tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66736161334130199472024-03-13T10:37:55.708-07:00Human Nature - Kris Worsley Wildlife PhotographyKris Worsley Wildlife Photography
www.krisworsley.com
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-8504306163021015762015-11-15T15:58:00.002-08:002015-11-15T15:58:34.179-08:00Nature close to home<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W7UiBzd9-FM/VkXTM0xadlI/AAAAAAAAAs4/CMbnwyo6U8Q/s1600/IMG_4062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W7UiBzd9-FM/VkXTM0xadlI/AAAAAAAAAs4/CMbnwyo6U8Q/s1600/IMG_4062.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cobweb found on a parked car - Nottinghamshire, UK</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">“a challenge remains to overcome the polar distinction
between what is <i>urban</i> and what is <i>natural</i>…We have tended to see the most
significant forms of nature as occurring somewhere else-often hundreds of miles
away from where most people actually live”.
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Timothy Beatley, professor in the Department of Urban and
Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia; quoted in Richard Louv’s
book, <i>Last Child in the Woods</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A few years ago, I had a conversation with a wildlife
photography enthusiast who lamented to me the great expense of wildlife
photography. At first I thought he was
talking about the expense of the camera equipment itself, but no, he was talking about
the cost of travel – ‘I can only really afford to go to Africa once a year’ he
told me, ‘so my equipment stays in the cupboard for the rest of the year’. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have encountered this (stupid) attitude a great deal over
the year, and I always find it deeply sad.
Is this a sign that we have lost touch with the natural world so
greatly, that we think that nature and its wildlife is something that exists
only far away? <o:p></o:p></div>
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The truth is that the wonders of nature are here (rather
than there) for everyone who has the curiosity to look for them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I found this cobweb on a neighbour’s car one morning (strung
between the wing mirror and the driver’s door) as I was walking up the road
where I live – the most telling fact is that I was returning from my morning nature
walk in the local woods, but I actually made my favourite image of the day not
from tramping around in the wilds, but simply by looking carefully closer to
home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The curiosity to see the nature living all around us is all
we need to stop the lament, and to revive and awaken within us the reason we
are all arrived here in the first place.<o:p></o:p></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-46396226839990728382015-11-13T04:09:00.001-08:002015-11-13T04:09:03.251-08:00Autumn Cobwebs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRjwwDUJo4A/VkXSzom7DBI/AAAAAAAAAsw/z-sLWeOrtAs/s1600/IMG_4049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRjwwDUJo4A/VkXSzom7DBI/AAAAAAAAAsw/z-sLWeOrtAs/s1600/IMG_4049.JPG" /></a></div>
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My morning nature walks in the woods with baby Benny have
become an important ritual in daily life over the last few weeks. I feel the bond grow between us each day
during those special hours, and the contact with nature on a daily basis is
also a greatly enriching experience. <o:p></o:p></div>
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During these early hours in the day, cobwebs always provide
a great visual feast. I can remember as
a young boy myself being fascinated and intrigued by the patterns of cobwebs,
the intricacy of the design which their builder brought together entirely by
instinct (when did they ever learn to do that?), and by the glassiness of the
dew drops that weighed so heavily upon their strings – strings which were so
carefully knitted together that they never threatened to break beneath the strain,
despite being so microscopically thin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The closer you look at the world, the more you see – just as
long as you’re prepared to have your mind blown!<o:p></o:p></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-59307372032734131302015-11-12T09:40:00.002-08:002015-11-12T09:40:09.565-08:00The swirl of autumn<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gctbCZ4yr1I/VkJvDgZpu3I/AAAAAAAAAsg/GtjGC0EjVtg/s1600/Autumn%2BLeaves-4964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gctbCZ4yr1I/VkJvDgZpu3I/AAAAAAAAAsg/GtjGC0EjVtg/s1600/Autumn%2BLeaves-4964.jpg" /></a><br />
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It's always good to get out in the fallen autumn leaves and fling them around (and to fling yourself around in them). And I love taking these swirly pictures while I'm at it – I take them a lot with my
mobile phone: you can just twist the phone around quickly in your hands and take a
picture halfway through the twist. The part
of the picture that’s in the centre of your spin remains relatively clear, while
the part on the outside of the picture spins faster and blurs more. Elementary physics, but the effect can be both
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It's only since mastering the technique on my phone that I've also started to do it with my SLR camera too, which offers all sorts of possibilities. Here's one I made earlier with my SLR, using the prominent sycamore leaf as a centre-point for my spin.<br />
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The colours of autumn do make me all dizzy and giddy with excitement every year.. Abstract photos can be very good for communicating this sense and the emotion that goes with it, <br />
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It works for me. Personally, I wish it could be autumn every day. </div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-58475874141737362672015-11-06T16:28:00.002-08:002015-11-06T16:32:06.087-08:00A week of nature walks with baby Benny.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O38IZ3GUuos/Vj1DhR6eE3I/AAAAAAAAAsI/c4VuliqwG_k/s1600/Snail-7462-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O38IZ3GUuos/Vj1DhR6eE3I/AAAAAAAAAsI/c4VuliqwG_k/s1600/Snail-7462-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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I’m only a week and a bit into being a dad, but already I’ve felt a huge feeling of reawakening to the world around me, and to the things in life I love. Every day starts in a similar way. I get up early and take Benny out on one of our little nature walks for an hour or two. This gives me some good quality time with my son at the beginning of each day, and allows Katherine to take some time off and rest by herself at home. </div>
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It’s difficult to know what, if anything, Benny takes in from our nature walks so early in his life; but I hope that being out in the woods at dawn, listening to the birds singing, will also start to rub off on him and become a comforting part of his life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s a great deal of woodland and farmland around where we live, so all our walks are in relatively quiet, misty places – and so I take photos in these places every day too. Having a baby strapped to your chest also makes a walk a more outwardly sociable affair. All the dog walkers we meet stop and want to know all about him and see his face, which is otherwise tucked up against my chest. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe Benny will grow to love the outdoors, but for now it's a good opportunity for him to love sleeping as he's tucked up tight against the warmth of my chest. All my rocking back and forth, trying to find the best angle, lining the snails up against the right colour in the background, or the right chink of light, helps soothe him in his slumber.</td></tr>
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He mostly sleeps throughout the walks at the moment, and my style of photography helps with this. I hardly ever use tripods, so I’m constantly rocking back and forth with him strapped to me, I’m finding an angle and he’s being soothed off to sleep as I feel him kicking, learning, breathing and hiccupping gently against me.</div>
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We get home and it’s time for breakfast and piano practice. Sometimes the carrying harness stays on, and I play with him strapped to me; sometimes I just play with him lying across my lap. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Life is being enriched by his presence every day, and as I get his senses going to the world around him, I’m also spending much more time doing the things that make life great. I think we’re good for each other.</div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-84965713358478260342015-10-31T16:47:00.002-07:002015-11-06T16:32:36.930-08:00Mother nature's son - nature walks with a new baby.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0G4h1mGJYRU/VjVNIXmsrfI/AAAAAAAAArY/vrzZtNrJ6ys/s1600/Oak-5142-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0G4h1mGJYRU/VjVNIXmsrfI/AAAAAAAAArY/vrzZtNrJ6ys/s1600/Oak-5142-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autumnal Oak leaf, Nottinghamshire, UK<br />
Canon 7D mk. II, Canon 24mm f/1.4 lens, 1/160sec @f/1.4, ISO 100, <br />
handheld with a two-day old baby strapped to my chest (essential).</td></tr>
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It’s been a very colourful and eventful week here in the
Worsley household, as my wife and I welcomed the arrival of our first child,
Benny, born on Wednesday. By Thursday
night we were all at home together, and so first thing on Friday morning, when
he was less than 48 hours old, I took Benny out on his first nature walk. My brilliant <a href="http://www.babybjorn.co.uk/baby-carriers/baby-carrier-original/?color=black-spirit&material=cotton&productId=023071" target="_blank">Babybjörn baby carrier</a> made this
easy - I can strap him to my front, and get out walking through the autumnal woods, observing and photographing the wonderful array of colours; all with the
added pleasure of the precious boy himself before me at all times. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benny, two days old, on his first nature walk with me.</td></tr>
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The woodlands and fields that surround my house are an ideal
playground for such natural adventures, and I’ve been noticing the difference
in myself for taking walks once or twice a day in the wilds, seeing, smelling
and feeling the mild chill autumn unfolding all around. I hope it’s good for him too as he grows and
develops a sense of the world around him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Life itself is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of nature,
so it’s a no-brainer to say that exposure to nature is good for our lives. My little boy has his whole life ahead of
him, and I hope that being surrounded by nature will serve him well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQDwg_STWVA/VjVNLnhWc1I/AAAAAAAAAr0/RJxcOAFPYpI/s1600/Reuben-0519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQDwg_STWVA/VjVNLnhWc1I/AAAAAAAAAr0/RJxcOAFPYpI/s320/Reuben-0519.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benny spots a snail and recommends I switch to a macro lens.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vv5LKFYL0n0/VjVNNaTI2UI/AAAAAAAAAr8/JoIriZ51A-o/s1600/Snail-5290-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vv5LKFYL0n0/VjVNNaTI2UI/AAAAAAAAAr8/JoIriZ51A-o/s640/Snail-5290-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canon 7D mk. II, Canon 100 f/2.8 macro lens, 1/250sec @f/5.0, ISO 2000<br />
handheld with a two-day old baby strapped to my chest.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canon 7D mk. II, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, 1/640sec f/4.5 ISO 1250<br />
handheld with a two-day old baby strapped to my chest.</td></tr>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-88572913911378279922015-09-14T02:04:00.001-07:002015-11-06T16:32:47.969-08:00British Wildlife Photography Awards 2015 - Winner of the Animal Behaviour Category<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nc_5o5UX6zI/VfaNVg7_IoI/AAAAAAAAArI/RVO2yvfPezA/s1600/Pheasant-8829.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nc_5o5UX6zI/VfaNVg7_IoI/AAAAAAAAArI/RVO2yvfPezA/s1600/Pheasant-8829.jpg" /></a></div>
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I am delighted to announce that I have won the Animal
Behaviour category in this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards. It’s two months to the day that I was told
the news, when competition organiser Maggie Gowan phoned me up and charged me with
the mighty task of keeping it confidential until now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The picture of a male pheasant displaying was taken in April
of this year in fields just at the front of my house. I would listen for the call through the open
windows and walk out across the fields and through the woods in search of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Congratulations to all the photographers of winning and
commended images, and particular thanks to my wonderful colleagues at Leeds
College of Music who have kindly agreed to cover my teaching on Wednesday in
order to allow me to attend the awards ceremony and book launch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A selection of the winning and commended images are now
<a href="http://www.bwpawards.org/static/2015/winner-2015.html" target="_blank">available to view online</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-48789021491211361042015-08-18T01:20:00.001-07:002015-08-18T01:20:36.574-07:00Not the best year for red grouse<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nkWZS_jlQPg/VdLqWUD9LnI/AAAAAAAAAq0/DUaGfIsK7Yw/s1600/Grouse-7913-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nkWZS_jlQPg/VdLqWUD9LnI/AAAAAAAAAq0/DUaGfIsK7Yw/s1600/Grouse-7913-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Female red grouse - the moors of the peak district are just starting to turn purple now.</td></tr>
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It’s not a great year for red grouse. Reports that their numbers are down due to
bad weather earlier in the year are certainly playing out in my
experience. Meanwhile, those grouse I
have been able to find have been a great deal more timid and difficult to
approach than usual. I’ve had two grouse
trips in the last few weeks alone, and two more planned, and I’ve come away
with only one photograph (usually I can expect several hundred from a single
trip). <o:p></o:p></div>
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But the moors of the peak district are as fine as ever (there are many, many other things to photograph up there), and
the heather is just starting to turn purple now – this is a time of year which I
find really exciting.<o:p></o:p></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-36457408957162927632015-08-17T02:31:00.005-07:002015-08-17T02:32:35.324-07:00Pond Skaters at dusk<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sDBdvRHtHqA/VdGpkZrISXI/AAAAAAAAAqo/-A4LSzvx4EQ/s1600/Pondskater-9996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sDBdvRHtHqA/VdGpkZrISXI/AAAAAAAAAqo/-A4LSzvx4EQ/s640/Pondskater-9996.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Nature is unpredictable (that’s 99% of the fun – you never
know what’s going to happen). Last night
I went out to a local lake to photograph ducks, swans and gulls – the usual,
everyday normal stuff in the park. There
was lots going on around me, a woodpecker in the tree right behind me, a
tree-creeper creeping along the branch over my head, and the crimson bullet of a
kingfisher that shot past, steering out into the middle of the water and
circling a few times, before coming into land somewhere across the water from
me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But as the light grew dim at the close of the evening, the
best thing around was the pond skaters right in front of me. I love the little dimples they make on the
water, and the patters of ripples when they move. Having a good selection of kit with me, I was
able to switch lenses and go macro. I
tried to use the half dusky light to accentuate the contrast of the clear water
and the ripples, also moving around to let the reflections of the trees on the
opposite bank create an arc of shadow at the top of the images. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pond skaters on the water are Good News – since they go off
to hibernate in the autumn, this means that it must still be summer, although I
know I’m not the only one who’s noticed the trees starting to turn Autumnal
over the last week or so. So look out
for the pond skaters – if you find them hibernating in your shed, you’ll know
autumn has really arrived, but while they’re on the water, you can still get
out and enjoy an ice cream.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-40747278785411611402015-08-06T05:34:00.001-07:002015-08-06T05:36:04.975-07:00Tube Strike! In praise of walking.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zrKBirhXbV4/VcNRKnzX06I/AAAAAAAAApE/F0dirLaJZvI/s1600/Walking-0680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zrKBirhXbV4/VcNRKnzX06I/AAAAAAAAApE/F0dirLaJZvI/s640/Walking-0680.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The claustrophobic descent to the tube.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last Saturday I walked over 15 miles across London. There was no tube strike, I hadn’t intended
to walk any particular distance, and I would never have counted the miles were
it not that my phone does this for me automatically. I can’t say I gave much thought to the distance,
either; it was simply the route I needed to walk from A to B. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kv9Pf29gTLg/VcNRXcykvXI/AAAAAAAAAqE/pSkaPG-R5GU/s1600/Walking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kv9Pf29gTLg/VcNRXcykvXI/AAAAAAAAAqE/pSkaPG-R5GU/s320/Walking.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got to London almost every week as part of my work and I
almost never use the tube. Walking is a
much richer experience and full of health benefits, mental and physical, and some
of these are not immediately obvious (more on those studies in a bit). I hope that those some of those who are
forced out of their routine with the tube strikes today might discover
something very enriching in the act of walking to work. And since my continuing summer project is to
photograph nature within walking distance of my house, I thought I would chip
in here about some of the benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’ve all heard the advice about getting off the bus one or
two stops early to get some extra exercise, but it’s not just the exercise that
benefits you – walking is a very natural pace not just for our bodies but also
for our senses to take in the things around us.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Discovering the benefits of walking - the benefits of discovering</i></span></u></b></h3>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I give here two examples of people who dismounted from their
transport in order to explore the sensory benefits of walking. The first, one of London’s most famous fictional
inhabitants, the great detective Sherlock Holmes: the first time we find Holmes
at work on a case, in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>
(1886), we see that he insists on getting out of the cab and approaching the
crime scene on foot. Dr Watson tells us
of how he points out the Brixton Road to Holmes whilst travelling in the cab
(drawn by genuine horsepower, of course).
Holmes replies:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'So it is. Stop, driver, stop!' We were still a hundred
yards or so from it, but he insisted upon our alighting, and we finished our
journey upon foot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The importance of approaching the scene on foot is spelled
out towards the end of the book, when Holmes talks Watson through the ‘steps’
in his reasoning, for how he solved the case:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I approached the house, as you
known, on foot, and with my mind entirely free from all impressions. I naturally began by examining the roadway,
and there, as I have already explained to you, I saw clearly the marks of a
cab, which, I ascertained by inquiry, must have been there during the night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Walking, for Holmes, allowed him to look keenly and
perceptively on the details of the world around him, working carefully not to
disturb it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, it’s not just our external senses that we explore when
we leave our transport and walk, but the inner senses of reflection and memory,
the mode of contemplation rather than examination. In Goethe’s great German Romantic Novel, <i>Sorrows of Young Werther</i> (<i>Die Leiden des Jungen Werther</i>, 1774),
the young Werther, battling the pains of unrequited love, writes in his diary
of his visit to a linden tree in the town where he grew up. In making the journey, Werther stops the
coach and completes the final stage of the journey on foot in order to allow
his memories of childhood to return more vividly:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">May 9 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have completed the pilgrimage
to my hometown with all a pilgrim’s devotion, and have been overcome by many
unexpected feelings. I had the coach
stop at the great linden tree that stands a quarter of an hour before the town,
got out, and bade the postilion go on, in order to taste on foot to my heart’s
content every newly revived and vivid memory.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tasting on foot to your heart’s content – there are some
things that travelling by tube just can’t give you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gzuH3x2Evb4/VcNRYAY2YII/AAAAAAAAAqI/_2WpdPJTb54/s1600/Walking-6944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gzuH3x2Evb4/VcNRYAY2YII/AAAAAAAAAqI/_2WpdPJTb54/s400/Walking-6944.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whatever your mode of transport, getting down and feeling the ground beneath<br />
your feet will create a feast for your senses as you slow down and take in the detail.</td></tr>
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<b><u><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To your good
health</span></i></u></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naturally (very naturally) all of this spending time pacing
around the great outdoors is very good for you, as has been proven time and
time again. A number of studies over the
last few years have demonstrated that urban dwellers who live in a greener
areas experience sustained benefits to their mental health (read more <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es403688w" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_349054_en.html" target="_blank">here </a>and
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23613211#" target="_blank">here</a>). It’s no coincidence that the
streets of London are lined with trees, and spending time in that greenery is clearly very good for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L0K3avFx22A/VcNRVE7tNeI/AAAAAAAAApw/xX2cHIyosAY/s1600/Walking-6945-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L0K3avFx22A/VcNRVE7tNeI/AAAAAAAAApw/xX2cHIyosAY/s640/Walking-6945-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunshine through the trees, Birdcage Walk, London.<br />
No matter where, these green spaces are proven to improve your mental health.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The benefits of walking to physical health also tie in nicely
with the mental health benefits. A <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10869-011-9255-0" target="_blank">2012 study</a> showed that stressed supervisors who took regular exercise were less
likely to given vent to their anger by aiming it at their employees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don’t tell me that doesn’t appeal to you! Is it any wonder
Holmes was able to remain composed in such trying circumstances? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tube strike!</span></i></u></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many people whose working day has been altered by the tube
strike today might well find themselves walking around the capital earlier and
later than they would otherwise have to experience. Charles Dickens, one of London’s great
walkers, used walks around the capital at various times of day and night in
order to meet the people and encounter the thoughts that inspired much of his
fiction. After contemplating the muddy
streets at the beginning of <i>Bleak House</i>
he goes on to talk of the morning fog:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green
aits [islets in the Thames] and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls
defiled among the tiers of shipping...Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the
Kentish heights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dickens’ greatest experiences, however, were probably his
night-time walks around the city, on which he wrote the essay ‘Night Walks’ in
1860 (the same year in which he started work on <i>Great Expectations</i>). During a
period of insomnia in March, Dickens tells us, he went out walking the streets
at about half-past 12 each night. He
used these walks mainly to educate himself about the experience of the homeless
(or ‘houseless’ as he calls them, since the streets are their home). Dickens’ love of humanity and human nature shine
through from the heart of this essay, as he writes, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My principal object being to get
through the night, the pursuit of it brought me into sympathetic relations with
people who have no other object every night in the year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And it isn’t simply the encounters that walking the city
streets brought Dickens’; the gentle pace of the walk and these discoveries excited
his imagination and dreams (as it also did for Sherlock Holmes and for Goethe):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The walk on to the bank,
lamenting the good old times and bemoaning the present evil period, would be an
easy next step, so I would take it, and would make my houseless circuit of the
Bank, and give a thought to the treasure within; likewise to the guard of
soldiers passing the night there, and nodding over the fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xOXjs-vRjYs/VcNRKqNgkXI/AAAAAAAAApY/2eXwB1JPJ6s/s1600/Walking-0555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="441" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xOXjs-vRjYs/VcNRKqNgkXI/AAAAAAAAApY/2eXwB1JPJ6s/s640/Walking-0555.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bank of today invites the modes of contemplation unchanged from Dickens' era - if only you have time to stop and think.</td></tr>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<b><u><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Slowing down</span></i></u></b></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But for those simply pushed out of routine, it might be a
good opportunity to bring new discoveries into your routine day. It can bring great change gradually. The Chinese proverb about the journey of 1000
miles is often quoted, but for finding green spaces amongst the skyscrapers on
your city walks, the larger quotation from chapter 64 of Lao Tzu’s great <i>Tao Teh Ching</i> is perhaps more
meaningful:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A tree as big as a man’s
embrace springs from a tiny sprout.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A tower nine stories high
begins with a heap of earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A journey of a thousand miles
starts with a single step.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A thousand mile walk is not a journey that can be made
quickly, especially not in August. But
we can learn to enjoy the walk for our health and slow down. As the great father of medicine, Hippocrates,
wrote in the 5<sup>th</sup> century BC,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In winter a man should walk
quickly, in summer in more leisurely fashion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perfect for an August day like today. Try walking for leisure, ‘tasting on foot’
everything around you ‘with a mind entirely free’. It’s good for you (and you don’t need me to
tell you that you’re worth it).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More on this soon...</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ujj0JL-KVX4/VcNRXciemUI/AAAAAAAAAp8/W_DScDm8mJ4/s1600/Walking-6966-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ujj0JL-KVX4/VcNRXciemUI/AAAAAAAAAp8/W_DScDm8mJ4/s640/Walking-6966-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-90242958576729857202015-08-05T06:24:00.003-07:002015-08-05T06:24:54.763-07:00The Da Worsley Code<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9GLLn_qQbdg/VcILuEE7WiI/AAAAAAAAAos/MxCjz4V2xMo/s1600/Foxglove-7499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9GLLn_qQbdg/VcILuEE7WiI/AAAAAAAAAos/MxCjz4V2xMo/s640/Foxglove-7499.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove at sunset - Peak District National Park, UK<br />(Click for larger image)</td></tr>
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I have a confession to make: I’ve failed. The truth is, I’m not really a very good
nature photographer, I’m just pretending I am.
I fail all the time, but I’ve just learnt how to cover it up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo! Howl. Sob. <o:p></o:p></div>
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(and if Claudia Schiffer happens to be reading this, yes
please, a hug would help).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyway, I thought you should know about this, because you’ve
been good to me – and so I have a reward for you. Since the numbers of people reading the blog are
really soaring now, and I’m really grateful for all who read this blog (that’s
you) and who add to those (at times eye-watering) numbers. We’re a special little group, I think, so
I’ve invented a secret code for us, we the people who inhabit this blog – it’s
like a little secret society, except it’s online so it’s possible that none of
our society will ever meet. And the SECRET
CODE is: foxglove. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rcPdDs3CzxU/VcILsmLlviI/AAAAAAAAAok/vqFm6dtNPkY/s1600/Foxglove-3954-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rcPdDs3CzxU/VcILsmLlviI/AAAAAAAAAok/vqFm6dtNPkY/s640/Foxglove-3954-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bumblebee and a foxglove - Perthshire, UK<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">(Click for larger image)<br /></td></tr>
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The thing is, I’ve been photographing a lot of foxgloves
recently simply because they seem to be out everywhere I go. That much is normal. But the fact is that I’ve had a lot of trips
out recently where I’ve failed to photograph whatever it was that I’d set out
to photograph, and so I’ve just ended up photographing foxgloves, because
they’re there and quite pretty, and at least I can pretend that it’s what I
actually meant to do. But I can’t really
say there are many times in my life I’ve actually gone out in order to
photograph a foxglove. My growing
portfolio of foxglove images is a sign of my constant failure as a nature
photographer. Maybe there’s an upside –
maybe next time some photo publication wants a picture of a foxglove, they’ll
come my way, as I’ve got photos of them in all different habitats right across
the UK now! Get me with my amazingly diverse foxglove portfolio!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEpsXZd51GI/VcILqOlg-6I/AAAAAAAAAoU/ytop9u5HOxg/s1600/Foxglove-3907.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEpsXZd51GI/VcILqOlg-6I/AAAAAAAAAoU/ytop9u5HOxg/s640/Foxglove-3907.jpg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove at sunset - Perthshire, UK<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">(Click for larger image)</td></tr>
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So next time you see a foxglove image appear on my blog, you’ll
know: it’s a sign that things haven’t gone as planned. Those less committed followers who come here
just look at the pictures and move on will never know, but we, the hard-core
membership of this society, the ones who read and respond to this stuff, we
will know; we’re special. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But that’s how nature photography works – I always say that
photographing nature isn’t something that you go out and do, but it’s a
lifestyle that you live over the long term, and in the course of that
lifestyle, some pictures turn up occasionally that you like, and help convince
you that you’re doing the right thing and should carry on. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So there we are - there’s thick and there’s thin. Let’s stick together through both. Please?</div>
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...now...has anyone found Claudia yet?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KwDaSY05-k/VcILqEHLs0I/AAAAAAAAAoc/iLzaK7PE_1U/s1600/Foxglove-3215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1KwDaSY05-k/VcILqEHLs0I/AAAAAAAAAoc/iLzaK7PE_1U/s400/Foxglove-3215.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove at Sunset - Nottinghamshire, UK<br />(Click for larger image)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qBSQQL0qNyw/VcILqPaVlyI/AAAAAAAAAoY/hQmTLNUvXxg/s1600/Foxglove-3139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qBSQQL0qNyw/VcILqPaVlyI/AAAAAAAAAoY/hQmTLNUvXxg/s400/Foxglove-3139.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Foxglove at Sunset - Nottinghamshire, UK<br />(Click for larger image)</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPm31Jv6vtE/VcILuMRqTMI/AAAAAAAAAow/kk5iqFiUdnU/s1600/Foxglove-6785-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPm31Jv6vtE/VcILuMRqTMI/AAAAAAAAAow/kk5iqFiUdnU/s400/Foxglove-6785-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove and the full moon - Peak District National Park, UK<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">(Click for larger image)<br /></td></tr>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-76047028606618100242015-08-02T17:06:00.001-07:002015-08-02T17:06:16.918-07:00Seeing the Wood Pigeon fore the Trees<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RemcSt3Oyd0/Vbv-jBbR8LI/AAAAAAAAAn0/MScEW4t_SHM/s1600/Pigeon-6870-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RemcSt3Oyd0/Vbv-jBbR8LI/AAAAAAAAAn0/MScEW4t_SHM/s640/Pigeon-6870-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wood Pigeon at sunset - Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire </td></tr>
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Evening in Sherwood Forest.
I’m out here because it’s been a bright, sunny day, and the evening
light is set to be beautiful, and now that I’m here I’m not disappointed; not
with the light at least. But I’ve come
here looking to see if I can silhouette birds against that light and in
particular I’d like a tawny owl - I’ve seen (and heard) them around here many
times before. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tonight I’ve heard an owl hoot once, and although I’ve
worked my way over to find it, I never hear it hoot again. The light fades to black, and just as I’m
about to leave, a young fox cub comes out and sits in the middle of the path
looking at me – it sits upright and motionless for about five minutes; it’s too
dark for me to take picture, so I just wait until eventually it gets bored,
picks itself up and wanders off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But somewhere in the middle of all that, after the single
hoot of the owl and before the fading of the light, I spy a common wood pigeon
sitting on a branch; plump, grey and very, very common – a rugby ball with
feathers. In many ways I enjoy these challenges
just as much as the more obscure and sensitive animals – I want to people to
come away from my photos with a renewed sense of the extraordinary within the commonplace
and the every day. In short, I want them
to leave my photos and head straight for the outdoors to look for themselves
with new eyes. </div>
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The pigeon has its eyes fixed
on me, probably wondering if it is safe to stay put or if it should move away
to a different part of the forest – there’s plenty of it to move to. I see the orange light about 45 degrees to
the right of the bird and I move round slowly into position to get the bird against
it. Bending down, I make sure I have
some green foliage of the woodland, bracken and grasses, right in front of the
lens to create and mystical, diffused look across the picture. I make
sure that the pigeon is positioned with a window of light behind it to
highlight its round, heavy outline. I
can’t use a tripod in this situation – I have to work quickly and fluidly, and
adjusting the legs and repositioning the thing until the composition is right would
just be too disruptive – I need to be able to make minute adjustments to the
composition with ease. The camera and
lens combination I’m using is just over six kilos and working handheld with it (always
my preferred approach for the flexibility I gain), holding it out in front of
me for minutes at a time, is quite a workout for which I need to keep fit. It’s important that I train with free weights and (in particular) make sure that I have good core strength and strong
abdominal muscles so I can hold the camera steady in such strange positions. Even now, I can feel a faint tremble in my
muscles as I’m holding an uncomfortable position for quite a while, adjusting
the composition slightly, waiting to see if the pigeon will move or do
something a little more interesting than just sit still. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It doesn’t move or do anything interesting (they usually don't), so I start to play with
my position, finding new windows of bright light around it to place it against,
moving around to change its relationship with the structure and
contours of the other trees in the wood. I play for as long as I can before the orange light fades, I enjoy the silence, the fox cub comes and goes, and—finally—I
decide to leave. There’s nothing more to
see tonight.<o:p></o:p></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-89435696458992326792015-07-31T23:52:00.002-07:002015-07-31T23:52:43.180-07:00Harvest Moon<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3a_9WjCuRtc/Vbv0h_0mK3I/AAAAAAAAAnk/xUX71Qa10cY/s1600/Foxglove-6785-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3a_9WjCuRtc/Vbv0h_0mK3I/AAAAAAAAAnk/xUX71Qa10cY/s640/Foxglove-6785-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove and the Harvest Moon - Peak District National Park, UK</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"></span><br />
<div>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(130, 98, 83, 0.0980392); color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.701961); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;">The Harvest Moon was magnificent and bright right through last night. I always find it invigorating to go out away from the urban lights on a full moon and be amongst the strong shadows in the moonlight. For me, my only harvest is one of photos, but being out in the still, cool, bright air can be equally as nourishing as as anything else the summer offers, even if you can't serve it up for breakfast. </span>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-88411250198105419642015-07-30T12:41:00.001-07:002015-07-31T04:09:47.537-07:00Blue Moon tonight!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vo26DyXhjYQ/Vbp4c-IB9tI/AAAAAAAAAm8/r7cxlmMvods/s1600/Blue%2Bmoon-6601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vo26DyXhjYQ/Vbp4c-IB9tI/AAAAAAAAAm8/r7cxlmMvods/s640/Blue%2Bmoon-6601.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The near-full moon, photographed July 29th 2015, just before the blue moon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>'Once in a while, in a big blue moon,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> there comes a night
like this.'</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Joni Mitchell</i></span></div>
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So sang Joni Mitchell in the opening lines of Night Ride
Home. And so tonight on 3<span style="font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">1st</span> July we have our own blue moon - a real one! But if
you’re expecting to wait up and watch the moon turn blue, you might be left
standing alone, without a dream in your heart – because the moon doesn't turn blue on this sort of blue moon. And if that
saddens you, then you have two 16<sup>th</sup> century Greenwich friars to
blame, who first coined the term (more on that in a moment).</div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"> </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The fact is, you’re not going to notice very much, other
than a fabulous full moon in the sky (the Brits among us will have to take that
with a pinch of salted cheese), but the point is that we’ve already had a full
moon this July, and now we have a second one (two in one month!), which is blue-min rare.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Think about the word ‘month’ – which comes from the word ‘moon’
in English, as it does in nearly all languages, as it does in the Bible and the Koran. The Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and Chinese calendars
(among others) still use the lunar-months of just over 29-and-a-half days, in combination
with the transit of the sun, to calculate the month. A new moon equals a new month. So, if you think about it, having two
full-moons within a single month is quite a betrayal.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kUywsMDGTsk/Vbp8saSHH5I/AAAAAAAAAnM/E-JSq7q0PXk/s1600/Moon-6698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kUywsMDGTsk/Vbp8saSHH5I/AAAAAAAAAnM/E-JSq7q0PXk/s320/Moon-6698.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<h3>
<b><i><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">A Betrayal</span></i></b></h3>
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<b><i><span style="color: #e69138;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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And that’s precisely why it’s a blue moon – the old English
word for betrayal was ‘belewe’, making the ‘betrayal moon’ the ‘belewe moon’. This should not be confused with the word ‘blewe’,
which is the word Chaucer used to talk about blue things, such as violets: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Fro day to nyght From
day to night<o:p></o:p></div>
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She dooth hire bisynesse and al hire myght, She gave her care and a<o:p></o:p></div>
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And by hire beddes heed she made a mewe And by her bed’s head she
made a mew<o:p></o:p></div>
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And covered it with veluettes <b><i><u><span style="color: #558ed5; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #558ED5; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=60000 lumo=40000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text2; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">blewe</span></u></i></b>, And covered
it with violets blue,<o:p></o:p></div>
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In signe of trouthe that is in wommen sene. As a sign of truth that
is seen in women.<o:p></o:p></div>
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from Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400), The Squire’s Tale.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Except that the two words were confused, and so the ‘betrayal
[<i>belewe</i>] moon’ became the ‘blue' [<i>blewe</i>] moon.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The two words may not have been confused, had it not been
for the fact that the church used the cycles of the moon to calculate
the precise date of Easter. So here
comes the history lesson:</div>
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<h3>
<i><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;">The History Lesson!!</span></i></h3>
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Unlike many
other festivals in the calendar, Easter is a movable feast - i.e. it's not fixed by date. This was decided in 325AD when the council of
Nicaea decided that Easter Sunday would take place on the first Sunday after
the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox (March 21<sup>st</sup>). BUT – and it’s a big BUT – the Greek and
Roman churches still could not agree upon a standard version by which this calculation
could be made, and that rogue, betraying, <i>belewe</i>
moon wasn’t making life any easier. </div>
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The
scandal was still being dramatised in England in 1528, when two Greenwich
friars, Willam Roy and Jerome Barlowe, published a poetic pamphlet protesting against
the church’s prescriptions of what was true and what was false; and these included
small matter of the church claiming to decide the one-and-only correct, which
was in fact based only on interpretation.
And so they wrote of those churchmen who are ‘wily foxes’:<o:p></o:p></div>
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If they say the moon is blue Yf they say the mone is <span style="color: #558ed5; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #558ED5; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=60000 lumo=40000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text2; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">blewe</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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We must believe that it is true We must <span style="color: #558ed5; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: #558ED5; mso-style-textfill-fill-colortransforms: "lumm=60000 lumo=40000"; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text2; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">beleve </span>that it is true<o:p></o:p></div>
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Conceding to their interpretation. Admittynge their interpretacion<o:p></o:p></div>
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I said it was poetic, and not only does it rhyme, but it
works on a clever pun: the ‘belewe’, or betraying moon, only happens
once in a while (which we know from Joni Mitchell), whilst the appearance of a ‘blue moon’ would be ridiculous, and therefore, really rare. In effect, Roy and Barlowe were saying, 'if the churchmen say
the moon is blue, or if they say it is made of cheese, or that there’s actually
a man in it, we must believe [<i>beleve</i>]
them'. </div>
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And so the phrase landed in English. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #e69138; font-family: inherit;"><i>What does it matter?</i></span></h3>
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So you’re not going to see anything different tonight than
on any other full moon (sorry). But
understanding the blue moon does help us to reconnect with a time when mankind
was more in touch with nature and followed its cycles. The lunar months marked the changes of the
season: each of the four seasons was three-cycles of the moon long, and when the fourth cycle started, people knew a new season had started and would know whether they should start ploughing and planting, or watering and growing, or reaping the harvest, or just enjoying a nice long drink (whilst keeping an eye on the moon). But sometimes, just once in
a...um...while, the moon might play a trick and start a fourth cycle before the
end of the season, so it’s important to be aware of the betrayal so you knew what to do with your crops. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<h3>
<i><span style="color: #e69138;">A truly </span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">blue </span><span style="color: #e69138;">blue-moon?</span></i></h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ejDJ8bXP2-Y/Vbp4dmnmEdI/AAAAAAAAAnE/8IqRpi_CW18/s1600/Moon-8602-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ejDJ8bXP2-Y/Vbp4dmnmEdI/AAAAAAAAAnE/8IqRpi_CW18/s320/Moon-8602-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon photographed from Norfolk in April 2010, <br />
following the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull.<br />
Is it blue?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
So, I’ve disappointed you – the moon isn’t actually going to
be blue, or made of cheese, or have a man in it. But once in a while, it can
appear just a little bit blue – but that’s even rarer.
For that you need a volcano spurting a cloud of ash into the
sky. For example, it was said that after the eruption
of Krakatoa in 1883, the moon appeared blue for almost two years. Such an eruption hasn’t tainted our view of
the moon to that extent for a while, although I do recall those great colourful skies
that we had the week after the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 – I was
photographing in Norfolk at the time, where a particularly dense cloud of ash
was visible in the sky. This was especially noticeable in the evenings, as it brought out the exquisite twilight
colours like I’d never seen before. Was
the moon bluer at this time? I’m not sure, but I'll never forget those colours that were to paraphrase Joni Mitchell
once again) ‘like some surrealist invented this night’.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-exuk5TChKXs/Vbp4dY6G7DI/AAAAAAAAAnA/d7LRFilF-zk/s1600/Avocet-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-exuk5TChKXs/Vbp4dY6G7DI/AAAAAAAAAnA/d7LRFilF-zk/s640/Avocet-.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avocet in twilight reflections, Norfolk, April 2010.<br />
The colours were provided by the ash cloud from<br />
Eyjafjallajökull and have not been altered in processing.</td></tr>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-17757717301176267322015-07-28T09:37:00.004-07:002015-07-28T09:37:43.433-07:00Puffin Siesta<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKcwc5PgS8w/VbevgxnXsbI/AAAAAAAAAmc/TN6B3btc_Ls/s1600/Puffinsleep-0928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XKcwc5PgS8w/VbevgxnXsbI/AAAAAAAAAmc/TN6B3btc_Ls/s640/Puffinsleep-0928.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puffin Siesta - Lunga, UK</td></tr>
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By definition, a siesta should really be taken during the sixth hour of a hot day. But really, why wait for the sixth hour? (there's certainly no point in waiting for a hot day!)Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-87040410095276014592015-07-26T15:16:00.002-07:002015-07-26T15:16:21.108-07:00A Hidden Hare<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bU6b3UvLsD0/VbVcB7jw1cI/AAAAAAAAAmI/088KL-FyKO8/s1600/Hare-3121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bU6b3UvLsD0/VbVcB7jw1cI/AAAAAAAAAmI/088KL-FyKO8/s640/Hare-3121.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brown Hare - Nottinghamshire, UK</td></tr>
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<br />
Just like the hare, hidden away, this photo was also hidden away in <a href="http://www.krisworsley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/fire-and-flowers-photographing-with-hay.html" target="_blank">an earlier blogpost</a> a few weeks back. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, as it represented something of a failed attempt to get frame filling shots of hares – ideally it should have been me hiding myself away from them, but my terrible hay fever was frustrating all attempt to do that as my frequent sneezes echoed across the farm.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, a couple of weeks have now passed and I’ve started to look more favourably on it as a picture: the warm evening light, and that great big eye staring out clearly from between the crops. I’d rather have some frame-filling shots, but I’d also like some antihistamines/nasal-spray/eye-drops that work too. Maybe next year...<br />
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-76846373639230097532015-07-21T13:04:00.000-07:002015-07-21T13:04:49.777-07:00A puffin picture that moves<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dj0UYzEqt1o/VatzjI1X9yI/AAAAAAAAAks/6xmFqRcvc7M/s1600/Puffin-0976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dj0UYzEqt1o/VatzjI1X9yI/AAAAAAAAAks/6xmFqRcvc7M/s640/Puffin-0976.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puffin - Lunga, UK</td></tr>
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The more you look at the wings, the more they seem to move. It's quite often said that looking at a photograph can bring back all the feelings from the moment you took it. I was quite badly seasick when I took this picture, and, yes, looking at it just brings all those feelings flooding back.Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-38681747553923156292015-07-18T17:14:00.000-07:002015-07-19T05:09:16.785-07:00New otter pictures<br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8n65GWOMy80/VarpAXhszlI/AAAAAAAAAjc/nUMRj3XRrFM/s1600/Otter-1536-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8n65GWOMy80/VarpAXhszlI/AAAAAAAAAjc/nUMRj3XRrFM/s640/Otter-1536-2.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mum and cub - the mother will shortly leave her cub to enjoy the catch (see images below).</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My friends have two nicknames for me (two that I know about,
at least). The first is ‘Beethoven’,
which is not due to the way in which I dribble when someone opens a tin of
Pedigree Chum, but due to my love of the composer’s music (I wrote my PhD dissertation
on Beethoven and have devoted much of my life to performing and giving lectures on
his music). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The other nickname is ‘otter’. I’ve probably devoted more hours to
photographing otters (and most of that has been spent waiting patiently to
catch a glimpse of one) than to any other single creature. My friends even say I dance like an otter, although
having never seen one dance, I couldn’t possible comment, and my wife says she
first felt attracted to me when I first started giving her a loch-side lecture
on otter behaviour (she’s a keeper, that one).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> It takes a long time
to learn the basics of otter photography.
For me, it took two failed trips to the Isle of Mull, where I sat by the
shoreline every day for up to 14 hours a day, for weeks at a time, and spent my
bedtime reading sessions steeped in books and research papers about otters, trying
to work out how on earth I could share their coastline and get within just a
few feet of them, close enough to take photographs, without disturbing
them. Otters are very sensitive
creatures, and you have to be completely in tune with every movement in their
environment to close enough. However, the
biggest secret is that you have to make sure that you’re in the right position
for them to come close to you – you can’t approach an otter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Learning about their behaviour is a never-ending and fascinating
learning curve, but I have one simple technique which serves as the basis to
this, as it does to all my photography.
When I’m ready to go, I calm myself by taking deep breaths of cold
Scottish air through my nose – coincidentally this is the same principle that
serves as the basis for Buddhist meditation, and I find it really sharpens my
senses, making me very sensitive all the sights, sounds and smells around me,
so that I can move with nature, not against it.
This is also the core principle of Daoist philosophy, feeling nature
around you and moving with it, not stirring it in anyway. I know when I’m in the right frame of mind - I
can feel the roughness of the stones as they turn
and bulge into the soles of my boots as I walk.
The line between moving with nature and taking a chance against her is
clearer than ever, and it’s important that I can stay securely on the right
side of that line. Working this way is
much better than going for the fast buck of chasing the shot; instead, it can
be possible to follow an otter for many hours at a time (my longest otter stalk
to date is about 6 hours, which ended with the otter exiting the loch via a
freshwater stream, and scurrying away to its holt – being sure that you’ve
followed an otter to its final point of rest for the day is the greatest
compliment to your field craft).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On my recent trip back to Mull, I managed to fit in just one
afternoon of otter photography, which is far from ideal since you can never be
certain of seeing an otter in that time (particular since I was out of touch
with the news of the local otter populations and families). Nevertheless, experience did mean I was able
to take some pictures and make sure I had something slightly different to those
pictures I’ve taken previously. I used a
site which I’ve not visited for years, out of the way from the tourist
traps. Privacy from other tourists is
important – even the wildlife tour buses stop when they see a photographer with
a long lens, and they’re particularly good at scaring away the subject that has
taken you hours to track down and get close to.
The downside of this site is that the coastline here is rugged and
difficult to negotiate on foot, and keeping up with an otter as it goes about
its daily business is extremely difficult.
So off I set.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After a few hours of walking, I find a mother otter and her
cub fishing out in the water, and I wait to see if they’ll come into the
shore. The cub is quite mature and can
fish quite efficiently for itself, and when in the water the two are quite
difficult to tell apart. It’s clear,
however, that it still needs a little help with the larger meals, and whenever
the mum catches a large fish or a crab, she sticks it on top of an exposed rock
and then swims back out into the loch, leaving her cub there to tuck in and enjoy
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8JYPp7AIheY/Varo_4W7WOI/AAAAAAAAAjg/0wdc6eEypno/s1600/Otter-1544b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8JYPp7AIheY/Varo_4W7WOI/AAAAAAAAAjg/0wdc6eEypno/s640/Otter-1544b.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mother swims out, leaving her cub to enjoy her catch.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After an hour or so on the move, I’ve managed to move up the
coast ahead of the otters, hiding myself behind a rock just above the
shore. The otters are still working
their way round the coast towards me slowly, but there’s no way I’ll get closer
to the water than this without being spotted.
Usually I would hope to get my camera down on the ground, level of with
sight-line of the otters, although on this exposed, rough coast, I’m having to
keep a slightly higher position, with my camera supported on top of the
enormous boulder that I’m using for cover.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l9bOzTFdn98/VarpHjovKJI/AAAAAAAAAj8/Rw377UtO6Kw/s1600/Otter-1680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l9bOzTFdn98/VarpHjovKJI/AAAAAAAAAj8/Rw377UtO6Kw/s640/Otter-1680.jpg" width="640"></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Eventually the mother brings in a crab and leaves on a pile
of seaweed for her cub – I’ve judged my position (and theirs) just right and
they’re now just below me.
Brilliant. The wind is blowing in
my face, which will help take my scent away from the otters, and will slightly
dampen the sound of my camera. Even
still, I have to be selective in the number of pictures I take since I can hear
every single wet munch of the chewing otter just a few metres in front of me –
I’m close, very close, and I’m not going to take any chances of disturbing
them. This is such a thrill – we’re
breathing the same air; our senses are sharpened to the same splashes of water
and gusts of breeze around us both. I
can hear my own heart beating; I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my
blood, and my finger is shaking on the shutter button.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QhYTw_dpXMg/VarpJ6rYPKI/AAAAAAAAAkE/JJYsDSmM-Bg/s1600/Otter-1729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QhYTw_dpXMg/VarpJ6rYPKI/AAAAAAAAAkE/JJYsDSmM-Bg/s640/Otter-1729.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying another mum-caught crab</td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGV98djelvE/VarpOsWes-I/AAAAAAAAAkM/yoZRfeIv-lU/s1600/Otter-1748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XGV98djelvE/VarpOsWes-I/AAAAAAAAAkM/yoZRfeIv-lU/s320/Otter-1748.jpg" width="320"></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The sun comes out, and the water turns into a marvellous
marble of blues as it reflects the clear sky.
I can take advantage of my high position to make this wonderfully textured
surface part of the image. I take a deep breath of that cool, salty
Scottish air, in through my nose to help me stay sharp and focused. The otter finishes off the crab, looks around
and plunges into the water again to join its mother. They work their way up the coast a little
further, but I need to stay in position for a few minutes if I’m going to leave
the scene undetected. I wait and leave
them to it for the rest of the day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is what it's all about!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3n9A_YjJzQE/VarpPEWksII/AAAAAAAAAkU/Om5ykpZaIJE/s1600/Otter-1784.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3n9A_YjJzQE/VarpPEWksII/AAAAAAAAAkU/Om5ykpZaIJE/s640/Otter-1784.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The high position helped me to photograph the marbled blue water when the sun came out. The sun also gave the otter cub a nice catch-light in the eye, which enlivens the picture.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cub returns to the water</td></tr>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-42958235545658325092015-07-16T04:31:00.001-07:002015-07-16T04:31:17.323-07:00More foxgloves - just a short walk away.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mVx4qT4NhmE/VaeVX5DIncI/AAAAAAAAAi8/hndWKa-Yi-0/s1600/11705298_835440529886620_2140454053080829461_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mVx4qT4NhmE/VaeVX5DIncI/AAAAAAAAAi8/hndWKa-Yi-0/s400/11705298_835440529886620_2140454053080829461_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I've been back in the local woodlands at sunset with the foxgloves. I'm going through one of those hippie fazes of trying to photograph only things within walking distance of my home - it's going well and thankfully I live in a stretch of countryside that is extremely varied. My hay fever still isn't playing fair though, so the larger part of the days are still spent indoors at the moment. I could do with some rain - I love rain (I know, I know, please don't write in).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jJqsobzXBdM/VaeVCXCTRSI/AAAAAAAAAi0/o_aUuLnpOdE/s1600/Foxglove-3552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jJqsobzXBdM/VaeVCXCTRSI/AAAAAAAAAi0/o_aUuLnpOdE/s640/Foxglove-3552.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove at sun set - Nottinghamshire, UK</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-59404422971281517062015-07-14T07:11:00.002-07:002015-07-14T10:55:01.630-07:00Wildlife Photography: How to lose friends and exasperate people.<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea cliffs - Lunga, UK</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine the scene. There’s me perched on top of a high cliff, pointing my camera down towards the crashing waves a few hundred feet below. The sea gulls are flying below me and the guillemots are perched on the lower cliffs (wimps). I’m motionless with fixed vision, some would say fixated. Katherine, my wife, is sitting next to me. I’m waiting for the conversation to start, you know, the conversation every wildlife photographer dreads:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: What are you doing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: I’m taking a photo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: No you’re not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: What?!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: You’re not pressing the button.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: There’s more to taking a photo than just that. I’m waiting for the right moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: How will you know the right moment?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: I’m just waiting for a seagull to fly through that gap there at the same time as a wave crashes on those rocks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: I see. And what do you think the chances of that are, exactly? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: I don’t know ‘exactly’. Probably not great, but there are waves and there are gulls, so there’s chance it could come together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: Mmm. Can’t you just photoshop one on?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You know, add the seagull on after.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: **!*?! No! of course I can’t. *!*?! What must you think of me? [mumble grumble mumble grumble]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: I just think it would be easier. No one would know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: I’m not doing it – that’s for photographers who can’t be bothered to learn how to photograph, and painters who can’t be bothered to learn how to paint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: meow! Someone got off the wrong side of the boat today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moments later, and a gull flies into the space.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: Look, there’s one now!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Click click click click**<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: Can we go now?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: Not yet – it wasn’t quite right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: Why? What was wrong with it? It’s what you said you wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: No – the angle of the wings wasn’t quite right, it didn’t have the right definition in its outline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: Oh for goodness’ sake. Okay, I’m going off to make a phone call. Then can we go?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, this is only the conversation in my head, the one I’m dreading gets started. I’m dreading it because there’s no defence to the antisocial behaviour of a wildlife photographer, and I’m acutely aware of the disruption that carrying a camera can create on a family trip – it’s something I feel extremely guilty about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s not what really happened. In actual fact, the conversation goes something like this:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: What are you doing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: I’m just waiting for a seagull to fly through that gap there at the same time as a wave crashes on those rocks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: Cool – I’m going off to watch the puffins try to land. They’re hilarious. I’ll give you a shout before the boat leaves. I wouldn’t like you to get stuck on the island alone like you did last time [sadly, this part is true].<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Me</span>: thanks, I’ll join you at the puffins in a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Katherine</span>: no hurry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a star.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-59131024961322931662015-07-10T06:12:00.000-07:002015-07-10T06:12:15.191-07:00Fire and flowers: photographing with hay fever.
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-thUQcgY5a4w/VZ_CW0ypnGI/AAAAAAAAAiE/fuwEPz2X3WI/s1600/Foxglove-3139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-thUQcgY5a4w/VZ_CW0ypnGI/AAAAAAAAAiE/fuwEPz2X3WI/s640/Foxglove-3139.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foxglove at sunset - Nottinghamshire, UK.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have hay fever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike
many people’s hay fever, mine always rears it’s ugly, mucous-filled eyes and
streaming nose in July. (Sorry, was that too graphic?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a problem for photographing
wildlife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some subjects are easier than
others, and you might think I would stay away from flowers, but it’s much
easier this way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was out last night photographing brown hares in the fields
round where I live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The technique is
simple: lie in a concealed ditch, covered in camo netting, at the side of a
field and wait quietly for as long as it take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Within an hour or two, the hares will usually be around and passing by,
but you’ve already seen the flaw in my plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do you see the problem? Wait...quietly...very...ACHOOO!!...quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After some good close encounters were ruined, I gave in about
20 minutes before sunset, having gained only some distant shots of the hares
(and no longer being able to open my eyes anyway).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGEs_-_mac4/VZ_CXOU4LfI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/4kvcSrDpk1E/s1600/Hare-3121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGEs_-_mac4/VZ_CXOU4LfI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/4kvcSrDpk1E/s400/Hare-3121.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brown hares have big ears specifically to help them stay away from sneezing photographers.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So instead I walked up into a stretch of woodland to photograph
a few woodland plants and maybe see if I could find some deer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended up photographing foxgloves as the sun
set behind the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wouldn’t usually
use my long lens (500mm) for photographing flowers, but it was already on my
camera from the hares, and it gave me a nice vantage point that I wouldn’t
otherwise have been able to achieve: with such a narrow field of view, I was
able to place the foxgloves directly in front of some intense pockets of light
that were coming through the trees from the sunset (even if I had to stay a
good five metres from the foxgloves in order to fit them in!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So maybe the hayfever helped me think differently about how
to photograph flowers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I still wish
it would just go away so I can open my eyes again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-37005858152398092352015-07-08T15:03:00.000-07:002015-07-08T15:03:50.751-07:00Birds at the table? Let them eat cake.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9DTDokIlli4/VZ2cKRyxtdI/AAAAAAAAAhw/wCiohC_2Y6U/s1600/Chaffinch-2578.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9DTDokIlli4/VZ2cKRyxtdI/AAAAAAAAAhw/wCiohC_2Y6U/s640/Chaffinch-2578.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A visitor came to the table where we were eating lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little chaffinch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was eager for the sugar, the fat, and the
crumbs of our cakes were good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The cakes were our little treat we gave to ourselves bought
from a little tea shop after a short walk on a long, hot day; quite naughty, really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Such a</span> close encounter from such a bold but slender
little chaffinch was perhaps the better treat however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We moved the plate a little closer to her,
away from ourselves, and we encouraged her to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She flew away with some, perhaps carrying it to
her nest, and then she returned for more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cake is good for birds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bread is less good, like eating an innutritious stuffing, it fills them up and does little else - and it can be quite harmful to young chicks (<a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/whatfood/scraps.aspx" target="_blank">read the RSPB’s advice here</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should like to be
a bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps little chaffinch chicks
don’t have to eat their crusts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps
they can skip straight to dessert.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So if a bird comes to your table, don’t offer them bread. Let
them eat cake. It'll do them good (and, if I may say so , it'll do you good too).</span></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-89280751216248465482015-07-07T02:01:00.000-07:002015-07-07T02:01:04.949-07:00The photographer and the solitary piper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-feXSNXvDGMw/VZuUq-iWKEI/AAAAAAAAAhc/unTjmUB01Qs/s1600/Common%2BSandpiper-1878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-feXSNXvDGMw/VZuUq-iWKEI/AAAAAAAAAhc/unTjmUB01Qs/s640/Common%2BSandpiper-1878.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I can’t stay away from Mull.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most people who have been there can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I spent a few days up there last week and, even though I didn’t do much
photographing, there’s still such a wealth of wildlife that the camera kept
creeping out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the backdrops along
the shore, those washes of pastel blues and yellows, are a distinctive sign of
this beautiful place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This time I was away on a family holiday, but wildlife
photography is best done alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At best,
it requires acute concentration combined with a sense of inner stillness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When working with nature, you follow its
rhythms and moods, forcing nothing, no clock ticking, no specified time to stop
and go home (except for the setting sun, of course). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sandpiper is a good illustration of this lifestyle;
a largely solitary bird that thrives in this environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much as I love solitary days, however, I
couldn’t live like this; not all the time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were on the way back to for dinner when I took this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stopped to watch some seals in the water
and I crawled down to the shore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we
went back and shared a hearty feast, all four of us, leaving the sandpiper to
its solitary life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-4092054301218620572015-06-24T02:06:00.001-07:002015-06-24T02:06:24.748-07:00Hedgehogs at home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shtK2hdjF00/VYpya-OwW3I/AAAAAAAAAhI/jXd3cQ2Luo0/s1600/Hedgehog-0147-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shtK2hdjF00/VYpya-OwW3I/AAAAAAAAAhI/jXd3cQ2Luo0/s640/Hedgehog-0147-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've hardly taken any photos this year - this is not a bad thing. I've just been spending time doing other things I enjoy, mostly music, extensive weekly travelling (the freelance/part-time jobbing lifestyle) and spending time with the people who matter most to me when I'm at home. I'm lucky that I make a living from something that I love, but <span class="text_exposed_show">nature for me gives meaning to everything else in life, so it's important to make time for that too.<br /><br /> But nature always starts at home, and here at home, the hedgehogs are back in the garden. Last year, we fed and fattened them up through the summer and autumn months, and we have three regular visitors in the garden now. I've even managed to convince my wife that I shouldn't mow the lawn as it doesn't look natural in the photos. But it's getting a bit long even for the photos now, so that won't last long. After all, the hogs keep their little snouts close to the ground, buried in the grass, lifting them only to breathe the air and lick their lips. It's tasty outside. Really tasty.</span>Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-54647382116273811052014-02-25T03:58:00.000-08:002014-02-25T03:58:03.500-08:00Split Rock and Starry Sky<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U-OMsFblPXc/UwyBnjnOZCI/AAAAAAAAAfk/c65j8dW932c/s1600/Starry+Sky-0501-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U-OMsFblPXc/UwyBnjnOZCI/AAAAAAAAAfk/c65j8dW932c/s1600/Starry+Sky-0501-2.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Split Rock and Starry Sky, Isle of Mull<br />(one exposure of 90 minutes)</td></tr>
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<h3>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>“We should not regard the courses and revolutions of the
heavenly bodies as the operations of some deity who dutifully performs these
functions…we must consider that it is the task of natural science to determine
with precision the causes of the most important phenomena and that our
happiness is bound up with understanding of the nature of celestial phenomena.”</i></span></span></h3>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i><i>Epicurus (741-271 BC) in a letter to Herodotus
(translated by George K. Strodach). </i></span></span></h3>
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There are some places on earth that we travel to just once,
and some places we return to again and again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In many cases, the destinations that require our repeated attention may
be grand, celebrated cities, landscapes, forests or wildernesses, but sometimes
there are small features, little crumbs of interest that ask to be tasted again
and again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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I have a fascination with this rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It brings to life so many things I’m
interested in – the permanence of nature, the wearing effect of time on the
geological elements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a huge natural
monument, about 12 feet tall and split right down the middle as if some giant
had pounded it onto the ground in order to split it and search for
fossils.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ifidoONOU6M/UwyBqtHwnYI/AAAAAAAAAfw/0PFHxtvmB60/s1600/Rock-0494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ifidoONOU6M/UwyBqtHwnYI/AAAAAAAAAfw/0PFHxtvmB60/s1600/Rock-0494.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Split rock in silhouette: a trial photo I took to get the right composition <br />for my Starry Sky picture (though I quite like this one in its own right).</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i style="font-weight: normal;">"Sometimes people say that staring at the night’s sky makes them realise their insignificance against the vastness of the universe, but this experience had the opposite effect as I realised that I was held, transfixed within a system of working nature more magnificent than I could possibly comprehend."</i></span></h3>
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I’ve been trying to do something photographically
interesting with it for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found
it impossible to escape the famous split rock photograph of the late Galen
Rowell (see below), but also I wondered if there’s something else I could add.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZdJmlCl9oQs/UwyBt-p-LRI/AAAAAAAAAgA/d4gb4NWpWi0/s1600/Split+Rock+and+Cloud_slideshow_604x500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZdJmlCl9oQs/UwyBt-p-LRI/AAAAAAAAAgA/d4gb4NWpWi0/s1600/Split+Rock+and+Cloud_slideshow_604x500.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Galen Rowell's classic photo of a split<br />rock and a cloud.</td></tr>
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But Rowell’s wasn’t the only image I couldn’t get out of my
mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other was Wenzel Hablik’s 1909
painting, ‘Starry Sky. An attempt’, a picture of the cosmos against an earthly
landscape which combines astronomical observation with a fantastical vision of
the cosmos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can still remember the moment I saw this painting
for the first time, and was struck by Hablik’s combination of nature and
Expressionism in the boldness and colour of the shapes creating a great arc in
the sky – it seems to combine realism and mythology all in one, which is what I
generally try to do in my photography.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUPZHCT3q2g/UwyBr0ABCpI/AAAAAAAAAf4/yJK73q2IC54/s1600/Hablik+Starry+Sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUPZHCT3q2g/UwyBr0ABCpI/AAAAAAAAAf4/yJK73q2IC54/s1600/Hablik+Starry+Sky.jpg" height="318" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wenzel Hablik, <i>Starry Sky, an attempt</i> (1909)</td></tr>
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For my Starry Sky photo, I made a composition of the rock in
silhouette against the darkening sky, being sure to face north in order to
catch the swirl of stars around the northern star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the final version, I wasn’t able to
silhouette the stones due to feint reflection of distant street lamps, which
lit them gradually and made them visible throughout the 90 minute exposure
(though they were still too dark to say by the naked eye).<br />
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I took just one, 90-minute exposure, between about 11pm and
1:30am, spending most of that time lying on the beach watching the shooting
stars in the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Sometimes people say that staring at the night’s sky makes
them realise their insignificance against the vastness, but this experience had
the opposite effect as I realised that I was held, transfixed within a system
of working nature more magnificent than I could possibly comprehend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Krishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099229938100682615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673616133413019947.post-49338332138112930442014-02-11T02:06:00.002-08:002014-02-11T02:06:36.968-08:00Save the Vale!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrHLN7nZYrc/UvnwlF8uObI/AAAAAAAAAfE/caZH7BvuI_I/s1600/Mallard+Family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrHLN7nZYrc/UvnwlF8uObI/AAAAAAAAAfE/caZH7BvuI_I/s1600/Mallard+Family.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrHLN7nZYrc/UvnwlF8uObI/AAAAAAAAAfE/caZH7BvuI_I/s1600/Mallard+Family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>I heard this week from wildlife photographer Terry Whittaker
that there are plans to sell of parts of Reddish Vale Country Park in Stockport
for development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a site which
means a lot to me as this is the place where I learnt about nature more than
anywhere else. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have spent countless
hours here over the years walking, watching and photographing the wildlife, and
not to mention just sitting for hours of peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I used to live in Reddish just a short walk away from the park, and even
since moving to Nottinghamshire, I still make sure I return to the park as
often as I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a beautiful
stretch of land which currently supports a great number of land and water
species and offers a great haven in the growing sprawl of Manchester’s urban life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xf_0v3MZUrU/UvnwmisAt5I/AAAAAAAAAfY/1Xv9wHGRgAo/s1600/Woodlouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xf_0v3MZUrU/UvnwmisAt5I/AAAAAAAAAfY/1Xv9wHGRgAo/s1600/Woodlouse.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a>I have tried to demonstrate the diversity of habitat here with my pictures, all of which were taken within about 50 metres of each other at the park – there
are so many worlds within that little space of land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> However, photographs can offer only a taster, and can never truly do justice to representing the true smell of fresh air and the sound of birdsong continuing undisturbed. If you're in the area, please pay the park a visit and see for yourself.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Our green land deserves to be valued for itself rather than
being considered a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tabula rasa </i>for building developers. </div>
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<a href="https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-vale-2013" target="_blank">Please sign the petition here.</a></div>
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For more information on<a href="http://www.reddishvalecountrypark.com/" target="_blank"> Reddish Vale Country Park</a>, its campaign and its stunning scenery and wildlife, please <a href="http://www.reddishvalecountrypark.com/" target="_blank">visit the website here</a> and then please visit the park.</div>
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