Southend

Last post of the year. We went to the Barge Inn at Battlesbridge for lunch & afterwards we had a walk along the Southend seafront. I took just a few shots to say goodbye to 2015.

© Lionel Callow 2015

Anglesey Abbey’s gardens

Needing some exercise after Christmas Carol and I took a walk through Anglesey’s grounds and gardens.

The Silver Birch trees at Anglesey are famous and there are loads of photos on the Internet of them. I have been taking soft focus & deliberately blurred images of these trees for over three years now, recently I have been trying to include people in the images. Red clothing is without a doubt the stand out colour, so here are a few of today’s shots.

The next shot is of the trees without the blur.

I am also looking to get some good backlit shots. Today is my first attempt at trying out this technique with the Silver Birches, without doubt I need to get better light conditions to achieve a successful image but as this is a regular  place we visit for a walk then I will give this a try again in the future.   

© Lionel Callow 2015

Wimpole Hall

I had a very short amount of time available today so I went to Wimpole Hall and continued to play with back lighting.

© Lionel Callow 2015

Heybridge Basin

Carol and I had Sunday lunch at one of our favourite places in Essex. With an overcast but dramatic sky & with the tide out I was able to take a few different shots.

© Lionel Callow 2015

Birchanger Woods Bishops Stortford

What a difference six weeks can make in nature.

The following shots were taken on a walk through my local wood on Wednesday the 28th October.

Six weeks later.

 The next shots were taken on Wednesday 9th December. Same wood, same walk.

© Lionel Callow 2015

Flatford

Carol and I wanted to see Nerine McIntyre’s completed painting of Flatford .This was her prize commission for the National Trust for winning the Sky Landscape Artist of the year 2015. The painting is on show in the cafeteria. We had enjoyed the series so it was good to see the finished work.

Sky's landscape artist of the year, 2015.
"Flatford in Summer" by Nerine McIntyre 

Here are a few shots I took of the area on the day. The light was very low in the southern sky so not ideal for shooting subjects such as Willy Lott’s Cottage but good practice anyway.

© Lionel Callow 2015

Wimpole Hall

The following shots are from a walk through Wimpole’s grounds on Sunday.

The kissing gate