skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Blizards and closed airports and out-of-position airliners permitting, I'm off to stay for a while in the Sultanate of Oman.
So, I'll leave you with this puzzling abstract taken in the old "meat cellar" in Ham House. It seems that they did need a lot of meat.
Depending how things go I may treat you to a few "Muscat Moments" while I'm away.
Who can resist capturing the intense golden light as the sun sets on Teddington Lock?
Isn't this just the subject for one of those "What is she saying?" contests?
This is the last of our series of happy boating scenes. There seems to be little doubt that this outing is going well.
From ladies who chat to ladies who chat and smoke. The colour version actually has a nice blue plume visible but on balance I preferred the B&W version.
Another of my moody Ham House offerings - (a bit "same-ish" and in a rut?). The lavae of a carpet beetle (they eat valuable old carpets) have been found unexpectedly in an unusual place. (The hunt constantly goes on in the background). A thorough clean-up must be started immediately. I'm lucky because I get called in to take photos of the event.
I chose this because I liked all the shapes, curves and angles; the soft and the hard; the light and shadow. It makes a mundane clean-up into an event that engages the sentiments.
Me experimenting and studying depth of field effects with lens set on f 2.0 aperture.
The toil of the last couple of weeks is done, and the great baroque house (1610) by the Thames is illuminated and decorated, ready for its Christmas programme. The Emperors around the wall seem to look satisfied with the treatment we've given them.
Here's a quick shot of the finished result, lights on for testing the effect, and last a minute check for correct alignment of the spot lamps, early this evening. Guests for the first evening programme will soon arrive.
Hugely bad weather sweeps across the whole of Europe and the British Isles - torrential rain and wind.
So here's a rather dramatic looking shot of the Les Alpes Maritimes behind Menton taken last Summer.
Wooo! Scareeee!
I've got 3 hard drives and suddenly the one carrying the main Lightroom Catalogue glitched. Thanks to the excellence of Lightroom and having over 2,000 photos backed up on 2 drives I rebuilt the whole catalogue in a trice thanks to the Lightroom back-up catalogue system.
Don't ask me what happened, but here's a photo that does what all photos should.....it tells a story! This character occupies the Ham House messroom. Yes. It's a scary one.
I know that you enjoy the Ham House moments.
Here the House has been "put to bed" for the winter and the conservation work continues while the visitors are kept firmly outside!
The "conservation cleaner" is hunting for signs of the insect world who may have decided to try to move in and eat the house for dinner when no-one is watching.
The title speaks for itself. The mediaeval riverside community of Barnes has a pond and an ancient church, many centuries old (and much re-built after ravages of fire and age). The pond is surrounded by elegant late 19th century villas and the Sun Inn (a great "Bar Fly" venue) looks out towards the water.
Barnes now part of the Borough of Richmond and can be counted as part of London's great "Suburbia". Is it nice in Barnes? Again, let the photo speak.
You probably wish I would post some nice photos of the Borough of Richmond upon Thames, I can only assure you I'm keen to get back to that point. But it's not always that simple.
Anyway, I took a friend out to Barnes Common to play about with some night photography. Things got out of hand and we ended up messing about with the lighting along Barnes railway bridge across the Thames. Sorry!
Autumn in Richmond Park. The nuts are falling providing lots of fattening winter food for the deer.
.....I'm still hard at it but unable to leave you totally abandoned without a nice cliche-ridden B&W: hope you like it. (FYI.....the workman (not me) is replacing the anti-UV filters on the Ham House windows. The House is a very strictly controlled to prevent destructive UV rays getting at the collection).
This little item proved difficult to get right. It's still not exactly as I'd like it to be. Anyway, there will now be a short period of inaction, with no postings for a little while. I'm busy on another project which needs some time spent on it...........rather like this tantalising table with its grain, highlights, contrasting smooth, shiny chairs and angles and curves, sunlight and shadow.
...another heavilly magnified crop, but worth displaying.
The green parrots enjoy eating Ham House for breakfast, and swarm about, early in the morning, attaching themselves to the brickwork. We guess they have found something in the 17th century lime mortar that appeals to their taste, or perhaps they like to extract the grittiness to help diges the seeds they have eaten.
The parrot's lovely underside colouring is generally hidden from view until we photograph it in flight. Likewise, visitors to Ham House probably fail to look up and notice the rich detail in the soffit of the roof. This detail was of course included to show off the wealth of the owner when the house was extended in 1672.
Those of you who like the arty Ham House shots might like to see this simple snap I did for a feature in the local newspapers promoting the display of a luxurious leather wall hanging that has been hidden away in store and in separate exhibition rooms. It has been rehung on display so that more visitors can admire it in its proper context.
You will recognise the floor (see earlier "Servant Girl"). The wall covering is entirely of leather, and of course the pretty hanging above the table is the wall hanging just brought out for general display. All the leather is the original 1672/3 "re-decoration" of the house.
Enlarge the photo and admire it. Better still, go and see it before the house closes for the winter. (That's the time when I become most busy helping with all the winter maintenance.)
London has long been the home for spectacular Green Parrots who stem from an escaped pair and have now extended themselves across London so much that recently they were declared a "Pest" and you can get a licence to cull them if need be.
This snap has been extremely magnified from a 400mm telephoto shot and the bird was also flying at speed, but you can see the amazing colour scheme that nature has given to this parrot. (I also forgot to switch on the image stabilizer which did not help the definition, either).
It's a Green Parrot, but the fanned tail and the underside of the wings displays beautiful colours that we down below rarely see, except when the high speed camera catches them.
Big 17th Century kitchen!
