Thursday 15 November 2012

Recent visit to Hollingworth Lake

I have just noticed  that posts and pages do not seem to behave as I expected.  So it seems that my blog has three pages all of which can have new posts?  I did not realise that was how it would work!!

Popped over to Hollingworth lake after a reunion of  retirees at a pub lunch last month.  Tried to get some photos taken.

I think I need to develop my wildlife photography skills as the birds wont perform to order and I am rather slow at deciding on my settings!!!!  Here are some of my better attempts so far.





The gulls were quite obliging and tried to sit still long enough for me to focus and set the right exposure settings but I am not sure that I got it right some of the time - some shots have a bluish caste because I discovered after the event that I had left my white balance set on indoor  and so with some of the images I have tried using the adjust colour tool in Picasa  although I have retained the bluish caste on some as I quite liked the effect.


The next shot I was quite pleased with considering how fast they came in to land  but I have cropped it as there were others not quite as in focus as these two.




The photo above has been cropped as there was rather a lot of water in the shot!!



Not sure how the duck above got his head to twist that far round !

 Again the picture above has been cropped ( been reading and listening to varying opinions about whether you should or not - think at the moment my lack of skill means cropping is a necessary step with some photos.  

I love the next photo it just made me smile as the big bird seems to be following the little bird - the sort of photo begging for a caption!!



It was much easier to get a shot of the sailors than the birds!!



I got very excited when this chap came within range  ( don't know what the fascination is with rooks and ravens and crows etc )  and  I was pleased to have managed to get this shot.


He did not seem too impressed with me and soon turned tail!



I like this next one as you can see the delicate nature of the feathers and the feet.




Hope you have enjoyed my limited attempts at bird photography - hope to get better with practice ( is that the right way to spell practice????   and does it matter anymore as I no longer have to write reports !! )

Thursday 1 November 2012

Day out at Hardcastle Crags

Spent yesterday doing the Red walk at Hardcastle Crags.  Thank you to Kath my walking companion for suggesting the trip as I had forgotten what a lovely place it is.

We started our walk from the lower car park after we had walked up to the OFFICE to get ourselves a map.

The photos here are entered in the order taken on the walk so it should show how beautiful it was - well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.    The walk itself is not a difficult one but it took us 2 hours to get to the cafe at the mill (the half way point of the walk)  because I kept stopping to capture shots of the area it would probably only take half that time if you were just walking at a steady pace. The second half took about 50 mins.

I hope you enjoy this photographic record of our walk.

This is the start heading down from the car park.

Then you take a right just before this building to follow the Red walk



Beautiful autumnal colours everywhere


I had come to practice my photography skills and the river was the perfect place.






A momentary break from the river revealed this rather reptilian like tree branch.


But I was soon back to the river.




 Rivulets to be found everywhere due to the wet weather we have had lately.


Eventually I found my other hoped for subject - mushrooms!


I even tried to catch the tiny trickle in this little "cave" .


But the river was the main attraction.


I think this is my favourite of the day so far.


I really liked the colours in this newly chopped tree.


But the river was the winner.


The leaves on this rock were not being swept away by the river - how was that possible?


And then I spied these beauties!



But I think maybe this one is my favourite of the whole day.


At this point we realised that unless I stopped trying to take a photo of every step we would never reach the half way point so a pact was made " no more photos until the cafe was reached!

So after a lovely lunch at the Mill cafe we set off on the return leg of the walk - this would be quicker as we were further away from the river (but I was hoping for more mushrooms).

This shot is a look back at the mill as we started the ascent .   This was to prove rather precarious due to the wet conditions and my slippy trainers (better buy some proper boots).  I plunged to the ground desparately trying not to get mud on the camera (at which I was successful but alas my trousers were caked in mud causing a rethink on the planned visit to Ruby Shoesday in Hebden Bridge at the end of the walk)!














We finished our walk by following the vehicle track back down to the car park.  A wonderful day out. And thankfully no aches and pains this morning as a result of the walk or my tumble.