Purple haze

These three photographs are of the same group of flowers but I can't decide which one I like the best!

Dewstow Gardens, Caerwent

We visited Dewstow Gardens outside Caerwent, Monmouthshire on Sunday where the sunshine picked up the colours in these flowers which were reflecting from the pond behind.

Blurring the boundaries

We recently returned to Newport Wetlands in South Wales so here are some photographs using fences and causeways as frames along with close up of a clover flower (with its own resident insect which I didn't notice when I took the photo!)

Cactus Gardens, Lanzarote

Sometimes you can see some amazing cloud formations and just be in the right place at the right time! Here are clouds seen from the Cactus Gardens, Lanzarote, designed by Cesar Manrique and another miniature which makes the place look much smaller than it actually is! This is well worth a visit along with the other places he designed on the island - just imagine if he'd found a larger island to call home then I would have needed more card space to hold the photographs!

Petrified forest

On our trips through American National Parks we have seen some amazing sites. Here are some fossilised trees from the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, Arizona including a house built of blocks of petrified stone! The colours were vivid pinks, yellows and oranges - and you could even see the rings on some of the fallen trunks!

Contre jour

I have been trying to take photographs against the light to see what effects I can get. Here are a few examples from Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, Newport Wetlands and Magor Marshes, Monmouthshire.

Pine tree, Troodos Mountains, Cyprus

These orange pine cones stand out vividly against the blue sky.

Miniature images

There are special features on my camera which I like to try out - especially miniatures (tilt-shift) as it makes photographs look like scenes from train set dioramas! These were taken at Guadalest, Spain.

Left to rust

Two contrasting photographs - the top one is of a gate against an old farmhouse at St. Fagan's National History Museum, Cardiff and the other was at Zygi, near Larnaca in Cyprus.

Newport Transporter Bridge

Two different pictures from different angles of the Newport Transporter Bridge, South Wales as the sun was setting.



Watch out Watchet

Here are a couple of photographs of watch towers from Watchet, West Somerset - on the way to Minehead. This is where I got to use a polarising filter on my previous camera, Panasonic Lumix FZ38.

Hey Nunney, Nunney

We came across this castle by accident driving through Somerset - complete with its own moat and looking like a French chateau on a very still August evening. Very picturesque!

Bosherston lily ponds

An Escher moment

What I liked about this was the shadows were going in opposite directions! This defies all sense!
(Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier)



Where's my master?

The dog appearing in the doorway of the old prison in Guadalest was quite by accident - his owner had wandered in so he looked quite forlorn looking for him.