Around Canary Wharf

The Dome from Canary Wharf

For those who know and love the game

Docklands

The more time I spend around Docklands the more I actually find myself liking it!

This picture was taken as the sun was setting over the city. We were walking along the riverside to Limehouse, having had dinner near Canary Wharf.

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Flowers

Just a flower in the garden of the place we stayed on holiday.

Was it only a week ago that we were staring at Stonehenge and wondering where to go next?

Sadly, because I don't particularly want to carry my camera around with when I'm walking, I don't take as many photographs as I could.

But then again, sometimes the best subjects are just outside your door! These plants were in the small garden outside the converted cart shed in which we stayed.

I quite like taking pictures of flowers and plants. This is just using the normal lens on the camera. The trick is narrowing the depth of field. But you knew that anyway!

Most new cameras have a flower setting that does it all for you. I remember the days when you had to change the shutter speed and balance the aperture to get the exposure right and the depth of field just where you wanted it. Then you waited for the film to be developed only to discover you hadn't got it quite right. Happy days!

I like the waxy texture on these buds.

Seen at last!

Ever since we came to Upminster we've heard the stories about the wild parakeets that live locally. In the summer we could hear them calling, but never quite got to see them. Well, as I opened the curtains this morning, there they were sitting in the tree just outside the window.

With the light behind them it was almost impossible to photograph them, but I gave it a go and although not very clear, here's the proof that these birds really do live wild at the bottom of our garden!

In the first picture you can just about make out the bird sitting in the far side of the tree near the centre of the photograph.

When they fly, they are really obvious as these brightly coloured flashes cross your field of view. But sitting in the tree they blend in rather too well at times! There are at least two others in this picture but I can't see them!

In the second picture there's a solitary bird sitting on a branch on the edge of the tree. If only it was in the afternoon the sun would have been from the right and he would have been beautifully lit! Oh well, at least I've seen them close up (the tree is only 6 or 8 feet from the window).

Meet the squatters!

A little while ago we went up into the loft of our new home to put down some flooring so that we could use the space for a little bit of storage, and I mean storage! Christmas decoration, suitcases. Not the stuff we ought to throw away but can't bring ourselves to throw away!

Anyway, while we were up there we discovered we had some uninvited guests in the shape of two wasp nests. And when I say nests I mean two large nests. I've seen nests before, but nothing quite like the large one in the picture, and two of them is quite disconcerting when you come face to face with them.

They'll be going soon, most of the wasps are gone, at least I hope they are. I'm not intending to poke these things with a stick anytime soon to find out either!

So, for your amazement, here are our two nests.

The Gate

I went out the other day with my camera to take a few pictures of the new footpath that has been put in opposite the house. It leads into the new wood that has been planted in the last few years.

Inadvertently I switched my camera into black & white mode! however it was a nice trip down memory lane of my first forays into the world of photography when I was quite young. 

This is my favourite of the group of photographs I took that day.

Get inside a camera (2)

Here's a link to the clip from the BBC's "The Genius of Photography" series when they built a camera obscura.

When you see it I wonder if like me, you'll be wondering what it would be like to do this.

Get inside a camera

I was watching a programme about photography, something that has been a long time interest of mine, when I saw something I'd love to try. Blacking out the windows of a room, somewhere in Venice I think, a small hole was cut in the plastic sheet used for blackout.

All of a sudden the upside-down image of the outside world is projected onto the wall of the room. It was amazing. 

Strikes me that this would be a great thing to try in a classroom. We're  constantly being told of the need to bring stuff to life in school, if you have a classroom with an interesting view and lots of natural light falling on the image it might be worth trying. Perhaps they might let me try it at my local school if I ask them nicely!

Just another picture

While I was taking pictures of the frozen birdbath, I turned around and noticed the sun breaking through behind the yew tree that stands in the corner of our garden.

It's probably quite a young tree given the longevity of yews, and I guess it was planted because the house and the church with its graveyard all occupy the same plot with the other buildings. 

Still, it's a nice tree.

Falling temperatures

Not quite the frozen lakes and rivers of colder climates, but our frozen birdbath reminds us that it's been cold in recent days.

It could do with a clean too, the leaf probably came from either the pear tree or apple tree nearby.