My free Friday afternoon led me to the London Ice Sculpting Festival, located in the midst of Canary Wharf skyscrapers on Wood Wharf. It was breathtaking to see the international sculptors from all over the globe race against each other to carve wonderfully intricate designs into their monolithic blocks of ice. The work in progress is taken during the "Freestyle" competition in which the sculptors had only 4 hours to carve their masterpieces. Additionally an unusually warm and rainy January evening with temperatures of approx 9 degrees resulted in the exhibits dripping and melting while being worked upon!
The super low-noise capabilities of the X-M1 deserve another mention (see post from Westminster a week ago)... most of the below photos were shot at ISO 3200-6400! (Photos have not been post processed / edited). Technical details: Fuji X-M1 with Fujinon 16-50mm lens.
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More experimentation with the Dramatic Tone filter - photos taken in Wokefield Park (home to the BMW Group Academy, hence the photos) and walking along the amusingly named Goodboys Lane.
Technical details: Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens. A break in the torrential rain and gale force winds allowed us to take a pleasant (albeit muddy!) walk around Overton - home to a Roald Dahl museum (closed on xmas eve) and was once the site of a great sheep fair where 50,000 animals would be driven to the pastures by the river to be sold. There is also the remnants of an important milling industry - flour, silk production and cotton paper for bank notes. However, the historical highlight of the walk was an adventurous walk on The Harrow Way (fifth photo) - claimed to be Britain's oldest road that can be traced from Dorset to the Kentish coast. "Tin-traders, farmers, hunters, drovers, warriors and pilgrims have trodden out its course over perhaps five millenia - maybe much longer[!]" (Sommerville quotes in Walks in the Country). All the more dramatic as many trees lining the edges of the road had fallen in the recent winds and created and obstacle-course-like trek through what I thought was going to be a shortcut. I thought the sign shown on the photo was ironic! Finally, this area is also the inspirational setting of Richard Adam's classic tale Watership Down.
The more regular Capture the Soul blog readers will be aware that I rarely delve into the world of Instagram-esque photographic effects. However, something (I'm not sure what!) inspired me to play with the Art filters on the PEN Mini: most of the below have been taken on with using Dramatic Tone, however the second and third use the Grainy Film and Diorama filters (the latter I noticed is frequently used in the great BBC series Sherlock). Lastly, photos 5 and 8 have used the Pop Art filter. Technical details: Technical details: Olympus E-PM1 with 14-42mm lens. Encompassing a PGA-standard golf course and set in 250 acres of landscaped grounds, these photos are taken in and around the 18th century Mansion House in Wokefield Park. An Asian wedding was taking place, although unfortunately had to be cancelled due to a fire in the kitchen shortly after these photos were taken! Also located on site is the UK BMW Training Academy – hence the car photos. And I could not resist the temptation to roam through nearby fields and farms trying to capture the elegant beauty and vibrance of the fantastic sunset the following evening!
Technical details: Sony a850 with Sigma 50-500mm (Bigma) and Tokina 19-35mm lenses. Strongly recommended by a triathlon-organiser that we had met the previous day, we braved the cold winds and headed out to Calleva, one of the oldest settlements in Britain.
The lost town of Calleva Atrebatum was an Iron Age and Roman town which can be found deep in the north Hampshire countryside, outside of Reading. “But where once there was a busy, populous centre, now there are only green fields. All that is now visible above ground, of a settlement that thrived for more than 500 years between the first century BC and the fifth or sixth century AD, are sections of the late Iron Age fortifications of rampart and ditch, the Roman amphitheatre and, most impressive of all, the entire circuit of the late Roman town walls. Why did a major settlement develop in this location; and why is there no successor medieval and modern town? There are no certain answers to either of these questions, but trying to resolve them is one of the eternal fascinations of Calleva” BBC History. The old church, located just outside of the city walls, was built in 313 AD when Christianity was no longer a proscribed religion. Click or hover over to read the captions. Technical details: Sony a850 with Tokina 19-35mm lens. Today's blog post is brought to you by Dan...
It is not often that we venture to the east of the capital, or perhaps more accurately, anywhere east of the Metropolitan line. There is some logic to this unofficial frontier that has come to dictate our walks, at least on costs and convenience grounds given that we mostly set off from Niraj’s base in north-west London. Nevertheless, it would be hard to deny that Niraj’s inexplicable preference for the West [of England as opposed to the whole world] also plays a part. That said, the Epping Forest Walk marked an exception to this long-standing convention. Covering some 6,000 acres, the forest is London’s largest open space and stretches 12 miles from Manor Park in east London to just north of Epping in Essex. The forest is also of national and international conservation importance with two thirds designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation. Our walk began not far from Chingford Station at Connaught Water– one of a number of man-made lakes in the area that were formerly gravel excavation pits. The circular route took us on a well-trodden track through the heart of the forest, northwards to High Beech and back. Although famous for its ancient oak, beech and hornbeams that have stood for many centuries, the forest is home to an astonishing variety of trees - around twenty species in all. Just before halfway emerged the hamlet of High Beech, the only settlement within Epping Forest. Being Good Friday, we caught a procession heading towards the Holy Innocents Church – a quaint church entirely embosomed by the forest. On reaching, we stood for a brief while in the church’s graveyard, musing momentarily on the impermanence of all things, before entering the church for some inner repose. A little while later, we headed further on, passing the Epping Forest Visitor Centre to the King’s Oak pub for a spot of well-earned lunch. The return leg took us eastwards and back south through Loughton Camp – the site of an iron-age hideout, and along the small streamlet of Loughton Brook meandering its way through the forest, before eventually reaching the far side of Connaught Water where we had begun. Technical details: Sony a850 with Sigma 50-500mm (Bigma) lens. A small collection of photos taken over a few visits to Stocker's Lake and the Rickmansworth Aquadrome...
Technical details: Sony a850 with Sigma 50-500mm (Bigma) lens. Another cold but beautiful winter evening at Stocker's Lake, Rickmansworth. The place was alive with the sounds of birds, and I was lucky to witness the mating of Canada geese, a sight rarely seen. Having watched the two romantically courting side-by-side for a few minutes, I decided to stop my walk and wait for some action.. it paid off.
Some info from canadagoose.org: Canada geese (and swans) mate for life. Mated pairs not only raise and protect their young together, but also look out for one another over the course of their lives. One mate will stay by the other's side if injured or dying, even if the rest of the flock is moving on. They are extremely devoted to one another. And further description of the mating / courtship adapted from preservewildlife.org. These steps can be seen in the photo story below (although I've added a few captions on the photos too - hover over or click to expand and read): During mating season, couples will go off together and be alone. ... The displays that the males perform range from the Head-Up-Tail-Up (male throws his head back and jerks with his tail feathers erect) to the Grunt (male rears out of the water and slowly sinks back down while making a loud grunting sound). Both the male and accepting female then continues the courtship by performing other displays separately or in unison. Mating occurs in the spring on the water and at night time (that’s why they aren’t seen mating). Copulation begins with both sexes bobbing their heads up and down and touching their bills to the water horizontally with their necks extended. As the female extends her neck and her wings flattened out, the male “joins” her (while in the water). The female is usually partially submerged or completed submerged (with only head out of water) while copulation takes place. The male stands on her back. After copulation the female bathes while the male faces her and then he bathes. Technical details: Sony a850 with Sigma 50-500mm (Bigma) lens. Excitement to test out the new (second-hand) Bigma lens (interesting page here) took me to the Aquadrome on an unusually dry but cold winter day. This winter has taught me not to take the sunshine for granted and I was keen to make use of it, or more so the absence of bad weather (not unlike how we confuse an absence of suffering with happiness!) A long walk with this behemoth certainly gave my arms a workout, but after enjoying the 50-500mm range and seeing the results it was certainly worth it.
Technical details: Sony a850 with Sigma 50-500mm (Bigma) lens. A small selection of macro photos taken in the wintery weather.
Technical details: Sony a850 with Sigma 105mm lens. |
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