the Summer months…
*Shot on a Canon 5d Mk II 21.1mp full-frame dSLR using a Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 IS L lens with settings at ISO-200, aperture at f/4.5, spot metering mode and an exposure time of 1/320 seconds*
Stretch the Horizon 