Photography – Page 17 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

A productive if wet weekend at home

Luton Airport Monday 07:50 it must be EZY181 to Belfast, and just because it has become a tradition here is a blog post.

The weekend was a real wash out, but we did manage to get some stuff done round the house.

We went to the pictures on Friday to see Salmon fishing in the Yemen, which was not a cinematic great but an excellent film with a great story line, well worth watching. On the way home we went to Tesco for the ingredients for a Korma curry paste.

On Saturday I was up early and gave the kitchen a quick wipe, then once helen was up I put up two roller blinds, one at top of stairs the other in the back bedroom. Two more windows and we will be 100% blinds.

Then it was off to Wendover for me to get a haircut and Helen some shopping therapy. Luckily for the bank balance there was no queue at the barbers so Helen’s spend time was kept to a minimum. It was still lashing down with rain.

Once home I got out my laptop with the aim of finding a way to present my panorama tours on the web. The method needed to have an HTML5 option as I want it to work on ipads and iphones. I found a project on google code called Bigshot http://code.google.com/p/bigshot/ it looked promising. It used the Microsoft deepzoom format, but also came with a wrapper that allowed the directory structure to be stored in a single file with a php script to serve the images out on demand. It was interesting to see such an approach.

Tried as I might I could not get the thing to work, my javascript knowledge is just not good enough, I did however learn a lot about debugging js using chrome and firefox, so the hours were not wasted. In the end I have reverted back to using the utility that comes with ptgui http://www.ptgui.com/which produces a set of images and page with html5 and flash options, it is also gyro scope aware which means you can move around with a device and the panorama moves with you. My plan is to develop a php script to display a panorama directory based on parameters passed to it. As for Bigshot I might have to revisit it someday.

Helen made the most of the day by putting the stuff in the garage that belonged in the dining room back where it belonged, and sorting out a couple of the kitchen draws that have become draws of small stuff we can’t be bothered to put away in the right place. Later in the after noon I made the curry paste, a massive two large Bonne Maman jam jars full. I got the recipe from Jamie Olivers website but used it as a guide. So in summary despite the continuous torrential rain we got quite a lot done.

We watched a film whilst eating home made Pizza, which this time we left to rise rolled out for a more puffed up base, it was called The Ides of March staring George Clooney. We were not very impressed, the story was a bit difficult to follow and I think you needed to have an interest in American politics.

On Sunday we had booked up for dawn chorus walk at Dancersend NR, but the organiser phoned up the Saturday evening and cancelled, the reason was weather and the slight risk of falling branches, but the main thing was that we would not really be able to hear anything with the appalling weather.

I dropped Helen and Gladys off at church then continued with the panorama project. The rest of the day was spent at home relaxing, and making tea for a couple of visitors. Abida (arriving with an excellent homemade banana cake)reported that there were trees down all over the place as she tried to get to Tring station but ended up at Berkhamsted.

Later I made a vegetable korma with the paste I made the night before. I used Cauliflower and baby aubergines as a base, and included green beans and peas at the end. It turned out really well which is good because of the amount of paste I now have! I made enough for 4 portions to be frozen.

In case you missed them

Here is a slide show of the photo’s I took in mark. Bit of a mixed bag some from London, some outside spring is definitely on the way. Enjoy…

Eight Goldcrests and three treecreepers

We went for the earliest breakfast 08:30, as tghe weather forecast suggested that the best weather would be at the start of the day. The delicious veggie fry up was up to the usual standard. We were ready to leave by 09:30, the plan was to dump a car at Blythburgh and the other at Dunwich Heath NT car park, then walk from Dunwich to the first dropped off car.

We had wrapped up quite well beacuse the weather man said it would be a cold wind, but were soon taking layers off. in the mixed wood towards the friary we cam across a flock of several Gold crests and at least 3 Treecreepers, quite an unusual count. We headed on towards Dunwich car park checking out the snow drops which were in bloom everywhere. H was fascinatedby them and stopped regulalry to look at the inner petals. Some were quite sparse and others had layers of smaller petals almost rose like inside the outer petals which is the part you usually see. We all agreed that the more simple ones were more attractive.

At Dunwich car park the chip hut was closed so we went Ship Inn for coffee and crisps. The firewas on so we removed more layers. We took over one end of the pub with all our gear, luckily there were few other people in the bar. Suitably refreshed we headed out towards wood that overlooks Dingle marsh then Warblerswick marsh. There are some lovely remote properties at the far end of the wood.

We crossed the marshes and then ended up at Warblerswick village near the shops. There was a hint of rain in the but luckily there were some sheltered seats where we could have lunch. The Heidi pies were up to the usual standard but my alliegance has now changed and now the cheese potatoe cream and garlic ones are my favorite. In case you were wondering the puiesare made by Pieminister www.pieminister.co.uk

Suitably refreshed again, we headed out of Warblerwick in the direction of Blythburgh, we were more out in the open on the heath and in addition the wind was against us. The path then headed into a Pine wood which was a welcome relief from the wind. Once almost back to where we dumped my car,we came across a great hide which looked over the estuary. We spotted Shelduck, Dunlin, Curlew, Redshank, and Golden Plover. we were in no rush to leave the hide as it had started to rain hard. We got out some snacks bars and chocolate and relaxed until the rain slowed a bit.

The final half a mile was miserable it was raining and cold, we were all jus intent on getting back tothe car and inti the warm. Despite the last stretch being cold and wet we had a great walk probably not far off 10 miles in distance.

Eelsfoot Inn Suffolk part XXII

I’m not sure how many times we have now we have been to the Eelsfoot Inn at Eastbridge in Suffolk, but we love going there because the beer and food is great and we have yet to hear of or find more reasonable priced accomodation near great countryside. So here we go again off round the M25 and up the A12.

We headed off at a reasonable 10am and were soon on the M25, just to make a change we headed off up the M11 then swung a right on a road to Colchester. We had to stop at a service station to check out a tyre warning light but they were all in the correct range of pressures.

We got to RSPB Mismere at around 12:30 and headed for the cafe for a bite to eat. Turns out they are rebuilding it and the temporary cafe is very tight in comparison to the old one, old 6 tables. The work on the new one seen to be well progressed so we look forward to coming back to have a look round later this year, (August bank holiday?).

After a bite to eat we headed off to do a tour of the reserve, the wrong way round! From south hide we saw Smew, Ringed Plover, Pintail. From the sluice Seal, Red throated diver. Whilst in the east hide N phoned to say his car was at the vets and they would be later than anticipated, so we would have to buy the Heidi pies for tomorrows walk.

It did not take long to get to Southwold, but we managed to add Curlew to the day list. The tide was out at Blythburgh waders could be seen in the distance. It was the end of the afternoon and parking in the main car park was easy. Helen’s mood was soon restored back to “happy go lucky” by hot chocolate and a toasted tea cake. The menu at Buchenham Coffee House (in a cellar of the high street near the bus stop) includes a whole section devoted to the “Hot Chocolate Collection”!

The Deli that sells the Heidi pies was also now selling a cheese and potato version which I opted for. Once pied up we headed round the Adnams kitchen shop where I purchased a finger guard for use with the mandolin. We then headed back to the car, the sunset over Warblerswick was stunning. We got to the Eelsfoot inn at about 17:40, I went to have a look for the barn owls with out luck before having a rest before we hit the bar at the inn

H&N arrived at 19:00, good food and beer followed swiftly afterwards, followed by a fairly early bedtime so we were suitably refreshed for a good long walk on Saturday.

Panoramas will now feature

I have been creating some panoramas recently, here is one. Click once to activate then you can double click to go full screen and ESC to exit full screen)

[pano file=”http://neilbaldwin.net/qtvr/Aston-Clinton-Centre.mov” preview=”http://neilbaldwin.net/qtvr/Aston-Clinton-Centre-Preview.jpg” width=”600″ height=”450″ button=”on”]

Finally we get some snow

As promised by the Met Office we got some snow on Saturday night. It started about 17:00 just as the light was fading and too late to make a timelapse sequence, which I had had running all afternoon. The wind was blowing so I had high hopes of some drifting.

We were up fairly early Helen went to church and I went off up the hills with video and camera. The snow was already starting to melt and the main road was mostly clear of snow. I headed up the main road then too a right turn up Stablebridge. I stopped off at the Thai roundabout and the canal bridge to take a sequence of shots for stitching in to Panoramas, I was trying a new sequence using two rows the downward one just getting in the Nadir then 3/4 shots for the Zenith.

I was the first person to walk the footpath that crosses the Chiltern Forest Golf Club, the temperature was a bit lower so the snow was not melting as much as down in the village. In the woods there was a good six inches of snow, just over my knuckles when using a hand to measure.

I was surprised at the number of different animal tracks in the snow. I spotted fox, deer and rabbit as well as a couple that I could not figure out, one was a very small mammal. I must make a point of learning what the tracks of all the UK mammals look like.

Once up at the top of Aston Hill I headed down the Russians chalet drive put crossed the stile and over the field. On the drive the drifts were about two foot deep. It was difficult navigating across the field and the mist meant there was no landmarks. I just made out the trig point in the middle then walked bland in the general direction of the other stile until I saw it.

On the way up the the cafe I came across a forestry working clearing the road single handedly clearing the road with a snow shovel. I wished him well in his thankless task as the gate at the entrance was shut! Up at the Cafe in the Woods, which was shut, there was not many people about, all of them must have walked up just as I had.

After taking some video at the top some of it of the bird feeders, I headed off down the path that leads to the forestry compound near the entrance. I passed a brave soul mountain biking up the hill towards the cafe. I hope she was not banking on a coffee!

I quickly was back down in the village where I stopped off to pick up Helen and have some coffee and cake at the outlaws, cherry and sultana cake was lovely. Suitably refreshed Helen and I walked home then headed off to see “Man on a ledge” at the cinema. It did not live up to my expectations but was all the same enjoyable I gave it 3 out of 5.

Don McCullin at the Imperial War Museum

Up early it was cold outside, -1, frost everywhere. The plan was a trip to London, not for christmas shopping, but for a cultural visit taking two photography exhibitions, and possibly the Leonardo exhibition at the National Gallery. We felt smug as Christmas shopping was all but done, if not wrapped. The roads to Berkhamsted were icy but the temperature was now a balmy +2. We nabbed the last parking space near the station, and jumped on the 0900 train to Euston.

I remembered that I had seen a photo of a Lego Christmas tree at St Pancras, so we agreed to swing by. It turned to be not as impressive as I imagined it might be. It was big, green and covered in lights and baubles tree, and 100÷ Lego. I took a few pictures while Helen resisted the lure of the champagne bar, then headed out to get the 59 back to Euston and on to the Imperial War Museum. It had started to rain.

We had booked up to see the Don McCullin exhibition the night before. Don McCullin is a famous war photographer, I am sure you will have see his work in the sunday supplements between the 60’s and 90’s. The most famous one is the close up of shell shocked soldier with the thousand yard stare. The exhibition was good with plenty of articles that McCullin had donated, including the Nikon with the AK47 bullet hole. The was an interesting interview video of McCullin and his stories of how he got into with anecdotes of war, and his subsequent shift away from war photography and into Landscape photography. We thought about lunch at IWM but decide that something on the Southbank near our next port of call might offer a better choice than the cafe.

We jumped back on the 59 bus and got off at Southbank, on Waterloo Bridge. The regular Slow Food market was on by the Haymarket, but although tempting it was too cold for al fresco eating. We even fore went buying some nice bread because we were travelling light and did not want any luggage.

Helen spotted a Pizza Express so we popped in for some fast food. It was the same one we took the took the Australians to some years, it might even have made it on to the blog, just.

Suitably replete we headed to The National Theatre to take a look at the Landscape photographer of the year exhibition, and it was brilliant, all the photos where printed and well lit, a real inspiration to any photographer. A sign of the times hardly any of the pictures were taken on film. Many used the Canon 10-22mm EFS lens that I like own and like so much. We headed out and took some pictures and video of the north bank of the Thames which was looking glorious in the winter sun.

Out final destination was the National Gallery se we jumped on the 159 over to Trafalgar Square. We asked at the desk they had tickets for 2030! Apparently people queue up at 0700 3 hours before the pace opens just to get tickets. We popped into Waterstones (waste of time) then jumped back on the 59 to Euston, where a fast train was waiting to take us back to Berkhamsted.

Some friendly French people sat in the seats near us, and after exchanging a few word in French they started asking me French grammar questions. is it Londonien or Londonienne? How should I know. We were back home by 17:00 for some left over soup from yesterday. All in all a great day out if a little cold.

The Video

Another Cholesbury walk then down the pub

S of Oz is going back home on Sunday so we took her out for a walk round the beech woods.

A perfect day

We were in bed early last night, and I woke up about 06:30, by 7 I had had enough so I got up and went down to island mere hide. I parked near Scots Hall (not sure is that is allowed!) and walked into the reed beds. No one else was in the hide, the mere was quite full of water after the recent rain, and there were not many birds about. Geese were flying in and out in formation, and I spotted a juvenile Marsh Harrier. I had not bothered getting the scope out but then spotted a Bittern on the far side, by the time I got it set up the bird had gone.

Soon after I spotted another one further along this time I had the benefit of the scope, it was at the edge of the reeds looking up in the classic pose, then it barked and flew along the reeds and dropped out of site. Just before I left I spotted another one.

Breakfast was as usual great but they did not have veggie sausages but they promised some for tomorrow. After breakfast we sorted out our gear and headed in land along the Minsmere river.

The we then did a second side of a triangular route across Westleton heath where the Heather was in full bloom very purple and very fragrant. There were two distinct colours one very vibrant purple the other more pastel in colour. It was still early’ish and we had the place almost to our selves and the weather was getting warmer and sunnier.

By the time we got to Dunwich church we had not had a break so we sat on the bench and had half a snack bar each. After a nice rest we walked up the village high street and down to the fish and chip shop over looking Dingle marsh and the car park. Helen had veggie burger and because she said it is the law that if they are offered they have to be taken in case the proprietor thinks demand has dropped. It turns out that the burgers were deep fried vegetable fritters and there was no bun! I ended up having one of them.

Once Helen was tired of the wasps we went over to the beach where there were a few swimmers bracing the North Sea temperatures. After some time relaxing on the beach we headed back up the hill towards the light house cottages.

Just past Grey Friars we heard a great but distant thunder clap. To our west there was a very big and dark anvil shaped cloud, and it was heading our direction. Soon after it started to rain, but as soon as we had unpacked the poncho and got it on the rain had stopped. The storm was heading past just to the north of us, we surmised that if we had stayed much longer at Dunwich we would have got soaked the storm continued to flash and rumble for the next half an hour. We found a bench on Dunwich heath and looked for Dartford warblers, but apart from stonechats and wood pigeons we were out of luck. There was a brief flash of grey at one point but not good enough to get an id of any bird.

At coast guard cottages we had coffee and shared a cake, then a bit of sea watching and a pee. We then headed down to the beach and on to the main part of Minsmere RSPB reserve. The storm was heading away out to sea but you could still see lightning and hear thunder. Over towards Eastbriddge we could see some more dark clouds so we got a speed on, the plan was to go to a hide for a while before heading back. We just about made the hide before it started raining trouble was the hide looked out over scrapes but hey were empty because the Terns that would normalhangout there had left for sunnier clims, so I put on my poncho and Helen her rain gear and we walked back towards Mere hide in the hope of seeing another Bittern.

The rain did not last long and the sun came out the light was warm and brilliant for taking photos, so I did! Not muchaction going on in the hide, which was deserted. We got a few more ticks that had evaded us earlier in the day (Tufted, Great-Crested Grebe, and Little Grebe), but no Bittern in site. Later a man turned up with a 500mm f2.8 Canon lens (£5,000) hoping to get a Bittern fly by, if he got one the light was perfect. Feet suitabkly rested we left the hide for the final push back to the hide it was already 17:30 and I reckoned it would take 30minutes to get back to the pub, Helen reckoned longer 40minutes.

Rather than take the road back we turned away from The Eels Foot and walkked past Sotts Hall and joined the bridleway that runs parallel. We were both knackered and Helen needed a fruit bar to avoid a trough, 35 minutes later we were at the last corner before the pub, so I guess Helen was right about the time it would take to get back.

All day we had failed to find a Tit flock but just as we got back to the river Minsmere we spotted one so Blue Tit and Long-tailed wer added tothe day list. Then I spotted a Treecreeper it was really close and hunting insects on the small branches, the view was fantastic. Suitably rewarded we headed back to the pub it had taken 40 minutes!

We had walked about 12-13 miles and been out for just short of 9 hours which is probably a record for us. We quickly freshened up and heaed to the bar for a well earned pint and some pub food, the end of a perfect day.

A cultural day in London

We had a free Saturday and thought a trip to London was well overdue, I know I went last weekend but Helen did not accompany me so it does not count. The trigger for going was that the press Photographer of the Year exhibition was on at the National Theatre, it is almost like an annual pilgrimage to go to see the great photo’s which are a reminder of what has been happening in the previous year. We needed something else to fill in the rest of the day and decided on the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy an show we have never managed to attend despite it being quite an important event in the art calendar.

We did the usual thing of parking in Berkhamsted and getting the train to Euston. We arrived with 10 minutes to spare bought a newspaper to read on the way and the train departed on time. We were at Euston by 09:30 and we got the 68 bus to Waterloo Bridge and were looking round the exhibition by 10:00. The National Theatre lobby area is quite a large space and is carpeted throughout so it is a really quiet space. There were quite a few people tucked away in corners tapping away at their laptops, you wander what their story is and why they go to the NT to do their work. My guess is that it is a nice quiet place with very little distractions.

The Press Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2011 lived up to our expectations, there were some really great pictures. A couple that spring to mind were a picture of a father and child in the Bangladesh floods, it is at night and they are walking towards the camera up to their knees in water, there are bright lights behind them giving their silhouettes a halo, the son is a step or two behind the father and his face is lit by the light reflecting off of the father light coloured clothing. The second picture was a snapshot of a cricket match tightly framing the wicket where a batsman is being judged out by the umpire, the bowler and a couple of fielders are in view, there is so much going on i the picture and it just seems to have locked in time an important point in a cricket match.

The last double screw steam tug in the uk

We next headed over to the Royal Academy on foot heading over the river via Golden Jubilee Bridge. There are some strange things to see on the bridge. One of the bridge footings has quite a few broken skateboards on it most of the broken and all of them without trucks or wheels. Perhaps their is a tradition where kids who break their boards on the Southbank chuck them off the bridge. As we passed Trafalgar square there seemed to be a bomb alert going on outside outside a building to the south on the junction to Whitehall there was a bicycle covered in bags, it looked like it was probably the possessions of a homeless person but the police cannot be too careful, so the area was cordoned off. We moved on swiftly.

There was a queue for tickets at the Royal Academy we waited in line for our tickets then went and had a coffee in the courtyard where there are also buildings of other Royal things the Royal Geographic society, the Royal Chemistry Society, and the Royal Astronomical Society. With my coffee I had a sort of Chelsea bun but instead of raisins and custard it had hazel nuts and chocolate it was a very tasty alternative.

The Summer Exhibition was very interesting, because the exhibition is open to all comers you get a real rag bag of art. Pictures cover all medium from photography through woodcuts, pastels, drawings to oil paintings. There is also sculpture and architectural models and drawings. It took us over an hour to get round all the rooms.

Fortnum and Mason’s was opposite so we could not resist a quick look round. We did not buy anything but is was great to look at all the lovely food on offer. I have to say that the fresh produce looked very good and the prices although not cheap seemed reasonable considering the quality. We hopped on a bus and headed towards Foyles for the obligatory look round the fantastic book shop, but I spotted a Cotswold outdoor shop and we had to get off at Picadilly and walk back, I thought there might be a chance to get some shoes I had tried in Cornwall but could not get the correct size. It turns out they had a pair of Haglöfs approach shoes in my size so I purchased them and we were soon back on another bus to the book shop.

Helen purchased no less that two bags of books, and I bought none after the £115 spend on shoes, but Helen insisted on a taxi to Euston, so a taxi to Euston it was. It turns out that the rush was a bit of a waste of time as there was a signalling problem at Bletchley and all the trains beyond Watford were seriously delayed or cancelled. We wnt outside and got soe lunch, for me some udon and pumpling soup for the asian take away stand.

We decided to get a train to Watford and then decide what to do when we got there. As it turns out the slow train to Watford was overtaken by a few southern trains so we were able to get the next train from Watford to Berkhamsted, which strangley was completely empty. That was the end of a lovely day out.