Confetti fields 2020

The Confetti Fields in Wick near Pershore are open but this year you have to prebook because of restrictions caused by the virus. It was a year the Real Flower Petal Confetti Co were beset with problems not only flooding and the Coronavirus but also the first planting was not successful. However they were able to replant the flower field to bloom later in the year. The delphiniums are much shorter and not as imposing as they are generally. To help out this year they had Sunflowers and wild flower fields which were impressive in their own way. Natasha Walmsley, my daughter, kept tabs on when they tickets were being released. We headed down to the fields and were not disappointed. The colours were there and there were many opportunities for photographs.

Sunflower bee clock
3 bees o’clock on a sunflower
sunflowers and delphiniums
The 2020 line up sunflowers and delphiniums
Three happy faces
Three happy sunflowers

The sunflowers were tall and high with many insects including bees alighting on them. The wild flowers were pretty and delicate. Finally the delphiniums were colourful and whilst not as tall they still put on a show. The sun was up and it was very bright. I used my circular polariser to reduce the glare. I also got low and went high with several pictures just to get a different effect. Going high I just had to hope that I had everyone in the picture.

in the Confetti fields
in the Confetti fields
Red delphiniums
Red delphiniums
Red and purple Red delphiniums
Red and purple Red delphiniums

As is tradition after the visit to the fields, we head over to the public park in Pershore and have a picnic in the delightful surroundings of Pershore Abbey. It is an idyllic spot and another great venue for photographs.

Pershore Abbey
Pershore Abbey
Pershore Abbey
Pershore Abbey

For the first time since mid March, I am back on campus and it was a lovely morning. There were very few people around and I had brought my camera along. The Campus looked beautiful and the lack of cars certainly allowed unhindered views of the buildings. I did like the area where the wild flowers were near to the University gates. This series of pictures of the University shows it off and makes it look glorious.

Wild flowers and Old Joe
Wild flowers and Old Joe
Lovely light on campus
Lovely light on campus
View of the Green Heart
View of the Green Heart
Old Joe in the morning sunshine
Old Joe in the morning sunshine

Kingswood locks

Days out with the Grandchildren do not have to be very expensive and we are very fortunate to have the canals near us. Therefore we choose to visit the canal junction at Kingswood which is the home of the Kingswood Arm a short section that links the Grand Union with the Stratford canal. My grandchildren had just discovered the Sylvanian family toy canal boat that belonged to my daughters when they were children. Both of grandchildren wanted to see canal boats for real.

Grandchildren
Lily and Chloe (apologies for the shirt – father supports Arsenal)
Kingswood Junction
Kingswood Junction

When we arrived at Lapworth, there was a boat going through the locks. This generated a series of why questions from both of them and I had a lot of explaining of how a lock works. The family on board the boat going through the Kingswood junction allowed my granddaughters to help with the opening of the locks. We strolled along the tow path and remarked how funny the roof of the lockmaster’s cottage was. It had a round roof like a barrel. Then we walked along the arm that joined both the Stratford and Grand Union canals. There was more excitement as several trains passed over the railway bridge that crosses the canal arm. We reached the Grand Union canal junction and much to the excitement of my granddaughters discovered a hand operated history box.

On the tow path
On the tow path
Listening to the Story of Rosie

In these days of the Coronavirus, we had our hand sanitiser ready plus a disinfectant wipe ready to hold the handle. We turned the handle quickly and like magic to the children, a voice appeared. The hand operated verbal histories box tells the story of Rosie. She and her husband lived and worked on the canals. They ferried supplies along the canal to the Cadbury’s factory in Birmingham. The grandchildren were fascinated with the way it worked and the story of Rosie. They had been to Cadbury’s world so this interested them. So much so we heard the story five times! The other fun was seeing what people were doing on the boats and the girls had chats with several boat people along the way.

Listening to the story
The story was repeated several times

We even found a boat with the name Small World and then started singing the refrain “It’s a small world”. The earworm of a tune was with us not only on our way back to the car but for the rest of the day. There is so much to do and see around the canals. Life is good by water and as the sign says slow down and enjoy it. The three ducks certainly did.

By the lockmasters Cottage
The lockmaster’s cottage and that funny roof
Thank you for slowing down
Thank you for slowing down

Further reading about the Kingswood arm.


Sturgeon New Moon

Undertaking moon photography is an art form. It can look easy but then again the bright light of the sun reflecting off the moon has to be carefully exposed on camera. If you expose for the wonderful background of the moon in the clouds then invariably the moon becomes an overexposed disc. The answer to the problem is to use photoshop to process two pictures which I thought was very clever until I realised that it has been done many times before. Here are my simple attempts and they did get a very good response on the social media.

Sturgeon Moon
The Sturgeon new moon
The Sturgeon New Moon
The Sturgeon New Moon

Here is a very good YouTube channel on the subject.
How to create stunning HDR Moon Composite“.


Warwick is a sleepy market town which is most famous for its castle. The town itself has many interesting streets and buildings. On a sunny Sunday morning, I parked up near to the high street and took a few “classic” pictures of the castle and the town centre. I had my Canon 5D and my Canon 24 -70mm lens which always gives good results. Take a look below at the results. My favourite picture of the walkabout is of St Mary’s Church and I enjoyed the black and white processing. I took this picture looking up Castle St towards the Church.

St Mary's Church
St Mary’s Church taken from Castle Street
St Mary's Church
St Mary’s Church
Fun boats on the Avon
Fun boats on the Avon – looks like an important meeting
Warwick Castle on the Avon
Warwick Castle on the Avon
Market Street
Market St
Market Place
Market Place, Warwick
St John's Hous
St John’s House, Jacobean Manor
Warwick
The Eastgate and St Peter’s chapel
Warwick
Lord Leycester Hospital
Warwick
Council offices leading to St Mary’s Church
Warwick
Window flowers with St Mary’s Church in the reflection

Further links – Lord Leycester Hospital


Port Loop

Running was and still is a big part of my life. When the dental hospital was operating out of the Queensway site then we used to take the opportunity to run up to the Soho loop along the Birmingham Canal Old Line. I took my camera with me to revisit the area and my start point was Port Loop on Rotten Park Street. Nothing rotten about it and an amazing housing development is going up. I took several pictures around there, chatted to a local developer who was commissioned to take pictures of the old buildings and then made my way to the canal.

Port Loop development
Port Loop development, Birminghamn
To be developed
To be developed, Port Loop

There were so many people running, cycling and walking and as the Canal and River Trust say #lifeisbetterbywater. I strolled up and down the old line and lingered around the junction with the Soho loop. I enjoyed seeing the city from the distance and the graffiti was very colourful adding to the enjoyment of the photographic opportunities. There were lots of different activity happening and I caught different activities including trains, bikes and boats. I look forward to seeing the area develop over the next few years.

Start of the Soho loop
Start of the Soho loop.
View of the City along our canal
View of the City along our canal
Just talking
Just talking
Quiet Saturday morning
Quiet Saturday morning
Colourful surroundings
Colourful surroundings

Finally the added bonus was taking a short drive to see the Two Towers. Edgbaston Water Works and Perrrot’s Folly are both seen as inspirational in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers are in walking distance of the Oratory which is where the young Tolkien went to Church and is a subject of another of my blogs.

Edgbaston Water Works
Edgbaston Water Works, the Two Towers
Perrott's Folly
Perrott’s Folly, The Two Towers

Here are some links
Urban Splash
Canal and River Trust
Birmingham City Council
Places for people

My links on canals
Down by the canal
Night on the canals
Canals and Waterways
Winner BCN 250


Graffiti Art in Digbeth

My photographic assignment for my 52 week Flickr group was to photograph Graffiti.  This gave me the excuse to visit Digbeth on a bright Sunday morning.  My first stop was Meriden Street to look at the graffiti done by the streetartist Gent48 on the house which is the home of independent grassroots music venue Suki10C

Birmingham Tribute to 22 emerging Black Stars
Suki10c
Suki10c Music Venue

They have recently upgraded the Graffiti on the outside of the building to celebrate 22 of Birmingham’s most prominent black stars of the future. It is eye-catching and a fitting tribute to such inspiring people. Readers of my blog will know that Digbeth is a favourite place of mine and there is a constant change of the Graffiti. This blog shows the old colour scheme of the Suki10C house

The Big Birmingham Bake
The Big Birmingham Bake
Mural by Gent48
Mural by Gent48
Railway Arch - Floodgate Street
Railway Arch – Floodgate Street
The Ruin and Birmingham Screw Driver Company
Floodgate street, the Ruin pub and the Birmingham Screwdriver Company (Artist – Fokawolf)

The next stop was Floodgate street and there are many examples of street art along the road.  First there was the Big Birmingham Bake and another Gent 48 mural.  Having photographed several murals, I wandering in through the link-way between Floodgate street  and the Custard Factory where the walls are lined with several good street art paintings.  

Walkway to the Custard Factory
Walkway to the Custard Factory
Don't be sad
A clown on the way into the Custard Factory (artist Wingy)
Piercing eyes
Piercing eyes (Artist – PHILTH)
Iconic artwork by Justin Sola
Iconic artwork by Justin Sola

The centre of the Custard Factory offers many photographic opportunities and the fun on this visit was the presence of several puddles from the overnight rain.  I enjoy puddle photography and my iPhone gave a nice picture which did well on social media.  The picture follows the golden proportion which must be a subconscious bias in my mind from my dentistry photography days.

Reflections in Digbeth
Reflections of Digbeth
Dorothy’s Friend
Dorothy’s Friend by Pete McKey

Walking around the custard factory is always interesting and I enjoyed seeing the tables in the courtyard. Each of the wooden tables was engraved with the history of the Birds Eye Custard Factory. Getting old means I remember many of the advertising material on the packets of Bird’s Custard!  There was also a lone statue of Jesus Christ looking out of the corner of a shop. His appealing mournful face striking a chord on this quiet Sunday morning.  He is missing his right hand which gives a pose of vulnerability yet it still seeks your attention from his expression and stance.

Statue of Jesus
Jesus Christ at the Custard Factory
Bird's Custard
Bird’s Custard on a beer table

Moving onto the adjacent carpark there is new graffiti street art by Snub23. The entrance to the car park is very different and is made of several crushed cars giving an American feel to the area.  Just inside the entrance opposite to the Snub23 artwork is a new outside bar with an open door to no where!  

Engine Car Park Entrance
Crushed Cars Car Park Entrance
Graffiti by Snub23
New Artwork by Snub23
Open Door
Open Door
Street art
More Street art

Whilst I did enjoy waking through Digbeth, there was still one picture that I wanted to take.  It was the Fox by Annatomix.  Whilst I had done this picture before on the Minerva Works side of the water, I had not done it from across the canal, looking onto the Fox.  Known as the Warwick Bar, this part of the canal has echos of Birmingham’s industrial past and indications of the potential changes that may happen when HS2 finally arrives.

WarwickBar
The Warwick Bar and the street art from Annatomix
The Fox by Annatomix
The Fox by Annatomix and to the right Monochrome by Lucy McLaughlan (monochrome)

I was nervous about the photography here as it is a very quiet part of the canal and I was carrying expensive camera equipment. I did not want to be mugged this Sunday morning.  However there are a succession of runners and cyclists that gave a feeling of sfety and I headed along the towpath past the Bond premises (!) to be directly opposite the Fox.  I took several pictures and was happy that I had captured this view which is an alternative to the one I had taken before. I also learnt that the monochrome to the right of the Fox is by Lucy McLaughlan. All done and so it was back home to do the processing and write up this blog.

Stay Strong
Stay Strong – a colourful message by HolyMolyUK

There are several good internet links on the Digbeth Street Art Scene
(all accessed July 2020)
1. How Digbeth gave a home to graffiti and street art – BBC News
2. Graffiti art of Digbeth Walk – WalkRunCycle
3. Graffiti Artist
4. The Street Art of Digbeth in Birmingham

plus my own previous blogs on Digbeth
a. Lockdown in Digbeth
b. Digbeth Lights
c. Graffiti, Graffiti, Graffiti
d. My Custard Factory Beat

But be warned the art changes quickly and many of these murals are “tagged” ruining the artwork or they have simply been painted over.

Artists featured – Instagram address
Annatomix
Gent48
PHILTH
Snub23
Lucy McLauchlan
Pete Mckee
Justin Sola
Wingy
Holy Moly UK
Fokawolf

If there are any corrections on the names of artists or names missing then please let me know and I will add to the blog.

Astrophotography is good fun but living near to a city means only one thing – light pollution. Also you need to have very good weather as well. I had been telling myself that I need to take a picture of Comet C/2020 F3 otherwise known as Neowise. I read around the subject and realised that I needed a dark and clear sky clear of light pollution. I also looked at many different photographer’s pictures on Flickr including the Neowise group. Camera settings should include a large aperture to let as much light in as possible. The shutter speed is set at around 3 to 5 seconds. Any greater and the picture would be blurred by the trail of movement of the comet across the horizon. After that, the ISO is boosted to again increase the sensitivity of the camera. It goes without saying that a tripod is essential.

A close up of the comet

After a few abortive attempts locally mainly due to the amount of light around the village where I live, I made the decision to go further afield. Chesterton Windmill is a classic landmark for photographers. It is an interesting structure to include in your photograph and it sits on top of a hill with commanding views of the Warwickshire countryside. It is sufficiently far enough away from the city lights to provide a darker sky.

Looking for the comet.

After the decision, there were delays due to the weather and then on Wednesday night it seemed that there may be a lull in the overcast skies. I took a chance. I recruited a friend to come along with me. Therefore Sean and I set off for the sunset at Chesterton Windmill hoping for clear skies. The sun was nearly set by the time we arrived with many people enjoying the mild evening. We waited for the twilight to arrive and then the night proper. Neowise is becoming very faint and is ranked at the lowest category of 3 in brightness. At the beginning of July it was much brighter but now you do have to hunt for it in the sky. Even though it is now closest to the Earth, it is rapidly moving away from the sun.

The black and white version

Gradually the skies over the Windmill become much darker and I was lucky that I had brought a very strong torch to help me move around. I did drop the camera platform bracket that allows attachment to the tripod. Luckily I found it amongst the undergrowth – much to my relief. There was a growing frustration as it was very difficult to locate the comet. My “sky at night” app informed me of its location but still we could not see it. The movement of the clouds over the sky were not helping. Eventually I turned up the ISO on my camera and I caught the comet. I was very pleased and then I was able to take a few more pictures. It was still a frustrating time as the clouds kept passing over just where the comet was.

Twilight and it is now a patient wait.

The results of my photography are shown in this blog. Looking back I could have done a bit more with the picture taking process but there were people around to chat to and I was also looking at the sky with binoculars. I was just grateful that I could see the comet. The pictures may not be the greatest but the evening was exhilarating and fun as we chased the comet through the clouds. I now know what to do but there is unlikely to be another comet for some time yet. I may come back to do some star trails or even look for some meteor showers in the future.

So long Neowise and thanks for passing by earth on your travels.

Here is a link that shows how difficult it was becoming to see the comet in the final few weeks of its journey through our solar system.

As the University of Birmingham locked down so did Winterbourne house and gardens. There was still a small team of gardeners tendering the gardens during lockdown. As the restrictions eased, the gardens reopened to University staff on the 6th July. It is one of the perks of working at the University that you have free access to the Botanical gardens. I took the opportunity on a Friday afternoon to visit Winterbourne and it coincided with a break in the weather. Yes, the sun was seen in the sky! I brought along my macro lens and decided that it was going to be a close up day photographing the flowers and some of the friends that visit them as well.

A zoom of colour!
Nature’s helper
Prickly
Summer in full swing

I realise now that what I enjoy about garden photography is the symmetry of the flowers. Also I like the asymmetry that is overlayered on the symmetry. The colours and the flower arrangements right down to the petals play a part too.

Symmetry and colours
A busy bee
Lilies in the sunshine

Winterbourne has different areas to it and there is a brook at the bottom of the hill with an Japanese oriental garden. On the way down, there are many flower beds and open spaces. Towards the house there is the walled garden and glasshouses that have a large variety of interesting species.

Can you spot the spider?
Lovely colours
A play on light and colour

Why do I love Winterbourne so much? I think it is the range of plants that come from around the world. Part of my role at the University is Director of Global Engagement. The Winterbourne Gardens web site mentions that the plant collection is taken from countries such as China, North and South America and the Alpine areas of the world. Maybe this is why walking around the Botanical Gardens feels as if you are undertaking international travel in a short space of time and distance.

Temporary entrance with social distancing sign into the walled garden
The lime walk
Walkway through the garden
Symmetry in the onion vegetable patch

Finally, whilst I love taking pictures of the plants, I do not know many of their names. So if anyone is able to help so that I can name them correctly it would be very much appreciated 🙂

Winterbourne house