As you can see I’m really working on my soon to be (really) here exhibition…
This was the view from my office this lunchtime while I was doing my real job, pesky real job, putting me in all these wonderful locations around Wiltshire and distracting me so much that I need to get a 4 photo panorama of Roundway Down near Calne. A neolithic hill fort with commanding views across Devizes and a large swathe of the Wiltshire countryside. The light was hard, hence the B&W edit but I like! ;o)
I don’t know if this works but I kind of like it, it’s been the warmest day of the year so far but the pine trees had insulated the ground and the temperature noticeably dropped as you walked into the darkness.
On a technical note, I’m pushing the D3300. I’ve shot handheld and because of the dark areas, I’m at ISO800, f/4.0 and 1/40th sec. I think maybe a tripod, ISO 100 @ f/8 and 1/4 sec would work better.
Remember last week, you know, when it was still light at 10pm? Well, that’s gone!
For those about to see snow, we envy you! And for you in the US who see through the metaphor, just vote, I’ll respect the outcome but you will be held to account…
And for those of you in Canada, it’s scary, you’ll get through it, you always do, but can we borrow your snow chains?….
Be safe Peeps! x
I have never wanted a drone as much as I did this morning, or even just a step ladder but alas, I made do with muddy boots and a little tilt with the scene.
Peace Peeps! x
Oh, and the other thing that happened… I managed to get the ISS and a thousand year old oak in a single frame, it’s a buggered up 15 second exposure but hey, it was on the hoof!
And 71.458 miles is the distance the ISS travelled while the shutter was open!
Space Peeps! xxx
What do you do when you need a pareidolia fix, you need to find a tree, the older and gnarlier the better so the (said to be) 1000-year-old Judge Wyndham Oak in Silton will more than suffice, complete with walking stick.
In my mind he’s trudging off, stage left, grumpy that before 1654 when the pesky puritan, Oliver Cromwell, appointed Sir Hugh Wyndham as a judge and then proceeded to work him so hard that he had to buy an estate just outside Gillingham so that he could “rest” under the bows of the tree previously known as Frank.
Frank really liked that name, hence the 350 year huff!
He’s expected to be stood in the corner of the field, sulking in 2476…. I’m with you all the way Frank! (maybe)
Peace Peeps! x
-1 x -1= 1 but the square root of one is one the square root of minus one is 1i and that that mucks with my mind and apparently it’s an Imaginary Number… I can grasp that in certain conditions x hitting y at really ridiculously high energy results in x+y-z and that we have no idea where z’s gone but there are people looking and they’re looking hard (there’s going to be a Noble prize waiting in the 11th dimension for them when they find it) I love the fact that these people exist… My son loves the fact they exist too and he also loves the fact that when he starts getting excited about complicated math and Imaginary Numbers his Dads knuckles start to drag the floor and his brow thickens while a slightly perplexed look settles across his face…
So, based on the conversation we have just had I’m dedicating this blog to all of the hard working, relentless, frustrated, amazing Scientists around the world making it a better place and bringing us the Universe. Thank you!
Just a couple of things though…
1. These Photons are mine (They’re not I know but indulge me!)
2. The Boy’s on his way so you better move over!
Peace Peeps!
Admittedly some will just die and rot. 
But there are others who will show the rest the way!
The Ancient Oaks Of Windsor Great Park
I once heard a story that the reason there’s not a great deal of really old oak trees in the south of England was because of the Tudor Navy, commissioned by Henry VIII . The wood requirement to build the forbearer of the Royal Navy was so great that any straight, mature oak in the Kingdom became the property of The Crown and swiftly turned into planks. Unless they were growing within the hunting grounds, estates or gardens of the then great and good (rich). Hence the number you can spot around Windsor, Marlborough and the like. How true this is I would love to know.
I love the fact that the first tree I’ve seen really putting some effort into spring is an Old English Oak! Long may the Old Bugger burst forth and I’ll make this promise. I will collect an acorn from him in the autumn and that acorn will be planted, nurtured and established. where I know not, but somewhere poignant to me and maybe in 500 years his offspring will be bursting forth and showing the rest the way!
Or, if you fancy, email me focalthingy@gmail.com
Peace Peeps! x
I know what it’s like when a hobby becomes an obsession, I’m experiencing that very thing right now. Bloody hell, it was 6:15am on a Saturday morning and I’m off out into the darkness to try and capture some shots of some very distant planets rather than waking up 3 hours later with a well earned hangover.
Despite the fog I managed to get three, Venus and Saturn and a very lonely Jupiter (I’m not sure that’s iso noise around it or faint stars)
And then, not to waste the approaching dawn I decided to take a trip down to Shearwater, a lake just out side Warminster, for what I thought would be a lonely meander around the lake. How wrong can you be, the anglers that had been camped out overnight probably outnumbered the whole population of Crockerton and most had set up tents, in January…
Now, that is dedication!
Early post today due to a family party tonight and a chance to see if my newly found portrait skills will work with the living!
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I have more pictures
And a Facethingy
And you can email me focalthingy@gmail.com
Focal Thingy 