Swanning Around Shapwick II

 

Another image of a swan made at Shapwick NNR. For some reason, I failed to mention how much I like the image in the previous post - in fact, I think that its everything that I've been trying to capture in all the years that I've been making images at Shapwick.

So, here's another from the same set. It took me a number of tries to get it right. I was working at the very far end of the zoom range and trying to get an acceptable depth of field, so this is the only other image that was usable.

Swanning Around Shapwick

 

Yet another image from Shapwick Heath NNR.

And Again

Another image from Shapwick NNR.

Shapwick. Again.

Yet another image from Shapwick NNR, made recently.

Reserves Committed

Another, and the final, image from the Shapwick set.

Reflecting on Shapwick

Yet another image image from Shapwick NNR. Sorry about the punning title.

Back to Shapwick

Yet another image from Shapwick NNR, my favourite fall-back.

Four Trees

How much longer can this go on?

Two Trees

Following the runaway success of the previous image, here's another of trees at Shapwick.

One Tree

This image fits my rules that I've previously described for images of trees. I went with a sepia tone to match the other images in this series. It's also the first image made this year that I've posted. Pity that its not more prepossessing.

More trees next time. 

Swanning Around

Yet another image from Shapwick and one that has made it against the odds, really. Right at the end of the afternoon - I think that the sun had already gone down, in fact - in failing light, at the long end of the zoom, with a shutter speed of 1/30, the lens stopped right down and the low battery indicator on, I managed to get this image of a swan.

The swan itself is a bit soft was a result, but I like the colours and, frankly I'm a bit short of images at the moment, hence the lack of posts recently. 

Shapwick Summer II

Another image from the Shapwick set. Again, the composition is a bit iffy, but the colours are nice.

Shapwick Summer

A few weeks ago I found myself at Shapwick NNR, which is not one of my usual summer haunts, even though this blog might give the impression that I live there. Anyway, I took along my Alpha 77 with my macro lens with the intention of shooting some of the flora.

Not sure about the composition of this image, but the bouquet is nice.

Shapwick Spring

Another image from the weekend's Shapwick Heath visit.

A Tor of Shapwick

A bit of a break from nocturnal Bristol, to which we will return shortly.

So, we had sunny weather for the first day of March and our first visit to Shapwick Heath this year.

This image was made looking almost due east from the decoy hide towards Glastonbury and the Tor, which is the blurry rectangle that you can see in the background.

The Mystical Fence Post of Avalon

The Hawk and Owl Trust have opened a new nature reserve at Shapwick recently. We visited over the Easter break and I made this image of a fence post in one of the pools. The whole place has views of Glastonbury Tor, hence the title of the, er, post.

Sun, Sky, Shapwick

Another image from the visit to Shapwick.

Meeting at Shapwick Heath

Back in February I found myself paying another visit to Shapwick Heath NNR with my son. I also, by complete coincidence, encountered Ian Dart and his partner Kate. In amongst all this socialising, I made a few images. This is one of them - obviously - and there are a couple more that I may post over the next week or so.

Incidentally, Mr Dart has also identified the blue flower as a grape hyacinth, so he wins the promised prestigious mention in this blog.  

Moments In Time

This is the final image from Shapwick that I'm going to post.

Over the holiday, I watched a BBC programme called "Moments in Time". This was a syncretic fusion of an end of year news review and a photography show, which to quote the show's web-page, told "The story of 2013 told through the high-impact images of the year, exploring how photography has changed in the age of smartphones, social media and the selfie."

So, we were treated to twelve images, one per month, some discussion of the news story and the details of how the image came to be made. The latter included a brief description of the kit used, and this was interesting - well, to me, at least. I noticed a couple of things:

Firstly, there was a definite hierarchy in camera phones - iPhones were named as such, everything else was just a "smartphone". Obviously, the media types at the BBC are Apple fanbois.

Secondly, despite all the guff about camera phones and social media, around half of the images featured in the show were actually made by professional photographers.

Thirdly, and related to the second point, the kit used fell into two distinct groups - camera phones and high-end DSLRs.There was only one image - of Andy Murray celebrating his win at Wimbledon - that was made with an entry level DSLR, by a member of the crowd.

So, what did I glean from this? Well, I suppose that it supports my view that the days of a mass market for DSLRs are numbered. Camera phones will take over the point and shoot market, mirrorless cameras will come to dominate the mid-range with DSLRs relegated to the professional market, along with medium format.

However, we all know the quality of my prognosticative powers. 

Another Return

Another image from the Christmas Eve session at Shapwick NNR.

And, in line with my New Year resolution, that's all I'm going to write on the subject.