The Demise of the Norman King

Whilst away on our holiday the historical Norman King pub was destroyed by fire, arson is suspected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKovVVRGKE4&feature=related

The Norman King was built in 12th Century during the reign of King Henry I. It formed part of the estate which included the Priory Church opposite and the Old Palace Lodge next door.

The Norman King before the fire on 10th August.....

....and afterwards.

There is a strong groundswell of feeling within Dunstable and a desire to raise funds to restore the building. I will record any progress here, so watch this space.

Holiday themes

Number One - The Women of the Baltic

I would like to say that I planned a series of themes to focus my photogrpahy, sadly it was really a case of looking back and realising that I had several images along similar lines.
The first is a series of images taken of the women of the Baltic, mostly but not exclusively, St Petersburg.

A woman in Nyhaven, Copenhagen collecting
empty bottles to sell.

                                                                                                      

Street sellers in Nyhaven

   In the Hermitage museum women watch over the artifacts and treasures. At one point our guide caught the sharp edge of one woman's tongue as one of the tourists sat on a windowsill. You really don't want to mess with these women,

In St Petersburg brides visit famous sites to have their photographs taken. This bride was in the park next to the Church of Spilled Blood.

Woman on the decorative metro.                                          Street seller

OK so not exactly a woman but this little girl was playing with the playing with the pigeons in the middle of St Petersburg.

This young woman looked so out of place, one can only guess at her thoughts as she gazes through the gate.

The following images were taken inside a local market. Some funny looks coming my way meant I was taking very quick, from the hip type pics.

Sunny Day on Dunstable Downs

Finally today, after what seems like ages, I have been out with my camera for a photo jaunt. I did have a mission from my husband who wanted me to photograph some radio masts for a catalogue he is producing at work. My first port of call was a radio mast in a small lane close to the Downs.




A relatively easy shot as there was a field next to the lane with easy access and I could get close enough to photograph some of the details as well as the full sized mast.









The next stop saw me trying to track down a mast I could see the top of, but could not find. I finally found it in a copse on the Downs, well hidden and very difficult to photograph due to the foliage all around. Finally managed this shot...number two in the bag.











I had my IR camera with me and decided to try a bit of an experiment. I had spent the morning so far trying not to include any of the surroundings, focusing entirely on the masts, this pic was an attempt to add a little context. It turns out that this is the star pic, without knowing it fits perfectly into something else my husband wanted a pic for.

Having got my 'commission' in the bag I turned my attention to my more usual subjects. IR, landscape and close ups.

By this time I was thirsty and rather hungry so I made my way to the very pleasant visitor centre, I will add a pic one day, for a much needed cup of coffee. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-dunstabledownscountrysidecentrewhipsnadeestate

Dunstable Downs is a very popular spot for kite flying, what I hadn't realised until today is that formation kite flying is a serious competitive sport. I spotted a small group practising, it was delightful to watch and I started to snap a few pics. Very soon a gentleman arrived, told me all about kite flying, the different types of kites for different weather conditions and suggested I get in much closer to get some better pics, he said nobody would mind, so I did. In this day and age I tend to assume people will view somebody with a camera with suspicion, it's not always the case.

A very pleasant morning, followed by an afternoon watching the Wimbledon final.

A Weekend Away

I don't usually post pics of friends, in the assumption that if I do they may not stay friends for very long. However a few weeks ago I spent an enjoyable weekend away in Suffolk, at an old mansion house. It was great fun and we enjoyed ourslves and so here are a few highlights. The pics will not win any prizes but sometimes its nice to take photographs to record an event without worrying about the technical side of things. So this post is just for fun, I hope you enjoy.

Saturday morning saw us getting all competitive on the go karts...of course the girls team won!!!

We took along our very own Grumpy Old Man to cook the BBQ...notice a male domain!!!!!! PS He is not at all grumpy!!

We tried an experiment with marshmallows cooked on the BBQ and soon discovered it didn't work, it created some rather sticky faces and I don't just mean amongst the children.

And finally a few random pics snapped during the weekend.

St Albans Cathedral and Abbey

The Cathedral of St Albans, http://www.stalbanscathedral.org/,  is a popular visitor attraction, but if visited on a Saturday it seems to be quieter and that allows the photographer to work undisturbed. Having said that I was trying to produce some low level pics and whilst on the floor of the aisle I was gently tapped on the shoulder by a friendly guide who asked if I could let his tour pass by and suggested I could take the opportunity to set up my camera for the next shot, all with a smile on his face. I find it a pleasant change when so many places seem to be suspicious of photographers. 

This is the picture I was taking at the time.

















Then, taking the gentleman's advice, I switched to my IR camera. I had no idea if this was an appropriate subject for an infra red photograph but, believing that nothing ventured, nothing gained, I gave it a go. Lots of rubbish pictures resulted but this one is passable, I dont think it will win any prizes but I enjoy it, its seems to have a 'sparkle' that the straight mono pictures lacked.

As I didn't have my tripod I spent much of the time looking for cameos to take, close up of details, again many have gone into the bin but these two survived.

Hidden away at the back of the building, this seems to fit in well with the ethos of the Cathedral.

Finally my favourite image of the day. I have edited several versions of this and am still undecided as to which I prefer but for the time being this is the one!