Thames at Richmond - # 140/2011

No "big deals" here, but it's time to re-visit the usual scenes and show them as they are right now on certain days in November.


This is the time of very low tides and the river is almost totally "switched off" by the closure of Teddington Weir to allow inspection and maintenance.  So the low water is both natural and also managed by modern man.


Here's the view of the Thames opposite Petersham Meadows.  The Sun is brilliant but there is that noticeable and delightful mistiness in the atmosphere that adds something to a photograph.  It's just a snap, but it sums up why the area has been loved and appreciated by poets and painters for hundreds of years. 

Reed Heads in Black and White- # 99/10

We're staying at the London Wetlands Centre while I run through a selection of the images I took there, this weekend.  Being a "wetland" there are lots of reeds waiving in the wind.  Here are some of them.

Winter wild flower - # 98/10

Not a perfect shot but still arresting (a slight breeze made focussing tricky).  I was surprised to see that at the London Wetlands Centre, Barnes, http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/london that there are still some fine wild flowers hanging on in the meadow areas.  I love going to the Wetlands. It is a truly marvelous re-creation of different wild environments as they are found around the world. There is also the benefit that as more and more birds discover and populate the centre they also visit the neighbouring areas as they fly around, exploring London.

For the technically minded: Lens - Olympus 50-200mm at 200mm (equivalent to 400mm on 35mm format) set at maximum aperture f3.5 to get that marvelous defocused background and the unrivalled Olympus in-camera processed jpeg colours. Camera: Olympus E3.

The Panther - # 97/10

Look closely at the Chinese vase.....yes, it's really old........and see the delightful panther prancing.  He's enjoying a little bit of grooming before he's put to bed for the winter.

Wet day in Richmond - # 95/10

It's Sunday, but everything is open except for the specialist and second hand book shop (there's more than one small flourishing private book shop in Richmond - some of the rare surviving miracles of 21st Century "developed world" commerce).

The damp weather is keeping customers away from the stainless steel imported Italian-style cafe tables.

Enlarge the picture and enjoy the green moss on the tiny tower-top beneath the cross on the church which was "renewed" in the 18th century. Admire also the original late Victorian white painted window frame on the Alhambra Cafe.

Towards The Hill - # 89/10

First, I should thank those of you who so kindly replied to my message on yesterday's posting.

Today, let's continue the very simple return to old fundamentals.  This is the view towards the famous Richmond Hill as seen from the footpath alongside the old St. Peter's Church, which dates from Saxon times.  A Christian church has stood here for about 1,000 years, and even before that men were dwelling around about close to the river and on the heights above.  Even 400,000 years ago during the interglacial Paleolithic period the precursors of modern man were right here.

I like the view for the rooflines and of course the Autumn colours enhance it.

For the technically minded, the photo was taken on the Olympus E3 using the remarkably sharp and clear Olympus 50mm f2.0 lens.

The Mandarins are back - # 86/10

We are still lurking around Ham Common Pond, because it's close and very attractive at this time.  This pair of Mandarins recently appeared.  A pair (most likely the same pair) have appeared for about three years running, but never stayed to make a nest. They obviously like the area but something isn't "just right".

See how the male is so magnificent and the female is relatively hard to see and so dull and well camoflaged.

I did not have a telephoto lens mounted, so the quality is a bit scratchy. I've cropped this and heavilly enlarged the fragment using Genuine Fractals.  The original was taken at 70mm (35mm equivalent) at f6.3 ISO800 1/30th sec on an Olympus 14-35mm f2.0.

Shadow play - # 80/10

Late Autumn sunshine, fallen chestnuts, old walls, gravel avenues and ancient trees.

First sight of Autumn 3 - # 75/10

The heavy rains of a wet Summer have eroded the bank leaving interesting root patterns. Man must now work hard to repair the damage Nature has done.

First sight of Autumn 2 - # 73/10

Walking across Ham Common I was attracted to the appearance of the water under the willows, the reflections, the shadows and the knarly exposed roots on the eroded bank. The willow leaves have not yet turned brown.  The green reflection in the water was startling. The camera has captured it quite well.

Food for deer - # 09/149

Autumn in Richmond Park.  The nuts are falling providing lots of fattening winter food for the deer.

Leaf lying in the dust - # 09/136

Fruits of Autumn # 2- # 08/252

26 October....thick grey clouds and rain. Hmmm......seems like Summer, except that the rain's rather fresh and bracing: less warm than it was in the Summer. But the grey cloud! Well, at least it's "seasonal" now, whereas in the Summer it was just a miserable unseasonal nuisance blocking the sun. Wouldn't it be nice if I owned a villa in the South of France, or perhaps in Kerala, South India (yes, very nice indeed). Dubai is too hot now and in any case it's just "London in the Desert with Funky Buildings": interesting but..........??? Australia or New Zealand would be OK, or perhaps Argentina by the South Atlantic.

So, here are the fallen apples, all raked into neat piles for the squirrels and large birds to devour. They are hard at it and the fruits will soon be gone.

Fruits of Autumn # 1 - # 08/251

The fungus.

Everyone has something to eat. The fungus is eating the fallen, rotting wood and returning the sugars to the soil. The animals are nibbling the fungus. I have friends who are experts and love foraging at this time, but on the whole, I think that mushroom hunting and understanding are lost wisdom in modern Britain.

That's one reason why it is nice to visit the Continent at this time, where the understanding of the mushroom is better exploited by cooks. What's better than wild boar, venison and forest fruits? The traditional winter cooking of Europe - so fortifying in cold weather - now comes into it's own. It's now clear that I'm not a vegetarian.

The sleeping stag - # 08/241

The Autumn leaves have suddenly fallen and the sunlight now floods through the wood at a low angle casting delightful patches of light and shade and highlighting the contrasts of early Autumn colours. Some greens still persist, some half green half golden brown shows where Summer is making a last stand against winter.

Pressing deep into the secluded woods of Richmond Park we find deer and squirrels feeding on fallen chestnuts, and suddenly come across the unexpected..........a stag, around 12 or more years old judging by his points (they are hard to count accurately), is fast asleep.

Capturing September: attempt # P91 - 5 - # 08/223

What are you doing? Why are you lying on the wet ground, in an old raincoat, fiddling with that camera again? Come in at once! Do something useful!

The garden apple crop this year is abundant but the apples are small in spite of the high rainfall. I suppose excessive cloud and lack of sun are to blame. But the squirrels and birds are getting the benefit from them.

My challenge here is to catch the juiciness, the whiteness and the squirrel's teeth marks. It's definitely not the world's finest September Apple Picture, but I had great fun doing it, and avoided having to do several "useful" things.

It's that time of year - # 08/202

In the forests of France and England and Italy the truffle hunters are out with their dogs and their pigs on harnesses hunting for truffles which are particularly good this year because of the damp conditions.

On the oak trees, like this one, remarkable fungi are appearing, looking strange and magnificent.

Look at what's under your nose - # 307

Wondering what to do, I realised that my old apple tree is offering me a lot of opportunities to play with my camera and explore the tree's Autumn coat of typical apple tree "knarliness".

Here's the intriguing coat of growth on an old but very healthy fruit bearing branch.

I broke the rules and did not use a tripod, and I used auto-focus. Good old Olympus! More photo fun. This was done with "flash off" and set to "Cloudy" and WB set 3 ticks down into the red spectrum. Pseuds' Corner for me, and early to bed with no television!!!

Autumn colour: is this the "last shout"? - # 285

This shot looks across from the Twickenham bank towards the boathouses on the Richmond side. These boathouses host the canoeists you saw last week, launching their boats .

On this day the brilliant sun was creating a lovely blue on the river and the autumn colours really stood out. Now the weather is changing and we may soon lose the colour as November advances.

Summer signs off - final - # 261

Positively the finest and the last apple...Rebecca ate it for breakfast! Note the wasp reconnaissance mission on the left. (OK, I confess, this shot is from last year when I had a bumper crop. This year the tree rested and we had almost nothing. So in a way, I suppose, this was "the last apple" - 'til next year).