Category: Photography Page 1 of 2

We like the moon… ‘cos it is close to us

Courtesy of my new Nikon Coolpix P900 superzoom…

The Moon

An outing to Chirk Castle

I first visited Chirk Castle (near the Welsh border, not too far from home) during primary school, although I don’t remember much about this particular trip other than my Dad telling me a story about the red hand symbol that appears on the front gates and how that symbol came to be used (a story I’ve not been able to corroborate from other sources, so could well be complete hogwash – but never mind, eh?)

I went back there in around 2008 on a whim and found it to be a truly fascinating place with wonderful gardens and great opportunities for an amateur photographer bod like myself, and I now make a point to go back there at least once a year – mainly just to chill out in the grounds, but sometimes to take some new photos.

I went today with Jem, and somewhat ironically of the photos that I took (and present to you above) there aren’t any of the Castle itself. I did take quite a few, but they all look a bit “meh” so I’ve not bothered selecting them for display here.

I was also quite surprised to find that a couple of new areas had been opened up in the Castle state rooms, places I’d not been in before. In some of these rooms were seats that did not have holly placed on them – meaning that they can be sat on if desired. Despite this, most of the seats in question looked rather old and it irrationally bothered me that people were sitting on them, rather than just leaving them be.

Anyway, enjoy the photos! I’ll no doubt go back next year (or perhaps even again this year if the weather allows)

My 15 minutes of fame…

Following on from my previous post, where I showcased a bit of aerial footage that I took of the floods in Frankwell on Boxing Day last year, I went out with my new quadcopter setup* in early February as we continued to have ridiculous levels of rainfall, and Frankwell became even more of a flood plain.

Shrewsbury Floods, Christmas 2013

Heavy rain and wind storms saw various parts of Shrewsbury town centre hit by flooding over Christmas, although not to the extent that we’ve seen in previous years.

Naturally, I took my DJI Phantom out to record some video…

Fenton in the garden

With the very un-British weather we’ve been having, we’ve recently started letting the cats outside. Nutmeg is happier with the choice, but doesn’t seem too bothered about the outside world – she’ll spend a little while out in the garden (10-15 minutes at most) and then come back in and go to sleep on her favourite chair.

Fenton, on the other hand, can’t get enough – he stays out for hours upon hours, and then comes back completely knackered – which gives us a welcome break from his nasty side.

Gallery: Vic & Phil’s Wedding – 26th May 2013

A nice local wedding this time around – a day spent at the Lion Quays hotel and spa near Oswestry for the wedding of one of Alex’s university-pals – Vic – and her partner, Phil.

With some surprisingly good weather considering it was a Bank Holiday weekend, the day went pretty much as well as anyone could have hoped – no mishaps or problems along the way! Typically when I go to a wedding at least someone gets a broken arm or a fire alarm goes off or something similar, so it’s a nice change to not require a call to 999 at any point throughout the day.

I took my camera with me, as ever, and snapped a few shots. Well, I say a few – it actually turned out to be 210 photos, not including any of the evening reception (as my camera battery had run out – schoolboy error!)

I’ve whittled this down to 86 photos, but I have to admit I’m not overly happy with some of them – I used my 18-55mm kit lens for most of the day, I should have stuck to my 50mm prime for better quality.

Ah well, it was a super day anyway – delightful company in wonderful surroundings. Can’t ask for more really, can you?

The Severn Meanders, nr. Buildwas and Leighton

Gallery: Car History

When I first started driving, back in 2004, I simply thought of cars as a means of getting from A to B. Sometimes, I yearn for those days – simply because nowadays I tend to change cars more often than I change my pants.

All of the cars pictured above have been owned by me since November 2004, with the exception of the first one which was bought for me by my Dad when I was 17. I never did get to drive it, but given the state of it that may have been a blessing in disguise.

Gallery: Old and busted, meet new hotness…

No, I’m not talking about switching girlfriends…

For the last year or two I’ve had a Recaro interior from a Mitsubishi Evo IV in my GT-Four. Well, the front seats anyway – the rear seats were facelifted Celica seats, and my door cards had been falling apart.

So, I took the car to a chap up north called Simon, who does a bit of automotive interior trimming in his spare time, under the banner of Hide ‘n’ Seat Interiors. I explained what I wanted, and he obliged for a bargain of a price, at least two thirds cheaper than other companies had quoted me.

Gallery: BMW M5 (2005)

The latest addition to my car history is this rather lovely 2005 BMW M5. With 507bhp and a 0-60 time of 4.5 seconds, this is something of a monster.

I’ll be writing a full review of the car once I’ve become more familiar with it and it’s functions, but for now have some photos.

The other cars (with the exception of the Celica) will be being sold to fund this baby, incidentally. So if anyone is interested, please get in touch!

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