Hampton Wood - bluebells

An outing with my photography group. We last went to this bluebell wood in 2022, and this year the flowers are three weeks earlier. This recent visit confirmed my experience that panoramic photographs of masses of bluebells are very difficult. First, it's difficult to make an 'interesting' image, as distinct from: 'here's a mass of bluebells to look at'. Second, getting the light, the exposure and the depth of field just right requires planning and care, and the use of a tripod - the low light under the trees, plus the need for a narrow aperture, means a longer exposure than will work with hand-held. And none of these can be achieved in a casual walk-round with a group, on a pre-scheduled day regardless of the weather! So in this selection there's only one image that's not a close-up - the dead, fallen tree created enough 'interest' and I was lucky with the light at that moment. Other than that, I chose images of detail rather than quantity.

Kenilworth Castle (2): mostly windows and doorways

This was outing with my U3A photography group. After living here for 50 years, and having visited Kenilworth Castle more times than I care to count, it was always going to be an interesting challenge to find new ways of looking at the place. However, the weather forecast was for a clear sky and bright sun, so I was hoping for interesting sharp shadows, perpectives on rugged stones picked out at interesting angles . . .  As the day dawned, we discovered that the forecasters had changed their minds overnight! The day was murky and misty, with a dull grey sky, posing additional challenges. So I made a decision to work entirely in monochrome.

The first two images are of the same window, viewed in opposite directions.

And then, just as we were leaving, a serendipitous vista with figures positioned in the right place

Kenilworth Castle (1): mostly outcrops of stone

This was outing with my U3A photography group. After living here for 50 years, and having visited Kenilworth Castle more times than I care to count, it was always going to be an interesting challenge to find new ways of looking at the place. However, the weather forecast was for a clear sky and bright sun, so I was hoping for interesting sharp shadows, perpectives on rugged stones picked out at interesting angles . . .  As the day dawned, we discovered that the forecasters had changed their minds overnight! The day was murky and misty, with a dull grey sky, posing additional challenges. So I made a decision to work entirely in monochrome.

And then three views of the Elizabethan Garden

Flowers in monochrome

A different way of looking at flowers.

And some in sepia.

Early spring in the garden

After weeks of cold, grey, wet, dispiritng weather it seems the corner has been turned - the plants certainly think so.

St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry

This was an outing with my U3A photography group. The original plan was to go to a nearby National Trust property, where there is a fine display of snowdrops at this time of year. But it was raining hard all day, so we made a last-minute change to one of our indoor alternatives. St Mary's Guildhall is a Mediaeval building with historic fabric to be preserved - so, low light levels, photography allowed but no flash (and no tripods); a bit of a nightmare for getting half-way decent photos. What follows are barely half-way decent!