Camping in the New Forest.

Yesterday, I got back from a 10 day camping holiday in the New Forest. Despite some sleep lacking nights, it was great fun! I took 312 photos in all and have gone through them and reduced them down to 244 which I'm quite pleased about seeing as my laptop's hard drive is filling up fast after every trip I do! I remember a half day out on Dartmoor made me come back with over 100 photos. I need to get better techniques because I use my camera for ALL the photos - not just 'arty' ones which is partly the problem. I am now starting to go through photos and reducing the quality which is very time consuming. But I digress.

I will upload the very best photos; ones I am most pleased with.

They include:

Fauna: Fallow Deer, a dragonfly, birds like robins, tits, peacocks, and Red Squirrels.

Flora: mainly trees which are a part of the next category.

Misc: old buildings [one example being the house on Brownsea Island.], landscapes. And more but I'm not sure what category they come under.

Tomorrow I'll get back to where I was before I went away, which was the walk from Bere Alston to Bere Ferrers, Devon and get that post published which'll get me in order!

For now, here is a teaser photo from my trip in the New Forest...

Red squirrels are rare here in the UK, so they're something special. They are native but most have been wiped out due to the much larger Eastern grey squirrel from North America so if you're a European reading this and thinking it's nothing special, it is! These red squirrels are found throughout Europe and northern Asia and differ from the American red squirrel.

Daily Photo - 26/6/2012

Not a new photo. Not only is this one of my favourite photos, it is also my most sold photo of the greetings cards I make. [Top left of second photo in this post] Through my feedback, this picture is a definite favourite.

Line of boats at St Ives, captures the heritage nicely.

Mount Edgcumbe 17/6/2012

Mount Edgcumbe present so many photo opportunities. Here is just a small selection of the 70 photos that I took! More may follow soon. The first photo is my favourite, combining modern Plymouth with older Plymouth, and its maratime history. Looking out on to The Hoe.

'French Connection UK' - Brittany Ferries departing Plymouth, crossing Plymouth Sound in front of Smeaton's Tower and the wheel on Plymouth Hoe.

This is the folly in Mount Edgecumbe Country Park.

Old door by the Orangery. All the rest of the photos in this post were taken in a small garden next to the Orangery.

Best of Cornwall Video

I have finished a video of the best photos of Cornwall I've taken so far. If the video isn't playing or you want to see it bigger, you can go directly to YouTube by clicking here.

Malta | 20-24/02/11

Managed to get 700 odd photos down to this lot. Took me long enough!

May upload some more at a later date!

Some of my favourite photos I took in Malta back in early 2011. The architecture there is amazing. So much work went in to buildings and I thought it was too good to not take photos of! Enjoy!

I absolutely loved it there; Such a beautiful place. There is such a clash of cultures too; where we were staying, the Intercontinental Hotel had a mall, cinema, and clubs in the same road, and looking over those buildings to the distinctive limestone buildings on the skyline. Places we visited include: Mdina, Valetta and Victoria on Gozo (The northern island next to Malta) and I highly recommend those places if anyone goes to Malta!

Malta is also famous for its prehistoric remains - the Hypogeum being one example. We didn't have time to visit a lot. Perfect, good excuse for another trip there!

Building in Valetta.

Gardens in Valetta.

Straight hill road, Valetta.

Something us British aren't too used to - grid system city plans! I love the straight roads in Valetta!

The picture on the left shows Valetta on the right hand side of the harbour. This was taken coming in to land - the airport can be seen in the top of the photo.

And below, a panorama I made looking out onto the harbour from an archway in the gardens shown in the photo 2 pictures up.  

The photo below was taken in Mdina, the old capital of Malta. This was one of the best places for my architecture photos. I took over 700 photos over the 4 days. Managed to get it down to about 200!

Main alleyway, Mdina.

Valetta Skyline.

Church in ?Valetta?

Valetta Building.

Cat on Balcony, Mdina.

I loved looking down alleyways. You'd never know what you'd find! Old lamps, plants, trees, secluded gardens. A bit like a lucky dip! I feel they have so much character and they are all unique. 

Alley in Mdina.

 Doors. Like the alleyways, they have so many different styles.

Green Double Door, Mdina.

Blue Single Door, Mdina.

Red Double Door, Mdina.

Light Green Double Door, Mdina.

Leaf Green Double Door, ?Mdina?.

My favourite door photo from Malta. Old and rusty. This was taken after a long walk through all the alleyways in Victoria on Gozo.

Old Rusty Door, Victoira, Gozo.

This was St Paul's in Mdina. (below)

Looking Up!

Apologies - I forget which church/cathedral this was in. 

Grave Floor. Malta.

Alley in Mdina.

Alley in Victoria, Gozo.

In Malta, one of the main building blocks in older buildings is limestone, which is composed of dead animals. Walking through the alleyways and back streets I found numerous fossils in the stone.

Limestone Fossil Shell.

Something I think that defines Malta are their very unique buses. The bus below is similar to a Maltese bus but Gozo buses are different colours; the Maltese ones being yellow and black. They are so full of character as most of them are made from bits of other buses, have been built from scratch or passed down through generations. I managed to get a brilliant photo of the Maltese buses - 4 of them lined up and interestingly, in order of age too! (right) Adding to the unique-ness is the bus terminal in Valetta.

Traditional Gozo Bus.

Not really a photographic last part but I wanted to share this because I thought it was awesome. The trompe l'œil dome in the Citadel in Victoria, Gozo. Not enough money was owned to complete the dome, so a fake one was painted on. I thought it was interesting.

I could write for hours on the trip but this is a photo blog, not a travel one! So I better stop now before I start boring you!

Having been to Malta I can cross it off the list of 'I want to go to...' places! Up next is Iceland, Canada and New Zealand!

Branscombe

16th February 2012. We visited Branscombe Beach in South Devon. Apparently the best place in Devon to find fossils as just up the coast to the east is Lyme Regis and Charmouth. This post reveals another of my hobbies - Fossils! I love natural history and learning about the world I live in.

Pebbles at Branscombe.

Crashing Wave.

Fossil on Beach Rock.

Triple Pebbles on Pebble Background.

Triple Pebbles on Crack Surface (Landscape).

Triple Pebbles on Crack Surface (Portrait).

Wave @ Branscombe.

Siblyback Lake - Fauna | Best Shots

Sunday 18 March 2012.

This post is the second in a series of three. The other 2 being: Siblyback Lake - Landscapes | Best Shots & Siblyback Lake - Playing around with composition.

Had a brilliant walk at Siblyback for Mother's Day on the 18th March. This has got to be one of my favourite places in the surrounding area. It is a flooded valley with a dam at the south-western end and a stream flowing into the valley at the northern end.

3 Ducks, Siblyback.

Highlander.

Resting..

Mallard Duck. (Close-up.)

Long Tailed Tit.

Chaffinch.

Chaffinch and Mallard.

All photos taken with my Sony HX100v.

Siblyback Lake - Landscapes | Best Shots

Sunday 18 March 2012.

This post is the first in a series of three. The other 2 being: Siblyback Lake - Fauna | Best Shots & Siblyback Lake - Playing around with composition. Links to these will be added to this blog when they have been written and posted later this week (hopefully!).

Had a brilliant walk at Siblyback for Mother's Day on the 18th March. This has got to be one of my favourite places in the surrounding area. It is a flooded valley with a dam at the south-western end and a stream flowing into the valley at the northern end.

I remember I started this blog saying which camera I had used. When I have some more time I may go back and add which camera they were taken with at the bottom if anyone is interested in the way types of photos turned out. All of the photos in this post were taken with my Sony HX100v.

The shot below was taken in the car park. I love the silhouette of the boats in the reflection on the lake. I know the rule of thirds in art - divide the picture into a 3x3 grid and place major points on one of the intersections to look aesthetically pleasing! I prefer the sun in the middle. I also think the fence at the bottom adds a nice border.

Siblyback Lake Boats.

Along the eastern side of the lake: next 2 photos, below.
Here, the brown early spring trees contrast against the clear blue sky.

Tree Peninsula.

One of my favourite types of photo for me is sun rays through trees. The way the branches seem to disappear where the light is coming through and then the light reflection on the lake behind. Perfect!

Sun And Silhouette Trees, Siblyback.

I tried varying the shots I took at the lake, using the moveable screen on my camera to get this low angle shot of a half floating log in the beach. This is looking towards the sun in the south west, towards the dam which is immediately between the forest and the browner patch of land on the right hand side of this photo. I absolutely love the varying colours on the log and the light patterns on the sand beneath the water. I took a few other photos of the same view but picked this one - mainly due to the fact that the water is the best out of these. The water was too flat and not as rippling in the other shots.

Floating Log, Siblyback.

Lakeside Tree Silhouette.

Single Tree by Stone Wall.

Moving towards the northern end of the lake through a mini woodland.

Add caption

In this woodland was a stream flowing onto the lake. The bright sunshine outside making the silhouette trees and lack of light keeping the two ducks simple and serene.

Two Ducks, Siblyback.

Proper countryside!

Siblyback Countryside.

I always look out for the small and/or unusual things. This barb had been pushed along to another one. Call me weird, I thought it was interesting!

Barbed Wire Field.

So much going on in such a tiny space: The tree on a mini headland, the rocks, the sand, the grass, the water - all conversing with each other. Shame about the footprints on the beach.

This photo is the view I am featuring in one of my posts of the trilogy from Siblyback. Siblyback Lake - Playing around with composition.

Siblyback Tree #1.

Rusty Barbed Wire and Moss Post.

Northern end of the lake. In the marshes, I managed to work my way through the reeds to get these two shots. (above and below) Love them!

Below, my favourite part is the sun creating a slightly red tinge to the photo giving it a slightly vintage feel. Maybe a warm summer evening? Heaven!

Moss Post.

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