Cornwall Holiday day 2 May 23 2016

This morning we are going to see Wheal Coates mine which is near St Agnes.  after a late breakfast we are on the road, down the narrow coastal road!  

               Its a beautiful blue sky warm sunny day , which is not good for taking photographs !

                                                       Mollster is looking out to sea :)

Time to head to Godrevy now.............................

 Jan has caught a really bad cold and she is not feeling up to walking around here , so i take my camera and go for a walk , the flowers on the cliff side are looking great in the sun :)

                                            a long exposure to smooth out the sea movement.

                                                               


                                              Stunning coastline all around Cornwall

                                                     Mollster looking beautiful

                                                 Another long exposure image.

                                       This wall is covered in flowers , Amazing to see .

 I have rushed down to Holywell but Just missed the sunset , i managed this one image and the colour was gone!    Bummer!

                                                                      Gull rock sunset.

Cornwall Holiday May 2016 day 1

Arriving in Cornwall at our usual caravan site at Cubert near Newquay/Holywell bay    We set up then drive down to Holywell to give the Holywell Horrors a run on the beach as they have been stuck in the car for 6 & half hours ..

                                                            Gull Rock is a great landmark!

 

Jan looks very Happy 

 

 After dinner we have decided to go to Bedruthan Steps for the evening ,  im not sure if we can get down onto the beach as the tide might be still too high.            After walking down to the cliff edge it is clear we are NOT going to get down onto the beach!      But its a lovley walk along the cliff tops anyhow with the flowers open , We have always been here later in the summer and therefor  have not seen them so will make for some great images.

        The sun is low now giving nice long shadows, a long exposure smooths out the water .

                                               80 seconds  f14 with big stopper nd filter

 There are some big waves crashing onto the rocks , along exposure smoothes out the spray over the rocks.

                400mm lens image with a fast  1/500 th shutterspeed to freeze the water movement.

        The setting sun has reflected onto the spray thrown up as the waves crash against the rocks.

                                                Fast shutterspeed 400mm lens image

      Now for sunset , to get the flowers with nice warm light and a long exposure on the water :)
                 2 frames merged, 46 seconds for foreground and 50 seconds for sky and water.

                                     5dsr & 17-40 L   with Lee little stopper and 0.6 nd grad

Tomorrow we are going to some where different   lol ....................

Rannerdale Bluebells May 16 th 2016

It is time to drive up to  Cumbria to see the famous  Bluebells which grow on the fellside below Rannerdale Knot.
The weather forecast is mixed with some sunny spells, so not too bad.
Arriving at the small car parking area at  Rannerdale , i leave the Terrible Twosome in the car while i photograph the bluebells.  its not warm so they will be ok for half an hour.

                                  Through the gate..............................

                                                Sun lighting up streaks in the bluebells.

      Walking along the main path towards the stream , bluebells on either side looking good .

                                                        5 frame vertical panorama.

I have crossed over the bridge and walking along the far side  where the main area is on the steep sloping fellside.

                                 Glorious view towards Mellbrake over Crummock water.

 

Looking back up the valley

I have collected the Terrible Twosome and we are going to walk up the valley and up to the summit of Rannerdale Knotts.

                                        Getting higher now with great views.

                                                               Up on the tops now

                                           Buttermere in the distance now behind Mollster.

                                           Chester poses for a moment , a rare ocurance :)

                              Fleetwith Pike, Haystacks  and Buttermere in the valley below.

                                                            Time to head back down now.

Back down to the bluebells, and some nice light to do a couple of long exposure images with the Lee Big stopper ( 10 stop nd filter)

                                                        this is my favorite , 70 seconds f 14

                                                 The end of a great morning in the lakes

White Face Darters at Whixall Moss may 2016

I trip back to Whixall in Shropshire to hopefully photograph the rare White Face Darters. 
Its warm and sunny , but a bit breezy  , so should be able to find some fairly easily.

On the middle pool there are plenty of males flying , but too far away.  i am having to use 100 - 4000 mm lens on the 5dsr and crop to 100% to get these images .

                             the dragons old skin is on the grass stem in this image.

                 A Female perched just above the water , i think this one has just been laying eggs .

                                                                         A pair in cop

                                            A Male showing its mature red colouration

                               an 8 frame focus stack taken with 100mm macro lens on 5d mk2

                                                           A Beautifully perched male :)

Dragons and Bugs at Whixall moss may 2016

Two days of bug hunting for me now ,   Firstly a morning shooting anything i can find along the Whixall Moss reserve :)    a lovely warm day and there should be loads to shoot .

                       First subject is a St Marks fly  aka  March fly  , Biblio species.
black and hairy with shiny body makes for a difficult exposure on these flies .

Waking along the canal bank i have just spotted a Spotted eye Dronefly, Eristalinus sepulchralis .  i very rarely see these , there are 2 species, one lives in coastal areas whereas  this species is found mainly in marshy areas.
i manage to get just a couple of frames before it disappears .

                 On to the mosses and i quickly spot a large Adder , but it was too quick for me !!!!!

                     A Large Red Damselfly perched near where i usually find the Green Hairstreaks.

                                 Its a bit dull but a couple of Green Hairstreaks are flying.

I am now at the far end along the canal bank on the boardwalk section,  hopefully to find a few Raft Spiders on the pools.

I cant believe what i have just found!     an Emperor Moth ,  i have never seen one of these before.

        Here is a Raft Spider, Dolomedes Fimbriatus. Time to put the mpe-65 macro lens on

That's better..........

                                                            Just come out of the water

                                                 A Brimstone feeding on the canal bank

                                                                    And a Speckled Wood

                                                                     Noisy creatures  lol

                                    The end of a great morning , Dragon hunting next